Other Areas

Both the Thai and Burmese immigration offices close at 5pm, but you're not allowed to stay in Tachilek after 5pm anyway.

They only grant a one-day entry visa, and there are plenty of armed soldiers ready to enforce this if necessary.

[QUOTE=Coma Boy]
Traveler- You mean to say that both Thai and Burmese immigration officals let you leave/enter their countries with only a photocopy? Does that work at Don Muang, or just "walking" borders?
[/QUOTE]
Coma Boy,

yes, without any prob, but that was several years ago (no Thaksin in sight) and my Thai GF who became my wife later on had to deposit her ID at the small Thai immigration office. I don't remember any Burmese immigration but there probably was one.

Guess they were very relaxed since I didn't look smelly or poor and obviously wasn't on a visa run, just sightseeing for a day. Might give it a try again on my next trip and will report about it.

We took a rikschaw and went around sightseeing, a bit shopping at the market but nothing really worth to buy since I don't smoke and don't drink alcohol. The rest was crap. The market at Aranyaprathet is much better.

I have severe doubts that immigration at Don Muang will handle it the same way or in short "no way". Nowadays they even go crazy if you have an overstay which wasn't much of a prob a couple of years back. Back then you had to pay 200 baht for each day of overstay, no matter how many but on my last trip I saw a guy having big probs with immigration for just 10 days of overstay. He didn't looked like a biz traveller of course :)

[QUOTE=RCA Knight]Its actually pronounced TA-KI-LEI by most people.[/QUOTE] You're correct but the Burmese romanise it as Tachileik, despite its pronunciation.

anyone have info about koh chang?
Is there a small or any bar/girl scene?
how about renting nice little bungalows on the beach?
not into backpack special, but a bit more luxury like hot and cold water and air/con.

[QUOTE=Red Cork]Anyone have info about Koh Chang?
Is there a small or any bar/girl scene?
How about renting nice little bungalows on the beach?
Not into backpack special, but a bit more luxury like hot and cold water and air/con.[/QUOTE]Not really a BG scene, you'll have to grab a Thai tourist, a local or, dare I say it, a white girl. The sluttiest girls there are of course the Farang chicks.

Plenty of nice up-market beach bungalow resorts- aircon, hot water, even TV.

Most backpackers can't afford to stay there long-term so most folk are tourists or flashpackers.

Thanks Coma Boy , I have been south of there to koh kut a few years ago. it is very remote but a bit too backpackerish for me. So when i go to koh chang i will bring my own. i hope it is not developing into another koh samui. so i will assume you can find a nice beach bungalow for 20$@night?

20 USD shouldn't be a problem, I think prices range from about 400-4000 Baht. For air-con I expect you'll have to pay at least 1000 Baht.

Haven't been there for ages though.

[QUOTE=Red Cork]anyone have info about koh chang?
Is there a small or any bar/girl scene?
how about renting nice little bungalows on the beach?
not into backpack special, but a bit more luxury like hot and cold water and air/con.[/QUOTE]
Red Cork,

there are a few bars but you can't call it a scene. Better bring a girl with you.
I have a friend who lives there and actually owns a resort. New nice rooms/bungalows with aircon, fridge, cable tv, room safe and balcony close to the beach for about 800 per day. If you are interested I will forward his contact info to you.

I have visited Koh chang for 4 days back in April and I must say I was not too impressed.

I arrived on the first day of Songkran on White Sand Beach without having booked an hotel/bungalow as I thought I could easily find one. Most of them were actually fully booked or quoting extravagant prices (2000 THB upwards
). After getting tired walking from reception to reception, I finally settled willy-nilly for a "spare" room behind the counter at the otherwise fully booked YAKA BUNGALOWs which had no air-con and of very poor quality for 500THB, leaving me fighting mosquitos all night.

