Advice Please For My Single Travelling Daughter

[BevT]

My 20 yr old daughter is in Thailand at the end of a 6 month tour having been to NZ, OZ, Cambodia (where she was with friends) and now finally Thailand. She arrived last Thursday and spent time staying in a hostel in Bangkok and now is down at KaoTan (not sure if got the name right) on a short diving course. She is travelling on her own and finding it hard to meet other backpackers (something she had no problem with in NZ and oz). She is thinking of cutting her trip short and coming home to the UK but considering going back to Bangkok and booking herself onto a trip/tour. So has anyone any suggestions of tours suitable for single travellers/backpackers? Obviously she does not have a lot of money. Thanks

[2long]

She's probably on Koh Tao and should just hang out at the dive shop she's doing her course at. Unless she's incredibly shy, she shouldn't have any problems meeting people here. Koh Sarn road in Bangkok is full of single travellers, as is the rest of the country.

Does she drink? A few beers beers (not too many) and an open mind will be all she needs, so long as she stays in control.

Wish her luck

[sbk]

Sounds like she could be shy, normally all it takes is a friendly, "where are you from?" to get people conversing. Most of the people she'll meet here have just come from or are headed to Aus and NZ, so bring that up, backpackers are a friendly lot in general, so tell her to just open up a bit more and she may find out she really enjoys herself.

[Boo]

My nephew is coming to thailand next week on a month long gap year thing. None of his uni mates wanted to travel & as he was on a limited time scale found this company that organises a month long tour around thailand. http://www.realgap.co.uk/

It sounds really good as they spend a week in a thai village learning about customs & culture, a few days in a temple, a week camping in the jungle & the rest on an island relaxing for the last week.

There are lots of these tours around & some even just for a day or two, why not tell her to look around for something similar in KS road as that way there will be a ready made group of people of a similar age doing the same thing?

[Rhys]

Put her on a plane back home... You will be able to live with yourself.. for doing this..

She is PRIME BAIT... Sorry to say..

This is not a good place to be right now..

[britmaveric]

Put her on a plane back home... You will be able to live with yourself.. for doing this..

She is PRIME BAIT... Sorry to say..

This is not a good place to be right now..

Lost me????

[ayakiawe]

hey we are on the island close by (Koh Samui) and have an orgainc garden here and she can hang out with my Thai girlfriend and study for free natural Thai foods and organic gardening.

Write Ta is you would like to contact her at:

<snip - email address deleted - please see the Forum Rules>

/Mod Edit - In the interests of privacy protection please do not post email addresses on the Forum.

Edited August 9, 2006 by Jai Dee

[Lacoste]

Put her on a plane back home... You will be able to live with yourself.. for doing this..

She is PRIME BAIT... Sorry to say..

This is not a good place to be right now..

Complete rubbish, There are plenty of lone female travellers in Thailand and after the high profile incident on Samui which shocked the locals it is probably the safest it's been for years, A little common sence and all is well.

(not that its ever been realy unsafe)

[bkkmadness]

Put her on a plane back home... You will be able to live with yourself.. for doing this..

She is PRIME BAIT... Sorry to say..

This is not a good place to be right now..

What a stupid thing to say, and even more so to use sensationlist terms like 'prime bait' to her mother of all people. Engage your brain before making a post next time, ######ing idiot.

[kayo]

agree with maddy. I left thailand two years ago, so she should be safe.

now, if she were to come to guatemala, however....

[Mossfinn]

PRIME BAIT.quote

Well thats constructive... study for free natural Thai foods and organic gardening.quote

That sounds good

Moss

Edited August 8, 2006 by Mossfinn

[Jiu-Jitsu]

I have a friend, a Euopean girl who is on Samui now, for a couple of weeks. So, if your daughter wants to head on over there, I'm sure my friend would be happy for the company. She's bored.

I'll pass on contact details if you need them.

[bmanly]

Hi BevT, there is one very good Australian run backpacking tour group company that operates several group tours in Thailand. I have used them twice before. It is open to all ages and most people on these trips come on their own. They never operate with more than 13 to a group. As it is backpacker style it is not that expensive either. You can book the trips online and they start from Bangkok too. Have a look at this link. www.intrepidtravel.com.au I think that will suit your daughter very well.

[wilko]

Put her on a plane back home... You will be able to live with yourself.. for doing this..

She is PRIME BAIT... Sorry to say..

This is not a good place to be right now..

I have read some rubbish posted on this site but this ranks as one of the most perfect examples of complete and utter drivel...what on earth prompted this comment?

Are you having a bad day or just a bad life?

To the OP....

What are your daughters reasons here?

Do you think she has become travel weary? Maybe the diving has not been up to expectations....also it's the rainy season.

Samui and surrounding islands are full of young "backpackers" many of whom come from Oz and NZ. There are increasing amounts of drunken young men touring, but I would find it hard to believe that she can't make friends out there. This would lead one to conclude that there is something else that is posing a problem?

[pantsninja]

after doing the poor backpacker thing many many times, if you want to meet people and everyone has said, just talk to someone. But i found the slightly more interesting conversation and people happened in the slightly less touristed areas, like Kanchanaburi or Suhkothai. Where on Samui you have a larger chance of finding drunken fools, but i am sure there are some interesting ones there to.

