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Introduction and questions about Thailand

Introduction and questions about Thailand

Old Feb 26th, 2007, 02:31 PM
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Introduction and questions about Thailand

Hi! I have been lurking here for the past month and must say that the expertise here is amazing!

We (My wife and I) are going to Thailand from Nov 10-24. We know we are going to stay in Bangkok at the end of our trip (3-4 days) and I am already talking with Tong for a one day tour or two. (Like I said, I have lurked for awhile). Beyond that we are pretty wide open on where we want to go.


Question 1. Would it be worthwhile to use Tong for 2 days, or is 1 enough? We don't like big tourist-y areas. We like local/out of the way areas. When we went to Mexico last year, we flew into Cancun (boy, were our arms....) and hated it. We drove to Merida and LOVED it there. We enjoyed people watching and looking at the cathedrals and the architecture of the state buildings. I also enjoyed the mini block party during the evenings on the weekend.

Question 2. Would someone be able to give my a sample itinerary for touring with Tong for one day? Two days? (Thanks in advance!)

Question 3. Where should we stay in Bangkok? Our budget is $300ish a night, More if it is worthwhile. A/C is a must.

I will have more questions later.

Some personal info.

Me: 30. I work in software. I have never been out of the country until last year when we went to Mexico and drove the Yucatan. I have been to Disney World 40+ times. My brother is the co-author for one of the bigger guide books for Disney. I have helped with some of the research.

Wife: 28. Works at a large semiconductor company. She is from the Middle East and has traveled through most of Europe and the Middle East.

Once again, thanks in advance for the help!

Mike
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Old Feb 26th, 2007, 03:32 PM
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Hi Mike
The Cancun/Merida difference is understandable -- Cancun was always a manufactured resort city and Merida is a real town. My first trip to Mexico started in Merida and I ended up going back to the country 5 times over 3 years. It's a great place.
BKK though a large city has so many different faces, you're sure to find some you love. And even though you don't like touristy, some of the must see sights like the Grand Palace are just so monumentally different than anything in the west you will probably want to check them out.
Also, if like me, you think oh I've done Mexico, the heat won't bother me, the heat in BKK is several notches higher, so you might want, even if it feels like wimping out, to use Tong for a day you go to places in BKK and one for the secret place. We did BKK without a driver and I do think we might have seen a bit more with help.
Also, if you liked Merida, you will probably really like Chiang Mai. There are plenty of places to hang out and eat, people watch, etc, and though it is not a small town, it does have centralized areas that might give you some of that feeling.
Now I'll turn it over to the real BKK experts. Just had to say something once you mentioned Merida/Cancun -- as I had the same reaction years ago. Could not get out of Cancun quick enough.
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Old Feb 26th, 2007, 03:42 PM
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A number of people have posted their itineraries with Tong. I know it sounds daunting, but if you do a search here, you'll find many options. Given your interests, I'm guessing that you'd want to visit "the secret place" with Tong. Also note that Tong is an excellent guide for helping you understand Buddhism, and she has taken many people places to "make merit."

In Bangkok, I highly recommend that you stay on the river. The two best hotels there are the Pen and the Oriental. Do you like modern or do you like historic? Both are beautiful hotels, both are renowned for their service. The Pen is on the "wrong" side of the river, which means nothing to some people, but I've seen other first-times to Bangkok post that it seemed like "too much bother" to take the boat across the river.

For sure, you'll want to visit the Grand Palace and Emerald Buddha complex, plus Wat Po right next door. If you are staying on the river and reasonably independent travelers, you can take the water taxi there and back and navigate by yourselves. If you feel doubtful, Tong can take you. Other must-sees in my book are the Erawan Shrine, the Jim Thompson House, and I also highly recommend the Prasart museum.

I don't know where else you are going in Thailand, but I'd recommend that you spend some time in the north (I always recommend the Golden Traingle area and recommend teh Anantara there). Another option is to go to Cambodia for a few days to visit the temples at Angkor.

I'm glad to share photos of many SE Asian destinations at www.marlandc.com

I'm always glad to see another Pacific Northwesterner traveling to my favorite part of the world. (I'm from Seattle)
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Old Feb 26th, 2007, 06:37 PM
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you have been given some excellent advice thus far...

tong---we just loved her....the secret place would amaze you i think....it takes about 1/2 day including lunch...

making merit with her is also fun...we did 3 different situations: buy food for monks and present it to them along the street (take your shoes off---ugh; kneel down; bow your head; rise and place the food in the "monk bowl;"....---visit a wat and be blessed by a monk and give an offering (practical items that tong will help you buy)----visit a local market and buy live fish and realease them into the river: releasing a soul.....we did all of the above in a jam packed day plus we visited an orphanage at the very end of the day, which was very rewarding too...

as suggested above, tong or another guide also makes touring very easy in bkk....they know just where to go, how to get there quickly and the driver waits for you and whisks you away afterwards--taxis are often hard to deal with near to the main tourists sites...

i would also suggest a klong tour on your own....no need to have a guide for this....if you stay on the river have your hotel call a boat to their pier for you---400-600 B per hour and it takes about 2-3 hrs....afternoons are preferred...

i hate chiang mai so i cannot suggest that to you...after 3 trips, i still find no "magic" in it, except for doi sutep wat.....

any interest in beach?? or a rest place??

i really like hua hin, south of bkk by car about 2.5 hours.....the hyatt there is fantastic...

i recently stayed at the sheraton resort at pattaya/jontiem....it also is quite fantastic....

there are the island too: koh chang, koh samui or the infamous phuket....