During the day, I booked a snorkeling daytrip to the Koh chang national maritime park. Unfortunately, it was the thai school-holidays at the same time and the best comparison I can think of to describe the snorkeling scene on the corails is Omaha Beach on D-Day 1945. There were litterally dozens of tour-boats offloading hundreds of thai holiday-makers equipped with their snorkeling gear, making the corail as busy as sukhumvit road! And the boats were all moving in a synchronous way from spot to spot, so it was a similar scene all day long ...

For the evenings, I knew Koh Chang was not a nightlife spot like Patong beach in Phuket but after a few days spend alone, this place starts really boring you to death. I was approached once at the beach when sitting in front of the only busy bar on white Sand Beach (can't remember the name, it has live-music every night) but did not like the girl. The worst is that after 2 days, I started recognising the other farangs at this bar, as it was the only option for entertainment (besides Internet coffees) and everyone went there each night, including the old lady who sold me the day-trip...
I decided to cut my stay short and go back to BKK.

Latrell

[QUOTE=Latrell2]I have visited Koh chang for 4 days back in April and I must say I was not too impressed... etc. etc.[/QUOTE]What do you expect? Any holiday destination will be fully booked and busy during the New Year holidays. If you'd had the sense to book ahead during the busiest time of year, and taken a girl, then you would have probably had a great time.

It is meant to be a peaceful place to relax after time in other areas. Thailand doesn't have any nice beaches with hookers, it always seems to be one or the other.

I'm looking for info on going to Nong Khai, any 'best' place to stay for hobbying? Should I first bring a friend? Any suggestions apppreciated!

Thx,

Fred

Well,

Nong Khai is well and truly documented, mainly by the Skinless Domino one and myself. To RTFF is the obvious answer to your question, Mr. Fred gold!

Domino talks about BeachRoad price levels on the Pattaya pages. Let me just minddig for some other area prices...
After a two hour long session with my fav Pilok mature t&a, I couldn't help seeing her think - looking at the ceiling, grind, grind. So I asked the lady what she was thinking about. She said: 'I think today maybe B300, no?' Correct. No! B200, as usual anywhere up country. She came back for sucking and fucking on three more days. No need to fork out B300 at all.

The Thai government has decided to step up its fight against the insurgency in the Muslim south of the country with an unusual weapon - cable television.

The interior minister announced that cable TV would be installed in teashops across the south.

The hope is that it will distract young Muslim men from joining the insurgency.

The conflict with government forces has claimed more than 800 lives in the past 18 months.

The Thai government is at a loss over what to do with its troubled southern provinces.

It has tried appealing for peace, at one point dropping thousands of folded paper birds over the area.

It has tried being tough - nearly 200 Muslim men died at the hands of the army last year.

Last month it imposed emergency rule there. BBC

(But will it work? Now the bad guys get a break with a game on the tele then go back to being bad guys...Only in Thailand.)

juice

Udon Thani, capital of Isaan

Bear in mind that this is a HUGE city. Perhaps the most accessible of the entertainment areas for falang is Adulyadet Road which is a crossroad of Silpakorn St. (the road running out to the train station and night markets). There are many karaokes, all night bars on Adulyadet Rd itself, and a number of short time brothels on sidestreets such as soi6, 7 and 8.

Falangs are generally welcome in these brothels. You can 'take-away' or they have (grotty) on-site rooms for B100/hr. Expect to pay B500 for the deed itself. You pay up-front to the papasan. You negotiate with him. But if you go with a tuk-tuk the price is very firm.

I presume out of your B500, 100 goes as tip for the driver, 100 to the papa and the remaining 300 is shared between the house and the girl. Locals wouldn't likely pay more than B300. But 500 is still a good price (about $12.50). Also you might consider giving B100 tip to the **** if you are thinking of repeat visits.

If you choose to fuck on-site, you will also need transport back to your hotel. If you are staying in the city area a tuk-tuk will happily take you there and will wait for you for B100 (of course he will also get his cut from the house, that's why he is so happy). Total damage for the hour: B500+100room+100tip girl+100driver=B800max.($20)

What to expect:
Afraid not at all, this is a very safe area. The people are friendly.

