need info about Nong Khai actions & hotels ,planing to visit there next week.10x
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need info about Nong Khai actions & hotels ,planing to visit there next week.10x
Kojack: I see you have posted five questions, four here and one in the Phuket section, and have never supplied any information. Do you intend to continue this? Do you think we exist just to serve you? Here is a suggestion: Just read the archives, do whatever else it is you normally do and don't bother posting any more questions here again!
Remark to Korat:
Found in the forum the hint that GINZA can be easy accessed by feet from Korat-Hotel but no description where to go...
So if you leave the Korat hotel, turn right and walk to the wallet park (2 blocks), then turn left and walk through the park (~ 3 blocks), pass the buddha-statue* and turn right. Approx. 50m on the left side there's GINZA-Entertainment.
* well, referring to freeler it's not a buddha-statue but a statue of
ThaoSuranari/YinMo.
Frog,
Though the statue you mentioned is as important to the Thais as some of the most important Buddha images, it is the statue of ThaoSuranari/YinMo, the woman who, many, many moons ago saved Korat from invading armies.
I was talking with a guy this afternoon on the phone who owns a dive shop in Phuket. He does 4 day group tours to the Similan Islands. I told him I wanted to go diving at Ko Samui and he said this is wrong time of the year for Ko Samui . . . . rainy, and water to brown and turbulent. I'll be having dinner with him tommorow and he should be a good resource of info as he has been going back and forth the last 12 years, and has lived in Phuket the past 6 years. I aprise the board with what I learn.
Zidaho,
Do a Google-search for Similan and you will get plenty results.
But I'm affraid the season is about to close...
Actually, this is the [i]right[/i] time of year for Samui -- on average, it gets half the rain of Phuket in April, and has slightly higher tempteratures. Check this link for more detail -- [url]http://www.traveleshop.com/menus/weather.shtml[/url] -- it lists by month average rainfall, temperature, and hours of sun per day for tons of places, including half-a-dozen in Thailand.
Damn you guys are good! I think your right!!! Now I believe my new acquaintance has vested interest in sending me on HIS dive tour to Similian Islands. Thanks again. I'll confront him with the web site info. See what his take is, on that. Ha, ha, that will be fun. I love being well informed!!!
Hi Everyone, my friend who is in LOS gave me permission to post this which he sent to me a few days ago. Zidaho
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Paradise! No other word describes it better. Flew out of Pattaya three days ago on Bangkok Air to Koh Samui, an island on the SE coast. Great to be out of Pattaya. Landed at Nathon airport in early afternoon and was picked up by the resort Suzuki 4X4.
The resort (Sundream Resort) is on Lamai beach which is supposed to be more laid back than other parts of the island. Very true. Still lots of shops and peddlers and a few beer bars but nothing like Pattaya.
The resort is on the beach, all bungalows, some air conditioned. BW and I each got an A/C bungalow for 750 baht. A bit primitive. Dark paneling on the walls, pallet bed. The bathroom is the shower, toilet and vanity all in one. You just try not to spray the toilet paper. Lock the door with a padlock.
Nice beach with a restaurant. We settled in, took a walk "uptown" and then back to the resort for dinner on the beach. When dusk falls they move the tables onto the sand, set up "Xmas trees" with lights. Very nice.
We had met a guy from Portland, ME and joined him for dinner. He is about 40, been to Thailand numerous times, and other parts of SE ASIA too. Pleasant company. I had tiger prawns sauteed with garlic and spices and nam soda {soda water) to drink. Great meal. Unfortunately BW can be very opinionated, dinner conversation deteriorated into him expounding on various subjects and soon enough he had browbeat Scott and I into submission. I got a headache and after dinner I begged off going downtown and went back to the room to try to recover from Bill's emphatically delivered opinions.
Next day we took the taxi to Chaeweng Beach to check it out. I was still pissed at Bill, it seems that every suggestion I have, he has a better one. Finally I snapped at him, said I had to have breakfast and coffee or I would chew his leg off.
We were walking the beach at the time and just picked a beachside restaurant. Good breakfast. Bill usually has rice with veggies with a fried egg on top, but I had fruit with yoguhrt, coffee and toast. Lots of cute little Thai kids running around. We continued walking the beach, checked out some of the resorts. It turns out that our Sundream resort is a "pit" compared to these. So we resolved to move to Chaeweng Beach next day.
