jimbowx

Yep 5guys uses fresh cut potatoes. You can tell because of the non uniform color of the fries. They have dark spots, but are excellent.

I can assure you the McDonald, Burger King fries are indeed made from potatoes.

Yorta then it might be a good thing I didn't discuss the low or trans fat free oils. Frankly that is really disgusting IMHO.

Just for giggles, since I have a fair amount of experience working in American french fry plants (we really should be discussing bar girls not French fries). The fries that are mass produced and frozen, have the starch stripped out and re-introduced in the process of making the fries. The reason is because the natural distribution of the starch in the potatoes is not uniform. The process makes the starch content uniform. That is how they get the golden brown color evenly across the entire fry. If you just cut potatoes and fry them you get dark spots due to differing starch concentrations. Nothing wrong with that, but many people (at least Americans) think there is a problem because natural cut fries look different. Otherwise the fries are partly cooked and frozen. The cooking is (or should be at least) completed before consuming. Because the mass produced fries have tighter quality control the color and crunch is more consistent over all. I find the quality of fresh cut fries varies a lot from place to place.

Gary I hate to tell you this but McDonalds fries are FROZEN. If I understand what I have read here that is bad, very bad.

I have stayed in The Nana Hotel and The Dynasty Hotel. Both are guest friendly, but not that close to Patpong. In the same area is the Zenith which is (well at least it was some years ago) more expensive, pretty nice but not guest friendly.

I did this trip some years back with my then Thai GF. It was nice and sex in the train was fun (we did need to be quiet). I am not sure I would do it alone, but it was a fun trip with her. If I was going alone I would just fly.

The plan is I will be there from the 14th through the 19th. If you are there I will make good on the drink promise.

Thanks beerbelly I owe you a drink.

Anyone done any diving in Krabi? I have not been in a long time and it might be fun to get a couple dives in. Looking for a dive shop recommendation.

Damn I have been on cruise ships with bigger cabins.

I once signed 20 0f them in front of a bank teller in Singapore. She watched me sign them all, then reviewed them and handed 7 back telling me my signature didn't match on those 7. She refused to take them after I pointed out she watched me sign them all. Of course after you sign the damn things, they will not take them anyplace else because they didn't see me sign them. Like I said T/C worthless to me.

For what it is worth (not much I suspect), here is how I handle it. I pre-pay a lot of my hotels with a credit card using Agoda. So far this has worked great and no fees on the card. It does screw you if you change your mind and don't use the reservation (or so I understand I've never done it). I use the credit card at any other hotels I didn't pre-book and maybe for dinner/drinks at a high end location (Hilton bar etc). I've never had anyplace add a fee but there is a hit for "transaction fee" by my credit card company. I always have 3 cards in country but never more than on on my person. I have had trouble with travelers checks over the years. That combined with the extra cost and hassle I quit using them years ago. I go to the bank and get them to give me new $100.00 bills. I carry about $200.00 per day I will be there. I split the bills into envelopes and carry them scattered on my person and carry ons. Figuring that I will not get it all stolen if something happens. While in Thailand, I never carry more than $200.00 on me and keep the remainder in a safe. I use this system everyplace I travel and have had zero issues. However, I never get drunk ever so I can't comment on that. I have (just once or twice) had interactions with a hooker and there have been no issues. I inform my credit card and bank I will be in Asia and have the option of getting cash from them if required but I've only done that once (had travelers checks that no one would cash hence my ban on using the damn things). Most of my stays are for in the 2 week range. If I was going to stay longer I would look into opening a bank account.

So I got to looking and was surprised to find I had some Holiday Inn points. I guess i lost track as I normally stay at the Hilton chain. I can get the Holiday Inn in Krabi for $40.00 (1200 baht) per night using the points. It is next to the AoNang Buri and Srisuksant that beer belly mentioned. Normal rate was 4250 baht so I am going to book that. I'll let everyone know how it is but is rated good on Agoda and Tripadviser.

Thanks beerbelly, great information.

Anyone have recent experience in Krabi? Like to hear about hotels you were happy with, good restaurants, as well as things to do. Since everyone wants details, I am taking a lady (so don't need help there or maybe I do but not on the forum). I'd like a nice hotel/resort on or near the beach. I'd like to stay under $100.00 a night but would pay more if the place was worth it. Any ideas? My plans for January are evolving. As it stands now "A" and I will go to Krabi for 5 or 6 days. Then I will meet Noy in Phuket Hilton Resort for a week. I also plan 2 nights in Bangkok and 3 night in Pattaya. It should be fun.

I walked from RG to Pattaya Park. The Thai lady I was with thought I was nuts. Took maybe 25 minutes. But I walk to Soi 6 from there as well.

Sounds like a lot of work for long hours. That is not the direction I was heading in as I get older.

Jacko, did you eat the orange? Inquiring minds need to know.

Some of you fellas will fight about anything. But I did learn something that was useful to me. Sure am glad I didn't ask about ladyboys or something 555555. Really thanks for the information.

Thanks for the information. I think I have decided the ferry thing is not worth the lost time. I can do BKK-Samui-Phuket-BKK for about $350.00. The Nok Air suggestion at least into Phuket will save me $200.00. So I have reduced the $1,200.00 in flights to $700.00 that is livable. I think this is shaping up, all I really need to do now is sort out a hotel in Samui and get the ladies lined up.

I would love to try that devils den bus, but the cost put me off. I seem to recall it was In the range of $500.00 for a ride from the airport. For that a fella could take a cab and go to the devils den 4 times. It might be fun but damn.

I am making plans for my next Thailand trip. Basically I am going to fly to Bangkok in early January. I might fly to khonKaen for a couple days. Then pick up a friend, fly to Koh Samui for 5 days or so then back to Bangkok. Then meet another friend and fly to Phuket for 5 or 6 days. I have points for the flight to Bangkok and for the hotel in Phuket. I (as would be expected I think) am covering the airfare for me and the friends. It looks like flights from BKK round trip run in the $300.00 area on Thai Airlines. So I am looking at $1,200.00 in airfares. I noticed Air Asia has flights to both places in the under $100.00 range from Don Mueang. Since I don't care if I fly from swampy or Don Mueang this could save me a bunch of money. 1. Anyone have experience with Air Asia that I should consider? 2. It looks like the flight to Samui goes to a mainland airport and then a ferry to the island. It appears that it is inclusive in the price. Has anyone done this and what are your thoughts? If it was a case of saving $100.00 I would not even think about it but this is a savings of over $800.00, that is a lot of bar fines. Also any thoughts on how to get from Phuket to Koh Samui without going back to Bangkok? I could fly my friend down and save the flights for me. I see Bangkok airways has a flight. Any other ideas?

Not sure Jacko, I have entered the USA through Miami but always headed to a US destination. I would not have thought you would need to clear either, maybe just go through the TSA check. Who knows not much makes a lot of sense in this part of the globe.

At the point of entry in the USA you must clear both immigration and customs. There is a location right after customs to send the bags onto the next stop.