Thailand Trip Report

[Malkie]

Very interesting thread, been to Phukey and Koh Samui many years ago and have a huge hankering to visit there again in next year os so. Can anyone offer any suggestions about whats going on in Koh Lanta? Heard that's not so crowded and less commercial.

 

[Creag]

Great thread - or is it a blog. Certainly appreciate that you're posting the cost of these things. My good missus would like a trip like this, but without the beaches in it. Thanks again.

 

[DarkImpact]

This thread is making me a bit blue. Was in Thailand over December/ January (first time traveling abroad) and it was the best experience ever. Wish I was back. Enjoyed Krabi far more than Phuket.

Enjoy , seems like an awesome place to visit, once in everyone's life.

I had a few questions though,

possible to fly there ex JHB but NOT via Dubai (can't visit Dubai for my own reasons)
Heard it's possible direct Hong Kong (Cathay) from JHB. Any cheaper/more expensive?

Renting scooter? Can it be done with a RSA licence?
Does it need to be a motorbike licence?

Bitcoin exchange/ATM's, any exist? Better rates than local currency?

Crime and pickpockets? How helpful are the tourist police?
Do they actually help tourists or are they after a bribe?

Medical insurance, does discovery locally pay for if you need to visit a doctor/hospital?

You can fly with Qatar Airways via Doha but they have long layovers compared to others I could see.

Cheapest I got for December was 6k and that was with Kenyan Air to Nairobi and then Oman Air to Oman and then Bangkok. Would avoid Oman Air in future as they lied to us and caused us to miss our connecting flight in Nairobi to SA so had to stay the night.

For 7k we could fly Kenyan airways with a stop in Nairobi and then directly to Bangkok from there. Chose to save money and rather fly with Oman but Kenyan Airways delays caused us to miss our connecting flight in Nairobi to Oman but they put us on the flight directly to Bangkok. So it worked out in the end.

You can rent a scooter without a motorcycle licence. I have a SA motorcycle licence and only one place in Phuket made a copy off it. No other place asked. They just ask you if you know how to ride in order to know if they should show you how to.

That being said, if the police do pull you over and you do not have a licence they can and will fine you 500 baht. I wasn't pulled over once and saw only one other tourist being pulled over. Only saw this in Phuket and nowhere else (was in Ao Nang Krabi, Koh Samui and Phuket).

I also got an IDP from AA. To be honest I think this was just a waste of money. The IDP is in multiple foreign languages but not in Thai, so it would've been no more useful than just my drivers licence.

I read reviews on Google of trusted places to rent and only went to those place. Most reputable places will take a copy of your passport and take a cash deposit, usually 3000 baht. Take the advice of others and do not leave your passport.

Didn't notice any bitcoin ATMs. There are so many exchange kiosks and normal ATMs that I just stopped taking notice of ATMs all together and I didnt actively look for the Bitcoin ones.

Didn't not experience crime anywhere in Thailand. They do warn of pickpockets but we literally did not experience this. Felt very safe everywhere we went any time of day. Was very different to the SA mindset of constantly worrying about crime around you. Did not see any incidents with people and their interaction with police but people said they aren't that helpful to foreigners.

 

[Voicy]

I flew in with Singapore Air. Connecting in Changi - imho the nicest airport in the world.

If your layover is 8hrs or more, you get a free bus tour of the city which quite cool as well - getting a bonus country wedged into your trip.

 

[RanzB]

Can anyone offer any suggestions about whats going on in Koh Lanta? Heard that's not so crowded and less commercial.

Same thing I heard and I really wanted to visit, but the extra travel time put me off on this trip.

Great thread - or is it a blog. Certainly appreciate that you're posting the cost of these things. My good missus would like a trip like this, but without the beaches in it. Thanks again.

Pleasure It's sort've both I guess..

