Has anyone been to Thailand?

[MERCEDES]

I was wondering if anyone has been to Thailand. We leave this wednesday for Bangkok and we will also spend time in Phuket. I just wanted to know if there were some "must see" things such as the best place to go snorkeling. We plan to shop in Bangkok and spend as much time in the water in Phuket and I was hoping to make the most of it by avoiding things that are overhyped tourist traps. So if anyone has some advice I would be very appreciative of it. Thank you and hope you are enjoying the football games. Go Vikings!:D

[davidpt40]

I think Thailand sells those super poisonous octopi. Be careful.

[lesd]

I went diving in the Phi Phi islands off the coast of Phuket a few years ago. You can take a ferry from Phuket to get out to the islands - very nice diving, snorkeling and a great getaway spot.

[srit1]

been there... but too long ago to help! have fun

[Hamlin Aquatics]

My friend went diving in Thailand. The reefs are awesome!

[MERCEDES]

Thank you for the affirmations that I made a good choice and my husband will forgive me for not telling him it will take 27 hours to get there!:eek2: OOOPS. I have heard the reefs are unbelievable. I wish we would have had time to get certified to dive but I will have to try an introductory one for sure. They have this deal called power snorkel, you have air hoses and scooters to propel you, it will have to do for now. I am borrowing my dad's underwater camera and he said it has macro capability so I will get the pic's put onto a cd when I get back and try to post some.Have a good night everyone and cross your fingers there isn't a blizzard in Minnesota until AFTER we leave.:D

[joeychitwood]

I've been to Asia and Micronesia a few times. You will have a blast. Be prepared for extreme heat and humidity......extreme at least to a Minnesotan!

One hint: leave a couple of "recovery days" open at the end of your trip before you return to work. The jet lag is bad when traveling to the Far East, but it's horrible on the return. You'll feel pretty wiped out and cranky when you return home, and you'll need two days to reset your internal clock. Don't underestimate how stressful it is to cross twelve or thirteen time zones twice in a couple of weeks.

[scobi1]

I was in Thailand for six weeks about seven years ago and and I spent some time in Bangkok , I just want to tell you about a scam we got pulled into.We went out on the town to look around the first day and they have these little carts called tuc-tucs there kinda like taxis, the guy told us he would bring us around all the sites for a very cheap price.So off we went, now I dont want to go into the whole thing but basically every where he took us we met someone telling us about this special day where all the jewellary was on sale tax free and that you could only buy on this day, to cut a long story short he took us to six or seven different places and each time someone else would tell us the same thing.So after thinking about it and thinking we could get a really good deal and maybe sell it when we got home for a nice little profit we decided to go for it and bought a really nice engagement ring.So when we got back to Ireland and got the ring appraised it was basically worth the same as what we paid for it - no profit we got conned and a very convinceing and elaborate con too , so have great time and watch out for these guys ie dont trust anyone

[rmendis]

Thailand is a great place to visit. Phuket and surrounding area make for wonderful beach dwelling. Bangkok is a fascinating city. If you like shopping, you should check out Sukhumvit road, floating market, Seacon Square, MBK, and the infamous night time Pat Phong road.
Remember, when you are shopping outside a mall, you can bargain, and are in fact expected to. Read this link for more info: http://www.into-asia.com/bangkok/shopping/bargaining.php
Take your husband to an evening Thai Kickboxing match at one of the local bars. It's a lot of fun.

[Crusty Old Shellback]

AH, Phuket. It was a great little get away place back in the '80s. Now it's all grown up and touristey. Had a great time diving out at shark point. No sharks though. Check in to the hotel that your staying at and they should be able to set you up with a dive boat tour. There used to be a guy with a dive boat set up out at shark point that was very nice and helpful. I even went snorkling up around the islands between dives. There is a lot to see both in town and down at the beach. I also took a inland tour that went to James Bond Island where they filmed one of his movies. The tour also included a trip into a Temple that was built into the side of a mountain. Really interesting tour. They have a very wild nightlife there but a lot of the local people are more pushey now than they were back in the '80s. Just be careful and have fun. Most of the island reefs are coverd with staghorn corals down to around 80 feet. Bring back some Pics.