Edited August 9, 2006 by pantsninja

[BevT]

Thanks for the advice. Re Intrepid Travel - they will only take bookings 14 days in advance which is a shame. It may be that she is travel weary and after having such a good time in NZ, OZ and then working with friends with street children in Cambodia she is feeling lonely and a bit "flat". She said to me she wants to end her 6 months travelling on a high rather than a low! She is not shy but says that she is finding that people are travelling in pairs and has so far not come across anyone travelling alone. I think what she is hoping to find is something similar to the tours she went on in OZ and NZ where although she was a solo traveller she was able to meet lots of people.

Her plans are to travel back up the Bangkok at the weekend stay at Kao San Road and look for a 5 day tour, however the only one I could find online is booked up. So can anyone recommend a travel agent - she is well aware that she can easily be "ripped off".

As regards the person who says it is not safe place to be - I have been worrying about her ever since she got to Thailand!

[Jiu-Jitsu]

She can take a look at Charlie Connection Travel & Tour whilst there; http://www.travelconnecxion.com/

Here's a full listing;

http://www.khaosanroad.com/directory/listi...mp;country_id=1

http://www.khaosanroad.com/

[wilko]

Thanks for the advice. Re Intrepid Travel - they will only take bookings 14 days in advance which is a shame. It may be that she is travel weary and after having such a good time in NZ, OZ and then working with friends with street children in Cambodia she is feeling lonely and a bit "flat". She said to me she wants to end her 6 months travelling on a high rather than a low! She is not shy but says that she is finding that people are travelling in pairs and has so far not come across anyone travelling alone. I think what she is hoping to find is something similar to the tours she went on in OZ and NZ where although she was a solo traveller she was able to meet lots of people.

Her plans are to travel back up the Bangkok at the weekend stay at Kao San Road and look for a 5 day tour, however the only one I could find online is booked up. So can anyone recommend a travel agent - she is well aware that she can easily be "ripped off".

As regards the person who says it is not safe place to be - I have been worrying about her ever since she got to Thailand!

I'm not clear about how long she has left before going home but has she considered teaching? there are still charities involved in the tsunami East coast, and putting (voluntary) teachers intro other schools for a month or so. I sorry I can't give you any names. She could try the British Council or any school in Thailand.

If she can't get a tour and finds Samui too commercial, perhaps Kanchanaburi, (Bridge over the River Kwai) might be worth a go. Lots of tours/excusions to lakes (Sri Nakarin) and waterfalls (Erewhon), or Chiang Mai the cultural capital of Thailand..plenty of backpacker hostels/guest houses at both places...e.g. Jolly Frog in Kanchanaburi

I know it's your job to worry but please don't listen to the claptrap of that other poster...Thailand is a relatively soft destination, which is why places like Samui are so popular with "package" tourists.

the streets of towns in UK, USA and Oz are far more threatening than here.

[wilko]

Sorry West coast Tsunami!

[The Skipper]

Put her on a plane back home... You will be able to live with yourself.. for doing this..

She is PRIME BAIT... Sorry to say..

This is not a good place to be right now..

Thats a stupid thing to say.

I see lots of single women enjoying Thailand.

[jdinasia]

BevT ... Thailand is probably one of te safest countries in the world for a white woman to be travelling alone ... relax.

If she hits Koh Samui r Koh Tao or Koh Phangan she should be able to fall in with a group pretty easy ...

and before anyone says it ... Kanchanaburi has had a couple of problems in the past couple ofyears but is still a great place to go ... tons of backpackers and a generally great vibe!

[phibunmike]

There is also an animal sanctuary somewhere near Hua Hin that takes on volunteer helpers to feed / care for the animals. Maybe someone has details or ask in the Hua Hin forum.

Don't worry about her, Thailand is fine and by now she will be street wise if she wasn't before...

She can also do her own research in Khao San road, more easily than you can from afar.

[sbk]

If she has already spent time in Cambodia then Thailand will be no problem. She is hardly a babe fresh from home.

As for only couples, well must be where she stayed. My husband and I have a small resort on Koh Phangan and the majority of our guests this past week were single people.

[Dawn]

Bev,

We always use the Educational Travel Centre on the Khao San Road:

www.etc.co.th

They're very good and very, very reliable - we've used them for the last 5 years.

Ask for Pradit

Dawn

[Backpack_thailand]

If she has been down on Koh Tao I'm 100% sure she will have had a great time, met loads of people. Tao is one the most laid back places in Thailand, full of single travellers.

If she's heading back up to BKK, then she could do a lot worse than head out to Kanchanaburi for a couple of days, just 2 hours west from BKK. Some beautiful scenery out here and of course the famous River Kwai.

A good travel compnay operating between BKK and Kanchanaburi is Good Times Travel who do some great tours at great prices.

She'll be fine Bev, don't worry!

[TravelBUG]

hi Bev

I'm a 24 yr old female from Oz. I travelled alone in Thailand for a little while last year.

Your daughter will be fine. I had a wonderful time checking out the sites and doing my own thing while i was there

If shes mature enough to do all this travelling alone, then she's certainly smart enough to travel safely.

I stayed at Indra regent hotel... staff were so helpful for me as a single women travelling alone, and in Koh Samui i had a blast.

She'll be fine