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as these rules already seem so confusing to anyone, it will help if the RIGHT words are used-to avoid any more unnecessary confusion. 1. 30-day visa do not even exist. IF you apply (as a westerner) for a tourist-visum, you'll get 60 days. 2. visa on arrival is in fact even IMPossible to gain for westerners-what you get ( if flying in) is a 30-day visum EXEMPT, or for just 15 days if arriving by land. This term is used only for 2nd rate nationals, like Czechs, Chinese, Indians etc. It cannot be had at all borderpost and first you line up to get it issued (and paid for-scrapped temporarily this year). 3. as such a visum does not differentiate in how you arrive: land, sea, air. 4. IF people report problems, it is most often at the check-in and in just a few specific countries, notably Australia, the USA and sometimes NZ. They strictly will want to see a ticket out of Thailand, if you do not hold any pre-arranged visum.

dear Fountainhall. For this why? it is money-the airplane would have to be schlepped from the airbridge to a night-time parking position. Or it may even do a domestic turn later on-and then cannot be parked in an international gate. UIt is a very common complaint on Tg from dedicated boards like flyertalk.com

and to add to this map and the original quoted sites, look at this one: www.talesofasia.com Details all borderposts and transport to/from and potential scams and other things good-to-know! Visum to ente4r Cmabodia is needed fro about anyone-but its a kind of money-making formality only: pay 20US$+1 foto-and ignore (and sit it out!) all requests for more or payTHB etc.

in that respect India is far less tiring or challenging as (rural-like Isan) Thaild is. Plus that as a first-time tourist you are highly unlikely to venture in there-in the real rural areas (where no bus comes and there is hardly any road) there is also nothing to see or do-much less as even in the most backard parts of isan. It may hold a little bit more in Sri Lanka (also discussed above), but youll always find someone to help out or translate-or more likely the one you want something from wil. Note that VISA-regulations for India are very strict and tend to reflect the high rules that Indians will have to comply with to visit your country. in Thaild the process has now been outsourced to a private agency on Sukhumvit-which saves you at least the long walk into the soi to the Embassy itself. AirAsia has very recently opened many new routes to India-mainly from ther KUL-base, but more are to come from BKK. Also cheap but good Indian airls like JET or KIngfisher (the best) offer good fares. Avoid AirIndia or Indian like the plague!

Yes, from Ubon -and use proper good AC-buses on good roads, is either via Laos (visum needed-price depends on your natinality)-Pakse, daily bus (www.pnpnsorya.com or look at canbypublications.com for all Khmer bustimes) to PnPn-and from there (but only next day) plenty of buses to Sih.v. An overnight in both Pakse and PnPn is needed-due to times. It MAY work out a little faster via Thailand-make a circle! Sih.v->Koh Kong border (this is now a fairly good road), minibus Thai to Trat, then either via BKK/Mochit (as then you have the better fast motorway express buses-and plenty of overnights to Ubon), OR the slower allstops route-change Chantaburi, change Khorat or Buriram. If you lve from Sih.v. early, take the BKK route and are not averse to these nightbuses, you are in Ubon about 25 hrs. later-next day. If you have never been to KHmerland-go via Siem reap and see Angkor-obviously the highlight of that country. For just some gay meets Sih.v. is no better or likely worse as any Thai provincial smalltown.

there are already many gay-listings sites, like f.e.: dreadedned (often VERY out of date), dragoncastle in Thai: tmmsociety, thaimalemassage, Blogs: shamelessmack.blogspot, ricequeendiary, and they offer links to many more The major prob with all thee link-lists to me appears to have them regularly updated: the places in Thaild open/close in a second and without any warning.

