TheGhostWithin

Asanee,

Thank you for your productive response. Unfortunately I do not live in Thailand (though I have been visiting 2-3 times per year for the past 6 years now) so it is dificult to source information that is not readily available online (which I have mentioned, I was unable to locate this information).

The Q may be unnecessary to you, but it is essential to my planning - I am not travelling alone and to have my co travellers having to loop it all the way back to Khon Kaen and change bus because of my lack of planning is not really acceptable to me. Considering there are a large number of Senior members such as yourself on here with ample local real time knowledge on LOS, I would hope to get a productive answer such as the one which Ajahnlau provided. But then again, thanks for being another "moaner", when if you had have read my post with any fluency you would have seen I am not in LOS, and it is not economical for me to go from Auckland, New Zealand to the Udon Thani bus station in the morning, nor would it be smart to just turn up and try to board the next bus on the 11th of April, 2 days before Songkran.

Please excuse me if I have got the wrong end of the stick, but the arrogance is totally inappropriate. Enjoy your time on TVF.

Hi all,

Am heading back to Udon to pick up a few things I can't seem to buy anywhere in Bangkok (clothes if you'd beleive it) and need to then go from Udon to Phitsanulok by Bus and on to Chiang Mai after an overnight stay.

Have done a bit of googling and obviously there are no flights from Udon to Phitsanulok, but it appears there are busses. Does anyone know what sort of timetables these busses run, what the cost of the trip is, how long it takes and which company it is with?

Sorry to be a bother, I am currently in NZ and have already spent hours on Google trying to find the answer - some local knowledge would be much appreciated, or if anyone by chance lives next door to the Chan Tours booth..

- Hamish

Now that new year is over, I am back planning my next trip (Arriving April 6, departing April 16). Does anyone have a heads up on operating hours for SARL? I have a flight from Bangkok to Manila on 16/04 at 0930hrs and need to be at the airport by at least 0630hrs (I like to be on time). Im weighing up if I should book a hotel near to Makkasan or should book an airport hotel. If anyone has ideas on operating hours it would be much appreciated, or could even point me in the right direction..

Christopher Paul Neil would be the only example I could think of THB - I have really only seen Americans and British giving a hard time to Thais and farang of other origins alike a hard time, but there are also some wonderful American and British expats and visitors I have met in my years. I try not to judge a man by the shade of his skin, that way I can find the best in every environment

H

First off, I have never been insulted by any Thai in Thailand. Most have been very friendly and respectful. Certainly I've had some funny talks with some gals in Pattaya when neither of us knew enough of each other's language to hold a good discussion. But, we just laughed at our differences and tried to help each other. I guess I just walk around with rose coloured glasses all the time.

However, I HAVE heard a lot of obnoxious comments by farangs from the US, Australia and the UK. Many times I've seen Americans treating working Thais and bar girls with disrespect. Oddly enough, I haven't heard Canadians do the same thing. Maybe it's just that there aren't that many of us in Thailand that I haven't seen it happen. I'm embarrassed when I hear farangs treating Thais with disrespect.

Hello JrBKK64,

I will be visiting Angeles in mid November as I must fly out from Clark to get through to Kuala Lumpur.

The main streets seem to revolve around Fields Avenue, for us Farang types - there are other areas however they seem more locally orientated and from what I hear Farangs are typically not so welcome - as well as in bars which are Korean Orientated (Koreans show how wonderfully polite they have made themselves world famous for).

I have booked in at a hotel called Valentino's Hotel, rooms start from 1950PHP (1376THB) per night, but the balcony rooms are a better deal at 2450 (1729.5THB) per night. Located just off the main drag of Fields Avenue, apparently close to the good eating spots and close enough to the night life that you can look over Fields Avenue via a Balcony room but sound proofed so that the noise doesnt come in once the door is closed for those early morning get aways. Appears to be Guest Friendly though that is not what I am in Angeles for, so you would need to research that a bit more - judging by the location it most likely is.

Rated #1 on tripadvisor.com, their website is www.valentinoshotel.com/.

