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Opebo,
If the only purpose of a visit to Thailand is to get laid, Pattaya is your best if not only option.
However, should you actually want to see the country... then a trip South to NST, HY etc would be in order.
I believe that on your trip to NST, you somehow missed the Yowarat Hotel - not smart!
On my upcoming trip, I will most definitely venture South again, elbowing my way through a forest of white hairy legs:(.
[QUOTE=Terry Terrier]One potential pitfall of using credit/debit cards in Thailand is that western banks consider that country to be such a high risk area for fraud, they can be very jumpy about locking your card if they see it being used there. Happened to me once, and has happened to friends. A couple of phone calls to your bank will get it unlocked, but this can be an inconvenience. Having more than one type of card, or keeping some cash or cheques in your safe is always a good idea.[/QUOTE]
Terry is correct. My credit card carrier was nervous and jerky about my going to Thailand, and for good reason. I bought a new small suitcase on wheels at a store inside the BKK airport, because the handle on mine broke. Paid for it with a Visa card, signed the invoice, and walked off with my receipt and suitcase. A month or so later, I got my Visa bill. The price I was charged for the suitcase was 3 times more than my receipt........but I no longer had the receipt. My carrier says that they do that often in Asian countries......mostly in Thailand. So, keep all of your credit card receipts until you get your bill, and don't assume honesty exists...even in upscale stores.
[QUOTE=Freeler]Opebo,
...I believe that on your trip to NST, you somehow missed the Yowarat Hotel - not smart![/QUOTE]
I only discovered two short-time/hookers-hanging-out-in-front style hotels on my visit to Nakhon Si Thammarat, the Nakhorn Hotel, and the 'Sritong Limited Partnership' Hotel. Though I did not partake in either due to poor quality and general unfriendliness I tried my best to inform my brothers about them as follows:
[i]Lastly, I discovered a couple of the cheap hooker-hotels in town. One was the Nakhorn Hotel, on the street which runs by the train station, just a bit to the south. The other was the Sritong Limited Partnership Hotel, just to the north and opposite the train station. At each about 3 or 4 girls could be seen lounging in front - the price here was 300, but be careful as I was quoted 500-1000 when I first rolled up.[/i]
Could you share the location and other relevant information (price, quality and number of girls, etc.) about the fabled 'Yowarat' Hotel? One cannot help but fear that those of us who are not smart will continue to miss some venues, in our ignorance, if we do not share information upon this forum.
Never use a credit card in Thailand, except at reputable hotels. Simply inform the bank you have your debit card with you are going to Thailand. I have never had a problem, I always carry a second ATM card just in case.
Cactus J
[QUOTE=1Ball]ATMs everywhere. Some have a daily withdrawal limit. You might ask your bank what your limit is, and ask to increase it if necessary.
I never carry cash or TTs anymore, I only use ATMs in Asia and Europe.[/QUOTE]
I feel a little bit stupid, considering what happened to me 3 days after I posted the report above. Even though my post below is in the Bali Indonesia thread, where the incident took place, I believe it can happen anywhere.
[QUOTE=1Ball]By coincidence, I just posted on another thread that I never travel with large amounts of cash or TTs. I always use my ATM card for cash withdrawals.
Well, yesterday, I got fucked. Someone hacked one of the ATMs that I had recently used, got a hold of my card number and PIN. When I went to pull cash out, I found funds were not available as I had exceeded my daily limit. I ran home to look at my account online, and there had been 6 transactions in the last 24 hours, all at various ATMs in Singapore (I have not been in Singapore recently), for a total in excess of 900 USD. After calling my bank, and cancelling my card, and them promising to put the lost money in my account, I am however without cash, and without an ATM card. Thankfully, friends have been able to front me some money.
The strange thing is I have a daily withdrawal limit of 300 USD, by choice, and they still managed to grab over 900. The person at the other end of the line was not able to explain why.