As you pull into the little side-street, the papasan will come out to greet you, usually with a big wide smile, sometimes even a handshake. You will feel very welcomed from the first moment. You will be led into a semi-dark room, but with still enough light to make your choice. There might be a few thai men drinking at a table or two but they won't pay attention to you.

You might want to smile and say a "Savat Dee Krup" greeting anyway just to show that you are not a fucked-up dickhead falang. You will be invited to sit down on a chair, will be informed (in good english) about the prices and given the choice of a dozen or so girls sitting around in ordinary streetclothes.

I think basically you can pick anyone but you might be better off with one that smiles at you. There are no world class beauties here, just cute little fucking machines. Many of the girls although small but can be quite attractive, ages from 18-25. Some might even be able to speak a few words of english, like "What's your name? etc., but don't count on it.

Just smile and you will be allright. Or even speak your own language. Still better than silence. She will just politely giggle anyway. And you will feel like a hero because you are so funny and 'successful with women'. These cunts come from great poverty and are not spoilt yet. They will treat you right.

Once you pick a ****, pay your 500+100 if you use their room (the girls actually sleep there). Then she will lead you a few steps down the street to another house where the rooms are. You will both undress in a VERY basic little room (that might even have aircon though!).

These rooms are shitty, they change sheets possibly weekly (if at all!) but still a world above in luxury from the 'fucking boxes' of Cambodia. So if you have tried those, here you will feel very cosy and pampered. You will be given a grotty towel (you might consider bringing your own!) then you go to a separate room to have a good scoop-wash from a basin. It can even be fun splashing around with the naked little monkey (or two?). For added excitement there might even be a wastebasket FULL of bloodied sanitary pads in the corner with a few pieces of shitty toilet paper.

Then you cover in your towels and march back to your room with mattress on the floor. From there on its up to the two of you. Some suck some not, some suck with rubber, some fuck with rubber, others without. You might want to fix these details with papa beforehand or just take it as a box of chocolates and see what you get.

Many of the cunts even come from Lao so the papasans really don't give a shit about them. Yes, you have more chance to fuck a Lao **** here than in Laos!

Anyway. You will have about an hour but they won't hurry you. Then you might want to give a little tip (worth more than any kind words). Even if you behave like an asshole but you tip at the end, you will be allright. "Feminism" luckily is still a thousand miles from here. Here money talks. (And shit walks, but where doesn't?)

Your driver will wait for you outside. You pay him the total B100 when he drops you off at your hotel.

Otherwise, if you are keen on meeting spoiled women who speak english, farang-oriented bars congregate around the CharoenSri shopping centre. There you pay the barfine and the scene is the usual chit-chat Pattaya style. Most of the expats who frequent these bars are either ugly, sick or fat or all of the above. So why would you mix with them, unless of course you also fit the description and might find some company.

There are also a couple of soapie massage parlours as in any large city, with similar prices as elsewhere.

If you get hungry: there is the most unbelievable food market between the CharoengSri S/C and the train station. It equals to an orgasm just to wander around the foodstalls. Will take you hours to see it all. The hard thing is to choose. You will eat well for less than $2.

As usual in this city, everyone is very nice, smily and chatty with falangs. I suspect the reason for this might be the "City Spirit" that lives in the City Pillar near the Nong Prajak lake. As every city in this country, Udon also has a protecting deity who seems to like 'falang' for one reason or another. This of course reflects on the general population as well. Be assured that just because you cannot see a spirit it is still a very real being as any Thai can tell you. This is serious stuff.

Other cities like Pittsanulok have something against westerners. Chiang Mai is not very nice either. In fact I think Udon is more fun than Chiang Mai, any day. Well, as long as the Spirit still likes us. So please behave well and be respectful.

Alexander,

Thanks for a great report on UT. Finally, I would say.
However, "Other cities like Pitsanulok have something against westerners" has me a little puzzled. Perhaps you mean the LP crowd, who come to Pilok and ChiangMai when they do their compulsary tour to the North?
Fact is, you won't see them in UT!