Thailand/South East Asia tips

[joehaynes1990]

I'm going to Thailand and then round the rest of SE Asia for 2 months at the end of this summer.
Just wondering whether anyone has any amazing hidden away places I should check out/recommended hotels/nice beaches/decent clubs etc?

Thanks in advance.

[wub]

For a fiver you can shit in a bird's mouth. That's good value whereever you are in the world, take advantage.

[noam]

u goin for hoes or culture?

or both?

[wub]

u goin for hoes or culture?

I thought my answer covered both quite admirably.

[Sheff]

look out for dem birds that tell you that theyre virgins but really just have pig intestines up there fannies true story

[wub]

Watch out for dem birds with cocks. Unless that's your reason for the trip, in which case treat it like an all you can eat cock buffet.

[noam]

look out for dem birds that tell you that theyre virgins but really just have pig intestines up there fannies true story

yea normally they're cheaper and dirtier - BONUS

plus you can pull it out with your teeth if you're dextrous

[joehaynes1990]

u goin for hoes or culture?

or both?

mainly culture but i'm not one to turn down hoes if the opportunity arises

[RandomEyez]

Visit Chiang Mai in the north of Thailand. Great city with plenty to do. One afternoon we went and shot some guns at a shooting gallery, done off road buggying up and down crazy tracks in the jungle, go-karting, then rounded it off with a bungee jump. Lots of nice restaurants and cool bars there too. Club wise its what you'd expect but jumping around to House Of Pain fucked off vodka and their MIND-ALTERING red bull with the occasional Thai girl grabbing your cock ain't the worst situation to end up in (just watch your wallet ) Overall, just a laid back city and you'll have the chance to go do a jungle trek from here which i thoroughly recommend. Get to spend a bit of time with the hill tribes and you'll see some amazing scenery. Also from Chiang Mai you are in a good position to make a trip to Burma if you're keen to check it out.

The party islands like Koh Samui & Koh Phangan are very touristy and i'd almost go as far to recommend avoiding them all together. Done the full moon party to check it all out but when you've been to some amazing events and festivals over the years, it can feel a bit weak in comparison. Worth checkin out though nonetheless. But i'd say we had more fun at the half-moon party on Samui, dancing about to breakbeat all night fueled by alcohol & diet pills (essentially just amphetamines so careful with these, potential for no sleep and horrendous comedown )

Koh Chang was one of our highlights. Beautiful beaches all round and great fun to hire a motorbike and explore the island. Do this and you'll be rewarded which ridiculously nice but cheap as fuck food cooked by the friendliest of locals. It's really laid back during the day but at night you won't struggle to find a bar with a bit of action and you'll probably end up on the beach after drinking til the early hours.

Oh and there's hoes wherever you go. Keep your eye out for the adams apple and your jammin

[joehaynes1990]

Visit Chiang Mai in the north of Thailand. Great city with plenty to do. One afternoon we went and shot some guns at a shooting gallery, done off road buggying up and down crazy tracks in the jungle, go-karting, then rounded it off with a bungee jump. Lots of nice restaurants and cool bars there too. Club wise its what you'd expect but jumping around to House Of Pain fucked off vodka and their MIND-ALTERING red bull with the occasional Thai girl grabbing your cock ain't the worst situation to end up in (just watch your wallet ) Overall, just a laid back city and you'll have the chance to go do a jungle trek from here which i thoroughly recommend. Get to spend a bit of time with the hill tribes and you'll see some amazing scenery. Also from Chiang Mai you are in a good position to make a trip to Burma if you're keen to check it out.

The party islands like Koh Samui & Koh Phangan are very touristy and i'd almost go as far to recommend avoiding them all together. Done the full moon party to check it all out but when you've been to some amazing events and festivals over the years, it can feel a bit weak in comparison. Worth checkin out though nonetheless. But i'd say we had more fun at the half-moon party on Samui, dancing about to breakbeat all night fueled by alcohol & diet pills (essentially just amphetamines so careful with these, potential for no sleep and horrendous comedown )

Koh Chang was one of our highlights. Beautiful beaches all round and great fun to hire a motorbike and explore the island. Do this and you'll be rewarded which ridiculously nice but cheap as fuck food cooked by the friendliest of locals. It's really laid back during the day but at night you won't struggle to find a bar with a bit of action and you'll probably end up on the beach after drinking til the early hours.

Oh and there's hoes wherever you go. Keep your eye out for the adams apple and your jammin

sounds great advice, thanks
will definitely check out Chiang Mai

[d-T-r]

after chiang mai, get a mini-buss to Pai....the journey is quite twisty and turny and the driver will probably scare you but Pai has some real nice scenery. rent a mo-ped for about a fiver a day and just rinse it around and check a few water-falls and shit.
the 'town center' of Pai at night has quite a bait market every night which is cool to see once but avoid after. again, really nice sceneary there. And there are some places not too far from there that actually have a real thai atmosphere but we didnt get to check...

also from Pai, the border to Laos or Vietnam (i cant remember which) isnt too far.

like random eyes said, avoid those party islands but if you are down south, check out Koh lanta.

We stayed at a place called 'Chill out house' ...cheapest nights stay on the island and it's a hand made tree-housey type thing made all from scrap bits of wood by the owner...who gave me a little spliff for a xmas present. proper nice vibe there would return.

