It's Approaching High Season In Thailand....what's Your Do's And Don'ts For First Time Visitors?

[BigJohnnyBKK]

theres a reason there r places where foreigners dont go. THEre is nothing there!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!111

I'm very happy the majority of visitors think that way.

For myself there is very little of interest in places where people that think like you congregate. Exceptions are at the level of Burger King and marzipan, not exactly central to my quality of life.

Horses for courses.

[Rob8891]

DO Bring Imodium

DON'T poop yourself

Buy it local. Actually that is a good point of discussion. Should you poop the bad bacteria out of your system or stop it up inside?

Imodium won't usually cork you up.... IME, it will reduce your ability to $h1t through the eye of a needle at 10 paces.....So you will still be able to get rid of the bad bugs, but more at a time of your own choosing.

[Chittychangchang]

DO Bring Imodium

DON'T poop yourself

Buy it local. Actually that is a good point of discussion. Should you poop the bad bacteria out of your system or stop it up inside?

Imodium won't usually cork you up.... IME, it will reduce your ability to $h1t through the eye of a needle at 10 paces.....So you will still be able to get rid of the bad bugs, but more at a time of your own choosing.

I'll stick to the Chang squirts in the morning! Better than any coffee enema or colonic irrigation!

[Rob8891]

DO Bring Imodium

DON'T poop yourself

Buy it local. Actually that is a good point of discussion. Should you poop the bad bacteria out of your system or stop it up inside?

Imodium won't usually cork you up.... IME, it will reduce your ability to $h1t through the eye of a needle at 10 paces.....So you will still be able to get rid of the bad bugs, but more at a time of your own choosing.

I'll stick to the Chang squirts in the morning! Better than any coffee enema or colonic irrigation!

That would be a criminal waste of good coffee....and there ain't NO WAY bad coffee is going in me, north or south!!

[althemighty]

Things I have learnt from my mistakes when I was a tourist.

1) Only get a hotel in a central location (walking distance to party area etc) many cheap hotels are in the middle of nowhere and the dodgy tuk tuk drivers will cost you a fortune.

2) Do no book a spead boat tour after a night partying

3) Don't stay at the hotel. You live only once get out and enjoy.

4) Do the tourist traps only once.

Ok some things to do

1) Go to the dentist

2) Eat lots of tasty thai food

3) Party like its 1999

4) Come back and explore the country away from the tourist spots.

[maxme]

Things I have learnt from my mistakes when I was a tourist.

1) Only get a hotel in a central location (walking distance to party area etc) many cheap hotels are in the middle of nowhere and the dodgy tuk tuk drivers will cost you a fortune.

3) Don't stay at the hotel. You live only once get out and enjoy.

Now there is a contradiction in terms...

[MrRealDeal]

Do what makes you happy not what some poster thinks makes you happy

Don't do what some poster tells you will make you happy do what makes you happy.

[poanoi]

Do not ask a lady if she smokes.

Actually a very important question as long as she isn't really a lady - I would never consider a girl that didn't answer both yes and no.

Yes, a friend ended up having to wank because she didn't want to do anything,

and referred to the fact that he never asked her in defense.

So 500 baht barfine +1200 tip for nuffin

[MrRealDeal]

Do not ask a lady if she smokes.

Actually a very important question as long as she isn't really a lady - I would never consider a girl that didn't answer both yes and no.

Yes, a friend ended up having to wank because she didn't want to do anything,

and referred to the fact that he never asked her in defense.

So 500 baht barfine +1200 tip for nuffin

Your "friend" must be a real ladies man ! lol

It's both sad and funny that your "friend" can't get laid by a prostitute.

Edited November 25, 2012 by MrRealDeal

[ManInSurat]

This is a real word of warning.

I'd lived in Thailand for 2 years (now 7) and had struck up a working relationship with a Russian friend of mine.

He really wanted to check out Thailand and it was the first time he'd ever been abroad.