[MERCEDES]

THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!! All I can say is thanks for all of this helpful info. Mendis-I have been reading up about all of the shopping, we are staying a couple nights near Sukhumvit road(Banyan Tree Bangkok) and I will have to read up on the Seacon mall. The 1st 2 nights I am looking at either the Amari Watergate near Siam square or the Sofitel Silom near the some other malls. I also bought a Learn Thai language cd for the plane ride, a girl has got to be able to bargain! I have been told about the scams, I have bought the hidden money carriers and I am armed with the Skytrain maps so that we won't have to take a taxi or a tuk-tuk. Scobi1 I am sorry to hear about your experience, I appreciate you sharing it with me so that maybe 1 less couple can be scammed. We are definitely going to James Bond island and we will try a sea kayaking trip that takes you into caves and hidden lagoons that you can only reach at certain tides. Blown63chevy- It is good to hear that there are lots of staghorn corals, I sort of used that to entice the hubby into going. "Honey you can see all of our corals in real life bigger than you are." It also helps that this is actually cheaper than going back to Hawaii!:eek1: Can you believe it and to top it off you can stay in a hotel way nicer for about a 1/3 of what it would cost in Maui. Joeychitwood- We get back on the 23rd and we don't go back to work until the 26th. Thanks for the tip about it being worse coming back. Joeychitwood- I am soooo looking forward to the heat and humidity, it is only going to be around 20 degrees this week for a HIGH. We also have very humid summers so I hope to be able to handle it, if not I will just stay inside the mall:D ;) Well, one more day of work and I am off to the airport at 4:30 AM :mixed: I will take lots of pictures!Thank you!

[dkh0331]

I did a lot of diving there back in the early 80's. I am sure that everything has changed since then, as previously posted. I spent some time in Phuket, slept in a grass roof hut for $5/ nite. Was in Pattya Beach when the government was overthrown in 1981. On day 2 of the coup, an American skipper of a diving charter boat came up. Seems that his German clients were unable to get into the country and had to cancel their trip. Since it was already paid for, beer purchased, tanks filled, food bought etc., this skipper was looking for some US citizens to spend 4-5 days island hopping and diving, all at no cost, courtesy of the Germans who could not make it in. We checked the guy out w/ some American "locals" and the harbor master. He was on the up & up, having been running this charter for 14 years. So we went. What a great time. A different island every nite, diving was great. One of my best "life experiences" I've had.

David

[Durin]

Edit: Didn't see the part where you told that you didn't have divng cert, so my post is quite useless now :(


I've been to Thailand sever times last few years.
Don't fall for that scam with the tuc-tuc mentioned earlier. Do not go with a tuc-tac at all in Bangkok. The metered cabs are by far the cheapest to get around with.

As far as shopping, Bangkok is great, you can get anything fairly cheap, at least compared to Sweden. If you got the time try visiting Chatuchak Park and their weekend market. It is located close to the northern bus central in Bangkok. There they are selling some odd animals and fishes in their animal department.


As far as diving in Phuket, the best sites are: King Cruiser Wreck, Anemone Reef and Shark Point. These are fairly close to each other and can be dived on a day-trip from Phuket. It is, however, a fairly long boat-ride to get there. It is one of the best day-trip dives you can do in Thailand, so I definitely recommend them all three.

King Cruiser lies fairly deep, 25-30 meters (75-90 feet), but we had a wonderfull dive there, descending through a huge school of small barracudas (1'-2'). It was so densely packed, that you couldn't see the wreck through the school. The wreck itself is a new wreck, from 1995 IIRC. Lots of lion fishes, and a general abundance of fish.

Anemone reef is a pinnacle, with lots and lots of anemones, and also softies

Shark point is another pinnacle, where chances to spot leopard sharks are great, I didn't though, I was too slow to get in the water :( Amazing coral growth here, big gorgonians....


Foodwise: Green curry is a must, Pad thai is lovely, Singha beer is the best Thai beer.

Good luck!

[MERCEDES]

We just got back 3 hours ago from Thailand and it blew Hawaii away!:eek1: I never thought I would say that but the corals and fish were just beautiful. There are many Marine Park sanctuary's where there are no fishing,spearing etc allowed. I can barely see the computer screen but I wanted to post a big thank you to everyone who sent me a reply. It was very reassuring to hear from others positive feedback. Not one single mosquito bite! No nasty animals or bugs, just beautiful Phuket. We are already planning our next trip. I have 11 months to learn some Thai so that we can wander farther away from the resort areas. Even though we only knew a couple phrases we got by because so many people know at least some english and of course everybody has a calculator to tell you how much. Which always ended up so cheap we sometimes felt bad. I will get my pictures developed onto a cd so I can attempt to post them. I hope the ones I took of a male/female pair of cuttle fish turnout, they are an unbelievable sight to see and to see 2 we were told is quite rare. The male stayed between the female and my husband and I changing and fluttering in neon colors like a spanish dancer nudibranch. I freaked out when I first saw it since I didn't know if it was dangerous. Thanks again and Happy Holidays to everyone!:D :beer: :celeb3: