Thailand
 

Hi all
Im off to thailand soon, im thinking of doing bangkok and maybe some surrounding areas! Which places besides bangkok would you suggest to see! It would be great if answers are from experience and not wikipedia :P

Surrounding Areas?
Within what sort of radius, and time involved getting there and back?
Staying overnight, or for a few days.
By train and bus alright?

I'll start anyway, and yep all based on experience.

If you want a bit of culture and adventure for a couple of nights, then I'd choose two areas. The first is Ayutthaya, the ancient capital of Siam. That'll provide you a bit of culture, the temples are fairly close together, and by hiring a tuk tuk the driver will know what you want to see. Nightlife is there but it's very low-key. The adventure bit is to get there and back by 3rd Class train from Hualmaphong train station in Bangkok. It takes about 2.5 hours to get there, and the price of a train ticket is 15 (fifteen) bahts! It's a v.enjoyable train ride, you mix with the locals (that's why you're in Thailand isn't it?), nice scenery along the way, and it's not too far. Two nights in Ayutthaya would be sufficient.

The second place is Kanchanaburi, again by 3rd Class train. I'll let this excellent link explain things...

http://www.seat61.com/Bridge-on-the-...m#.U7ER2pRdVEw

The Kanchanaburi area really is beautiful and moving. A couple of nights covers the basics like the Death Railway, Bridge over the River Kwai, Hellfire Pass, Thai-Burma Railway Museum, Commonwealth War Graves. Thousands of Allied servicemen, and civilians gave up their tomorrow so that we could have our today. 4 or 5 nights will allow you to travel a little further and visit Sangthlaburi on the Thai/Myanmar border, which is absolutely serene.

The nearest beach to Bangkok is at Pattaya, but there are much better in Thailand.

You want to see what?

Ruins
caves
waterfalls
Beaches
local atmosphere or touristy
snorkelling
Kayaking
Temples
museums

Depends what u like and how long u have

As suggested, it really depends on what "doing" means to you.

Many of us here have been to Thailand many times, so you should have no trouble getting answers from people's experience. But you will have to give us some hints: what interests you? How much time do you have? Where else will you be going on this trip? Have you been to SE Asia previously?

We're going to be there for a year, im interested in nature stuff so all the places you listed rock!
Ruins
caves
waterfalls
Beaches
local atmosphere or touristy
snorkelling
Kayaking
Temples
museums

Thank you for the help guys n gals!

We didnt actually help u much.

If you are staying for a year, I hope you have your visa situation sorted out.

Some of us also speak a little Thai and that really qualifies us to give fantastic advice about how to travel. The more Thai you speak, the more of an insight you have into the "right" way of traveling in Thailand, I find...

Wow everyone thank you so much!
@Prachuap The help was the Kanchanaburi advice from @lancasterlad :)
@Kathie yep thanks for that too, we will be based in bangkok and we will use laos, cambodia and malaysia to explore and go and renew our visas!
@filmwill I would love to learn Thai, somehow the actual writing makes it daunting ... is it as hard as it looks ?
we just booked our flight with emirates. We've budgeted 50 dollars a day not including insurance, flights, special events etc. Booked a hostel for our arrival only with these guys http://www.hostels-in-bangkok.com after that we still need to book. unsure wether to head south to beaches or north towards Pai. We might flip a coin when we get there!
Has anyone got any more POIs?

Be aware that crossing back into Thailand overland only gives you 15 days entry, flying in gives you 30 days.

Depends on nationality Kathie.

At land borders, citizens of the USA, UK, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, and Malaysia are allowed 30 days while all other nationalities only get 15 days.

Kathie is correct and LancasterLad's information is not up to date. Within the last month alone there have been some radical changes for land crossing as Thailand is cracking down on visa run and visa abusers.

More information:

http://www.immigration.go.th/nov2004...e.php?page=voa
*Read the remark.

http://www.nzembassy.com/thailand/ne...laos-malaysia-
*Explanation for Kiwis and non kiwis from the NZ embassy.

More information from a law office specialising in immigrations:

http://www.thaiembassy.com/thailand/new-visa-rules.php

For important information like visa regulations, don't trust trolls.

More information for illegal expats in Thailand:

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/nati...-30238504.html

Those changes are targeted at people attempting to live there not casual tourists.

Without doubt Hanu is the biggest troll on here.

Oh you kwai! The changes are for all foreigners travelling to Thailand overland. READ!

Nope. The 15 day rule is old.

These visa rules change with some regularity.

"Border runs have been cut short due to the very recent change in rules regarding overland entry by Thai immigration. Foreigners entering Thailand via border posts at Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, and Malaysia without securing a prior visa will now be granted only 15 days of stay in the country as opposed to the previous Visa on Arrival, which was valid for 30 days." This is from the Thai embassy site.

