Post deleted by Mat Sklansky

[two0crew]

Just got back from Ko Chang and Bangkok. It was really fun. For cool House music check out BED Supperclub.. Any Q's PM me..

[bjw1985]

thx, i guess i'll stay awayyyyy from Pattaya.

well, we are going mostly for adventure. have fun. but we do also want to check out a little bit of the tourist attractions, like some temples.

What kind of things would I miss out on if i only go to Phi Phi and not Koh samui?

Also, from my schedule, where do u think is hte best place to catch a muay thai fight?

Thanks again,

[KJS]

[ QUOTE ]

What kind of things would I miss out on if i only go to Phi Phi and not Koh samui?


[/ QUOTE ]

Nothing.

Samui is not very pretty, and has nothing "must-see", IMO. It is popular due to its location, ease to get to and proximity to the island with the full moon party (Phang Nga). You can have fun there for sure, and eat Western food and peruse stalls of counterfeit CDs, wallets and crappy flip flops. But it is not even close to being in the same league as the islands in Trang and Satun in terms of natural beauty.

For me, Southern Thailand is a place to go see a white sand beach, chill on a hammock all day and eat some fresh seafood. And anywhere will have beers for you. There are places there that have accomodations for less than 100 people. They are slices of heaven. For instance, Ko Ngai, Ko Lipe, Ko Boulon, Ko Muk. Read up on them and see what you think.

KJS

[ChoicestHops]

How much are you island guys spending per month for all your expenses?

[WhoIam]

[ QUOTE ]
How much are you island guys spending per month for all your expenses?

[/ QUOTE ]
The rent on our villa is 35k (~US $1000) per month, but we could have gotten a decent place in a less desireable area for probably 1/4 of that. Electricity is probably another 5k, food and booze are whatever you want to spend--you could eat three square meals and get wasted every night on rice whiskey for $5/day if you wanted to. My motorbike is 3k baht per moth, but you could walk and take the bus. Basically you can live here as cheaply or as balla as you want to. Phuket is more expensive than the rest of Thailand, but it's still a lot cheaper than the West.

I'll try to write up a full review of Patong in the near future.

[ChoicestHops]

So even on the "tourist islands" you can get some great Thai food like like $1-2 a pop? Your rent is expensive, but like you said, you could have gotten alot cheaper if you wanted. Ive found 1 bedroom villas on Sumai(sp?) from google for $300/mo which I thought was expensive.

So besides rent, you can live with expenses (food&drink/utilities/transportation) moderately-baller for like 400/mo tops?

[WhoIam]

As long as you go to places that mostly cater to Thais, food is essentially free. There's a place down the street I go to all the time where all the dishes are 30 baht. I affectionately refer to it as the dollar menu. Once you step into a place that caters to farang you're going to pay at least double what you would pay at a local place. This is fine for farang food--I eat Thai food 90% of the time, but sometimes I just need pizza or a steak--but if you buy noodles at Joe's Australian Sports Bar for B140, you're just lighting money on fire.

I don't know how much you drink, but booze is the only thing that isn't proportionally cheap here. If you want to drink cheaply in Thailand, your only option is rice whiskey. I've heard it compared to nail polish remover, though I think that's being unfair to nail polish remover. Even if you buy local beer by the case, you're still going pay over $1/bottle. Wine is ridiculously expensive as a result of weird tariff rules and liquor by the bottle is slightly more than in the US. On the other hand, the most you'll ever pay for a regular drink in a club or gogo bar or something is maybe 140 baht or $4. So yes, you can live quite well spending $400 after rent, as long as you aren't an alcoholic or want threesomes with bargirls every night.

[ShipitFMA]

WhoIam (or anyone else for that matter), im looking to go to thailand to live for 1-2 months at the end of the year with friends.
What can you recommend, I think i would just like beach, clubs/pubs/nightspots..Having never been to Thailand i've no idea what to look for

[WhoIam]

bjw, Shipit,
I only got access to my funds a few days ago so I haven't done any traveling outside of Phuket. You can try emailing Degen at grindblog@gmail.com if no one else gives you any feedback.

ChoicestHops,
I forgot to mention transportation. There are almost no metered taxis on the island. If you rely on tuk-tuks, you will pay an arm and a leg. I think an economist should come study the tuk-tuk situation in Phuket, because it doesn't make sense to me. The supply of tuk-tuks far excedes the demand, yet it is impossible to get a reasonable price--there's some kind of gentleman's agreement among the drivers to screw everyone. Here in Phuket, you can ride the bus from one town to another for 20 baht, but they're hot and crowded. Motorbike taxis are a cheap but often scary option and aren't suitable for long trips.

I would recommend a motorbike. You can rent ones starting at 150 baht a day or around 2500 per month. I really suggest you pay a little bit extra and get an automatic--there are so many bad drivers and crazy road conditions that you don't need the added distraction of having to switch gears. There are a lot of motorbike accidents, so buy a good helmet and be careful.

You could probably buy a used motorbike and sell it back for about the same price, but then you would have to deal with registration, etc. Even if you drive it all the time, you won't pay more than a few hundred baht in fuel a month.

[WhoIam]

Is anyone interested in going to Bun Bangfai? It's a fertility festival in Isan in mid-May involving giant homemade rockets.
From wikipedia: [ QUOTE ]
Originating in pre-Buddhist times, it is a fertility rite held to celebrate and to encourage the coming of the rainy season. As such, it is the most sexual and bawdy festival in Lao culture...Owing to the fertility rite origins of the festival, parade ornaments and floats often sport phallic symbols and imagery. Amid the festive atmosphere, dirty humour is widespread...A fair is held on Saturday evening, involving cross-dressing and large quantities of alcohol...Bang Fai come in various sizes, broken down into three groups...Lan rockets can be nine metres long and carry up to 120 kg of black powder

[/ QUOTE ] Full article here . I'm 99% sure I'm going.