No, I don't work at the hotel so I can't guarantee a good stay, but it is from what I can see (I research a lot during long hours at work) the best shot at a reasonable hotel for a reasonable price (Maybe not for TH, but decent hotels are 20-30% more expensive in the Phils.

There is also a link showing the room on youtube if you search for the hotel name in youtube to give you some REAL idea of the room (the room in the video is a balcony room at 2450PHP per night).

Hope this helps you with your decision

Hamish

Hi All,

I am planning a golf outing to the PI (Angeles) with a few (6) colleagues from around Asia for early December.

None of us have ever been to Angeles, but most have been to the PI before.

I have a few questions in relation to planning this trip:

1. how many good golf courses are within 1 hour from Angeles?

2. what would be a good 4* guest friendly place to stay

3. what is the climate like in December?

4. do you know someone there who can organise the logistics etc.?

5. restaurant recommendations

6. is the casino any good?

Thanks a lot for your help.

JR

... However, having said that, the Samoan alert was cancelled yesterday as well and yet as Churchill posted there was in fact a tsunami that killed 99 people. So maybe these bulletins are not so hot?

The Samoan Tsunami alert was for good reason, a Tsunami hit Samoa, as well as other countries (including New Zealand, on a very very small scale here though) and lives were lost.

A number of people I know personally who have lost family members, bless their souls. I live in Auckland City (the largest City in New Zealand) and we were asked to be prepared to evacuate, though to be perfectly honest the response from civil defence (government) was extremely poor, not even willing to classify it as a tsunami or confirm loss of life 2.5 hours after the initial tsunami hit south west Samoa at 0648hrs nzst.

So, Bulletins are useful, for those with poor government preparedness to make their own decisions and take steps to protect their families IMO.

Hey Mate,

Bike looks great. What is the CC Rating on it? Are there any known issues with the bike? Does it come with green book? Thanks

This bike can be yours for an offer over 30,000baht. It is based in Pattaya. Please PM if interested.

When I was last at Suvarnabhumi in June, on my way to Udon a guy approached me after being turned away from Air Asia for missing the check in time by 5 minutes (woops, 1 too many beers at the bar the night before and slept in).

He had what appeared to be a legitimate TAT ID Card, which he showed me. He claimed to be a tourist transport assistant and offered to help me rebook another flight. I guess he took me for fresh meat, and I probably appeared so as I still felt a bit tipsy.

He quoted me a price of 3500thb for a ticket to Udon, which I knew was rubbish. Pretty impressive though, he communicated (in English) to someone via RT (Radio, for those of you not in the business of using the walky talkies) who quoted the price, apparently from the Thai Airways desk. He told me he would take cash and arrange for the ticket for me.

I told him I would go and check other prices, and meet him in 10 minutes if I did not find a cheaper price. Went straight to the Thai Counter near the oversize baggage collection and booked for 1200b...

Surely the state of the art airport has cameras and we all know has ample security to kick out taxis not willing to pay to sit in the rank, so could there not be someone monitoring people walking around the airport dealing with large numbers of foreigners for hours on end? I work in surveillance and know for a fact that this type of activity is extremely easy to pick up (same people, same behaviour, day after day)and stop (trespassing these same people from the entrance doors inwards and putting their faces on a board on the wall).

It seems they did not try very hard on their crack down. Does TAT not understand that once a farang gets scammed in a country, they never usually return unless they have a very good reason? I will never return to Malaysia for that reason - the scamming is on a much bigger and more agressive level than in LOS.

I thought I would go back to my pet love (Udon Thani) and was shocked to find the town I fell in love with 2 years ago had gone from about 20 bars to 240 bars and become the mini pattaya of Isaan, filled with sex tourists. Good thing I have real friends there to keep me away from all 240 of those bars.

Don't talk sh1t..

Excuse me? Talk what? I presented numbers, real numbers from a friend that actually owns a prominent bar in Udon and has been in the business for some time. If you have a problem with the numbers or the facts I have presented, present your own. Trying to shoot someone down with abuse is deconstructive to the conversation and degenerative.

