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Advice regarding travel to Thailand?


stuarty

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Next month my son is travelling to Thailand for 6 weeks. He has booked flights from Edinburgh to Qatar and Qatar to Bangkok.

He's staying in Bangkok for a few days then flying to Laos for a few days (think its something to do with his visa). Then flying from Laos to Phuket for the remainder of his trip then travelling back to Bangkok for his homeward flights.

I've a few questions I would appreciate help with

How safe will he and his girlfriend (22 years old) be?

What's the best way to carry currency (visa debit, traveller cheques, cash etc)? His travel agent sold him a travel cash card for £22 with £10 credit and he has to top it up from his bank account. I think there's a charge by the cash card company for each transaction and he will be charged at the Thai ATM machines also. I think he would have been better with his visa debit card, but not sure.

Any advice would be appreciated and any other info too!

 

 

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Only go to Ping Pong Shows if you have a stong stomach and not put off by live animals being used.

If you really want to buy anything from market vendors, always haggle to at least 40% of the original price

Kap Kum Ka means Thank You

Make sure Bangkok isn't in a state of political unrest, if it is, divert to Phuket sooner rather than later (Riots were in Feb, but one of the Riot Squad died two days ago, so something might bubble up again)

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How safe will he and his girlfriend (22 years old) be?

 

 

My daughter went backpacking there for a couple of months last year with 2 of her mates and loved it. She said there were no safety problems at all but she did stick to the tourist areas.

 

Pete

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How safe will he and his girlfriend (22 years old) be?

 

 

My daughter went backpacking there for a couple of months last year with 2 of her mates and loved it. She said there were no safety problems at all but she did stick to the tourist areas.

 

Pete

Thanks Pete!

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Bangkok is the craziest place I've been to, if they get asked by locals if its their first time in Bangkok then tell them to say no or they may get fleeced. Everything else that happened is either a blur or not appropriate to put on the Internet :lol:

 

Was awesome but you do need to have your wits about you, or do what I did and get smashed on Vodka and M150 and party all night and become oblivious to all the weird stuff.

 

I have to point out it was nearly 10yrs ago when i went and that may behaviour was prior to having a child/partner and business, oh and don't steal a tuk tuk, that doesn't go down well at all :blush:

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I'd never go personally and if I had a son I wouldn't really want or tbh let him go either.

 

 

I'd advise them to stay clear of drugs out there (despite any claims of "but we never do drugs Dad"), don't let them hire any motor vehicle especially not bikes and never stray from each others side.

Hopefully they'll be fine & have a nice holiday.

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+1 what Pete said. We went there for a few days and found it a safe and fascinating place, for all the right reasons !

 

We mainly took public transport, especially the public river boat service.

 

We found a few days there is enough to see most of the major sites. Don't have a Thai massage unless you like pain.

 

 

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Bangkok is the craziest place I've been to, if they get asked by locals if its their first time in Bangkok then tell them to say no or they may get fleeced. Everything else that happened is either a blur or not appropriate to put on the Internet :lol:

 

Was awesome but you do need to have your wits about you, or do what I did and get smashed on Vodka and M150 and party all night and become oblivious to all the weird stuff.

 

I have to point out it was nearly 10yrs ago when i went and that may behaviour was prior to having a child/partner and business, oh and don't steal a tuk tuk, that doesn't go down well at all :blush:

I've been told to keep my nose out the whole trip, but if things go tits up, who they going to call??

He's booked a flight from Edinburgh to Qatar and apparently it's the first flight from Edinburgh to Qatar by Qatar airlines ever, so he thinks he's going to be treated like royalty! Lol.

He came home tonight with a cash card that cost £22 and came with £10 credit, immediately I became curious but was told to keep out of it!

If he has to pay for this card, gets charged £2.50 over transaction and 150 baht, why not simply use his debit card??

My friend and neighbour travels to Thailand for 16 weeks every year but they don't have time to listen to his advice??

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Just use your debit card as you would here withdraw 5000 or 10000 at a time and don't flash it about. Put some away and have a little in your pocket to take out and pay for things.

In tourist places they judge prices on how you look dress and act I.e shorts and t shirt gets charged more than a pat in shirt and trousers.

Respect Thais and most will be very friendly.

Stick with his girlfriend DONT let her wander on her own a western girl is the ultimate to thai boys or men and there are bad people anywhere you go.

Loas is much nicer than Bangkok .

You don't need a visa unless staying for more than a month then you need to cross a boarder for another month visa.

Amazing place when you get away from the city.

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Went for 6 weeks with the now wife when we were 21 & used mostly visa but with a few hundred ponds worth in cash. It's a safe place as long as you keep your head straight. As said never say its your first time and if someone starts talking to them randomly in the street other than outside lookie lookie bars it'll be to fleece them one way or another but its honestly no worse than going to Vegas or benidorm as long as your sensible.

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Hi

 

We visit Thailand at least twice a year and the biggest cause for concern is tourists forgetting their common sense when they leave their home country. If they go out and get hammered and take drugs then there's a much greater chance of them having problems. It's a very religious/spiritual country and being respectful goes a long way.

 

Don't do anything illegal, be polite and always smile, don't get drunk and act like an arse, don't loose your cool with a Thai. Follow these rules and they'll have the best time! Although it's a shame they're only seeing the 2 largest tourist areas in the country.

 

As for cash, debit cards can become costly so check out fees etc from the issuing bank. The Thai ATMs charge a £3-5 fee for every withdrawal, we always take cash, which we keep in the safe, and exchange as we go, and have debit and credit cards as back up.

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Thanks for all the info, folks.

My son's pretty switched on and is always respectful of others. He graduated from uni and is starting his post grad teacher training in August so I'm hoping this trip will help him grow up a bit!

The worst thing about it all is that my wife constantly runs after his arse 24/7, which is fine but she's going to be a nightmare when he's away for 8 weeks because she will have nothing to do!

 

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teach him how to identify the lady boys - mate of mine, when we were there, fell for that one :lol: :lol: :lol: the rest of the group were on the floor laughing until it hurt so much................especially after he came out from the back white as a sheet

 

oh, wait his GF is going..................unless ?? :blush:;):lol: :lol:

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Been a few times, and to Malaysia, Vietnam etc etc - living in Japan and having an office in Hong Kong meant lots of free company travel!

 

Anyway advice?

 

1. Don't be frightened to say no, be polite, respectful and smile and decline and walk away. Vendors, sellers, shop keepers, strip joints will all try to tempt tourists in - be polite say no, smile and move on.

2. Use the ATMs for money, much easier, draw out small amounts and store the money on you in a couple of different places so if someone does lift your wallet you have cash tucked in your sock or the like!

3. Make good use of the tourist information centres, even if you have read about something in Lonely Planet (remember the writers of those books always get great treatment and prices because they tell the tourist places who they are!) check with the tourist offices who are generally not on the take and will be very impartial.

4. Try eat with the locals don't always default to McDonalds, actually if you are not afraid to try their food, understand their ways, you will get treated much better.

 

To be perfectly frank, the biggest bit of advice I could give is that they are wasting 5 weeks sitting in Phuket. It is the Thai version of Benidorm. They are flying all that way to sit in one resort for weeks on end whilst the likes of Krabi, Hat Railey, Koh Pang Nang, Koh Samui etc etc are all within easy reach and much better places.

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They're going to Thailand not Afghanistan... probably safer in Thailand than most cities in Britain on a night. Absolutely nothing to worry about provided you are careful (As applies anywhere in the world).

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