So You Are/Might Be Coming to Thailand?

[NewTeaBag]

I originally wrote this as a PM to someone heading out to Thailand, but there is a lot of useful info in it for you BBV4Lers who cant be bothered to wade thru the 1600+ replies of the Degen "ask me" thread in OOT.

OK.

Even as a "cheap bastard" by western standards you can/should have a pretty top end visit in Thailand.

Step1: You made the choice to come to The Land of Smiles! Well Done!

Step2: Plan a loose itinerary. I say plan because you can easily loose track of days/weeks out here and end up having stayed the whole time in one spot without realizing it or your other travel ideas. I say loose because you may end up liking one bit more thn the others and purposefully decide to extend your visit in that spot.

<u>Regions</u>
BKK: Bangkok is pretty much its own animal WRT to regions of Thailand. It is on the whole a fast moving and rapidly growing city. You can find everything from super posh westernized luxury all the way down to abject, nasty smell in your face, shack dwelling, poverty and everything in between.

Chiang Mai: Northernmost part of Thailand, where there is a lot less bustle and people then near BKK or the southern island resort areas. The people tend to look a lot lighter skinned and the girls can be quite astoundingly attractive (assuming you fancy asian girls). There be tons of nature type stuff to be done here including jungle treks, river tours, camping, elephant rides, bits of shopping). There be little in terms of westernized fun such as big booming discos or giant sopping malls, etc. The prices are lower by far than BKK and lower in general than the Southern islands.

ISSAN: North East region of Thailand. This is essentially the agricultural breadbasket of Thailand and with that label comes the most abject poverty you can find in Thailand. It is VERY hot because it is landlocked and constantly baked by the sun (even in the rainy season). Here the prices for living (food, room for rent, etc) will be lowest. People in this are tend to have the darkest complexions but many of the girls are still well attactive (My GF is from ISSAN). Things to see include tons of Issan girls dying to find a nice farang, BF, rice farms aplenty, lots of Thai cultural type stuff (think traditional music and dance), short hop from Cambodia should you fancy a pop over there. One of the big benefits of this area as a visitor is that there are very few farangs around (unlike BKK and the South) so you do seem to get a bit of the "rockstar" treatment here.

Pattaya Beach: This is a touristy beach about 2-3 hours south of BKK. It used to be known as a sort of poor mans Phuket in that it drew a less well off touristy crowd than Phuket. I haven't been to Pattaya in awhile but from what I hear it hasn't changed a whole lot other than a large influx of Russians (Including rumours of significant mafia elements) and a bunch of Brit expats. As beach holidays go, its a bit budget but with plenty of nightlife including a thriving sex industry.

The South:
Phuket: I'll start here as thats where I've been living for the last 2+ months.
Tis a small island in the grand scheme of things but still actually the largest of the Thai Islands in the south. It has a well developed tourist industry which runs the gamut from extreme isolated luxury to budget holiday with still much fun. The main action is concentrated near Patong Beach but there are numerous other nearby beaches and items of interest all accesible by short motorbike rides. We soon will be well into the LOW SEASON, thus prices are dropping sharpishly (think at least 50% less than Nov-Feb prices.) As an example, you could get a clean decent sized studo type guest room with A/C and possibly free wifi for about 700-900THB($23-$27)/night within walking distance of the beach and all the hopping nightlife. Move a bit farther away from Patong and you are looking at prob aroun 500THB/night but bit more quiet. The beachs are just, well, awesome (you've seen just a few of my pics already), The nightlife in Patong is hopping and includes a thriving bargirl/disco trade. Phuket Town is a nice mostly Thai small city with tons of localy type stuff to do and there are some other natural bits around the island. The people tend to have a dark complexion here and can often be indistinguishable from Issan natives aside from accent.

Koh Samui:
Not been there yet but everything I've heard (weighting what the Thais say more heavily) tis a small very beautiful island but with little to do other than beach/snorkel/scuba. Think sleepy paradise island, pretty yet perhaps a bit boring.

Koh Phangnang: Small cheaper island full with many "on the cheap" western style backpacker types. Home of the montly FMP (full moon party) which is essentially a 3 day, nonstop, rave on the beach.