So back to Lamai beach for the afternoon. I spent the afternoon walking downtown, had lunch and watched a movie at a bar/rest . Lazy day. Back to the beach for a swim and then we went back downtown for beer and dinner.
Our waitress at the bar was a real cutie so I paid her bar fine and we took her to dinner with us. I had yellow curry chicken followed by sweet banana in hot coconut milk. Delicious. A martini and nam! soda to drink. Not surprising, the martini wasn't of James Bond quality.
Back to the room where I had another night of no sleep. (I didn't sleep the night before either, pallet mattress and I had trouble adjusting the A/C.) We resolved to move to Chaeweng Beach, checked out and caught a songtaew taxi to Chaeweng.
Songtaew literally means two rows, a pickup truck open at the back with a canopy and two rows of seats nside. Cost 40 baht to go to Chaeweng, a distance of about 8 km. Bill had gone on earlier ( I was waiting for my laundry) and had reserved a bungalow for me.
When we got there (Charlies' Huts) they wouldn't give me a room because my little Thai friend was with me. "Thai people not allowed here". Such bullshit. But hey, no problem. My friend and I went down the beach and got a much better bungalow at a place called Tradewind. Great room, frig with cold drinks, A/C, tiled bathroom/toilet with hot water, light and airy. Breakfast included on the terrace overlooking the beach. 1500 baht/nite. Real mattress on the bed too.
After checking in we all went downtown to buy my little friend (hereafter referred to by name, Liy). some clothes. Between BW and I, we bought her 2 pairs of shorts, three cute tops, a short beach skirt, bikini bathing suit, sunglasses, sandals, and a sun visor. She looked great before but now sensational. She is 150 Cm, 43 kg ( 5', 95#) cute as a button. Reminds me of my friend Noi in Ft Collins CO only a bit younger.
She takes care of me, pays the taxi driver, orders the food, pays the bill, dials the phone, She watched me fix my coffee once and now she does it for me just the way I like it. Puts the food in my mouth. While I am writing this email she is massaging my shoulders and editing my spelling. Can I bring her home with me? &n! bsp;No one there would believe it.
So, after shopping we went swimming in the 80 degree, crystal clear water just off our beach. Very shallow, so not intimidating to Liy. Most Thai people don't swim, but Liy can swim "a little". So we played around for a couple of hours and I tried to teach her some rudimentary strokes. Bill came by and we had appetizers on the terrace. Spring rolls, Thai salad and chicken steamed in pandanus leaves with several nice Thai sauces. Wonderful, light meal. Then a shower and a stroll downtown to look around.
Bill took off and Liy and I discovered a sidewalk bar that actually had some decent beer. Wow! We each had a hefeweizen poured properly and at the right temperature. It was so good! All domestic beer in the bars is cheap lager, similar to coors and Bud. Yecchh!
Back to the room and to bed early. Tired because I hadn't had a decent nights sleep in two days. Actually slept in the this morning. Great sleep, good mattress and off to meet Bill on the terrace for breakfast. He was having a Thai massage on the beach when we got there, joined us for coffee after. Liy, of course, fixed my coffee the way I like it. Bill had a present for Liy. An English language book for Thai learners. Her English is pretty good, but a nice thoughtful gift from Bill.
Bill has left to go back to Pattaya. He will take the bus back. Liy and I will rent a catamaran sailboat for a few hours of sailing. I haven't done any sailing since I moved to Ketchum and left my two sailing dinghies in Bellingham. Should be fun and a new experience for Liy.
More about adventures in paradise later.
B
here's my friend bill's latest post from ko samui. dang . . . he has me chomping at the bit! zidaho
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i had booked a snorkel trip the day before, so the minibus driver picked us up at the resort at 7:30 in the morning and drove us over to the dock at nat hon to get on the tour boat.
this boat is a medium size tour boat, probably holds about 100 people. modern fiberglass boat, pretty fast, with an enclosed cabin, air conditioned and an open top deck for the folks who like the wind in their hair. a lot of europeans with some thai families.
about 45 minutes to nat hon where we switched to a smaller open speed boat, about 25 persons, for the trip out to the snorkel site further up the island. several boats there already, of course. they provide all the snorkel equpment and we were in the water in a moment.
liy, not being a good swimmer needed a life jacket, but i don't wear one so i can dive to the bottom. they give you some bread to attract the fish.