Actually, they are not really made in factories, very big. Their design is different for about any town. They are mainly constructed in small workshops, from a base-motosy. In BKK-big cuity there are loads of them in the area around Wong Wien Yai and in ''tuk-tuk''street, just off SamSen station, north of Sukhothai road (with sauna of same name). They are all made to demand, so any customers wish can be accomodated to. These shops of course do not do websites, mail orders etc-its just come and see and talk. It may work out a lot cheaper to buy a 2nd hand one (loads and loads up for sale-taxi's are taking over) and have them adjusted to your wishes. If you intend to export: here in Europe it took an enterprising venture over 2 years to get the things accepted for local safety (as any new type of car, motor has to do). And an awful lot of money-more as the purchase itself-in all the adaptions requested.

well-it is open-as a trial operation for limited hours (7-10 and 16-19, but Mo-Fr only now), and free. As per 23/8, the CITYrail service=all stops, and going onward to Phayathai BTS connect, will run al day, any day, from 5.00 (am) till 1.00 (Past midnight-thus am again). For an introduction-low fare of just 15 bt. Ev. 20 mins, taking some 27 mins. As per 23/9 the AIR-rail, fast/non stop, from the then finished MAKKASAN terminal will run same hours, also ev 20 (or maybe 30) mins, nonstop in just 17 mins, introduction fare of 100 bt. Makkasan station is grand, but is too far away from anything useable as city-destination. The promised check-in there will NOT open untill at least 1/1/11. The fares will raise to the normal levels as per 1/1/11. Not of any use to those going directly to Pattaya, but for lightly-loaded BKK-visitors it may be worthwhile, provided you can use the connecting BTS to your final destination.

This Mr. Amsterdam, (sadly bearing the same name from here) was often mentioned as a special Spin Doctor to monitor and shine some positive lights on the reds/Thaksin case during the red-occupations. Nothing neutral in that-just a paid propaganda journalist. Which does not mean he only writes untrue, but is one-sided

As I remember just having seen airport arrival stats (AOT-probably also the source for TAT) for june: about 108.000, from a 77/78.000 the month before. As throughout the 25+ years I visit LOS, may/june have always been the superlow, the following estimate )also AOT) that nr of visitors arriving would be in the 14/15 million bracket (barring any further unrest, of course), as high season will see higher nrs. These are simply based on the arrival cards anyone has to fill out, and given off at immigration. Well over 90% of foreign visitors to LOS arrive via swampy. If you change onward to a domestic flight-you also arrive at swampy-for immigration stats. If you change international (and not on AirAsia), then you do not count, as you are in transit. It was also like 3-5% more as june 2009. I think it was the news section on thaivisa-but it may well have been some other site I (have to) perused this morning. My feeling more and more the last 4-5 years are that the % of gays visiting is getting lower, perhaps even in absolute nrs.

back to the original question: about 300 bt/day. yes, that about 50% more as the minimum wage for working Thai. 1.no own house-rent room-by the day from 120/140 bt. Water, electric included, no AC but fan, with some luck there may even by free WiFi (you have your own laptop from whealthier times). While some of these rooms are very bad, some good ones, for this money, can also be found. When you stay long-time, rent better rooms (student areas) for/from 2000bt/month-that nearly halves the amount. 2.eat Thai food or supermarket breads etc (brekkie-if you cannot fancy rice then), buy a watercooker, or some of the guesthouses even offer hot water to make those noodles, 3in1 coffee etc.), 120-150 bt/day. Beer from the shop-33 bt/bottle. 3.miscellaneous-you have to do yourself (but you have plenty of time anyway)-a load of washing is 20 bt, drinking water-refills for 1 bt, free red buses to go somewhere, provided you know your way around. Tesco and Carrefour discount a lot of perishable foodstuf from 17 or 18.00 for 50%. They all have fairly good foodcourts with meals from 25 bt/plate. 2nd hand clothes-like shirts for 3/100 at about any local market. Cheap webshops-from 8 bt/hour (discounted furhter from 10 recently). Everywhere is free TV to watch. Do it like the Japanese backpackers around Khao sarn/Banglamphu and come to <200bt/day: 1.sleep dorm-thats 80 or 100 bt/night. Most of these dorms take JPNese, or Asians only, in fact. 2.eat prepacked bamee/noodles-thats 5/6 bt/pack. (they still splurge out on ''massage-ladies'' for 500 bt-room included). Thats BKk-big city, of course, and thus also negates the common misunderstanding that big cities are more expensive. (Some claim Isan may be cheaper-but then there youre bored as hell and have to spend big money to get somewhere all the time). And to even surprise you a little more: a fair lot of people live like that in BKK's backpacker-ghetto's/areas. So please-all those comments that that too down or not possible-that only means it is not possible for you.

sawasdee wan kheut duay, khun GB, khrap.