of the two bkk hotels mentioned i much prefer the peninsula for a number of reasons....it is newer and thus has all the amenities you would expect, it has much less foot traffic from sightseers, EVERY room faces directly onto the river....
as to being on the "wrong" side of the river, that is a non event....it is a 5 minute free boat ride from the skytrain....i actually prefer it and the boats and boatmen are tons of fun...

with only 10 days really, i would stay at bkk at the beginning for a few days to relax and adjust ---and if you are coming from the west, you will need that...oh yea, PDX....you will be beat!! then i would go to one other place in thailand and then return to bkk for several days at the end....i would do tong at the end when you are most adjusted and awake...
i would save angkor wat and maybe laos for your next trip....and i can tell you now that there will be a next trip!!!...

we will be glad to assist as your trip comes together....just ask...

bob

i have a restaurant listing for bkk if you want it?? ask at:

[email protected]
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Old Feb 26th, 2007, 08:16 PM
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OK, so far I know that we will probably stay in BKK for the first 2 nights and then travel to Chiang Mai for 4 nights and then back to BKK for the rest. We will probably make day trips from each.
One question though. Should we fly to Chaing Mai or go by land?


rhkkmk, why don't you like Chaing Mai? I understand not "feeling it", but is there something about it specifically?

I am also getting some good ideas about the activities we want to do in BKK. What about Chaing Mai?
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Old Feb 26th, 2007, 08:31 PM
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fly to not waste time---one hour flight...

i just don't like it...nothing special, it just leaves both of us cold....others love it more than bkk...

sorry i can't put my finger on why
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Old Feb 27th, 2007, 01:49 AM
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First thing to note is that two weeks from the US is really 12 days on the ground. The typical first time trip to Thailand is BKK-4 days, Northern Thailand-4 days and a beach for 4 days. So one of the first decisions is whether to include some beach time. The beaches are very nice, but somewhat touristy. They are sort of Thailand-lite. Having said that, we've been to the beach every time on our five Thailand visits.

In BKK, if you use Tong for two days, you could do the major tourist sites the first day, e.g., Grand Palace, Wat Pho, Chinatown (including Wat Tramit), Marble Wat and Viranamek Palace and then on the second day you could make merit, visit the secret place and an orphanage ( this includes a donation ). This would provide two very full days, but a wonderful time. If you prefer, you can do the tourist sites on your own and use Tong for the second itinerary.

Definitely fly between locations. You don't want to waste your precious time.

Just to through a monkey wrench into your planning, I suggest you consider Angkor Wat, if you skip the beach. This is only one hour from BKK by plane. You could do BKK-5 days (at the front and back of your vacation), Angkor Wat 3 days and Northern Thailand for 4 days. If you liked the Mayan temples at Chichen Itza and Uxmal, AW will astound.
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Old Feb 27th, 2007, 05:43 AM
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I'm also not a fan of Chiang Mai. Some people love it, though. CM is a huge city, but without the amenities of a big city. It has no public transport (believe me, you'll appreciate the water taxis, skytrain and may be even the subway in Bangkok). Thus, if you want o go out to shop for instance, you really need a car a driver. I prefer to be more independent. The air has lots of particulates from burning garbage, so I feel the pollution more in CM than in Bangkok. There area now some nice hotels in CM (there sisn't used to be) but you'll still run into strange glitches at even the best. The restaurants, in general, seem not be be coinsistent, and the foos isn't nearly as good as Bangkok.

People who love CM typically talk about it being more "manageable" than Bangkok. For a taste of the north that is not a huge city, I recommend the Anantara at the Golden Triangle.
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Old Feb 27th, 2007, 06:34 AM
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The Anantara looks like a gorgeous place to stay and explore the golden triangle which also looks fascinating (we had ten days and just did not have time to do that too) but ... isn't it a drive to be in a town? I'd agree that CM is larger than I thought it would be but it does have the "hang out at a cafe" watch people aspect with a great deal of interesting wats, etc. going for it in the older parts of the city. Best would be able to do both, but then not really enough time as others have pointed out.
I'm sure part of why I enjoyed it so much had to do with the people we met, the gorgeous buddha we brought home, the hill tribe visits and our guide, who was set up by a woman who deals in textiles and other tribal artifacts and our visit to her home and private collection. Good luck Mike -- you've got some tough choices to make and -- the trip to Siem Reap isn't a bad option either as it is so incredibly close by air.
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Old Feb 27th, 2007, 06:44 AM
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For me, that's the advantage of the Anantara - it is out in the countryside. It's a real contrast to Bangkok. While I think CM is more "Bangkok lite." (Someone will get me for staying that!) There are interesting things to do in the area of the Anantara and all of them are much more "countryside" kinds of things. It just depends on what you like, what else you are doing on your trip. etc.
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Old Feb 27th, 2007, 09:03 AM
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Interesting, isn't it how different peole perceive things differently?

My mother doesn't reallly like Bangkok much. To her it's just another big city...like Shanghai. So, our itinerary isgeared more for her likes....

a week in Siem Reap area, of which 3 days will be spent in the country visiting Koh Ker and Banteay Chhmar, with an overland bus back to Bangkok...then on to Chiang Mai for a week. Even in Chiang mai we're spending only 3 nights in lodgings within thecity. Other nights will be spent in guest houses and lodges in Doi Inthanon, Chiang Dao, and Chiang Rai.

Yes, we've got a busy schdule, but that's the way we like it.

We're only spending 1 day in bangkok, of which we hope to spend the day getting Tonged

Mark-
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