js007

Late at night in the Walking Street area, there are usually baht busses hanging around that you can hire as a taxi. 100 baht or so and they'll take you to your destination. In other areas, just flag down an empty baht bus, if you can, and hire it as a taxi.

I guess I'm not up to speed on the latest happenings. But now that I think about it, I don't spend a lot of time in Phuket go go bars. I guess I'm more of a beer bar person in Phuket.

For all the times I've been to Phuket, I think I've only seen nudity in a go go bar one time, and that place is long gone. Still, you can have a good time there. Just use your head. Avoid the touts on Bangla Road and behave yourself in the bars and you won't have any trouble. All things considered, I'd rather visit Phuket than Pattaya, mainly because I neve get the Pattaya cough in Phuket. In any event, stay close to the action so you don't need to use the tuk tuks. They are outrageously expensive these days, and Phuket doesn't have baht buses.

One time I didn't want to fool around and hired one of the "limousines" you can hire right at the airport. I think the cost was 3300 baht to Pattaya. Three times the going rate, but the guy was very polite and actually drove safely. The car was a model I'd never seen in my life. I don't know if I do it again, but I can't complain except for the price.

I never have been a big fan of airline food. I eat it, once in a while, but that's not why I fly. If I'm hungry, I'm hungry, but I suppose a peanut butter and jelly sandwich would work.

It would be nice if they could establish direct deposit of the monthly government checks.

Some lucky passengers, that's for sure.

No one gets a guaranteed 10% these days. In the US, if a person is willing to take the risk, some of the phone utility stocks pay around 5%. ATT, Verizon, etc. The dividends are probably safe, but if rates go up generally, the stocks will go down.

One time I had some medication delivered to me via DHL while I was in Phuket, and I had to pay a customs duty. So, you may have the same problem unless there's some sort of exception for the VFW.

I guess a person could find a rental for 5000 or 6000 baht a month. Can you still get a Thai food meal for 35 baht? Three of those a day would be 3,150 baht a month. Electricity in a fan room shouldn't be that much. The true Cheap Charlie experience.

The links seem to be stalled. In any event, a person could probably survive on 20,000 a month, but that's about it. And you still need some money in the bank to satisfy the immigration people.

I've flown to Bangkok on Thai a few times. The first time was on a 747 out of LAX, stopping in Japan. Back then, the service was excellent. Good food, all the wine you could drink, hot towels, etc. My next trips on Thai were all on the non stop flights. Once from JFK and a few times from LAX. Those flights were on an A340-500. I guess they were discontinued when the fuel prices went up and they were no longer profitable. All in all, I'd say it was a good airline.

No mat. I think it was about midnight. I met her in Soi Eric.

I think I was with a Muslim bar girl one time down in Phuket. She did a complete prayer routine before going to bed. Actually, she was very nice.

Wow. Pretty good prices. I'm used to seeing $1300 or so.

I've used Agoda.com for hotels in Thailand. No problems. I also once used the Priceline Hong Kong site for hotels in Bangkok. I'm not sure if that site is still around, but again, no problems, and I got some good deals.

When I read last minute that reminded me of Latestays: http://www.latestays.com I haven't looked at it in a while, but it used to have some good deals for Thailand. Last minute type bookings. As for a cheap "deal" to Thailand, I've never looked for an all-inclusive deal. Probably the smart thing to do would be to look for a cheap flight. One he gets to Thailand, the rest can be sorted out economically. Maybe pre-book just the first night or two.

It has been five year since I stayed on the Soi LK, but even then there were nights when the noise continued quite late. Today, with even more bars, you might not get much sleep. Then again, if you routinely stay up until 3AM, it might not matter.

Just to chime in on Tequila Reef: Usually, it's good, at least the food I've tried there. I mostly eat one of the burrito varieties. They must have a substitute cook from time to time, because the taste can vary. A others have said, the margaritas are good. Get a window seat and, depending on the time of day, you can watch all the girls on Soi 7 arriving for work. Occasionally, there's a cutie to be found.

Nice! I feel guilty, though. I have a nice camera and lenses, but many times when I travel, I don't use it as much as I should. I think I should probably look for something smaller, that can fit in my pocket. Lately, I've just been using my phone. When I was a kid I used to have a darkroom and 35mm cameras and lenses. I spent many hours taking and developing pictures. Today, it's all much easier and yet I'm still lazy about it all.

All the food looks very tasty!

Usually, I use the third party booking sites to scan for fares, but somehow I always just book directly with the airline. It's easier to deal with any problems that way. I'll use the travel sites to book hotel rooms, but in those cases there's not so much that can go wrong. Even then, I've had problems.

The problem I have with morning arrivals is that if you get there too early, the hotel wants to charge you extra to check in early. For example, I once took a non-stop flight from LAX and got into BKK early in the morning. I got to my hotel too early for the day's check in, so I hd to pay an extra 800 baht, just to check in early. For flights arrive late at night, I usually have a room already booked and paid for. Just show up at the hotel and go to bed.

I've never been there, but it looks like a nice place.

A five hour layover is sort of tolerable, Eight hours, I don't know. One time I had a 16 hour layover in the new Bangkok airport and I just about went nuts. Anyway, I guess for the person on a budget, the $447 price is right.