That would mostly be written as kapi- yes, same-same as in Bangkapi, a well-known BKK-suburb. Food-left-overs that are certain to get the ''mot=ants'' on them, with sugar, will be placed on/in another plate with water. Remember-storing out of a fridge had to be done with all that food till very, very recently. In the countryuside, where most people think electric ios so costly, fridges are still a kind of status-symbol and mainly used to cool water.

1. re food/eating together, be it at a home or in a restaurant: you eat with the spoon, use the fork as ''knife'' for western use, and there will be no knife. The ''middle spoon'' is used for getting food from the communal plates onto your own plate-use it only for that purpose. yes, it is polite to leave somehting in either-otherwise this would mean the host or servings were scroungy. 2.a wai is always initiated by the lower in rank-and as farang you are in 99.99999% higher in status-certainly over a child (except if it were the child of someone very high up-highly unlikely to ever happen to you). Thus this makes wai-ing a child pretty ridiculous. If you are unfamiliair with Thai customs-do not wai back-but acknowledge it, with a nod, smile or whatever. Small toddlers get trained in doing it from before year 1-simply praise them when they are attempting to by their parents for being ''a nice boy/girl''. 3.in a shop (small) the shopkeeper thanks you for custom-and not you, as a customer, him/her for getting a profit out of you. 4.yes, in general all those nice, polite (showing you were not eductated properly if not done) greetings, goodnights, etc. are superfluous in a family. Hotel-staff usually get trained in using it in the hotel-schools.

When you open it, you will quickly note this is just 1 of a big family of Tha-promoting websites run by R.Barrow, based in Pak Nam, a BKK-suburban town. There are also various forums and a quite good Thai-language learning tool. The only minor negative is that info on how to reach most of the promoted places is rather lacking-except for the'' rentacar'' or taxi-options. Do a quiz with your BKK-based BF and check which of these places he himself has ever seen or even knows of... For the more fun and BF-likeable destinations-also check the ricequeendiary.com blogs.

AFAIK/can remember, there is no off or same thing-its al freelance. It used to be-a long time ago- the Martini bar-somewhere in the south of the city. (mixed). At that time, with just a litle bargaining, 10US$ was enough-short time. This seems to have doubled to 20. All bigger amounts in Camb. are done in US$. Most HTLs etc have their own ''troupe'' of tuktuk/cyclo men, and you are well advised to hire one of them-this will leave you without the constant pestering. If going out late eve-arrange to have him wait or arrange time for pickup (well-by now the mobuy fone should do this trick). All-day hire is also common. Robberies-even by drivers-have been known to happen late night. Food: Khmer food does not hail high prizes for me-but there are restrts in about any Asean and most western style-notably of course French. Several Thai-style rests also exist-the better choice for daytime lunch, around places that employ many Thai (Bangkok bank etc.). As in the other ex-FR colonies, wine is a good buy. And in the morning baguette (FR-style stick-bread) and real dark strong coffee.

strange-as the roll-out sign that always stood there was away and the building was shut up (well-it was daytime) and a big sign with for rent/sale on. Throughout the years the police have moved to close 1 by 1 all bars outside of that dead-end soi. there are still 3 sauna-gay though, with 69 underground the best and biggest.

when they opened that road-in the 90-ies, actually it ALSO had a same type of separate busway-but the bus ran then only every 20 mins or so and there were only scarce buildings The very thing of this is to show the cardrivers that there is an alternative to sitting too long in their cars-speeding by (well, I hope). the full story of this thing: on the forum of www.2bangkok.com now that I am in Indonesia-in the superbig town of Jakarta they have now an elaborate system of separate busways-acting like a cheap BTS there, and it works, with several buses per minute!

