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Seoulmann
Joined: 27 Aug 2010
Location: Seoul
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 Posted: Sun Sep 12, 2010 6:56 am Post subject: |
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| My dad use to go to Thailand back in the 70's he even lived there for 2 years at one time. the stories he told me is nothing compared to the 6 times I have been there. He said Pattaya use to have like 1 hotel and a couple bangalows on the beach. discos and strip clubs were all hidden in garages and basements, Gi's everywhere and drugs rampant. |
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Hotwire
Joined: 29 Aug 2010
Location: Multiverse
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| Posted: Sun Sep 12, 2010 11:18 pm Post subject: |
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"James Blunt, John Mayer and Dido are still on repeat here "
Not same.
2004 it was Coldplay and Red Hot Chilli Peppers!
Come on now! |
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definitely maybe
Joined: 16 Feb 2008
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| Posted: Mon Sep 13, 2010 9:05 am Post subject: |
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| Hotwire wrote: |
"James Blunt, John Mayer and Dido are still on repeat here "
Not same.
2004 it was Coldplay and Red Hot Chilli Peppers!
Come on now! |
You're right! Chilli Pepper's greatest hits everywhere! |
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stevieg4ever
Joined: 11 Feb 2006
Location: London, England
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| Posted: Tue Sep 21, 2010 4:04 am Post subject: |
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Everytime i hear 'by the way' i think of Khaosan lol
In all honesty I think the change in Khaosan reflects the general change to travel especially in SE Asia. The whole region has gone commercial. Even Myanmar now has visa-on-arrival. 15 years ago young people were probably more likely to begin their travels in Europe but now SE Asia seems the first port of call. And Khaosan is the gateway to all of that.
| definitely maybe wrote: |
| Hotwire wrote: |
"James Blunt, John Mayer and Dido are still on repeat here "
Not same.
2004 it was Coldplay and Red Hot Chilli Peppers!
Come on now! |
You're right! Chilli Pepper's greatest hits everywhere! |
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northway
Joined: 05 Jul 2010
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| Posted: Tue Sep 21, 2010 5:49 pm Post subject: |
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| stevieg4ever wrote: |
Everytime i hear 'by the way' i think of Khaosan lol
In all honesty I think the change in Khaosan reflects the general change to travel especially in SE Asia. The whole region has gone commercial. Even Myanmar now has visa-on-arrival. 15 years ago young people were probably more likely to begin their travels in Europe but now SE Asia seems the first port of call. And Khaosan is the gateway to all of that.
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I found Vietnam and Laos to still be pretty chill. Thailand is overrun, however. |
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AsiaESLbound
Joined: 07 Jan 2010
Location: Truck Stop Missouri
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| Posted: Tue Sep 21, 2010 7:52 pm Post subject: |
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| Myanmar stopped visa on arrival on September 1st. VOA didn't cause an influx of tourists and nothing is commercialized about Myanmar other than it's government produced beer. Once you leave KSR on a plane for Yangon, it's incredibly different in how non-commercialized Yangon really is. It was rare to see another tourist. Ever where I went in Myanmar, I got too much attention since I was the only one in most situations, even in the most popular places like Bagan and that 2 km long teak wood Ubin bridge outside of Mandalay. A trip to Myanmar puts everything else into perspective. Especially when you go from staying on KSR a few days before going to Myanmar. KSR is just a jumping off point and a place to experience a Euro techno trance jam. It's good for eating, music, drinking, and picking up things at Boots pharmacy such as Doxycycline and mosquito repellent. Probably good for a whole lot more than what I listed depending on what you are seeking. |
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interestedinhanguk
Joined: 23 Aug 2010
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| Posted: Tue Sep 21, 2010 8:40 pm Post subject: |
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| AsiaESLbound wrote: |
| ...It's good for picking up things at Boots pharmacy such as Doxycycline and mosquito repellent. |
fixed |
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AsiaESLbound
Joined: 07 Jan 2010
Location: Truck Stop Missouri
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| Posted: Wed Sep 22, 2010 6:25 am Post subject: |
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| interestedinhanguk wrote: |
| AsiaESLbound wrote: |
| ...It's good for picking up things at Boots pharmacy such as Doxycycline and mosquito repellent. |
fixed |
So you are saying a visit to KSR is only good for going to Boots pharmacy? Or are you saying my English grammar wasn't correct where it would be better to have used two sentences to say what's good about KSR? Ah well... Guess it's not really all that important. KSR is a really ultra cool starting and stopping point for SE Asia trips and I plan on going again in the future. I like a mostly European tourist oriented place like that and hope KSR doesn't develop into an upscale expensive place, but it probably will, because all those going in their 20's will want more comfort and services when they return with loads of cash in their 40's, 50's, or 60's. If people come to spend more money expecting more creature comforts, then the Thai will increasingly commercialize the tourism. I guess we are lucky to live in a time where you can still get $5 to $10 a night rooms in lively backpacker tourist centers, because it could all get to be like Paris, New York, London, Miami, Cancun, and such where it's $100 or more a night. It will get like that if package tourism becomes more prevalent than independent backpackers like is common for the Caribbean where backpacking isn't good due to a lack of cheap rooms and transport services. |
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interestedinhanguk
Joined: 23 Aug 2010
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| Posted: Wed Sep 22, 2010 7:13 am Post subject: |
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| AsiaESLbound wrote: |
| interestedinhanguk wrote: |
| AsiaESLbound wrote: |
| ...It's good for picking up things at Boots pharmacy such as Doxycycline and mosquito repellent. |
fixed |
So you are saying a visit to KSR is only good for going to Boots pharmacy? Or are you saying my English grammar wasn't correct where it would be better to have used two sentences to say what's good about KSR? |
Only good for the pharmacy. You listed eating, music, and drinking as other reasons.
