Share your travel experiences, help me choose a place to go!

[KJS]

I lived in Thailand for a year and a half recently. In the tourist areas anyone who wants to supply with goods or services will speak English. That is their bread and butter: getting tourist $, so they learn what they have to. Don't worry about it. If you were gonna go solo into some smaller villages I would recommend learning the basics of Thai. If you are gonna stick to Bangkok and the islands, no worries.

If you do decide to go there, PM me and I can point you towards some cool stuff. And give you some language tips that will help you if you get stuck.

KJS

[KJS]

Look up these places:

Ko Ngai (aka Ko Hai)
Ko Boulon
Ko Lipe

They are the best islands, IMO. Very far South, off of Trang or Satun Provinces. I can't remember when they are in monsoon season though. Overall the Andaman beaches are way better than the Gulf of Thailand ones.

Phuket is also very cool, but there are some really shi**y parts. If you do go there (it is so easy to get to because of the big airport), go to Naithon or Naiyang beaches. They are in the Northwest corner, near the airport and the national park. Not as party-centric as the other areas on Phuket but very beautiful.

Get a Lonely Planet book for information on things like Muay Thai. If you are in Bangkok on a weekend I highly recommend going to the racetrack. There are 2 and the races move from one to the other each week. Any cabbie (and maybe hotel people) will know which was is having the races that weekend. Very non-touristy place but a great way to spend an afteroon. Betting is very different from here but you should be able to figure it out easily.

KJS

PS. For some reason the Thai word for beach, which is pronouced Gaw, with a short vowel and a low tone, is written Ko in English in most places. Everyone will know what you mean if you say a word that sounds like Ko though.