Oops - I hit post too soon - The bulletin above is dated July 15, 2014.

Have you got a link for that info Kathie as it appears to come from www.thaiembassy.com which I do not believe is the official site. The UK Thai embassy site still seems to indicate that 30 days is available for overland entry for citizens of G7 countries
http://www.thaiembassyuk.org.uk/?q=node/188

crells - see my link above from the Thai Immigration Bureau and read the remarks at the bottom of the "Period of stay 30 days" window - "Via land border, period of stay 15 days".

As mentioned earlier this change is quite recent.

You are right, crellston, it is not the official site. But I believe it is accurate. As you know, there have been numerous changes in the last year or so - they went to 15 days overland visa back to the month visa and now back to 15 days.

I read an article about this recently (maybe the NYT?) and how the current military government is cracking down on people basically living in Thailand, but without a long-term visa.

Kwai are actually quite intelligent beings. In fact they are more intelligent than many Thais I know.

Thanks for the replies Hanuman and Kathie.

Hanuman, thanks for posting the wording. I did try to look at the Immigration service link but unfortunately it won't open for me. Maybe they are innundated with worried expats!

Having looked at some other forums it seems that different rules are being applied at different border points. Still if that is official stance then I may have to change our plans.

I am in the process of planning a long trip around Asia starting in November. The original plan was to enter Thailand overland from Malaysia, spend 20-30 days inThailand before crossing into Lao in the north. We would then spend the next couple of months in Lao and Cambodia.

The next stage of the trip was to return to BKK to meet my in laws what are coming out for a couple of weeks. During those weeks we would do a 4 day side trip to Cambodia returning with them to Thailand to see them off before heading off to Malaysia ourselves.

It seems that we would now have to enter by air to gain the first 30 days visa exemption. But I am now getting a little concerned about re entering Thailand twice. Once after a couple of month and once after a few days as, it seems form other sites I have looked at that Thai immigration are tightening up on "in-out" border crossings.

The thaiembassy.com site refers to "visa on arrival" whereas the official UK Thai Embassy site refer to "visa exemption" are they one and the same?

Normally, I would just go with the flow but would not like to leave my in laws stranded at the airport. I may never hear the last of it!

Apologies IF I got it wrong. But for stuff on visaS I usually use TA, which has got excellent Destination Experts, and the FAQs are always pretty much up to date.

Here's the latest thread on the subject on TA...

http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/ShowTop...-Thailand.html

And as someone wrote in one of the replies in the link, "But again, this is Thailand, and sometimes it seems, that every official here in Thailand, works by their own rules".

crells,

To be safe I would suggest you get a visa before you arrive, through the embassy. Lots local support for the crack-down on visa-runs and illegal foreigners living and residing in Thailand, especially Westerners.

This cartoon from today's newspaper (The Nation) pretty much sums it up:

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/spec...d=30&pid=17548

Thaivisa.com is the place to go.

Thanks Hanuman . I think you are probably right, the safest thing to do would be to get a visa. I will probably wait a while just to see whether things change again and maybe even get one from the Thai Embassy when we arrive in KL . Having looked at the Thai UK embassy site it seems that I can get a multiple entry tourist visa which will give 60 days in a 6 month period which will be plenty.

Interesting cartoon! Very apt.

hanuman, cartoon, good one. lol.

@Hanuman<<<To be safe I would suggest you get a visa before you arrive, through the embassy. Lots local support for the crack-down on visa-runs and illegal foreigners living and residing in Thailand, especially Westerners.>>>

With respect, that's a very third-worldy reply!

I'd keep an eye on current postings on TA.

Hi Hanuman. Quite off-topic, but Why is the water buffalo disparaged by being synonymous with stupidity in Thai culture? A great deal of respect is owed to the Kwai as they have significantly labored to put food in the mouth of every Thai person throughout history. They also are beautiful and majestic animals.. I was quite moved the first time I ever came face to face with one. Thanks if u can explain to me :)

LL - I am from a third world country! The reply is for crellston who is travelling here via land borders. He's a regular visitor to the Kingdom and under the current crack down on visa violators it is wise to do IMO.

PP - You stated that you know a lot Thais so why not ask them? I use the idiom now and then sort of like Westerners using the idiom "pigs", "swine" etc, etc...

Westerners dont say swine much at all.

Hanuman- I wanted to hear your response, that's all. I like to form a consensus about certain things. Thanks

PP,

It is a silly insult that low class people use.

No suprise to see who used it.

Kii nok
Kwai

Top class stuff

555 Sorry for not being a high class kind of guy like you Prachuap!

Point proven ^

You act like a child that lost their lollies.

Thanks Prachuap..

Hanu- do u ever eat street food? Not ribbing u but from what you've written in the past it seems like u kinda look down on "essential earth" dining. Thanks :)