Koh Pi Pi: Small isolated beatiful island in the Andaman Sea (bout 3 hour by boat from Phuket). This is the island used in filming "The Beach." Worth a visit but V Expensive (comparative to Thai prices) to stay there for long. IOW worth a visit if you have the time inclination, but prob not a longterm stay locale.


<u>Other Items</u>

<u>Travel inside Thailand</u>
You can get from BKK to Chiang Mai, Issan, or Phuket/The South by plane for around 2000THB($56-$60) or less given 2-3 days booking notice.

Busses are regularly scheduled but can be very very long journeys depending upon the destination. For example, for around 700THB you could take an A/C bus down to Phuket but it would be a 10-13 hour journey whereas the plane is only 1.5 hrs for paying the extra 1300THB or so.

Local transportation:
Rent a motorbike: reccomended for any of the Southern Island destinations, Chiang Mai, or Issan assuming even just a week stay (around 150THB($4)/day). NOT reccomended for BKK unless you are well experienced at driving motorbikes AND dodging lunatic traffic.

Subway/Skytrain: Clean, on schedule, A/C, modern transportation within BKK and fairly cheap (deffo cheaper than taxis)

Meter Taxi: Within BKK, the primary "late hours"/"can't be bothered to take the subway/skytrain" mode of transport. Make sure they ALWAYS turn the meter on! Perhaps 50-100THB for most destinations within BKK.

NonMeter Taxi: ALWAYS negotiate a price to your destination BEFORE the taxi starts moving! These are prime opportunities to get ripped off if you are not careful.

Motorbike Taxi: Assuming you aren't carrying a [censored] of stuff, these are the cheapest and most plentiful mode of transport. Negotiate a price (Should be around 50-60% of a reg taxi) to your destination then hop on the back and hang on. Reccomended for Southern Areas and Chiang Mai/Issan but with a safety warning for BKK.

<u>Sex For Sale</u>
There are 5 locations in Thailand known for the bargirl/prostituition trade. 3 are in BKK, Soi Cowboy (off Sukhomvitt Rd), Nana Plaza (at the very end of Sukhomvitt Rd), and Patpong closer to the heart of BKK. Patpong is the oldest and most historical area (think of any Vietnam war film showing BKK bars/girls/shows and this is where they are). Strangely enough the prices are highest in Patpng though I hear the girl quality is midrange. Nana Plaza tends to have the best looking, though experienced, bar girls and the prices are high to midrange. Soi Cowboy is newer (from an industry perspective) and tends to have the "just breaking into the trade" bargirls and some of the older "near the end of shelflife" barwomen. The prices tend to be lowest here.

Walking Street in Pattaya Beach is the 4th known are for bargirls. It consists of numerous bars, beer gardens, and discos full of working girls. The prices are midrange compared to the other areas.

Bangla Rd in Paong is the 5th known are for bargirls/etc. It consists of about 5 dedicated sub sois each with a gauntlet of about 20 differently themed open air bars (each with a complement of its own bargirls/drinks touts) and also another 50 or so independent(freestanding) bars with either bargirls or freelancers working in them. Prices tend to be mid to high range but are falling as we enter the rainy/low season.

Definitions of Bargirl Price Ranges
These prices are assuming a normal male aged 20-40 neither grossly fat nor amazingly fit. If you are amazingly fit/attractive you will prob be able to negotiate a lower rate than most. If you are grossly overweight or in some other way deformed/abnormal you will probably be paying above the going rates.

High range: 2000-3000THB($60-$90)/night of pleasure
Mid Range: 1300-2000THB($$40-$60)/night of pleasure
Low Range: 1000-1500THB($30-$45)/nigt of pleasure

[4drugmoney]

I love Thailand. Was there for a few weeks in 2003. In pattaya and Bangkok. It was amazing. The hotel I stayed at was like 20$ a night and it was like a 5 star hotel.
Im close so hopefully Ill get back there soon.

[ShipitFMA]

I just want the answer to this question

How do i find a balla house on the beach paying prices that havn't been inflated because im foreign

[Grey]

Someone move to Brazil with me. We can buy an oceanfront mansion for some magic beans.

[NewTeaBag]

[ QUOTE ]
I just want the answer to this question

How do i find a balla house on the beach paying prices that havn't been inflated because im foreign

[/ QUOTE ]

This is both easy and difficult.

