shoturtle
Contributor
relax, you take this to seriously. you do not have to keep reading.
Phuket, why I never go back
- Thread starter rick.r
- Start date
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shoturtle
Contributor
ScubaSteve
Wow.....what a DB
So to all readers who have stayed with us this far.....shake your head and help us out......what other good bad experiences have you had in Phuket? Name the places and the people if want.....the more info the better. If the OP has a problem with this next part, I will ask him to report my post to a MOD and hopefully they can split the post......tell us the good and the bed about other parts of Thailand as well. I am spending 13 days on Ko Lanta.....any recent stories?
I just want to learn about Thailand so I can be the edgoomakated traveller that I wnt to be
. November will take forever to get here but will be here before I know it.
I just want to learn about Thailand so I can be the edgoomakated traveller that I wnt to be
. November will take forever to get here but will be here before I know it.
shoturtle
Contributor
Leonardo has a house on Koh Lanta it is even mark on some of the tourist maps, the island is not a pack as phuket. The beaches are nice. I drove down from Krabi for a day trip. Well worth the visit. Down by the ferry port, it do tend to be quite touristy. There are 2 main islands of Koh Lanta, the smaller on is just farming, not much there. The big island is where everything is.
People say to rent a scooter to get around, but be warn there in no insurance for tourist in thailand for scooters. No matter what the rental agency say. You bang it up, even if it is not your fault, you pay for the repairs. If you rent a car, go to AAA or Canadian equivalent to have an international lic issue. The police sometimes ticket the tourist because it is a easy fine.
If you are spending anytime in Bangkok, and want to high end evening go to the Scirocco it is a great bar in a high rise hotel, There are 4 bars and restaurants in that high rise, they do have a dress code. no sandals and dressed well. Go just before sunset, and it is an incredible view.
People say to rent a scooter to get around, but be warn there in no insurance for tourist in thailand for scooters. No matter what the rental agency say. You bang it up, even if it is not your fault, you pay for the repairs. If you rent a car, go to AAA or Canadian equivalent to have an international lic issue. The police sometimes ticket the tourist because it is a easy fine.
If you are spending anytime in Bangkok, and want to high end evening go to the Scirocco it is a great bar in a high rise hotel, There are 4 bars and restaurants in that high rise, they do have a dress code. no sandals and dressed well. Go just before sunset, and it is an incredible view.
ScubaSteve
Wow.....what a DB
Yeah I had seen warning os the scooter rentals all over the place so had decided to steer clear. We are staying just south of the ferry terminal I believe.....like 2 or 3 kilometers. I hope to day trip into Krabi once or twice. We are there for 13 nights so I hope to get several days of diving in and many topside things as well. I will say that information does seem to be somewhat limited on exactly what there is to do and where things are.....but I suppose that goes for many vacation destinations. Our trip starts with one night in Phuket and then 3 nights in Kao Sok at a wedding.
We will be in Bangkok for 3 nights at the end of our trip so I will try to find Scirocco.
We will be in Bangkok for 3 nights at the end of our trip so I will try to find Scirocco.
shoturtle
Contributor
I would look into diving koh phi phi, even though it is busy, it really is worth the dive, it is a bit of a boat ride from koh lanta to phi phi. It is quicker form Ao Nang. But if you are going to visit Krabi, there is not much in Krabi town, Ao Nang is more a vacation town with tourist activities. I would take a trip to monkey island, as it was a very quite and relaxing unlike koh phi phi lah. There were no party boats on the beach like on koh phi ph lah, thanks to Leonardo and the movie. I was snorkeling the reef, and saw quite a few moray eel just 100 feet from the beach, one was a good 10 feet that came complete out of it's hole. It was a domino moray at that. The south of the island of Koh Lanta is nicer then the north, less touristy.
Pretty much any tour or dive op you take, lunch is provided and they tend to be all day events. So you really do not have to carry to much cash. I would do the travel wallet, put your cert and some cash in it. Keeping a 1000bht on you is way more then enough money unless you are planning on going shopping at the malls and in the local shops. If you go to the local tourist shops to buy fishermen's pants, you can haggle down. They will pretty much settle for half of the original price, if you are good you can even get things for 30% of the original price. For high end shops they all take Credit Cards, and even there, you have room to haggle. I even haggle at the mall, get a break for buying a couple extra shirts and pants.
If you want a taste of the local life, the markets are a great visit. You can try the local food, and eat like a king with street food for about 100-200bht. But this is cash only. Buy counterfeit billabong shorts and other things there, are little less then at the town's stores.
In bangkok, the palace and the big temple is worth a visit, but be warn. Avoid the tuktuk and anyone saying they are officials. They will try to make you believe that you are getting a deal with a tuktuk tour for 20 bht. But shops pay them to get tourist to their shops. So you will get hijack into shopping instead of seeing the sites. I did use the water taxies to get to the palace, it was only a short walk form the entrance of the palace, if you are travel with a female campanion, have her bring something that covers the knees and shoulder as they have rules. You can get a loner form the palace. but the thing the lend out do not breath well and gets wicked warm. Enjoy your trip.
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shoturtle
Contributor
With the scirocco, just ask the bell captian at the hotel you are staying at they will let you know if you are dress right to get in. It is pretty easy to find, it is on silom road, down by the river at the end of silom road.
ScubaSteve
Wow.....what a DB
shoturtle
Contributor
If you were staying 4 days in bangkok and had the time, I would suggest doing the tank dive with sharks in the aquarium in siam square at one of the mall, I think it was the paragon. It was a bit pricey, but it was something fun and interesting, which I thought was worth the cost, like 100 bucks.
stevenl
Contributor
I don't want to get into the discussion, because there really is no point at all in these kind of 'discussions'. But I do want to add one thing. It was me (so I guess you mean 'one poster' with 'them') telling the 'big hotel chain advice' was bad. The reason: in general these hotels are for the same quality more expensive than the more local hotels. Plus there is the whole atmosphere, more Thai feeling with the local hotels, etc. And to implicate that the big hotel chains offer more security:
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