Eating-Are you serious? If you want Pad Thai with soy sauce instead of tamarind and other crappy food, head to KSR. I admit I've been there. The food is awful. You're in Thailand, walk a few blocks off KSR, and you'll find some great eats. But for some soggy fish and chips, I suppose it's good.
Drinking- Drinking bad cocktails out of plastic kiddy pails...
Music- Lots of us have similar stuff on our Ipods. If I want a music experience in Thailand, I'll go find some Thai music.
I don't mind other Westerners/tourists being around. BUT, I don't go to places like Thailand in order to be around them.
Question is, if KSR is great, why are there no Thais there other than those working? |
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northway
Joined: 05 Jul 2010
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| Posted: Wed Sep 22, 2010 7:55 am Post subject: |
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| interestedinhanguk wrote: |
| Question is, if KSR is great, why are there no Thais there other than those working? |
There are Thais there at the bars, it's a popular place with young Thais. My middle class Bangkok friends go there pretty frequently. It's not fantastic, but it's not the hooker strewn foreigner wasteland that some make it out to be. |
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asc422
Joined: 23 Feb 2009
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| Posted: Wed Sep 22, 2010 8:26 am Post subject: |
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Last edited by asc422 on Tue Nov 02, 2010 3:32 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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kiknkorea
Joined: 16 May 2008
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| Posted: Wed Sep 22, 2010 7:46 pm Post subject: |
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| interestedinhanguk wrote: |
Only good for the pharmacy. You listed eating, music, and drinking as other reasons.
Eating-Are you serious? If you want Pad Thai with soy sauce instead of tamarind and other crappy food, head to KSR. I admit I've been there. The food is awful. You're in Thailand, walk a few blocks off KSR, and you'll find some great eats. But for some soggy fish and chips, I suppose it's good.
Drinking- Drinking bad cocktails out of plastic kiddy pails...
Music- Lots of us have similar stuff on our Ipods. If I want a music experience in Thailand, I'll go find some Thai music.
I don't mind other Westerners/tourists being around. BUT, I don't go to places like Thailand in order to be around them.
Question is, if KSR is great, why are there no Thais there other than those working? |
Great points all.
The only good thing about the place are the cheapo hotels, which can be nice if you're in a pinch.
I planned to avoid the area like the plague the last time I was in Thailand, but my bus coming back from Krabi dropped everyone off there after midnight. I was exhausted and just wanted a place to sleep so I held my nose and found something.
Other than that, I can't imagine just going there to hang out and do the KSR experience. I got a laugh out of an airplane video on the flight there promoting it as some must-see place to go in Bangkok.  |
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AsiaESLbound
Joined: 07 Jan 2010
Location: Truck Stop Missouri
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| Posted: Thu Sep 23, 2010 5:57 am Post subject: |
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I like that Italian restaurant on KSR serving really good thin crust capricciosa pizza. It's actually a very nice sit down open air bistro style restaurant if you don't go too late in the evening. Despite the pizza being everywhere in Korea and nonexistent in Thailand outside tourist restaurants, I haven't found a real pizza like that in Korea. Soi Rambuttri behind KSR is the place to find a cheap quiet room and enjoy a more chill scene. KSR itself is one big loud techno rave drinking party, but has the world's nicest Starbucks tucked away in it. It's a nice Egyptian revival style English man's house in a dead end alleyway. And super friendly people serve the coffee after you take a short cut to KSR via Susie walkway from Rambuttri.
It's true some of the food is horrible such as a breakfast buffet at a new looking second floor restaurant on the end of the street nearer the police station. There's lots of good food out there, but some of it is horrible service. I didn't get drunk and I still had a nice time enjoying dinner, live music on Rambuttri, and walking around. There definitely is a lot more appealing to my culinary, culture, and artistic tastes than I've seen up here in Korea so far though KSR isn't a destination, it's just a stop over, but a nice place when you want to just go out on the town for a night out among mostly cool people. It's the Itaewon of Bangkok, but 1000X better. |
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Hotwire
Joined: 29 Aug 2010
Location: Multiverse
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| Posted: Sat Sep 25, 2010 9:38 pm Post subject: |
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Still plenty of places in Thailand where you can get away from the hordes of toursits (who you can't look distainfuly down on anyway as they're doing the SAME THING AS YOU LOL!)
Even on Koh Samui or Phuket there are the nice quieter beaches which are just as nice or better than the crowded ones and if you have a scooter or car you can go to the waeygook / farang party anythime you feel you need it.
Even in Bangkok there are plenty of places to get away from the tourists (but I'm not telling where they are he he.)
Kho san makes me feel like 'Christ what am I doing having this same Itaewon night out all over again for...?' |
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