General: South (Thailand)

Advantages: The underwater stuff
Disadvantages: The smells!

After a long and very dark winter in early 1999, I decided a trip to somewhere exotic was in order, so I booked on a ten day trip to the Mergui Archipelago, Burma. Edinburgh, Heathrow, Bangkok and then on to Phuket where I arrived mid-morning and was transferred to the Coral Amari Beach hotel in Patong Beach. I had the afternoon to have a quick look around the town, which is centre on the beach itself. Then it was off to bed for an early start in ...
...at 8 a.m. rounding up the other four divers that would be on the yacht Crescent with me. As it happened they were all British and were making a video on declining shark populations in SE Asia and had been out in Thailand for two weeks already. All assembled we got in the minibus for the four and a half hour drive to Ranong where we could cross the river into Myanmar. The countryside was breathtaking with the odd elephant to be seen hauling lumber ... Read review

Advantages: Cheap, friendly people, nice and warm weather, great snorkling
Disadvantages: Many tourists, people trying to sell you stuff all the time, bight sun

This trip contains information about my trip to Thailand (Phuket, Koh Samui and Bangkok) in September 1998. I landed in Bangkok on a Saturday morning and I met my girlfriend in the airport. We only stayed in Bangkok to the following day cause we really don’t like big cities. But it is strange with big cities…there is always something to do there and that attracts people. We spent the night at the Dusit Thani on Silom road. I booked this using asia ...
...had a standard room and it was OK. The service at the hotel was very good. The following day we spent looking a bit around in Bangkok. When we arrived at the airport we booked a guided tour. It was only about 7 US dollars and it sounded great to start out with. We were taken to the golden buddha, the standing Buddha and we drove around in town. BUT we were also taken to a tailor place were we were placed in a couple of chairs and we “had” to see ... Read review

Advantages: You're by the Ocean
Disadvantages: A lot

We had been given a choice before we left home if we only wanted to spend a few days in Bangkok and fly home or spend three days in Pattaya. Half of us had decided we wanted to see Pattaya. Our JAL Representative made sure we got on our Mini-Van and gave instructions to the Driver when he should pick us up to bring us back in time for us to make our plane to take us back to Canada. He went home with the other fifteen Travel Agents. Thank goodness ...
...half a large bottle before we reached the city limits of Bangkok. We travelled for about another hour, (it's about 150 km), until we reach the port of Pattaya. We had been told we would be going to wonderful beach resort. We knew that it was not on an Island like Puket is. There was a great beach and some nice Hotels but there was as much sleazy things as there was in Bangkok. We were booked into the Amari Orchid Hotel, (it was rated as five star ... Read review

Advantages: Good courses,Cheap, Friendly people,Great food
Disadvantages: Traffic problems,

Golf is flourishing as the 'in-game' in the Buddhist kingdom of Thailand,especially in the South, and many aficionados consider that the place will soon become one of Asia's golfing capital. perhaps the main one outside of Japan - as more and more land is turned over into beautifully manicured fairways. Moderate green fees, low hire charges and a booming tourist market means more and more overseas visitors are playing golf in this South East Asian ...
...local golf playing population is also increasing in leaps and bounds. According to recent statistics, there are over 450,000 golfers in Thailand, with about five new ones born every day. It's not just the players who are getting hooked on the new greens - local and overseas corporations have been quick to see the profits that can be gained from golf course development, and they have started to cash in on the boom. Increasingly too the tour operators ... Read review

Advantages: People are very helpful and easy access for health needs
Disadvantages: Extreme heat and mosquitos

When I first came to Thailand I was very happy though the journey from the Philippines is not a long time it's still very tiring. I've noticed how the Thai people reacted to Foreigners though for them I look like them and they expect me to know their language that i've never heard before. The advantage was that the place which is Hua-Hin, outside Bangkok was just like a heaven. The people are smiling and it was a very nice experience. When my husband ...
...to the nearest hospital and the doctors and nurses look after him very well. The people are so friendly. The disadvantages is that if you drive in their roads is that the rule is 'there is no rule'! They drive pass you just like that most especially with their motorbikes and another thing is the heat. It was nice to have holiday there but not to live for a long time. The heat is sometimes so extreme and tourists like Eroupeans are most affected and ... Read review

Advantages: Beautiful scenery, friendly people, uninterrupted sunshine.....I could go on, and on, and on.....
Disadvantages: The mosquitos - I have no advice - they either love you or hate you.

...I wanted to write a general opinion piece on Thailand and this was the only heading that it fitted under. So, here goes... I travelled to Thailand in the summer of 2000 for a hotel break in Pattaya (South East) for 3 weeks. Due to a number of totally unforeseeable circumstances (well, unforesseable according to the travel agents) we were totally devastated with the town that we were staying in. (see my opinion on 'Pattaya' for more details of our grissly fortune). We were thus forced to look elsewhere, travel around a bit. I felt that it was pointless to travel that far and be stuck in a nightmare - so we went out and found the Thailand we were looking for. The Thailand that I am referring to is the 'beach' aspect of the country. Made so famous, of course, by the dramatisation of Alex Garland's novel 'The Beach'. I wouldn... Read review

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