Holidays For Ex-pats?

[32x]

I know this may sound as a strange topic to ask but where do you Ex-pats goe for your holidays?.

I ask this as last year i took my TGF to koh samet for 3 days,while we were there we met a really nice couple from Pattaya,He(farrang)owned a internet/coffee shop,Wife(Thai)was a hairdresser.

At first i thought he was on Holiday here from Farrang land,so when he told me he lived here,i asked him about his spare time and getting away from Pattaya,he told me has more holidays now living in LOS than he did while living in London.

At least every 2 months he goes away with the wife for a week,most of the time to Koh samet,but everynow and then he heads up country to Udon Thani.

[penelope]

Wife and I usually go to these favorites :

Fiji,Rarotonga,Hawaii(big island),Sydney,Matauri Bay(New Zealand).

Used to go to local Thai destinations,but not much these days.The beaches don't hold a candle to the South Pacific ones,nor do the golf courses hold a candle to Hawaii's and Kauri Cliffs.

[bkkharry]

Being an American citizen living here for 4 years, anywhere I want to, but my Thai is rather restricted to where she can go with me due to visa restrictions. So a lot of my travel is solo, or with friends. Am a serious traveler, just have to go, and the wife understands, which makes it nice. She goes home, I'm off to see more of the world, such a big place with so many places to see.

Have traveled all over Thailand with the wife, have been to most of the 76 provinces, Thailand is a great place to travel.

[NedKelly]

yeah 32x it is a bit of a strange question. How much have you travelled inThailand ? I ask this because Thailand is a fantastic place to have a holiday as it is cheap, has good weather...even the rainy season can be great if you are in the right place and dont need to be out in it all the time. there is nothing better than sitting in a nice location in the mountians with a good book or four and watching/listening to the rain come down.

Youhave a choice of places to go as well...beaches, mountains, beutiful valleys etc etc. or you can choose adventure as opposed to reading a book. Or you can visit cultural/historical places or lakes...the list goes on and on !! I have my favourite places but wont mention here......but I encourage you to explore and be adventurous, thenyou will find what you are looking for.

thinking further away.....you can access other countries easily.....for example, Vietnam Cambodia Laos.........what a choice. Or other short flight destinations like Kathmandu, Sri Lanka, Calcutta, China, Uzbekistan...etc etc !

[Nonsi]

I am working now in Thailand since almost two years and I must admit that I didn't see too much of this beautiful country. Working here as an employee means a reduction of the personal holiday leaves from 30 to 20 days per year compared with Europe.

So far, I used this holidays for going back to Europe and visiting family and friends. But I am definitely planning to spend my holidays in Thailand this year and I'm therefore also very interested in this topic.

[penelope]

but my Thai is rather restricted to where she can go with me due to visa restrictions.

Thais aren't restricted from going anywhere.Yes, certain countries require Thais to obtain tourist visas but that is trivial for a husband and wife living together in LOS.

BTW :

Fiji is a good visa free country for Thais.

[Candyflip]

It depends on what you want.

Fortunely, Thailand offers variety of choices;beach, mountain, cutural heritage,etc. Getting to know the country you live in might not be such a bad idea and it is inexpensive.

For weekend, I highly recommend:

Ayuttaya: visiting the Unesco cultural heritage site, getting to know the second capital od Thailand, wai pra at wat Prasri sanpet. walking around in Praram lake. ( all can be done in 1 day)

Nakon prathom: visit prapathom jedi, royal familly resident at TUB KEAW ( near silpakorn university campus), eat kao moo dang ( the best in the country!)

Shopping weekend in Singapore or Hongkong might be fun too!

[32x]

Hi Ned,yes im lucky to have seen some of the country but not all of it yet,like ive said before i love the area around phimai(korat)so nice.

Another place i love to go is krabi .

I still get a buzz in Bangkok,great city..

[chonabot]

The beaches don't hold a candle to the South Pacific ones,nor do the golf courses hold a candle to Hawaii's and Kauri Cliffs.

You've obviously never experienced the splendour of South Brean Beach, or Warmley approach golf course , apart from that you're spot on me old mucker...

[NedKelly]

hey 32x ....what doyou do out at Phimai....i have been there quite a few times in my old job......we would stay 2 nights ......one time I even got to go over to Khao Panom Rung...it is very nice as well. Yes the area is really nice.I have memories of catching the songthaew fromthe main road to Phimai in pouring rain with a huge load of schoolkids who all tried to keep me dry...it was amazing. The little bar in the back street...forget the name......they have live music every night......used to go there everytime I was inPhimai too. Good memeories. Now just work inBangkok and not much time to travel. If you would like some other suggestions for good places to visit feel free to pm me as I have been around in Thailand quite a bit...also to Laos as well.

[32x]

Hi Ned,

Worst luck im still stuck in the UK.Spent a total of 8 weeks last year near phimai,well a small village just outside.

A couple of things that stick in my mind is seeing the local school bus in the morning,tractor!! o it was so funny,still brings a smile to my face.

Also in the morning seeing the monks in the village collecting there food from the villages.It just struck me as something so mind blowing,so peacefull.Everyone one has a smile on there faces,kids,mums,dads,old people.

