KJS
11-25-2002, 02:31 AM
Hey all,
For anyone who cares, the missus and I have been in Thailand for 2+ weeks now and having a helluva good time. In general the scenery is incredibly beautiful, the people friendly (and beautiful), the food tasty and the beer cold (mostly but you can always buy a bucket of ice for a dime). Thailand is built on tourism and rolls out a nice spread for the visitors. You can find accomodation from $2-$200 a night and every kind of food imaginable, again for a variety of budgets. We have been alternating between honeymoon semi-decadence (that means $20/night instead of $4 for us and maybe some European food) and backpacker simplicity (a mosquito net and fried noodles) which has been a good mix.
As far as where we have been: We spent the first 4 days in Bangkok with an old college friend of mine who writes for Far Eastern Economic Review. Got a great insider's tour of the Thai nighlife and wiled away the hot days at the spa and the park nearby. Bangkok has everything from low-rent tourist ghetto to incredible temples to whore bars to fancy discos. We saw them all and loved it but were ready to escape the teeming masses for the beach soon enough.
Spent the rest of trip on the islands, first Ko Ngai, Ko Lanta and Phuket in the South East (Andaman Sea) and now Ko Samui on the Western (Gulf of Thailand) side. Beautiful beaches, some deserted and some built up like nowhere I have seen. We have stuck to the former but still go to the commercial strips at times for food and bouts of inebriation. Our usual M.O. has been to get motorbikes on alernating days and go on long rides seeing what each island has to offer and get into the local scene as much as we can without much Thai to go on. The people in Southern Thailand are a bit more edgy (perhaps due to the millions of tourists in their midst) but we have met several more than willing to share some time with us chatting about life here.
From Ko Samui we plan to hit on more island (Ko Pha Ngan) and then back to the mainland, probably up North to Ayuttaya and finally Chiang Mai, to visit with another old friend.
If anyone is still reading and wants to see some pictures you can follow the link below.
Hope all is well wherever you are.
KJS
http://briefcase.yahoo.com/thaimelvins
For anyone who cares, the missus and I have been in Thailand for 2+ weeks now and having a helluva good time. In general the scenery is incredibly beautiful, the people friendly (and beautiful), the food tasty and the beer cold (mostly but you can always buy a bucket of ice for a dime). Thailand is built on tourism and rolls out a nice spread for the visitors. You can find accomodation from $2-$200 a night and every kind of food imaginable, again for a variety of budgets. We have been alternating between honeymoon semi-decadence (that means $20/night instead of $4 for us and maybe some European food) and backpacker simplicity (a mosquito net and fried noodles) which has been a good mix.
As far as where we have been: We spent the first 4 days in Bangkok with an old college friend of mine who writes for Far Eastern Economic Review. Got a great insider's tour of the Thai nighlife and wiled away the hot days at the spa and the park nearby. Bangkok has everything from low-rent tourist ghetto to incredible temples to whore bars to fancy discos. We saw them all and loved it but were ready to escape the teeming masses for the beach soon enough.
Spent the rest of trip on the islands, first Ko Ngai, Ko Lanta and Phuket in the South East (Andaman Sea) and now Ko Samui on the Western (Gulf of Thailand) side. Beautiful beaches, some deserted and some built up like nowhere I have seen. We have stuck to the former but still go to the commercial strips at times for food and bouts of inebriation. Our usual M.O. has been to get motorbikes on alernating days and go on long rides seeing what each island has to offer and get into the local scene as much as we can without much Thai to go on. The people in Southern Thailand are a bit more edgy (perhaps due to the millions of tourists in their midst) but we have met several more than willing to share some time with us chatting about life here.
From Ko Samui we plan to hit on more island (Ko Pha Ngan) and then back to the mainland, probably up North to Ayuttaya and finally Chiang Mai, to visit with another old friend.
If anyone is still reading and wants to see some pictures you can follow the link below.
Hope all is well wherever you are.
KJS
http://briefcase.yahoo.com/thaimelvins