vinapu

so it looks that if it's raining heavily if one is in Pattaya there's no better choice of hotels than Ambiance or Le Café Royale as it's only short jump over water from bars. The same with BBB Inn and Take-a Nap for Bangkok's Soi Twilight

I remember reading in one newspapers during my trip in May that Yingluck was quoted saying that government expects floods this year and it looks that she was right on this one. Not much consolation to affected people though. Hope by mid November water levels drops and sun will shine again , can't envision bar hopping in knee deep water.

Which of two boys you reported on in Gay Romeo section is one with those impressive buns ? I'm glad you off to good start in LOS

I'm glad you had good time in Phuket and thank you that you found time to report your happenings to us. So it looks that in Phuket they are collecting minimum tips in advance , likely they had problems with non-paying clients. I heard that some girl bars in Pattaya are doing the same . You will not see this in Bangkok. I like that your tipped guy extra if you were happy with him, always do the same. 1000 baht for taxi from airport to the hotel in Bangkok seems steep, more than twice of meter price but classy hotel is charging classy price I guess. Enjoy your time in Bangkok and do not forget about us !

If he had purchased all-inclusive vacation this plus 2000 baht he had would make it possible if one feeds on streets and forgets about bars , whoring etc. But I agree that this type of spenders will not do much to the local economy and are no use for girls and boys in the trade Pattaya is world center of.

Problem with neck wallet is that is usually still visible so may attract determined thieves. If I need to carry more cash than for half day need I 'm using old fashioned money belt inside of my undergarments. Baht bus attempt seem to be quite popular as not long ago somebody else was reporting the same thing. I don't think ladyboys are worse than others but it helps to be vigilant.

Did you ever have this type of problem on Thailand's streets? Sure , street theft may happen everywhere but I must say in my 8 trips I never had any situation , day or night when I felt cornered and afraid I may be robbed. On another hand to minimize chance when travelling I never use wallet and when on the streets I tend to spread money I have on me between all pockets in my shirt and trousers, for this purpose always use 2 pocket shirt and 4 pocked trousers. Sometimes when watching bulging wallets in people's back pockets I think that this is just an invitation for thieves to do their sinister deed. http://www.pattayaone.net/pattaya-news/103584/maltese-tourist-encounters-thieving-ladyboys-pattaya-beach/

I'm not surprised with Bangkok position but 9 th place for Jakarta, was there in May twice and certainly did not seem busier than BKK. Another surprise are Tokyo airports, Haneda is 4 th and Narita only 42 nd ? But I guess numbers don't lie.

Exactly like firect said, when travelling usually we don't need all things we are carrying with us but spend more than expected, it why I mentioned that all traveler's saying. When taking money from ATM , Thai machines are charging you 150 per withdrawal and your bank at home may charge you as well so when taking money from machine it makes sense to make one big withdrawal instead of several small ones, I 'm usually withdrawing uneven amounts i.e. 9900 instead of 10000 so my pocket is not I'm not stuffed with big bills only guy selling mango on street may not be able to give change from. Advantage of cash for me is that I found is easier to keep tab on spending when using cash but some people may be more disciplined. With sight of so many beautiful bodies in the bar I'd be tempted to get carried over so when hitting soi for the night I take max 2000 with me, enough to cover 2 my and 2 boy drinks , off fee and taxi. Usually not even half off that is spent as sitting in bar is not my thing and I tend to make my off decision fast. Nice smile, my heart melts and off we go to discuss the results of recent municipal elections in Bolivia.

Advantage of Thailand, one out of many , is that everything we forget to take along can be bought cheaply and easily almost everywhere 7/24, so luggage can be really light. Gold, make sure you have ample supply of cash as at the moment none of bar/ massage boys is accepting tips by credit card payment. If you are bringing USD exchange rate for 100 $ bills is better than on smaller ones.

Whatever you decided please make sure you enjoy every minute of your time there, that is no time like first time ! And when you return don't forget to report how it went , what you liked and what you did not / hope won't be a case /. Nothing strange in your path as long as you enjoy beach and sea. As with every trip , take half luggage and twice as much money.

MichaeI, I'm glad you restored your health and a vivid imagination, almost peed laughing reading about "Osama porn" Mah , If one is able to compose input to the board just after coming home from night od drinking I wonder what he was drinking all night, buttermilk only perhaps ?. Christian, I agree with you about need for thick skin on some forums and admire sometimes that you are able to keep cool when attacked. In similar situations I would be tempted to remind my adversaries how their grandmother conducted herself when she was still in the high school. And by the way, I noticed you are travelling and posting about less frequently recently. Did you fall in love or you are devoting rainy season to wealth accumulation?