[noam]

bring back a shit tonne of viagra and valium too

you'll make P

[cityzen]

Don't touch anyones head. Don't even pass anything over someones head. Don't point the souls of your feet at anyone. Don't disrespect the King. Stand still and show respect when the national anthem is played.
Generally, show respect and don't confuse kindness for weakness.
Don't raise your voice in anger.
If you make a fool of yourself (trip over or something) and people laugh at you, they are not being mean but trying to help you save face by implying that you meant to do it and you are just joking.
When people tell you the price of something, haggle. It is expected and the price they give you is just get started.
If you don't see locals eating from a certain place, don't eat there yourself.
Don't buy reduced price jewels.
Don't offer to take any packages anywhere for anyone. Stay away from drugs in general.

[noam]

If you don't see locals eating from a certain place, don't eat there yourself.

i can vouch for that several times over, and that really goes as far as to say when you're walking round the touristy places lookin for somewhere to eat, unless you're REALLY knackered and just cba, try and search a little harder off the main bits, there's loads and loads of little cafe type things full of thai's, they're pretty much always friendly, even if they might look at you odd (cos most tourists stay in the same places), and the things like noodle soups w/ pork dumplings etc. are standardly good enough to fill you up, way cheap, and better quality

when i was in Chiang Mai and penniless, i literally ate noodle soup from the same woman everyday cos it was that good, and big, and cheap (like 30p for a large portion?!)

Stay away from drugs in general.[/quote]

probably for the best in thailand

elsewhere i found the locals to be more accomodating in their advice, in Bangkok its hard to trust anyone at all, other places i visited in s.e. asia we got lucky with who we met and lucky in general aswell tbf

[Electric_Head]

We enjoyed Bangkok for what it is really.
The best however was traveling to Phuket and long boating over to one of the Islands near to Koh Yah Noi.
Lived at an awesome muslim fishing village and kayaked around the islands in the Andaman sea for 7 days.
That was memorable.
to say the least.

As the above suggested though, don`t go to Thailand for drugs.
it`s just not worth it.
Go for an awesome experience.

The food on the muslim islands was hands-down better than the mainland.
They cook the best seafood in the world.
Ok I love thai food but really the food was incredible.

Myself and the wife do choose the beaten track though and chose to stay away from all tourist areas in general.
Even kayaking, our guide just kayaked past James Bond Island with us behind.
Awesome.

[seckle]

don't agree to any tuktuk/taxi tours in bangkok. its a scam, and you can get fucked over big time.

[kay]

Spend some time in Kuala Lumpur and enjoy the varied cuisine. If you're going in August, it's turtle egg-laying season on the west coast of Malaysia.

Borneo has lots of tiny islands dotted around it that seem to have nice beaches. It also has the tallest mountain in the region if you fancy a bit of a trek. Also the largest cave in the world. Thinking of spending a couple weeks out there next year.

[RandomEyez]

[quote="kay"]Spend some time in Kuala Lumpur and enjoy the varied cuisine. If you're going in August, it's turtle egg-laying season on the west coast of Malaysia.

Borneo has lots of tiny islands dotted around it that seem to have nice beaches. It also has the tallest mountain in the region if you fancy a bit of a trek. Also the largest cave in the world. Thinking of spending a couple weeks out there next year.[/quote}

Anything you'd recommend doing or places worth visiting in or around KL?

Will also be heading out to that neck of the woods later on in the year and should be flying into KL to start with. So prob spend a couple of nights there before moving on

[icanicant]

Here is some of my opinions on places.
Bangkok
- Dont plan to stay longer than two or three days. All you want is enough time to buy a hell of a lot of clothes (that will shrink dramatically) and sort where your going next. Ko San rd gets so annoying and to be frank its a big dirty smoggy city which isnt what I go travelling to see. Try and stay somehwere just off Ko San rd as well because it will be far cheaper.

Chang Mai
- I thought it was alright but not amazing. This could partly be down to the fact that coz we were so tired we stayed in the first place we found (cockroaches crawling around your feet whilst you are stuck on the toilet with the shits is not the one). Nightlife is pretty standard for Asia just random music you can get pissed to.

The Islands
- I would recommend going to a full moon party personally. I doubt you will ever go to a bigger party on a beach. I pretty much just drank red bulls last time, reached double figures over the course of the night and had the worst comedown ever. Far worse than any phet or md comedown for sure lol.

Malaysia - Perenthian Islands are the dogs bollocks. Absolute paradise with the clearest water and nicest beaches I have ever seen. Got to swim with Turtles too .
KL is ok but I aint a fan of the cities so I would only spend a few days there.
Penang is known for being a foodie dream. We were only there for 24hrs and I just ate till I felt sick lol.
Tamara Jungle - We went hiking in here and spent the night in a hut which was cool. I would say better to do a trek here than in Thailand.

Vietnam - Best place we went to. Cheaper than anywhere else and everyone is incredibley friendly. Even though I dont like cities Saigon was one of my favourite places. make sure you go to the war museum there.

Laos
Do not bother with the capital city it is pretty dull
Vang Vieng - zero culture but a great party place where you can smoke weed and opium and trip on mushrooms should you wish. This is also where you can tube down the river which is great fun though pretty dangerous.
Luang prabang - really nice place, UNESCO heritage site so it is proper picturesque.

Cambodia
begging here is bad but its still a great place. Angkor Wat is very impressive but depressingly full of tourists even when you go at 5 in the morn (for the sunrise)
Musuem on the Khmer Rouge is haunting as fuck. Strongly recommend. like the war museum in Saigon it is one of those things that isn't fun but needs to be done.

PM if you want to ask about anything else

[firky]

The Baron is the one to ask. He's an expat living out there, he met my mother.