Difficult in that its VERY hard to avoid farang pricing.

Easy in that if you hunt hard enough and look at less touristed areas you will be happy with what you find. You wil just have to be in a more remote spot.

Additionaly, if you have a Thai friend/gf, its way way easier to disount pices and get closer to Thai retail vice faran retail.

For example, there is a 3bed/2bath house with small pool and most western amenities in Phuket Town (not on a beach but a 10 min motorbike ride from many beaches) that was quoted to me at 15000THB($460)/mo and my Thai gf got it down to 8500THB($260)/mo with just a 15min phone call.

Your best bet is the low season (May-Oct) when landlords/agents are struggling to fill places. During High season you will either pay what they ask or have to hunt around with the other farangs.

Right now, you can get a super, mega, luxury, balla house (meaning like 3-4 bedrooms, pool, A/C, internet, and the rest, right on Rawai beach) for around 80000-90000THB($2445-$2750)/mo. If you get a Thai to set it up, you could prob get it for closer to 60000-70000THB($1835-$2140)/mo.

Look alittle hardr at even more remote locations and youll prob find closer to 50000THB($1530)/mo for near enough the same thing with once again the Thai hookup dropping your pricing.

Even if you can't get/don't have a Thai friend you trust with such matters, learn some basic negotiation techniques and remember to always be courteous and you are likely to get at least some (around 10%-20%) discount on your prices.

[doubLe a tom]

[ QUOTE ]
I just want the answer to this question

How do i find a balla house on the beach paying prices that havn't been inflated because im foreign

[/ QUOTE ]

I want to punch greenteagirlie in the [censored] face. Stupid annoying idiot. F her and her Jay Leno chin.

[ShipitFMA]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
I just want the answer to this question

How do i find a balla house on the beach paying prices that havn't been inflated because im foreign

[/ QUOTE ]

This is both easy and difficult.

Difficult in that its VERY hard to avoid farang pricing.

Easy in that if you hunt hard enough and look at less touristed areas you will be happy with what you find. You wil just have to be in a more remote spot.

Additionaly, if you have a Thai friend/gf, its way way easier to disount pices and get closer to Thai retail vice faran retail.

For example, there is a 3bed/2bath house with small pool and most western amenities in Phuket Town (not on a beach but a 10 min motorbike ride from many beaches) that was quoted to me at 15000THB($460)/mo and my Thai gf got it down to 8500THB($260)/mo with just a 15min phone call.

Your best bet is the low season (May-Oct) when landlords/agents are struggling to fill places. During High season you will either pay what they ask or have to hunt around with the other farangs.

Right now, you can get a super, mega, luxury, balla house (meaning like 3-4 bedrooms, pool, A/C, internet, and the rest, right on Rawai beach) for around 80000-90000THB($2445-$2750)/mo. If you get a Thai to set it up, you could prob get it for closer to 60000-70000THB($1835-$2140)/mo.

Look alittle hardr at even more remote locations and youll prob find closer to 50000THB($1530)/mo for near enough the same thing with once again the Thai hookup dropping your pricing.

Even if you can't get/don't have a Thai friend you trust with such matters, learn some basic negotiation techniques and remember to always be courteous and you are likely to get at least some (around 10%-20%) discount on your prices.

[/ QUOTE ]

Either prices sound good, from what i was looking at on various google linked sites was like 5k US a week...which is obviously very expensive...
How would i go about finding a house on Rawai beach?

Just googled "rawai beach real estate rental" and found some houses that appear very very nice and are priced very good
http://www.phuket-properties.co.th/component/option,com_cmsrealty/Itemid,91/

how do these looks/how are the locations on them

[ QUOTE ]
I want to punch greenteagirlie in the [censored] face. Stupid annoying idiot. F her and her Jay Leno chin.

[/ QUOTE ]

You're just jealous because she breaks all the rules

[NewTeaBag]

I'm off to Visit Phuket Town and watch the FA Cup FInal. Will be back laterz. Send me a PM (with specific dates/budget in mind)and I can have the Thai GF hunt around the Thai language sites for bigger selction with much better prices.

PS: Unless you really want some crazy arsed super super mansion, you shouldn't be paying over 100000THB($3050)/mo especially in the low season.