The basic Thai rahn aharn (=eating shop) nearly always have cans of free water on the table-but generally you then order a cup of ice (1 or 2 bt) to be able to use it. As to the OPs remarks-long, long ago the PTY beerbars along Sunee would provide just that-no dancing, boys clothed, waiting to be invited-more like a western gay bar for meetings. And drinks for 20 bt-yes, long ago.

as mapraow=coconut is such an important elemant in thai cooking-it can be bought everywhere. It also comes in bottles, packets end in dried form or small milk-like packets. And big ones too (1 ltr and more) and big cans. But thats the cream=meat. In most supermarkets and even most 7s they sell bottles with the fluid-but thats also meant for cooking. Some soft-drink firms have some item that also holds coconut-as a sideline.In fact-the water is mostly simply thrown away in the factories. If that water would really replace sportsdrinks etc-I am not so sure. Do as others-if you want to try-buy the nut. (10-20 bt each). And most farang then forget the ask for the spoon to scrape the meat out.

what original poster, TY-male, said about overstayers being caught and fined-well, that may occasionally happen-but it is estimated there are some 100.000+ of such-some for years. And also do not forget that most of ''illegals'' in Thailand are not white westerners, but Burmese, laotians, Combodians etc-and 1000s of Chinese. Talking about China (mainlan=people republic)-their Id-card system is rtop of the bill-with chips and all-and f.e. a passengerlist for a ferry is that way done in seconds-except for me, the white gwailo-has to be processed the old-fashioned way-or not at all-too cumbersome.

you all seem to assume that he will be carrying on, unless some farang tell him to stop? Just think first of this: Will Thaksin now give up or keep on spending millions of THB via whatever means to restart the next uprising? Its abundantly clear that Thaksin is the main foe of khun Abhisit. The BKK democrat rumour mill says this: a.that khun Abhisit felt enormously cheated by getting lured in such a difficult job b.that he was several times at the verge of stepping down and simply going away-and had to be kept going on by others c.but that he would really like a big clean up of police-but realises very much that if that would be done-he would create a few dozen of utmost revengeful and very mean mid-age male persons going after him as the culprit.

Why them? Those who held simple jobs at WTC/Central World or other centres-like cleaners, cookers etc-who immediately lost any income are likeley worse off. Most Siam-Centre shop holders pay via 4-5 or even more middlemen enormous amounts of rent (the buildings all tend to be owned by Chula Uni-but as they are so prized-this is what happens-TITs!) and make quite good money- allowing some buffer cushions. Not wanting to quibble-just to point out to look a tiny bit further. Or the business-stall holders in other tourist areas, who had days without even selling a single item? And what about Silom barboys in the poor clubs-sleeping there-and their bars closed for over a week-and still due to curfew? They have nothing to prove at all that they even are ''employed'' in BKK. As you all know-preventing any cheating on all those informal and undocumented jobs is well-nigh impossible.

What khun GB tells here is even official-published as such by TAT or govmt. In do not know about Pattaya-I have stayed in BKK this week. The 2 hrs before the curfew starts it is about impossible to find any taxi willing to go on the meter. They flatly refuse to go to airport by then-out of fear to get stalled there the whole night (understandably). The airportbuses have also been suspended-for 20+21/5 at least. The AOT says it has chartered buses at 22.00/0.00 and 2.00 to bring arriving passenegrs to 3 main hotelzones-incl. Silom of all places. THAI advises any passengers to either arrive before the curfew or to stay in airport till after 6.00, if arriving late. (which lead to the remark: in dec. '08 we could not get In the airport-and now we can not get OUT of the airport!) But as it goed like it goed yesterday, it seems a big cvhance it will be lifted and anyway-arriving people are very, very few indeed at the mo.

This bar, opened at least some 18+ years ago, and the only remaining gay bar in the area out of that soi with the remaining others, has now also closed. The building is boarded up and for sale/rent. Charmming (yes, with 2M) had some glamour in the early nineties-when it hosted most of the MIDWAY-magazine models. Visited this area to meet best friend yesterday-streets in BKK eerily quiet. It seems some of the karaoke bars in the soi near Liberty Hotel/Stax are also closed. Another gay area on the decline. Also the 2 short-time hotels I remembered of were closed/torn down and the other one renovated and turned into some kind of bungalow complex. Best friend knew of other hotels nearby-very good room for just 200 bt. Many of the former girly bars in the Pradiphat area also appeared to have closed down. Others reamin in the street east of the intersection-named Suttisarn. Just to inform you-cannot remember having seen postings about this area for a long time.