Its just a place i would like to live oneday.

You wre very lucky to have lived in phimai,do you miss it?

Then again Bangkoks a great city,dont think i could live there for more than a few months at a time.But if it was a choice between Bangkok and London,Bangkok wins everytime.

[NedKelly]

Hi 32X,

Your descriptions sound great. those things are more important than fantastic manmade tourist attractions like zoos and so on. You rexperience living inthat area was priceless.

I did'nt live in Phimai, I just visited there quite a few times with groups of tourists I was with. That was the worst part of it all....only 2 nights at a time there. I could have stayed longer. Can you imagine how many other places there are like this inThailand. Many many small villages all over where life is simple and happy. My favourite area however is the mountains in the North West of Thailand. It would be a dream to have a place up there somewhere.

Ned

[32x]

North-west? Thats one area i will go to in March,wot about mae sai & chiang saen are they worth a visit if im only staying in chang mai for 3 days?

[NedKelly]

Hey 32x those places are ok but get a lot of tourists. Mae Sai is the town with the border crossing for Myanmar (Burma) and has loads of shops and market stall selling all sorts of stuff including crap. There are quite a few guesthouses in Mae Sai and a few hotels too. It may be ok to stay a night there if you want as it would get more quiet after dark when all the tourist buses have gone away. But it would not be my choice of place to stay. Chiang Saenis a quieter place right on the Mekong River and just downthe road from the Golden Triangle tourist trap. Still, it is a nice little town and has some old ruins there which are nice to walkaround but not as good as Phimai.

If you are only have a few days and dont need to cross the border or do shopping you could go up to Doi Mae Salong. It is a Kuomintang village built along a ridge line on top of a mountain. There is a small hotel right on the ridge line with fantastic views over the huge valley below. There are many Akha people here and they set up stalls duringthe day at the market alongside the main road intown. At night it is very quiet and cool. No nightlife other than a couple of Karaoke bars. Try the noodle shops in town in the early evening. Yunannese noodles at their best......big steaming hot bowls for 20 baht. great on a cool night. There are has a lot of tea and coffee plantations and is quite a nice drive up from the Chiang Rai to Mae Sai Road.

It is 3 hours drive from Chiang Mai to Ch Rai and then one hour to Mae Sai. The turn off to Mae Salong is half way to Mae Sai at Mae Chan. Anyway if you do a bit of a drive aorund up ion that area it is nice to get off the main road. Another route would be Chinag Rai - Mae Sai - Ciang Saen - Chiang Khong ....... Chiang Rai. Overnight in Ch Khong would be nice as it is right on the Mighty Mekong as well. Some nice guesthouses here too.

Ned

[32x]

Cheers Ned for that info,sounds great.

[Guest IT Manager]

I love going to Mae Salong. Stay at the Villa on the way to see what the Army are doing this week to the Akha People.

Amazing Thailand.. put a picture on every flight into the country, get as much income as they can off them, then blame them for the drugs and get DEA money to destroy their villages and kill their young men.

Ahhh Amazing Thailand.

[32x]

Please IT tell me more!! Or would it be a good topic starter?

Places to avoid in Thailand..

[NedKelly]

Yes I.T. this is the nature of tourism the world over. Exploitation of the very things that attract visitors, but whenit comes to human rights - forget it. What about all the cultural shows in Thailand - traditional Thai dancing and then 'hill tribe traditional dancing' by Thais in a simplified form of hill tribe clothing......yo usee mixes of Akha,Lahu, Lisu all inone. Makes me sick to the core when I see this. Then most hill tribe people cannot even leave the province they are in becasue they cannot get a I.D card. I have also seen villages whitewashed becasue certain VIP'S were to visit - they cut down a swathe of forest so the chopper can land and drop the VIP's who stay for all of 30 minutes and then they leave. Then the rains come and wash all the soil away from the area previously cleared for the chopper. I could go on and on.....

[CNX]

When you actually live in LOS, travelling can be a hassle. The problem is that -

a) you have the time of your choice (if retired)

you are in the hub of 'Traveland' - close to most countries except the Americas.

However, I have done very little - BKK, Pattaya (drove down), the North of LOS & SGP. I am going to BKK next week for the first time in years. What I am trying to say is that the world is @ our finger tips. I am upgrading to a digital SLR camera soon (after refusing to give up my film SLR) & am seriously considering going to Calcutta for Songkran (2549BE) (I have a post here seeking advice on Calcutta). I have been to Hong Kong, China, Bali, Philippines, India, Sri Lanka, New Zealand, Australia, SGP, Macau, Nepal, Malaysia. The absolute best was the Taj Mahal in Agra (India) & Kashmir (India). The worst would be Nepal & Sri Lanka. Next year, I might just make my first trip to Europe - Italy & Sth France? I can watch USA on TV.

Going on a holiday makes me appreciate that I am living in Paradise after numerous adjustments (& I am still a student of 'Living in Thailand').

[Thetyim]

CNX, did you realise this thread was 18 months old ?

[tjames]

so whats your point? Holidays come around every year