If you havent been there and think Im lying, take a look for yourself. Ask a local where you can find day/night (theres about 50 bars there, open literally from about 10am until 2-3am when the Police turn up to close them), or Nutty park, where you will find almost as many. Forgive me for stating the truth from personal experience.

Tourism may be at an all time low but there will always be a guaranteed number of people coming here every year and newbie's as well. Sex pests will always visit Thailand and every year new perverts will discover the delights on offer. This sort of person doesn't care about red or yellow shirts, or swine flu...they would risk getting HIV if it meant a sordid encounter. It is families and those travellers interested in Asia per se and culture etc that have fallen in numbers - Nana/Patpong/Cowboy Pattaya/the islands etc will still be attracting a continuous flow of creepy slime balls.

Quite to the contrary, I am a firm beleiver (like many, judge me if you like) in making friends with good people, no matter how unfortunate their place in life may be, or the places their decisions in life they make bring them to.

Word on the street is that even the vice trade is down.

I was literally attacked by a woman outside 7 on soi 2 nana for refusing her "company". I was tipsy but polite, and after three refusals copped a hand bag around the head (Im sure there was a brick in that), and was followed down the street constantly being punched. When I got into a taxi to get away from the woman, and told the driver (in thai) to take me to his favourite restaurant and Id pay him twice what was on the meter, she started kicking and punching the doors and windows of the taxi. Seems things are getting nasty.

I talked to the lady at the hotel (Ive stayed at the same hotel for the past 5 years) and she said she had talked with many tourists of late that had been attacked and scammed in what seemed like desperate people frustrated with the situation.

I thought I would go back to my pet love (Udon Thani) and was shocked to find the town I fell in love with 2 years ago had gone from about 20 bars to 240 bars and become the mini pattaya of Isaan, filled with sex tourists. Good thing I have real friends there to keep me away from all 240 of those bars.

The price of hotels and entertainment in Thailand accompanied by the whole visa restriction issue is making Thailand economically uncompetitive to countries which can offer more (Vietnam apparently) or a better experience for the same price (Malaysia or the Philippines, depending on what you seek). Being a currency trader, I can also confirm that the baht has not so much increased in value, however failed to fall in tune with other currencies (NZD has gone from 26 in July last year, to 17 a few months ago) in the wake of both domestic recessions and the economic crunch. Either prices locally need to be adjusted or artificial tampering of the currency needs to take place to satisfy this issue. We all know, that local price adjustments just down work in Thailand - at least they dont reach us as legetimate tourists, staying 1 week or 1 year (not all 1+ year tourists live on 15,000 b/mo).

To the poster that said the Army was making the country look bad, to the contrary it is the protesters threatening to blow up petrol tankers if approached, and those blocking airport motorways which are shown on TV that make Thailand look bad, if it were not for the Army showing some balls to maintain control I doubt a single family would set foot on Thai soil.

In all, there are several social, economic, and political issueswhich are driving tourists away, each will need to be addressed carefully (and not quickly) to drive the change in tourism. As we know, quick decisions in Thailand are usually not good decisions. Lets hope they think slowly, next time.

H

Looking for a game of rugby whilst in Bangkok? Or maybe you just need a beer...

Our club is based in Bangkok and made up of a good bunch of blokes from all walks of life...Thais, Kiwis, Aussies, Welsh, Brits, Scots, Yanks, Canadians, French, Japs...wrestlers, teachers, jewellers, military, bankers, media, personal trainers, engineers...

We play in the annual Thai Rugby Union comp, as well as against international touring teams and in as many 7's and 10's tournaments in the region we can get to.

The club also fields teams in Bangkok's local netball and touch rugby (men's, women's and mixed) and cricket competitions if you (or your gf/wife!) are keen.

Rugby training is on most Thursday nights and there's also an informal fitness group on Tuesday evenings. When we're not rolling in mud, we're usually having a beer somewhere or scheming about an upcoming rugby tour...

If you want to get involved, feel free to ask any questions...you can also check out our site - www.southerners-bangkok.com.