That being said, if the police do pull you over and you do not have a licence they can and will fine you 500 baht. I wasn't pulled over once and saw only one other tourist being pulled over. Only saw this in Phuket and nowhere else (was in Ao Nang Krabi, Koh Samui and Phuket).

I've watched a few Youtube videos and especially in Chiang Mai if you don't look like the locals apparently it's not uncommon to get pulled over multiple times on the same trip. Haven't seen that much in Phuket/Krabi. Haven't seen many police either, come to think of it.

 

[RVQ]

Thailand was my second big trip but was completely unplanned, landed in Bangkok, met some cool people and ended up going north, into Laos and sailed down the Mekong towards Cambodia until I ran out of time, one day I need to go back to see the famous Phi Phi, Phuket, Krabi...

 

[RanzB]

So our place in Ao Nang is a party backpackers. It's a really nice atmosphere and it's awesome meeting other travellers when you can sit and talk. They place an emphasis on party though, with events happening almost every night. Last night was drinking games followed by beer pong at their other branch in Ao Nang. I lost a challenge and had to drink a full glass of I dunno ****ing what.


After some beer pong TF and I realised we hadn't eaten for a good few hours and decided to check out some highly rated places in Ao Nang. Google decided otherwise and kept taking us in circles. After too much of that we decided to stop at a family stall on the street, where this old dude was part of the best meal we've had in Thailand so far..

I've never had pad thai so we grabbed a seat and ordered a portion, as well as some chicken massaman

Both were insanely delicious and spicy as hell, the first time I tasted some Thai heat
The massaman was a huge portion and not shy with the chicken. TF also ordered some yellow noodle shrimp soy sauce thing which was also great. Didn't manage to snap a pic in time

Bill wasn't bad at all either.

We walked back to the beach, maybe 2kms. On the way we picked up a mango sticky rice to have at our place

Was okay. I've heard good things about it but I don't really care about dessert stuff unless it's milk tart. TF liked it.

 

[bokka1]

You are doing Thailand right. I am very envious.

 

[I.am.Sam]

Last night we decided to see what the Indian food in Thailand was like. Surprisingly, not bad at all. I found TF's butter chicken a bit on the sweet side, but my chicken rogan josh was great.

that butter chicken i had a few times in DBN

cant find it in CPT

i had it at a lebanese resturant in DBN very nice but yeah little sweet

 

[RanzB]

You are doing Thailand right. I am very envious.

Only about 50 more trips to catch up with you

that butter chicken i had a few times in DBN

This was sweeter than the butter chicken we get in Durban.

 

[Pavan]

Awesome thread. Been to Thailand twice, but I think I missed a trick or two. Will definitely revisit this thread when it's time for the third trip... well played bro.

 

[RanzB]

On Sunday we went on a speedboat tour to the Phi Phi Islands.

We booked it via one of the streetside Tour vendors. The cost on the pamphlet is 2800B but she told us 1400B pp without us even asking (not that we would have booked at that price). Once we told her that we were just looking she told us 1300B, so we said **** it and just booked. 1300B seems to be the official price from what we could see from other places.




Maya Beach is a waste of time and I wish they had an option to exclude it from the trip. It wasn't as crowded as I've seen in some videos, but there's really too many people for such a tiny beach. Bamboo Island was OK I guess.

Phi Phi Leh was awesome for swimming, and the post-lunch snorkelling was great as well.



Lunch was a small selection buffet on Phi Phi Don but very tasty.

Awesome thread. Been to Thailand twice, but I think I missed a trick or two. Will definitely revisit this thread when it's time for the third trip... well played bro.

Shot buddy.

 

[RanzB]

After the tour we chilled at our place for a bit before heading out for a pub crawl with the rest of the party people.

After getting a bit sloshed on buckets, we re-visited the family stall. It was too good not to.

We ordered stir fried morning glory, sukiyaki and another chicken massaman. Everything was as amazing as the day before.







