Thailand in the next 2 weeks help please

Cullumpster

thank you guys I will pass this all on to him, anything to avoid like the plague?

Boozer

Avoid sukhumvit Soi 4 and 23, well depending on what he is after :-)

penrhyn

Used to be a British Pub on Soi Cowboy, you could sit outside downing a Singha and watch the fun without being bothered. Hare and Hound if I recall.

O yes and they did roast dinners!

Good site to see whats available!!!!

http://www.bangkokeyes.com/

Doshwaster

penrhyn wrote: »

Used to be a British Pub on Soi Cowboy, you could sit outside downing a Singha and watch the fun without being bothered. Hare and Hound if I recall.

Oh yes, Soi Cowboy. Certainly and interesting are fro "people watching"

There are quite a few British/Irish style bars in that area and along Sukhumvit Rd but most are way overpriced. They are fine for catching up on the newspapers and getting the occasional "stodge" meal (I love Thai food but once is a while it's nice to have some pub grub) but it's better to find a hole in the wall type place where the bottles of Singha (or the more lethal Chang) are much cheaper.

Cullumpster wrote: »

thank you guys I will pass this all on to him, anything to avoid like the plague?

Try to avoid drinking Thai whisky. It's revolting stuff. Actually, it's an acquired taste and you know you have acclimatised to Thailand when you can drink it like a local without spitting it out.

Boozer

If it is a back packers type of vibe he is after then i imagine Khao san road would be the best place for them in BKK.

Drugs are the main thing to avoid in Thailand.

Does your brother have any questions he would like to ask about specific places??? he should spend some time reading up on different forums to make sure he does not get ripped off on any jet ski type scams.

penrhyn

Mekhong Whiskey, yup fire water.

Some friends ate out at Cabbages and Condoms.

IMHO best time to visit is during Loi Krathong, preferably up north in Chaing Mai.

PZH

£450 is a very good price, but I assume it is not a direct flight.

I went to Bangkok end of Feb this year.

Allow time for a very long queue at the airport to get a stamp in your passport. Same with coming back.

We flew to Chiang Mai with NokAir - because I was advised by Thai people they were better. But be aware that the internal flights may be from the smaller airport in Bangkok.

Taxi's are cheap enough (although you pay the fee if you want to them to use any toll roads - but they're not that expensive) - but by all means have a go on a TukTuk - although I did feel very vunerable and had a bad head and throat from all the fumes.

As stated, hotels and food is very very reasonable.

At the moment - there are heavy rains in the South with lots of flooding - so keep an eye on local conditions leading up to the holiday and try to have a few contingency plans in place.

On a side note - I had no problem at all in Bangkok or it's suburbs, but got bitten badly by mosquitto's in Chiang mai.

Doshwaster

Boozer wrote: »

If it is a back packers type of vibe he is after then i imagine Khao san road would be the best place for them in BKK.

Drugs are the main thing to avoid in Thailand.

The two absolute things to avoid in Thailand are drugs and doing anything which insults the king. The police turn a blind eye to many things but have zero tolerance to these two.

The Khao San Road is the best area for budget accommodation, cheap food and drink and stocking up on backpacking supplies but the better hotels are mostly on the Shukumvit Rd, Silom Rd or along the river.

An a side note - I had no problem at all in Bangkok or it's suburbs, but got bitten badly by mosquitto's in Chiang mai.

The mozzies seem to have very different regional tastes. They didn't touch me in Bangkok, Chiang Mai or Phuket but they ate me to bits in Koh Samui. Everyone's blood is different.

licklerose

I've recently returned from a trip to SE Asia, and stayed for a few nights in Bangkok, but also visited some of the islands, via Krabi (although didn't stay in Krabi).

Krabi airport has two main airlines operating to and from it - AirAsia and Thai Airways - both of which I flew with on my trip - neither are too expensive, I think AirAsia is a bit more comparable to Easyjet in the UK, and Thai Airways is a bit more upmarket (check the business class prices as often they aren't much more).

I would definately recommend that your brother checks out Koa San Road whilst in Bangkok for bars, restaurants, shopping etc.

One thing to watch out for is the taxi scam that goes on in Bangkok - many of the taxi drivers will try to offer a tour around some of the tourist areas in return for you visiting certain shops where the driver will get commission and somewhere where the driver collects some kind of fuel token. This can take up hours of your holiday, so be firm when telling them where you want to go, and that you don't want a tour. They will try to tell you that the thing you want to go to isn't open yet, and they will show you the sights in the meantime - just be firm with them.

licklerose

Also forgot to say - the metro is a great way to get from the airport to the city centre - at a fraction of the cost of a taxi (as taxis have to pay the road tolls). It's probably worth getting the train to somewhere like Siam Place and then getting a taxi from there to any central hotel.

Feel free to PM me if you have any specific questions.