Thailand

Oh and DRESS CODE WARNING!

To visit ANY Temple/Palace, Men & Women MUST wear shorts/dress BELOW the knees, and women MUST have their shoulders covered (ie normal Tee Shirt) - Also, some temples refuse you entrance if you are not wearing socks. When you go into a Temple & sit on the floor to see the murals etc do NOT point your feet towards Buddha!!

The City is safe BUT Pickpockets exist everywhere - usually small kids - Cargo Shorts are so easy to lose a wallet/phone from. Buy a cheap wallet take ONLY what you need for the day (and take some Photo ID) and leave everything else in the hotel safe. Mrs D_P always takes a Thai Purse that goes round her neck. I ALWAYS wear shorts with Zip up pockets. I travelled a LOT and was always careful but even I have had phone & Wallet nicked in country

Oh and IF anyone in your group smokes, you HAVE to take your own ashtray with you when outdoors. Police enjoy nothing more than fining you 30 quid for dropping cigarette ash or Butts on the floor. And if you don’t have photo ID it’s a trip to the hotel and a bigger fine.

Another great shopping area is China Town Sampheng Street off Yaowarat Street - it’s a two mile long hell of everything - probably better for when you have more time and experience :slight_smile:

Good stuff Phil! I concur with the Royal barges (well worth a visit), the skytrain for getting around (air con bliss) and MBK for shopping. The reclining buddha is worth checking out (can’t remember what wat this was at).

My daughter also loved the Purr cat café off of Sukhumvit.

Last time we went we stayed at the Rembrandt Hotel on Sukhumvit which was lush (great pool to escape from the heat and ridiculously cheap) but there is a huge choice.

You’ll have a great time. Eat at the places where all the locals are. Drink lots of beer.

I would go again at the drop of a hat.

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Emerald Budha is at Grand Palace.

Reclining is Wat Po. as I recall.

Just note you can do the Canal Trip as a package but not as much fun as having a long tail boat to yourself!

The whole James Bond chase thingy :sunglasses:

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The BEST restaurant in town is Cabbages & Condoms. Stunning location and food & all for charity.

Cannot recommend it enough and eat the BLUE Dim Sum starter. It’s near As ok Google them. Bill Gates foundation donated $500k to their rehab programmes for HIC prevention & victims of the sex trade/ people smuggling.

And yes I took my Mum & kids there it is a special place for dinner

Link below - they opened a branch in UK not so long ago we’re heading here for our NYE Dinner on way back from Cambodia

http://www.pda.or.th/restaurant/

Been there too!

Spoilt for choice for food in Bangkok. As long as you like it spicy.

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@goatboy & @dubai_phil thanks that will keep us busy in Bangkok! My partner last went in early 90s and remembers the Cabbage and Condoms place as it was next door to a friend’s flat. Booked into a hotel near Lumpini park and near a metro station. I cannot wait! Although I am not that great with spicy and we are also vegan now so we will see how that goes.

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Should be ok with the dairy but there is fish sauce in everything!

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Tell me about it! Our favourite thai place here has just had to be binned as everything had fish sauce in it. Although they made a pad thai the other day without it for me (tasted much better). We may have to be less picky when on our travels.

Think you’ll be ok

Bo.lan looks nice.

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Lots of Indian restaurants on Sukhumvit they have huge range of veggie dishes if you stay picky.

:slight_smile:

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Also had some excellent Lebanese food in the ‘Little Africa’ area just off Sukhumvit. Yum.

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Just a few days left before we head off on our adventures. We’ve just changed our hotel to be nearer the river and the sites and food.

Anyone been to Koh Samui. Looks like we are going to just sit on the beach but if there is anything anyone can recomend we may actually move.

I am so knackered that I’ll probably be comatose for the first week.

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Enjoy @intiniki

Spend a good few hours in MBK while there it is still one of the best malls on the planet but you have to work for your shopping and Platinum Mall has a lot more Western sizes now.

Mrs D_P & I replaced our wardrobes there last week for peanuts having lost so much weight

Just chill on KOH may be do some KAYAKING/SNORKELLING

Get a speedboat to Koh Phangan and party 'till your head explodes :lou_lol:

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Oh aye Full Moon on 31st Jan…

Think that used to be Bangrak Beach.

Had Rin

No full moon, half moon, black moon (seems to be any moon) parties for us.

Why are there so many white men in their 50s and 60s travelling alone in Bangkok?

Well I loved Thailand. Even though it was a tad rainy in Koh Samui and I was ill.

Stayed at Bophut Beach area at Peace Resort which I can highly recommend. Great massages had there too. Food was pretty good. Staff super lovely and surprised my partner with a cake on his birthday.

We were able to walk along the beach to Bophut fishermans village for markets and food each night with plenty of different cuisines available including Mexican, Italian and Indian if you wanted a change from Thai food. We even found a place to have vegan food.

Enjoyed a trip to Koh Nang Yuan for a bit of snorkelling. Although the mosquitos on the hill up to a view point were a low part and were prety determined. We swam with a Turtle at Koh Tao shark bay area.

My partner had been in Koh Samui, Maenam area 25 and 28 years ago. So we headed there and found the place he stayed it was derelict and destroyed. Bit of downer for him. He asked around as to what happened and found some youtube videos about it (this took up quite some time!)

Koh Samui was quite pricey really. There seems to be a monopoly on prices as all massages were the same, the taxi prices were the same (and more expensive than London on some trips!)

Bangkok - we ended up staying in the Hipster area where we saw young Thai people at board game cafes! We were in the Banglamphu area not far from Khao San Road. Again we headed there for my partner to see how it’s changed. It was like bar/club street in Falaraki (not something I am into). We enjoyed the quieter Ram Buttri street with lots of bars and cheap restaurants. Our hotel was pretty nice. Riva Surya on the river front near a ferry point so we headed off on one of the ferry’s (15 baht) to see some of the temples. Bangkok was fairly cheap - I suppose more competition helps that. Ended up in a tuktuk for a very short ride but fun to do.

The temples are all stunning and we only saw 4 of them and so many more.

I think we will be back.

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