I'd been hype-ing up Krabi and Ao Nang to him for months prior to his visit, making him salivate with the pictures of tropic beaches and white sands whilst he was in -20 in Russia.

I went to pick him up in BKK and took the train down with him to Surat, where I'd based myself at the time. All the while I was continuing to hype up Krabi. He was so desperate to see the sea and the Indian Ocean, which was to be the first ocean he'd ever dipped his toe in.

We left from Surat for Krabi in the late afternoon and got there in the dark. I took him out that night and said to him "Whatever happens, whoever you meet and not matter how much you drink DO NOT, under any circumstances, get on a bike, even as a passenger. Just take a tuk-tuk or taxi." I even stole his keys when I had to leave through exhaustion and inebriation. I repeated this to him as I left him, also reminding him where the bungalows were.

I woke up to a cacophonous banging on the bungalow door the next day and shouts of "Khun Daeng (my Thai nickname), Khun Daeng, come quick to hosptial. Friend bad way."

Sufficed to say, still hungover, I got in taxi and gave the guy a big tip to get me to Krabi gov't hospital as fast as was humanly possible, without breaking the law.

I arrived to see him, half-conscious, with his leg and particularly his ankle shattered into oblivion. They'd inserted a titanium plate in his ankle bone (which is still there today) and a titanium screw in his leg. He couldn't fly back and was subject to long bed rest at my house, where I nursed him back to strength for 5 months.

He never got to see the sea or sand in the daylight for the first 6 months of his stay here!

Fortunately we really bonded over this time and we're the very very very best of friends now.

It transpired that a bargirl had offered him a go on her moped when he could barely walk and that's the last thing he remembers. From what I could garner from the paramedics and police, he was nicked by a car trying to swerve out of the way of him and the car driver had left the scene, as is quite normal here.

My wife lost her daughter and son-in-law who left behind two children 3 and 8 that we have adopted following a head on collision with another bike in the Baan Takhun area a year and a half ago. Helmets would have saved their lives. I thank the stars every day that they had just dropped off the kids.

Always wear a helmet if you have to use a bike, even as a passenger.

Never. Ever. Get. On. A. Bike. When. You. Are. Drunk. Even. As. A. Passenger. You're liable to do stupid things and can easily fall off and be hit by oncoming traffic. Always get a tuk-tuk or proper taxi, or if the weather and distance allows it, just walk.

That's the most important advice I can think to give.

Edited November 25, 2012 by ManInSurat

[MAJIC]

Do have a great time in Disneyland Thailand

But Don't go home thinking it's for real.

Do enjoy the instant Girfriend experience

But don't go home thinking that was real either,

[whistleblower]

Do: sit with the fat old timers in the discount bars and listen to their tales of when they were in CIA/SAS/MI5/Secret service etc - it humours them

Dont: become one of them

Do: buy the pretty young thing in the beer bar a lady drink

Dont: give her money for a replacement buffalo

Do: wear a condom

Dont: Go bareback

Do: Go to the beach

Dont: rent a jet ski

[toybits]

This is Thailand. It is different from your country. Things may be done a bit differently here and you may feel uncomfortable about it. But there is nothing you can do about it. So don't get too upset about it. Their driving style and habits are different. They don't stop to let pedestrians cross the street at intersections. They overtake without using their signal lights to show their intention to do so. They don't like you pressing your cheek against theirs. They don't like foreigners that complain to much....

[payak]

there is a nice little cafe, if you could call it that in bang phli.

don't beat up the 3 ladyboys in there, will cost you 5000bht.

[mania]

Don't assume your rich because they gave you 3069 baht for your $100 US

Don't compare every price to back home & then assume it is so cheap here.

Don't drop any morals & ethics you hold back home because you think or someone tells you they do not apply here.

Do smile. Your on vacation in a cool place many will never see.

Do be a gracious guest & a good example of your country.

