Going overseas for the first time

[sarcastocrat]

My partner and I have decided to go overseas for the first time (for me anyway) later this year. We have decided on Thailand mainly because it's cheap, has some herping to be done, and there are things to do. We are looking at Koh-Samui, Phuket and a couple of days in Bangkok at the end for shopping.

I'm a total virgin when it comes to all of this, and was wondering if anyone could give me some thoughts/ comments/ suggestions etc.

So from what I've read, I won't need a Visa (we are going for less than 30 days) and I do need a passport (see-total travel virgin). What do we need to watch out for over there? I won't be renting a motorbike/ car/ sea-doo, won't be engaging in any major piss-up sessions (trying not to), and I will try to avoid desecrating any religious monuments. Do I need to be worried about anything, or aware of anything in particular?

Thanks in advance, this is all new to me!

Holly

 

[big_head]

Bangkok is an awesome place. Love it. cheap massages (around $6 AUD an hour), cheap alcohol, food, everything. If you are keen for a few days of relaxation, head over to Phi Phi island, about a 1.5 hour boat ride from phuket. Stay at Phi Phi island village resort, pretty cheap, private resort beach, awesome place. We will be going back many many times! Have fun!!

oh, and when it comes to the markets, dont waste your money on clothes or any of the cheap crap. spend a bit extra for the brand stuff. you get it home, one wash and its half the size!

 

[gillsy]

Friends have just come back from there, some 'police' were trying to make them pay a fine for dropping a cigarette butt on the ground. It was all in thai, so if you get in trouble with police make sure they have ID (these ones didn't) and insist on seeing the tourist police.

Nothing to worry about but it all came up because they wouldn't get on a tuk tuk. So make sure you stand your ground.

 

[python blue]

If i was you i would totally skip Koh samui its a total bore not much to do not very good diving and all the locals there are ferals trying to rip you off all the time if i was you head over to Koh Tao its only about 2 hours by boat from samui its a better island sweet diving and an awsome atmosphere.

 

[Snakeluvver2]

Hey hey

I just came back from there and my step mom and step brothers are from there.
Any who
There's great herping if you leave the cities, I suggest checking out Non kai, Udontani and alot of the other northern cities. I literally walked outside the house and there was snakes and lizards
You can use your australian lisense to drive over there, the rules are exactly the same
Except if you get caught doing something your not supposed to they don;t fine you they take you lisence off you and you go to jail for the night.

Check out Maya bay as well.

Also don't know how comfortable with your sexuality you are but being gay is totally acceptable and some people will make light fun of you for not understanding it.
Don't leave anything lying around in the hotel rooms (put them in a LOCKER)
Don't tell any westerners what you are doing or staying (sometimes there more dodgey and want your money-happened to my sister)
Don't give any money to beggers..they will be back and they won't stop.

Drink thai beer and thai spirits no matter what they say.

The shut down on drugs is pretty harsh there too.

Otherwise than taht it is a beautiful place, I spent most my time in Udon-thani and the surrounding cities.

 

[Asharee133]

get me a durian and a jackfruit!! lol

 

[gozz]

Pataya rocks hehehehehehe.......

 

[dossy]

if you do go out just becareful of the drug sellers, in a few of the countries around that area drug dealers will put stuff in you hand and then walk away and this is ither because there are cops near and they do not want to get caught or they are trying to sell to you and once they let go your in debit to them ( if this happens drop is on the ground and walk away)

also barter your heart out its heaps of fun
i was bartering once and i got it down to around $6 AU and it came from $70 but once you get the item give them alittle bit more then you got them two. that item that got to 6 bux i gave them 8 bux just for playing along haha

just look on some websites and travle agents on the customs so that you do not offend them because even the smallest thing could offend them

 

[gozz]

Always organize your taxi from the hotel.......and watch for pick pockets

 

[saximus]

Very jealous. I really want to do a diving trip there sometime soon. From stories from friends, what Jannico said is pretty much exactly what I've heard. A lot of people also get a special belt thing that you put your valuables (passport, cash etc) in and strap it directly to your body so you can't be pick-pocketed. Otherwise have fun and take lots of herp photos to make the rest of us jealous!

 

[nathancl]

Depending on what your after on your holiday i would do it the other way around doing Bangkok crazyness first then doing the relaxing thing before having to come home.

when visiting the grand palace and places like that in Bangkok i highly recommend doing one of the chao phraya river cruises, you can get an all day pass for 150 baht on again off again so its good to go and see all the touristy cultural stuff like the temples, emerald buddha etc. in this area you will have people come up to you and tell you its a special day in thailand so the temple or palace you are walking towards is actually closed and they will take you somewhere else first and come back later. dont do it! lol the place isnt closed they just want to take you in the tuk tuk to a local market or something and they get kick backs for taking you there!

shopping in bangkok is simply just amazing! MBK is good but i highly recommend heading to prathunam (different from pathumwan dont get confused lol) there is markets there as well as a big shopping centre that is simply named "fashion" its waaaay better priced than MBK and i found that there was alot more available there. I know people usually go to thailand and shop for good fakes and things like that in the market however if you did want to do some higher end shopping (real items not fakes) head to Chitlom, its like Bangkok's rodeo drive....like Rodeo drive on crack.... louis had 4 levels!!!

Dusit zoo is actually really good, i thought it was of a pretty high standard so i would reccomend that. also head to snake farm at the uni this also rocks plus if you walk the main street outside snakefarm and look in the hedges you will find squillions of small skinks and dragons.

no trip to Bangkok should be without a night out in Patpong or Silom, lady shows, boy shows, lady boy shows, plus they have some really good clubs. G.O.D in Silom is really good is a gay club but plenty of str8ies too.

