Korean Job Discussion Forums

[sojourner1]

Experienced travelers, thanks in advance for your insightful replies. Trolls, please press the, "back," button before you do anything else.

I just arrived in Bangkok 2 days ago for my first time to SE Asia and must say the weather, temples, women, and handicrafts are stunningly beautiful, but scams and con men abound with each single step you take. I bought a trip to the floating market and tiger temple, but the van that picked me up at 7AM this morning put me in another van who in turn put me in a taxi meter car that took me far outside of Bangkok to a gas station and then turned around to take me back to Khoa Sarn Road after finding the phone number to be bad that the van driver gave him. A 2 hour car ride to nowhere!

Luckily my guesthouse travel agency refunded my 500 baht and paid the 400 baht taxi fare as refunds are said to be uncommon in Thailand. The only way to get to tiger temple and floating market is one of these tours as there isn't public transportation. A day wasted with me back on Khao Sarn road in an internet cafe sipping an orange juice.

Anyone know the best way to take a tour to Kanchanaburi floating market and tiger temple without getting the runaround or worse; ripped off or stranded?

I noticed that Bangkok is difficult to navigate and actually go do much of anything after you have already walked to Wat Pho and the Grand Palace for a look around these magnificant golden sights.

When you take your trips to Bangkok, what do you do outside of walking Khao San road and local temple sight seeing? What do you find so great about Bangkok and enjoy doing?

I kinda regret having rented my room all the way up until Saturday as I feel ready to leave for the islands or Cambodia today as it's just polluted, congested, full of agressive touts, and difficult to get around with little of interest in my eye sight.

Speaking of local transportation, these cool looking tuk tuks always tell you that where you want to go to is closed until such and such time which is a big fat lie to get you on their time for them to earn gas vouchers from vendors you don't want to buy from. They will never take you directly to where you both agreed upon going before you sat down in the tuk tuk unless you tell the driver that you refuse to go inside any tailor, girlie bar, or other shopping and will lose face and get agry. I know this sounds lame, but it clearly works to set them in their place should you find yourself in this situation when you just want the experience of riding a tuk tuk to the Wat Pho on your first day. I would say I handled the situation well both times I rode by remaining calm and standing my ground that I won't go inside any of those air conditioned places he offers to take you to, but only the place we agreed upon or no baht. The first tuk tuk ride did get me to go inside a TAT office which I knew was a fake travek agency stating that it was government ran. They knew I was onto their scam when I said, "if you are government, then surely you have a free map and info." They politely let me leave and continue my 20 baht tuk tuk ride to the Grand Palace. I wouldn't take any more risks as I'm scared they might take me to some secluded place to be ganged up on and robbed!

[mrsquirrel]

right then green boy.


First of all use taxis

Don't get them straight from KSR just walk a few hundred meters away and they will pick you up on the meter without any fucking about. Just remind them to turn it on.

Keep the away from Tuk-tuks and motorbike taxi's - they may look cool but then a knee brace from an accident just isn't very fashionable.

Tours - don't get tours from guest houses - have a look around the travel agencies if you want tours.

Getting to Kanchanaburi is easy enough though - it's just a 3 hour train ride away.

go to some of the parks they are always nice - Lumpini park is pretty nice.

I have never actually done anything touristy in bangkok. Never felt the urge.

If you want a laugh and see what real expats are like visit the Londoner on Sukumvit or the Dubliner just down the road from it.

KSR is a shit hole of a place to live.

And if you have only been paying 10 dollars for your room or so feel free to walk away. Try and not pay for things up front until you know if you like them or not.

You lose a little bit of cash but get on with your adventure.

TAT offices are not scams - There should be a TAT office on KSR somewhere that can give you advice and maps on where to go.

[kangnam mafioso]

Take a deep breath, man. You're supposed to be on vacation. Go get a room in the Nana Plaza area, hit some beer bars, get a massage and relax. Go see a movie or something. Window shop in Siam square. Walk along the Sukumvit. Grab a delicious Thai dinner. Hit Pat Pong or Soi Cowboy for a laugh.

Get on a Bangkok Airways flight south to Samui or Phuket.

[shaggy]

have you taken a trip on the river taxi yet? It's not expensive and then from the river taxi you can easily take the sky train to other parts of Bangkok - the only problem is the river taxi shuts down early but if you don't mind taking a cab you can easily get back to Khoasan or have an early day of it.

There are a slew of tour agencies in Khoasan- I got a cheap little bus tour to the Tiger Temple from one of the many little places around Khoasan. Just look for the TAT sign and compare prices.

-check out talesofasia.com for travel info on Cambodia

[pesawattahi]

Don't bother with Bangkok, it sucks. Too dirty, all the souveniers are trash and it is a rip-off. Go to Chiang Mai, it is cheap a bit cleaner and smaller (still plenty of nightlife) and the food is better. Best of all it is a center of handicraft manufacturing. What that means is all the junk you are buying in Bangkok can be had at half the price or less (if you can haggle) with way more selection. There are also a few activities up there such as visiting the hill tribes and the golden triangle. Also there is a beautiful limestone waterfall up towards mae taeng the you can walk down I forget the name but if I can find it I will post.

[spliff]

Take a trip around the third plateau...

[mrsquirrel]

[the_beaver]

*beep* off the lot of you.

Bangkok rocks.

[pesawattahi]

Well Chiang Mai is definitly the best for shopping, not just the night bazar but you can hit Samkaengphaeng and Bantuay as well. Its is easy enough for a foriegner to get around in if you are not familiar with Thailand or overseas travel. I prefer to get off the beaten path and have been to quite a few nice places up there simply because I made a few Thai friends. We would rent a van w/driver for the day and go places where you would be the only farang. That said Issan was nice too, go to the National Pottery College outside of Nakhon Rachasima and you can score some good deals there (you will be basically buying from the source). Khon Khaen is a nice town too, it has the University there and they have a good English program.

[sojourner1]

I went to Kanchanaburi 2 days ago and I must say it's a different world than Bangkok. I love it! So laid back and easy going with a very natural environment. Nice bungalow huts with cold shower are only 200 baht or $6.25 US and the food for 35 baht is very tasty. You can rent motorcycles for 150 baht a day and ride, ride, and ride some more in the great outdoors. Today, me and a travel mate are riding our motorcycles up to tiger temple.

I know the best way to enjoy Thailand like many other countries is to venture out of the big city and go on a real adventure.

Any tips are welcome and thank you guys very much for your replies. I am staying 7 more weeks! Everyone needs to go on a trip like this at least once in a lifetime. I lucked out where it only costed me 120,000 Korean won more for the 2 month lay over in Bangkok than if I would had gone directly home. My director worked with me in setting up the airfare and I paid just this little bit extra. This can't be beat. I am very happy with my situation at this point.

Hope to see some of you down here in tropical warm sunny places this Winter.

[pesawattahi]

I forget when the water festival is but we had a blast in Khon Khaen (it is a college town almost no falangs). You can also hit Preah Vihear, it is a temple in the mountains of Cambodia but easier to get to from the Thai side. Do some dives to ocean if great there. Avoid Phattiya, it ain't that great and kind of filthy.

[spliff]

[pesawattahi]

Mayb you should check out the northwest it has quite a few, although it has been a few years since I have been to Khon Khaen. As far as I can remember though I only saw a couple pale faces there and I stayed in the Sofitel.

[demaratus]

Check out some Thai Boxing at Lumpinee or the other stadium, its a lot of fun! Are you travelling alone? If so take a cooking class, you will learn a new skill, meet some people and have a great meal. There is world class shopping in Bangkok also.

[crusher_of_heads]