Edited November 26, 2012 by mania

[thenervoussurgeon]

Don't ask for advice about being a newby on Thai Visa,just come here roger every pretty girl and go home

[overherebc]

Remember that in the real world you can't buy a diamond, a saphire, a ruby and an emerald in a lovely presentation box for the price of a fish supper back home.

[pattayadingo]

Do try to be polite.

Do not talk badly of the King.

Do not wear gold around your neck as you walk along the beach inebriated.

Do lock away your passport and valuables especially when taking a lady back to your hotel.

Do not leave drinks unnatended as you shower ready to roger that lady you took back to the hotel, you might be drugged and robbed.

Do have fun and shag yourself silly if pussy is what you come for

[rene123]

I don't think there is a one size fits all answer to the OP's question. Everyone is different in what they want from Thailand. Men want different things than women and old men want different things than young men. Same goes for us ladies. I grew up hiking and exploring and that is what I still enjoy doing. When I was a kid my parents never knew where I was until I came home at supper time all dirty, and usually with an evil grin on my face. It's the same today. Most of my female aquaintances enjoy shopping more than me. I can't stand shopping other than to get a specific item that I need or want.

[infinity11]

One of the best threads I have seen in a very long time, and trust me I HAVE BEEN LURKING.

I only hope when i come back on here and post I get this level and quality of responses.

(I have all too often seen the exact opposite.)

[theblether]

One of the best threads I have seen in a very long time, and trust me I HAVE BEEN LURKING.

I only hope when i come back on here and post I get this level and quality of responses.

(I have all too often seen the exact opposite.)

Thanks very much......on the odd occasion we stop fighting like rats in a sack and dispense some sage wisdom. Then we go back to fighting like rats in a sack again.

To be fair we must enjoy it as we keep coming back.

[Mosha]

I just had friends here, One of them was doing my crust in. In the sticks and he's doing the touchy feely stuff, I got fed up of telling him to stop it.

[tutsiwarrior]

it's hard to know what to suggest to new visitors...

I just got back from a few months working in saudi where I hadn't even seen a woman's ankles the entire time and stopped at a hotel in Nana as I had some business at the embassy the next morning on Wireless Rd...I went around the corner to the Hilary bar and ordered a beer and was a bit overwhelmed...then a woman came over to chat and I politely said that I just wanted a beer and she left quietly to sit with her pals...

when I went to leave there was some growling and staring daggers and I said: 'hey, you are all very attractive and desirable women but I'm on my way home to Suphanburi to see my wife and family, etc...' and then the language failed me and I dragged my sorry ass back to my hotel room to look at porn on the internet...

so...what? 'do not go into bars where there are prostitutes unless ye wanna get laid; if ye just wanna drink get a can of Chang from the nearest 7-11 and sit outside on the curb and mind yer own business'???

sheeesh...if they wanted to do that they shoulda stayed at home and joined a 'bottle gang' outside of their nearest beat liquor store...rather than flying halfway around the world, etc., etc...

an alternative view of BKK and the 'delights' thereof...(and another vote for tutsi from 'the PC and truly righteous' brigade)

Edited December 10, 2012 by tutsiwarrior

[Rob8891]

Gun law............ Just a wee nugget of advice...fire the bum gun DOWN first, .............

[bhatmasterson]

Don,t tell the drunk tourist, that his bar girl is a man within earshot, or the she/male might kill the you, the good samaritan.

I've never met a ladyboy who tried to pass herself off as a woman. Have you?

So you are saying you don't know until you have tried?

What you can't read? No. I am saying lady boys will tell a potential customer up front and the first thing. They don't try and kid you they are a woman. Wake up. Come to Thailand and experience this wonderful culture and people.

Boy! You've got an awful lot of posts here which gives me the impression that you know a thing or two about a lot of things Thai. So why you'd say that is beyond me. I won't get into how I know you are incorrect but your are incorrect.