The street food might look disgusting but you MUST try it, its the best thing ever and its like 40 baht! Cow Cow Moo (stewed pork?) is addictive! i ate it every single day!

getting around bangkok is easy you can always get a cab! ask them to use the meter rather than negotiate a price with them because you will get it waaaaaay cheaper if you use the meter. sometimes if its late (say after 1am) alot of the cabs will refuse so sometimes youll just have to barter a price with them. apart from that theres tuk tuks which dont have meters so you can name your price and also the skyrail. skyrail is awesome i was staying near the australian embassy at Banyan tree and its like a 5 min walk to saladaeng skyrail station which is only 2 stops from siam square or 3 stops to the stadium (MBK) and its cheap aswell something like 20 baht.

kao san road seems to be where all the backpackers are at. personally i thought it was the filthy I hated it!

in Phuket there is not as much to do i ended up cutting my phuket section of my trip short and going back to Bangkok guess im just a city boy! but definitly patong beach was nice it where i stayed while i was there. lots of bars and places to eat and shop etc. hardly any cow cow moo though so was a bit devestating for me mostly seafood.

definitly do a day trip atleast to Phi phi. if you go out on the streets in phuket and go to one of the travel agents you can barter with them. the hotel i was staying in Millenium resort was asking 2000 baht each for the day trip to phi phi, maya bay, khai island etc but we managed to get it organised for 900 baht for the exact same company & exact same trip.

and as gillsy mentioned should you run into some sort of trouble with police and theres something that doesnt seem right either pay them what their asking for or get them to get the tourist police lol its really not a fun experience dealing with the police.

 

[Crystal..Discus]

In terms on Bangkok, great shopping. Three days into a two week trip I picked up a bacterial infection that wasn't phased by Listerine. Had a lesion come up on my gum line. :?

So really just watch what you eat; look out for pick pockets; always demand ID when confronted with authority; and don't go out alone. Also, go to your doctor and get a few vaccinations before leaving.

 

[Snakeluvver2]

Never had any problems with the police.
Pretty much like the cities in Australia just a bit crazier, as long as you keep your wits about you you'll be fine.

Go into one of the villages and ask if you can eat a dog (maaa), bbq frogs are very common to.
If you feeling up for it there's a resturant in Vietman that specializes in snakes.
Also if you leave bangkok, go purchase some fireworks. $50 last me 3 days of blowng up stuff.

To put it in repect to how cheap it is. I used $500 dollars in a month and most of that was on alcohol, ice-cream, and fireworks.

 

[AUSHERP]

BEWARE! Flying ping pong balls, you'll know when you see one they are small, round, white in colour and smell like grandmas tuna.............

 

[myusername]

My girlfriend and I just got back from Thailand, we did Phuket (Patong), Koh Samui, Koh Pha Ngan and Phi Phi.
I thoroughly recommend Phi Phi and Patong, they were our favourite places on the trip. Maya Bay on Phi Phi Island was absolutely stunning. Koh Pha Ngan was great too, Koh Samui was fun but certainly less memorable than the others.

Patong we found a little overwhelming at first, but you do get used to it fast, and (as was said above) if you keep your wits about you you will be fine. There's great food, great shopping, a nice (but incredibly busy) beach, and lots of things to do during the days; we went elephant riding, to a snake show, shooting and parasailing just to name a few and it was all within 20 minutes of Patong. I don't know what type of person you are, but I also really enjoyed bartering, one piece of advice when bartering is don't be afraid to walk away. If they want the sale bad enough they will come after you, and if they don't you will find what you're looking for somewhere else.

I couldn't stress the drugs point more however, as Tuk Tuk drivers (and some shop vendors) will sell you the drugs and tip off their police friends who are nearby and then they will basically make you bribe them (unless you'd prefer to go to jail).
Also, if you go to the beach and decide to hire jetskis or anything like that make sure you take photos first, or at least discuss any damage you can see with the guys who you're hiring it off, as sometimes they will pin pre-existing damage on you and make you pay some exorbitant amount to fix it.

We really enjoyed it and did a lot of interesting stuff, and we never had any problems. The locals are very helpful in general. I posted a few photos in the names and faces thread in the last few pages as well if you want to look.

Good luck with your trip, I hope you enjoy yourselves as much as we did.

Oh and I just think that I should add that if you really want to see some memorable stuff, you should take a trip down Bangla road in Patong, find a few bars and have some drinks. Some of it is a bit more memorable than you'd like it to be, but it's still good for a laugh and for the shock factor.

Joe.

P.S. You should also make time to see some Muay Thai kickboxing if you've never seen it before, it's brutal but super fun to watch.

 

[Benyo]

I went with my brother last year and had the best time.. When in Phuket I recommend hiring out mopeds, such a fun way to travel! But beaware of some scammers. We were approached by a pommy guy who could tell we were tourists and he told us some story about his brother runs a heap of the tours and can get us on the tours for extremely cheap and talked about getting us into a huge club for a cheap price with free drinks all night and showed us photos of everything! And we gave him all this money to go on all the tours and everything he had all the paperwork looking more than legit and then came the day of the tours and no bus showed up for us and apparently this guy had been scamming heaps of tourists. But apart from that was the best time many drunk nights and amazing sights seen.

Hope it all goes well for you
Ben