Not only leave animals alone but also local people and their environment. There's no need to push cameras in everybody's face just because they look exotic for us. I had taste of it when visiting Borobudur on Java in May, everyone of 5000 school children visiting place wanted to take their pictures with me. It was fun first 10 times but after that became just nuisance even if they asked for permission every single time. Like Christian I don't attend any animal shows neither in Thailand nor elsewhere , only exception being venom milking at Snake Farm in Bangkok as this is for a good cause of producing anti-venom.

Likely on their website somewhere like all things those days

I agree with Michael but if it's done in non-invasive and non-sarcastic manner I don't mind small correction as long as it's free of unnecessary side comments. As not a native speaker I would treat this as part of learning process but it's may be just me. Great advantage of this forum is being relatively free of sarcasm and poke remarks

Thanks God you are alive ! Was worried when all of the sudden you fell silent for couple days. Joy of travelling-and so called Montezuma revenge unfortunately. If you can eat cheeseburger obviously you are better now. I'd stay away from meat and sugar for few days until you recover. Most important -you still have a good trip

In cases like that usually both sides are right, dams are ruining environment but are very handy for clean electricity generation and if emptied and closed at right time great for flood containment. All over the world story is the same - strong government, authoritarian or with strong electoral mandate goes ahead with dams, one looking for re-election and with wobbly mandate back off till better time. It looks as toss a coin situation.

I'm glad you feel better this morning. Trip to Killing Fields will not be nice one but you are right you want to give boys an exposure to recent Khmer history . Tuol Sleng prison in PP is even more moving with it's map of Cambodia made from the human sculls. Considering distance taxi to PP would be good deal even at quoted 90$ for three of you but for one person I think flying or taking bus is better option than lunatic driver. Boats between PP and SR have very mixed reviews in travelling community . After reading recent post advised my friend to take a bus since you liked scenery , thank you again.

Travelling by land has advantage of seeing scenery and meeting local people and in case bumpy road as one Michael just described , added bonus of chance of loosing one's kidney stones.

Great and very informative post about day 4. Hope you feel better tomorrow and will have a chance to do some sightseeing in Phnom Penh, I would not miss Silver pagoda in Royal Place compound. You are right about taking blame for mini-bar miscalculation, how they supposed to know, treat this as non-deductible tuition fee for lesson learned and thank you for sharing this with us so we can have free tutorial on the subject too. It is shocking how hotels are milking their clients, 50 % mark-up for just calling taxi for you is gross. I know that they are milking motorcycle drivers arranged for tourists through reception the same way. Another great lesson for others , this at least not at your expense ! Shortchanging could happen everywhere, I feel sorry for boys as they may feel bad they were taken for a ride by asshole Gatorade peddler . But to be fair it could be honest mistake on his part, I doubt it though. So this is lesson three-ask for piece and count your change. By the way, why the hell somebody needs gold necklace while travelling ? This is always an invitation for crooks. And lesson 4 is that between Phnom and Siem Reap to road condition bus option may be cheaper and more comfortable if there are few travelers and for one flying for 30 $ more is viable option. I know somebody who is going there with his son in 10 days and your post happened to be very timely with is information I could share with them. They were planning to go by car to Reap from Phnom Penh to see scenery , now I can tell them to forget that. And boy is extremely happy he will be able to climb to the top of Angkor Wat as you told us it's possible, he was told by somebody it was closed few years ago. Hope you will wake up without fever to continues your adventure, too bad that seemed over budget on day 4.

I all countries I don't speak at least a little bit of local language I'm leaving driving to locals unless in company of local residents. Things are happening and it something happens you are helpless, been there , done that. No Thailand experience though

Rogie, thank you for the Pagan link above , link in 2nd post there leads to absolutely fabulous pictures and a story

I'm sorry to hear that rain spoiled your adventure but look at bright side - now you have new reason to go back to this one of most unique places in the whole wide world. How much they are charging for balloon flight over ruins ? 200$ I paid for similar experience over Pagan in Burma few years ago I was worth every single penny.

In defence of Christian I need to add that he did not even indicated he has this forum in mind, he just said 'forum ' , not ' this forum ' so no need to get hot under collar about this remark In defence of firecat he clearly said that there are people who are considering Christian's stores fiction which may be a case since forums are frequented by slanderous types who are attacking all stores bar their own. He did not say he doubts anything. In defence of Bob I second that I have no doubt about Christian stories being accurate and truthful. And they made good read too being free of any personal acid toward anybody.

I mentioned before, in ideal word this should be a case. Unfortunately forum like every other social gathering situation tends to draw different kinds of people including baron Muenhausen type of storytellers presenting inventions as truth or just coloring their stories . Point I tried clumsily made is that nobody can prevent this type of stories and sometimes even if truth is stretched three's really no harm done. The same like stories we are trading around the Christmas table or on high school reunion 20 years later. So instead of fighting for elusive truth we should enjoy what is presented and do not take it too seriously if in doubt. We are not debating world peace on this forum but rather equally enjoyable things like silky smooth skin , butt shape and dick sizes.