Be careful out there, and check on a regular basis.[/QUOTE]
Just back from Thailand Hua Hin waste of time about 20 bars 200 ugly girls dont waste your time with the journey !!!
I totally gave up using ATM and credit cards in Thailand anymore. In 5 years after I have bank accounts and ATM cards from Bangkok Bank, Thai UOB, Siam Commercial Bank, I totally had 3+3+2 ATM fraud, including 2 times my whole amount were drained cleaned from Bangkok Bank, and transfered to UNKNOWN destinations, all inside jobs against foriegners, after so much headaches and hassels and sleepless nights, the Bangkok Bank gave me back my money, I had enough Thai Banks, thats when I decided to quit banking in Thailand altogether.
Now all my spending money in Thailand and SEA is shifted to UOB and DBS in Singapore, and some to HK, only carry cash and travelers checks to Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, and even to China. No more sleepless nights in SEA after that.
Opebo,
Last time I checked, Yaowarat was about 200m East of the large long distance taxi stand.
The girls came from HY and Phuket and they were good looking and ready to go.
Yaowarat was a 'normal' hotel at the time, so just asking for directions will not immediately give you away as a ho fucker:D.
Regards,
Freeler
PS The nasty answer would be: GOOGLE DAMMIT! This is what you find:
[url]http://hotels-thailand-en.globalhotelindex.com/nakhonsrithammarat/hotel_yaowarat_2449436en.html[/url]
RCA,
Most tourists will used their 'foreign' cards. I never met a problem in almost ten years of using them in Thailand.
When travelling, and not only in LOS, I use several ATM cards to get cash for "petty" expenses, like restaurants, *****houses and the like. An added advantage is: no paper trail!
I do pay hotels with credit cards, even in Thailand, and had no problems so far.
I do call the banks and CC-companies, notifying them to expect charges from -for me- exotic countries in a certain period, in order to avoid the cards being blocked.
[QUOTE=RCA Knight]...I had enough Thai Banks, thats when I decided to quit banking in Thailand altogether...[/QUOTE]
I'm sure that works well for you, but some of us must maintain a fairly large balance bank account here in Thailand in order to have our visas renewed.
[QUOTE=Patterson]Just back from Thailand Hua Hin waste of time about 20 bars 200 ugly girls dont waste your time with the journey !!![/QUOTE]I lived in Hua Hin for 5 years and don't share your view about Hua Hin. It surely has a more laid back athmosphere then Disneyland Pattaya but this is what some people like. And i can asure you that in my time there i had many beautiful willing girls.
So Khun Petterson don't be so absolute about a place you don't seem to know!
How much money in a Thai bank account does it take to qualify for a visa renewal?
Thank you guys for all the input.
Several years back I booked directly via the internet with several Hotels and tours guides in Thailand for our big family trip providing my credit card number. I never had any issues with the number being misused, but a few days after it was used my the local Master Card office called me and ask if my card was lost or stolen because some chargers were made in Thailand.
Your point is taken...tell your card company you are going to Asia. It will prevent a lock being put on the account.
It seem that local Thai issued ATM cards Bangkok Bank ect has had some issues.
Anyway I guess being careful and the less usage is a good practice.
VV
[QUOTE=Freeler]Last time I checked, Yaowarat was about 200m East of the large long distance taxi stand.
The girls came from HY and Phuket and they were good looking and ready to go.
Yaowarat was a 'normal' hotel at the time, so just asking for directions will not immediately give you away as a ho fucker:D.[/QUOTE]
Thanks for those tantalizing tidbits of information, Freeler, though of course we have no idea where is this 'large long distance taxi stand'. I wonder if these girls were the 300 baht kind, the 1,500 baht kind, or some where in between. I suppose we'll never know.
As for asking locals about such things, I have to say that it is, while not totally useless, normally far less effective than asking our brothers upon this forum for their advice. So please excuse my inquisitiveness.