VoxVader

At a 90 Baht bus ride I don't think you need to decide between the two. Get bored? Go to the other places for a day or two. I've kept rooms in both places so that I can hop back and forth as I please. It's easy to get hot girls in both places so for me it boils down to who I've met and want to hang out with, what parties are going on etc. Explore around, meet new people and don't feel you need to pick one place or another! -Vox

As a non-believer, total skeptic, I'd pay extra for a ghost. Proof of the supernatural would be worth an extreme amount to me. In fact, I can't conceive of more valuable knowledge. I'm going to see if it's available when I get there! -Vox

Iwan, Read through as many messages here as you can. Go look through old messages. Do searches on specific topics. Read the readers submissions at www.stickmanbangkok.com. Get as much info as you can before going. It will help A LOT to feel comfortable. As others said, try to arange to meet up with a few guys when you get into town and they can help you feel at home. Have a great trip. Be sure to keep a journal so you can give us a trip report when (if ;D) you get back. -Vox

Unlike most people, I'm actually comforted by the fact that the pilots only rarely take any part in the flying or landing of planes anymore (just the take off). I'll be happy when (if) they switch to pilotless planes. -Vox

Anyone stayed in one of the small rooms? I'll be in one this December. It's all they had left when I inquired about rooms and I decided to go with it as it is only 400THB during high season and all stills has AC, cable TV, a fridge and shower. -Vox

That's gotta be a hard decision. Logically you take it, but when you've been waiting months to get back, can you give up a day in LOS? -Vox

I don't know Valentinoxx from Adam, but I can't think of an easier way for a 25 year old boxer to spend 6 months a year in Thaialand than training at someplace like http://www.lannamuaythai.com/. It is certainly something you don't need a whole lot of money to do and would also keep you out of the P4P scene. My only point being that it is certainly possible for a 25 year old to spend a great deal of time in Thailand without being rich or having rich parents. Anyway, I love watching fights so keep at it boys! -Vox

I've never seen Fox news in Thailand. I can't see why a cable company would buy Fox programing outside the U.S. Would any non-Americans actually watch it? -Vox

Another option is to take your own safe. Sounds odd, but check it out: http://www.pac-safe.com/ Very small when packed, I just put my laptop in it's carry case and then the whole thing in the packsafe and attached it to pipes in the bathroom or closet. -Vox

Cool. Thanks guys! -Vox

That's a great fare for those dates on business class. I have a coach trip from hell coming up on NW (3 stops including one overnight) in December that was only $500 cheaper. My dilemma is do I use miles to upgrade to business to make it more bearable, or stick it out in coach and have my miles get to the point of a free LOS trip? I guess I gotta do the short term suffering for the free trip. -Vox

Where is Baybreeze? Any website/contact info? I'll be in LOS Dec 20-Jan 11 and hopping back and forth between Pattaya and Bangkok and was hoping to find a Pattaya place in the 500THB range that I could just book for the whole trip even though it would only get used half the time. -Vox

China Airlines is probably the best airline I've ever flown and not jst because they have very strict rules on the physical characteristics of their stewardesses! It's a Taiwanese Airline, not People's Republic. -Vox

Rouge, You may be able to find the info you want here: http://www.inet.co.th/ -Vox

I don't think I'd give a place my patronage that wouldn't serve my friends who aren't white. -Vox

Don't all these drinks also contain ephedra? -Vox

You can read almost everything in PD for real in the readers submissions on stickman's site. Plus, some happy stories! -Vox PS. It was funny on my last trip when I had a girl with wrist scars and my first thought was, "cool! just like in Private Dancer!"

You forgot a part of it BigD! The correct URL is www.stickmanbangkok.com Cheers, -Vox

Farang definitely refers to white people. I've known Asian-Americans who have gone to Thailand and while entirely western and foreign, they were certainly not considered farang. Many BG's refused to believe they were American thinking there are only white and black Americans! -Vox

Location is fabulous. Staff is generally poor though some there are very good (if you need a driver, ask for Johnny, Car #50). Rooms are crappy. I shared mine wih cockroaches. Bizzare, changing policies (all of a suddent they wanted me to pay a deposit for local phone calls--I made one and had to pay it at the desk before they would give me my key back!). Restaurant is fine. Bar stays open until 3:30. I've heard the new pool is quite nice. It was under construction when I was there in June. It's really not up to par with anything in its price range, it stays fully booked year round because of its location so they don't need to put many improvements in to keep the money coming. -Vox

FT, Lost track of this thread for a few days... No idea on the cost of using the phone line. It would be a local call to your ISP. My guess though is that you would want DSL and even the DSL in LOS might not be fast enough to download say a 3 hour football game over night. I would bet there are a lot of guys who would pay 1000 baht for a football game though! -Vox

Savvy,, Are you a farang? When the cops see a farang there's always the chance they may pull him over and make up some charge to get a bribe. If you are Asian, the risks of this go way down as they are not likely to spot you as a non-Thai. I'm not sure how common it is, but I have heard of it happening (I've also heard of the cops relenting when shown a Thai license). -Vox

FT, But would you take Thailand for $12,000 a year over Taiwan, Korea or Singapore for $30-50,000 a year? I were looking to teach, I woud look into KL were you can get pretty cheap flights to Bkk or set up a mia noi a 6 hour drive away on the border (as many rich Malaysians do). -Vox

Check out stickman's site: www.stickmanbangkok.com On the whole teaching english in Thailand seems like a horrible existance. Most work 6 days a week for $10,000-15,000 a year. I've met expreinced english tecahers who would love to work in Thailand but there are so few choice jobs that actually pay well. -Vox

If you can find a friend with the technical know-how (or is willing to learn) you could have him set up a Tivo in the states, put it on line and then you could download programs in Thailand and burn them onto DVD's (or watch them on your computer). You could set it up so that you could even program the Tivo from Thailand. I'm thinkng of setting this up sometime this fall so that my brother can get U.S. TV in Kuala Lumpur. If I end up doing so I'll post how it worked out. -Vox