not a bad site but not as good as! coral island out of phuket. hundreds of fish here, thousands at coral island. so many at ci that they can scare you by their numbers. but we had a good time.
liy's first time snorkeling. they give you an hour in the water, plenty of time and then back to the little town for lunch. we shared a table with two sisters from rotterdam. one of them was suffering an intestinal upset and only ate some pineapple which has enzymes that are supposed to be good for a bad tummy. i introduced myself and liy and they said therenames and said," she is my sister". so i pointed to liy and said, " she is my sister." they were quite impressed with the family resemblance.
lunch was steamed rice, a seafood dish and chicken strips with fruit for dessert, plenty of water. then back into the boat for the trip to the marine park, koh nangyuan, where we had an hour and a half to do whatever. cost me 100 baht to land but only 30 baht for liy. because i am a farang.
so we relaxed a bit, had a beer at the bar, and then snorkeled for 1/2 hour before boarding the boat to go back to nat hon.
back onto the big boat for the trip back to the pier at samui. little miss liy climbed up in my lap and went to sleep for a while. at the pier we found our minibus and were taken back to the resort.
7:30 to 5:30, 3000 baht for both of us. a fun, full day and worth the price. got a shower and off to the restaraunt for a nice dinner.
i'm afraid i got carried away at dinner, ordering fruit drinks with liquor, steamed fish and a seafood medley salad, steamed rice. actually miss liy ordered every thing. she has taken over my life and i love it. here are some examples.
in the morning she makes sure we have everything we need for the day, including patting down my pockets to make sure i haven't forgotten the money. she packs up the day bag. at breakfast i show her on the menu what i want and she orders. when the coffee arrives, she adds sugar and cream just the way i like. when the food arrives she butters the toast and cuts up my food and puts it in my mouth. she keeps the room tidy, folding and putting away the clothes. when we go somewhere she takes the money and pays the taxi driver. she hangs on my arm and gives me little kisses, pinching and sqeezing and giggling. she is never still, moving and squirming like a little puppy. are we all gagging yet?
when the muslim martyrs die they go to heaven and get 72 virgins. i am already in heaven with my liy.
of course i am experiencing this in the name of pure research. someone has to do it. can i bring her home with me? she is almost small enough to fit in my hand luggage. but of course she would be run out of town immediately by the women.
we have to leave the resort on sunday as they are booked solid. for the sonkran festival. a big deal in thailand. to ensure water for the crops, so the people throw water and white powder on everyone! on sunday even the police get nailed. every body goes nutso, spraying people with water cannons, high pressure hoses, and such like. last year there were over 500 deaths attributed to the holiday. people knocked off motorbikes and such like.
so we are going to phuket. i have decided to take liy with me. so i have to got to the bar where she works and bail her out for several days. as she is not working she is not making the bar any money so i have to pay. it's worth it. she is a great girl, and we are having a lot of fun.
this morning we rented a catamaran and went sailingfor a couple of hours. another new experience for liy. she makes good crew and a very pretty one too. liy isn't beautiful, but she is cute like gidget, a little pug nose. the joke when we were looking for sunglasses for her was that she didn't have a bridge to her nose to perch the glasses on! always a big smile and a laugh. and she has a great little body. skin like silk, 26" waist, 34b bust, long dark brown hair. a real cutie and she looks great in her bikini altho she wears a cover up when not in the water. the body of a 25 yr old which she is. is there a price on my head yet?
we are renting a motorbike after lunch so we can go to lamai beach where i will pay up and then a tour of the island.
bye.
My friend Bill has been in Ko Samui the past several days with a girl he met there and who he is bar fining out for the next several days. They are leaving KS because all the rooms were booked as of tomorrow. As described below he is now on his way to Phuket. Zidaho
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So the day started early, 6:30 and we were getting ready for the day. Off to breakfast at 7:00. Breakfast is included in the rent and we eat at the open air bar overlooking the beach. Breakfast is usually light, yoghurt with fresh fruit for me and boiled rice soup with seafood for Liy, but today, bacon and eggs for me and rice, pork and egg for Liy. The hostesses and Liy were discussing my potential talents as a father, mostly in Thai, but I could tell what they were saying. They said I have a good face, make handsome baby. And I said "Yes, but no hair, pointing to my mostly bald head." So they said "yes, no hair but good heart".