Cheers

Southos

I am not in BKK permanently yet (though may as well be, being there about 1/4 of every year on holidays), so I will definately keep the club in mind. No kiwi is ever too far away from a rugby field, especially at the age of 23. Is there any restrictions with regards to joining? I used to play at national age group championship level but it has been a few years now so I would no doubt be extremely rusty. When does the season typically run in TH?

Hamish

Does anyone know what the goal of TAT at this point in time? Are they looking to preserve tourism numbers or looking to grow tourist numbers? Are they looking to gather return visitors or are they looking to target a new market? Are TAT looking to protect or "streamline"the industry to become more competitive on the international stage against its neighbors in the Phillipines, Malaysia and China?

These questions (and others too) would determine which would be a 'best course of action' for the Thai Tourism industry. Different types of visitors would respond to different offers (e.g. tour groups would not respond so much to the idea of cheaper accommodation, but would respond to a better exchange rate, whereas a mid range traveller may respond better to cheaper accommodation).

Take for example my country, New Zealand. In the past year our currency has devalued against the baht from a high in July last year of 27b to the dollar to 20 where it sits now, with the low hitting last month at 17. That is a considerable devaluation of 10b per New Zealand Dollar spent, or a 37% drop in buying power for every New Zealand dollar spent in Thailand. This effectively means, a New Zealander can only enjoy 63% of the luxuries that s/he could last year before the crunch. Effectively, TAT would need to either pre-empt the move back towards last year’s buying power by discounting products and services in Thailand to stimulate purchasing of goods and services within Thailand by tourists, or simply wait for the crunch to pass and let it be 'survival of the fittest', with the strongest businesses coming out leaner and meaner than before (yes, that means your mom and pop hotels would not be as common as before, and services in the bigger hotels may suffer).

There is also the fact that the Thai government appears to be making constant attempts to stop many people’s ability (not our right) to reside in Th in the long term, and to work legally which I have heard a few of my good friends complain about.

Combine this with political instability, and foreigners seeing terrorist type scenarios of people in Yellow shirts blocking access to air ports in major tourist hubs with vehicles and attacking Police officers with force, and people in Red Shirts threatening to blow up petrol tankers if the state advances on them, and you have a recipe for something worse than a hangover and more painful than the spiciest tom yum kung the morning after.

I sincerely love Thailand (for the right reasons) and will be returning in June. I will be living more thrifty than I normally would, but simply have to watch my expenses a little better than normal (no more falling asleep on foot paths in Udon Thani after a good night out with my Thai friends at the Karaoke Bar singing to Baowee etc). Yes, I had lots and lots of beers in Udon Thani, where beers are still 40b in the bar.

I can't help but feel that those of you ridiculous enough to say he deserves to be jailed for 2 years are absolutely racist and a step away from joining the KKK. Excuse me but YOU wouldn't be upset to be forced to MISS YOUR PLANE for absolutely no reason? All you need to do is raise your voice a bit in this country and YOU BAD MAN! Since when is being jusitifiably upset a JAILABLE offence in any country?! Some of you are so blatantly racist or just plain stupid it's sad.

Please look at Simon Burrowes facebook as earlier shown (I am not allowed to post the URL here apparently for some reason). I notice that Simon is a fan of a number of people, all of which are 'Black' (I DO hate using that term, sorry to offend anyone). Although politically incorrect, one may begin to think that maybe I am not racist, but that Simon is - he doesn't have any non-black male friends either. I am white and live in New Zealand, I have many Indian, African, Thai, Chinese and Japanese friends. Perhaps (I know, just an assumption) Simon is one of these fellows that sees Asian people as people a level below themselves (yes, we've all come across these sorts of people).

Or perhaps, he was a victim of rude customs staff just like others I have read about, and I was too. My situation involved a customs officer checking my passport and screaming at me because I had not filled out the departure slip (too bad I didn't have a pen, and none were provided pre-check). Simply asking the officer to speak to her supervisor so that I could make a complaint about her customer service approach changed her attitude a long way. Perhaps as earlier stated by another it was Simons approach that got him into problems, rather than the fact that he challenged the situation in the first place.

My apologies if I have offended anyone.