Anyone been to Thailand?

theos

theos

The Living Force
Hi forumites,

I'm planning on going to Thailand in early December. (That is if something extraordinarily foul happening around election time in the US doesn't prevent it). I've been bitten by the travel bug. Since I was a youth, I've wanted to explore and to "go on a journey I'll never forget". <----- one of my old tag lines :P. I've been to a few spots on the BBM and would love to see more while there's still something to see -- and before our ability to travel at all is crushed under the feet of the PTB.

I'll be traveling with a tour group through Bangkok and up to Chiang Mai on a somewhat "off the beaten path" type of tour. A couple of nights will be spent in hilltribe villages. On a different note, I'm looking forward to seeing how this journey will affect the Work I'm attempting. Sticking out like a sore thumb while being a stranger in a strange land seems to lend itself to self-observation.
Any suggestions on some interesting things to do during my free time away from the group? Any impressions or recommendations to share?

Cha
 
chachachick said:
I'll be traveling with a tour group through Bangkok and up to Chiang Mai on a somewhat "off the beaten path" type of tour. A couple of nights will be spent in hilltribe villages. On a different note, I'm looking forward to seeing how this journey will affect the Work I'm attempting. Sticking out like a sore thumb while being a stranger in a strange land seems to lend itself to self-observation.
Any suggestions on some interesting things to do during my free time away from the group? Any impressions or recommendations to share?
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Well, I'm a westerner who recently moved to Malaysia, and my experience so far is that there's a whole lot of interesting things related to the Work in that region. For one, if you're looking for Petty Tyrants, there's a whole lot of them. Men with unlimited power, dominating and abusing women and children (and lawfully so), people with strong narcissistic and psychopathic traits everywhere, and not very masked either. Systematic and open STS.

On the flip side, there's also a lot of people in need of help, who have become victims of these petty tyrants. If you're looking for lessons in self-control, discipline and forbearance, and also a possibility to be of real assistance to other people, then you would be in the right place. But beware that a lack in self-control and discipline can get you and others into a really really bad position, if you're not careful. When you mentioned that you want to do Work there, I assume this is the sort of thing you were referring to, yes?
 
Hi Foofighter,

On the flip side, there's also a lot of people in need of help, who have become victims of these petty tyrants. If you're looking for lessons in self-control, discipline and forbearance, and also a possibility to be of real assistance to other people, then you would be in the right place. But beware that a lack in self-control and discipline can get you and others into a really really bad position, if you're not careful. When you mentioned that you want to do Work there, I assume this is the sort of thing you were referring to, yes?
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Yes, that's what I meant. I surely have no interest in getting involved in some of the seedier things for which people go to Thailand but I'll be sure to keep my eyes open to what I see around me. Thanks for the input.

Cha
 
Welcome to Mae Sot, Tak Province, Thailand

Hi, I'm an American teaching in Thailand. I've been here since February 2006 except for one trip of 6 weeks I took to China. Chiang Mai is nice -- better than Bangkok -- and staying with hill tribes sounds like a good idea. It seems you already have a good plan. I have founded a shelter/homeschool for Burmese children on the Thai/Burmese border in a village near Mae Sot, Tak Province. We welcome visitors and volunteers. Why not check out our website and see if you'd be interested in a visit. I'll be there myself from Dec. 5-7 (I teach at a school 400 kms away) and you can call me on my cell phone once you're in Thailand at 08 6860 4604. Website: www.homesteadingthefuture.org
Dhane Blue
 
I've been keeping my eye on the goings on in Thailand. "Unrest" is the word that comes to mind. Don't know if I'll go. Of course, if the airport remains closed I won't have a choice, will I?
 
How was your visit? I was in Thailand last year around June/July. I went to Chalong Bay in Phuket which was absolutely lovely and fairly quiet as it's not as touristy. I also went to Bangkok for a couple of days to get a visa for China but found it a bit chaotic as most cities are in my opinion.
 
My trip was awesome. One of the best, or even quite possibly the best. I enjoyed going about the cities --Bangkok and Chiang Mai. I really enjoy seeing and exploring places that are very unfamiliar to me. Seeing the people and the sights, smelling the smells, tasting the different foods, having to get along on my own is great fun. The highlight was staying in a couple of villages in the mountains north of Chiang Mai. The first was Karen (unsure of the spelling) and I can't recall the name of the second. There we hung out with the villagers in traditional costume, dancing and singing around the fire. I rode in an elephant caravan and we took a bamboo raft down the river. Totally fantastic.

I didn't get to go down to the southern part of Thailand because I only had so much vacation time from work but I hear that it is, indeed, lovely.
 
Odyssey said:
I'm planning on going to Thailand in early December.

Sticking out like a sore thumb while being a stranger in a strange land seems to lend itself to self-observation.
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This thread was opened several years old, but since there have been 3,200+ views of this topic since then, I'll post.

I've been living in Thailand for 9 years.
"Stranger in a strange land," indeed, and in this situation self-observation is inevitable; sometimes close to overwhelming.

For travel, tour, and vacation information, there are plenty of web sites to help with that.
So if you want to know where to ride an elephant, or pet a tiger, or sleep in a bamboo hut on the beach, please don't ask me, because I don't know.
I live here, so what I can help with is more along the lines of where to get a button sewn on a shirt, where to buy a USB cable, or how to say, "Rib eye steak, medium well" in the local language.

As for "Stranger in a strange land," that surely would make for a fascinating topic somewhere on this forum.

-- Peter
Bangkok
 
Hi Peter,

We encourage new members to make an introduction on the Newbies forum -- maybe you can tell us a bit more about yourself there and let us know how you found this forum. Thanks :)
 
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