So, about the time we were finishing up breakfast the massage ladies showed up for work. We both had a Thai oil massage with scented oils, a manicure and pedicure each, complete with matching toe nail color, (gold), four hours for 800 baht, less tha! n 18 dollars, all right on the beach.
Back to the room for a shower then uptown to make reservations to go to Phuket tomorrow. Cost about $120 to fly (2) 2800 baht each plus taxi to the airport of $7 (300 baht). But we can take a bus for 700 baht plus the minibus to the ferry dock, about $22 total. Leave early arrive at 2:00 pm in Phuket town. So that is the way to go. Fancy A/C bus too, then shopping.
I didn't mean to but we found some really pretty clothes for Liy, plus cosmetics, toiletries, etc. Some stuff for me too, loose fitting cotton pants, a swim cap.
By now Sonkran has started and we wrapped our goodies in plastic to walk back to the resort. I have finally figured this Sonkran thing out. It is the Thai New Year celebration! Anyway we were soaked by the time we got back to the room.
By this time it was late in the afternoon. I got a newspaper and went to the bar to read.&n! bsp; Liy came down later and we went swimming. Bodysurfing the small wavesuntil it got dark. Beautiful sunset, pink clouds with a half moon in the sky.
Another shower and we dressed for dinner, Liy in her white wrap cotton pants and white knit halter top. Very cute and sexy. Me in black cotton loose pants and black print Hawaiian style shirt. Handsome and sexy. Off to dinner at the japanese rest.
10 pm now and we have to pack and be up at 6:00. A shortlesson in Thainglish. My friend me.= My friend. Your friend you= your friend. My friend me, same same you.= Our friend. All prepositions and connecting words are gone. We go now. You like. Me no like. We eat now. etc. No l's inthe language, so my name is pronounced Bin, or Birr. Thai language is all one/two syllable words, no tenses. I eat now, I eat yesterday, I eat tomorrow.
Liy speaks good Thainglish and reads English language papers and books. She also reads my emails as I write and corrects my spelling mistakles.
Lots of places (Bangkok, Pattaya, etc) you feel like everyone is after your money, but then you come to a place like this. Liy has never asked me for money. One morning I was looking for my moneyclip, muttering about the room, "Where's my money, need money." Liy went over to her purse, reached in and gave me all her money!.
When we rented the sailboat, the beach guy rigged it all up and got us launched, helped us land andpull the boat up the beach. He walked away and I caught up with him, gave him 40 baht. He said, "What's this for?" I said" For your help." He took the money with a bemusedlook on his face, as if to say "Crazy Farang."
The girls at the beach bar work 12 hour days and make 4400 baht/month. Plus room and board. Pretty incredible.
Time to go pack up for tomorrow.
Zidaho,
" Cost about $120 to fly (2) 2800 baht each plus taxi to the airport of $7 (300 baht)."
And please don't forget no less than B500 for departure tax from KohSamui.
All other airports levy just B50 for domestic flights...
For B500 you can get ANYWHERE in the Kingdom from KohSamui by train and bus.
Freeler,
the Samui airport tax is 400 baht for domestic, 500 for international.
At Don Muang, the international tax is also 500, but if you check-in for your homebound flight in Samui, they will have you pay the 500 baht tax there, but you will avoid the BKK one.
That way, you do not pay the extortionate 400 baht tax at all.
Seydlitz,
I found the B500 here:
http://www.samuiholiday.com/transfer/gettosamui.html
B400 still can get you to anywhere in the Kingdom.
8 times more, 10 times more: It's always a rip-off!
A couple of Brittons I met while checking in at DonMuang came from Samui. They had to pay departure tax from Samui AND from BKK... This was on Feb 4, 2003.
Freeler,
I returned from Samui last week, and did as I explained. The thing is to check-in at the international terminal (that is the hut next door to the other one, since Samui airport is a low-key affair).
Nothing prevents you to pay the domestic tax from Samui to BKK, and then the international tax at Don Muang, but there is obviously an alternative, if you do not need to leave the airport in BKK before your homebound flight.
Apparently, some Bangkok Airways staff are more helpful than others.
One note of caution: if one is in the company of a local person (say a BKK-based sweetheart), it is adviseable to pay attention to the fact that her bag is not checked-in to Farangland as well, as that could easily happen with not-so-caring Samui staff members....