Bill with a couple of beers was 360B

Dessert was a banana and nutella pancake

 

[RanzB]

Just a heads up to anyone visiting anywhere in Thailand. Check out prices beforehand and make sure you shop around. The following two places are within 6 minutes of each other.





Burger King prices in Ao Nang:







Not sure why people are eating in Burger King and McDonalds..

 

[RanzB]

A lot of yesterday was spent bumming around and travelling back to Phuket.

I did have some great red curry with roasted duck while TF had a last cheap massage in Ao Nang.





We took the ferry back to Phuket, getting dropped back in Patong by around 6pm. We had bought ferry tickets for 700B to Ao Nang, and got a ticket back for 600B in Ao Nang. Results may vary.



We headed to a local resturant for supper.

I ordered the roasted duck (80B), and pork belly with kale(80B), and TF ordered a green curry fried rice thing(100B).

 

[HibiscusTunes]

Just a heads up to anyone visiting anywhere in Thailand. Check out prices beforehand and make sure you shop around. The following two places are within 6 minutes of each other.


View attachment 493044

View attachment 493046

Burger King prices in Ao Nang:

View attachment 493048

View attachment 493050

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Not sure why people are eating in Burger King and McDonalds..

None of the links work for me.

 

[RanzB]

None of the links work for me.

Yup, attachments seem to be broken. Will try to fix it when I'm back at the Airbnb.

 

[RanzB]

Not much to report in Patong. The next day we booked a taxi to the airport - 700B. There are other options available at a lower price(200B pp) but because of our baggage and the fact that we didn't feel like using up an extra hour going around picking up and dropping off other passengers we went with the private taxi option.

Next up - Chiang Mai. The travel time was around 2 hours, and cost 1265B with Bangkok Air. They also gave us lunch on the plane, a fish curry with rice that wasn't bad at all.

We arrived in Chiang Mai around 13h30. We caught a taxi from the booth at the entrance, a Fortuner that cost 150B to our AirBnB in Nimman. It's quite a charming collection of streets that really come alive in the late afternoon, a myriad of restaurants, bars, shops and tattoo parlours.

But first, Khao Soy. I knew one was around the corner (not one of the best rated ones, but a good one nonetheless), and we headed there for a late lunch.





I had the pork, and TF had the green curry khao soy with chicken (and some interesting offal/blood)





I also ordered a serving of Nam Phrik with veggies



The Khao Soy was amazing, but the Nam Phrik didn't really do much for me. For some reason there wasn't much flavour.

 

[RanzB]

We headed from Nimman to Warorot, a local "locals" market that spans quite a large area. There seem to be sections for different products; jewelry, fresh food, dried food, clothing, fabric, flowers etc.

TF is looking for a tattoo and Chiang Mai (maybe even me), and Celebrity Ink is nearby Warorot. We had a chat with the guys there, and he also gave up some advice about the nearby Night Bazaar, so we headed over. Shopping and more shopping, but cheaper and better quality stuff than in Phuket.

We didn't stay long ( it was already nightfall) and flagged down a songthaew. 30B pp will get you pretty much anywhere in town, but Uber really isn't that much more at times.

If anyone watches Parts Unknown, they might be familiar with the Cowboy Lady, famous in Chiang Mai for her Khao Kha Moo. Bourdain visited there on his last Thailand episode and the place is in overdrive, no doubt helped from the endorsement by the show.

Either way, it was amazing. TF isn't a fan of pork usually, but she loved the stewed pork leg over rice. Condiments on the table include a chili vinegar and pickled cabbage, and those both ramp up the taste of the already delicious plate of pork slowly cooked in a mother sauce then served over rice with a generous dollop of the sauce. It also comes with an egg that really rounds it off.

This place is part of a larger area where quite a few street vendors collect. TF had a crepe with banana and golden thread (egg yolk) and chocolate, while I had a watermelon smoothie.

 

[Barbarian Conan]

When you order spicy, make sure to tell them you want Thai spicy, not tourist spicy