My Bangkok, Thailand Trip

[HeidiFlores]

Bangkok is a nice place and it has great tourist spots and attractions. I've been there several times for vacation purposes with my family. I always have more priorities in choosing this place compared to any country when it comes to vacations. Has anyone here have been to hostel penang? I need some information about this hotel.

[Cornfed]

Alternatively I might take the opportunity to do my CELTA or TESOL. The problem is they're mostly 1 month intensive courses but I'd rather do them over 3 months or more.

Most people say it is better to do the one month intensive. With courses spread over more time, you end up agonizing over your lessons more and therefore take proportionately more time and energy to complete the course.

[xiongmao]

The more time I spend in Thailand, the more I'm getting to like it.

Today Everdred and I met up and he showed me a few more sights this sprawling city has to offer.

One of the downsides to Bangkok is that public transport is haphazard at best. But we managed to get a pretty cheap boat down to a big palace.

Alas the palace was expensive and too full of obnoxious Chinese tourists to be worth visiting. But I'd like to thank Everdred for taking absolutely the finest photo of me anyone has ever taken in Asia!

Anyway, we ate some street food which was good, if a little spicy. I ordered some kind of lime soaked fritter thing which I will now go crazy for trying to find elsewhere in Bangkok! Everdred had two types of curry with his rice, and washed it down with a coconut.

Any tourist place in Bangkok is full of touts who know a quicker way to get to X, or can show you Y while place Z is "closed". Lmao. Knowing how gullible Chinese people are, there are probably rich pickings here!

Why are there so many Chinese here anyway? Everdred told me there was a Chinese film released about Thailand, and everyone in China has decided to come and visit. Maybe it was a Chinese version of The Beach or something. Well I guess they'll get bored of Thailand eventually and go to the Philippines or Vietnam instead!

Then we headed for Khao San road. My brother in law keeps bugging me about getting him a shark's tooth necklace and that seemed to be the best place to find one. Sadly we left empty handed. But Magnum or any of the other guys here who want a teaching certificate - I saw both TESOL and CELTA's available for sale on Khao San road. Ha ha ha .

Oh, some blonde Western woman rudely barged past us at some point and reminded us both of what a nightmare AW can be. She was so over at just 23!

After than we just sort of wondered around searching for a bus back to the skytrain. We got some good photos of the old city, and I was impressed at how generally clean even the poorer parts of Bangkok are compared to China!

Eventually we found a bus, but it didn't get far before getting stuck in traffic. Well eventually we got bored and left the bus. Cue for the traffic to evaporate and the bus to start moving again! Next time I get on a bus or a taxi here I'm taking a book to read.

I've now been in Thailand for 10 days. I'm getting to like it. Upsides are the clean environment compared to China, plus the excellent food. Cheap noodles in China are presumably 50% rice, 50% plaster board. Here they're 100% rice!

The downsides? Crappy public transport that's expensive or impossible to use if you don't read Thai. Traffic. Indian tourists. Scammers on dating sites. Thai people aren't generally as highly educated as Chinese. Mangy looking dogs everywhere. Less beautiful ladies than in China. But when Thai girls are hot they're smoking! Plus it's much easier to date a young "9" or "10" here.

Also it's ALWAYS hot here. Every day. Not sure if this is a + or - though. It's less humid than in Guangzhou though, which is definitely a good thing.

[Rock]

The downsides? Crappy public transport that's expensive or impossible to use if you don't read Thai. Traffic. Indian tourists. Scammers on dating sites. Thai people aren't generally as highly educated as Chinese. Mangy looking dogs everywhere. Less beautiful ladies than in China. But when Thai girls are hot they're smoking! Plus it's much easier to date a young "9" or "10" here.

Xiongmao, I actually think Bangkok's transport system is excellent once you learn it. Skytrain and MRT cover most of the hotspots except for Banglamphoo. And public or private boat taxis on Chao Phraya River can get you there from Saphin Taksin BTS stop for a bit of pocket change. When you are in a hurry, there are motorcycle taxis available everywhere which can wind in and out of the traffic. There are also canals which go to many parts of the city and you can get cheap boats to navigate them (ask anamericaninbangkok about these). From the airport, you can take a local express rail into town connecting to BTS for just 45 or 90 Baht respectively and its a very fast ride. When you need to take a taxi, they are extremely cheap at 35 Baht flag fall and a slow moving meter. Tuk-tuks are also an option. I personally use all modes in Bangkok except public buses which seem almost redundant to me there. I suppose if I stayed out in Banglamphoo/Khaosan for any length of time, it might make sense to take one from there to nearest BTS stop.

Anyway, I think transport in Guangzhou is way worse and more confusing than Bangkok's even though I speak Chinese. And if you think that system is bad, don't even think of coming to Manila!

If I were to rate transport system there from 1-5 for ease of use, convenience, coverage, and cost, I would give it a 1.5 compared to a 1 in say Taipei or maybe Hong Kong and a 3.5 to 4 for Manila and around a 2.5-3.5 for Guangzhou.

[anamericaninbangkok]

One of the downsides to Bangkok is that public transport is haphazard at best. But we managed to get a pretty cheap boat down to a big palace.

Alas the palace was expensive and too full of obnoxious Chinese tourists to be worth visiting. But I'd like to thank Everdred for taking absolutely the finest photo of me anyone has ever taken in Asia!

Any tourist place in Bangkok is full of touts who know a quicker way to get to X, or can show you Y while place Z is "closed". Lmao. Knowing how gullible Chinese people are, there are probably rich pickings here!

Why are there so many Chinese here anyway? Everdred told me there was a Chinese film released about Thailand, and everyone in China has decided to come and visit. Maybe it was a Chinese version of The Beach or something. Well I guess they'll get bored of Thailand eventually and go to the Philippines or Vietnam instead!

Oh, some blonde Western woman rudely barged past us at some point and reminded us both of what a nightmare AW can be. She was so over at just 23!

Eventually we found a bus, but it didn't get far before getting stuck in traffic. Well eventually we got bored and left the bus. Cue for the traffic to evaporate and the bus to start moving again! Next time I get on a bus or a taxi here I'm taking a book to read.

The downsides? Crappy public transport that's expensive or impossible to use if you don't read Thai. Traffic. Indian tourists. Scammers on dating sites. Thai people aren't generally as highly educated as Chinese. Mangy looking dogs everywhere. Less beautiful ladies than in China. But when Thai girls are hot they're smoking! Plus it's much easier to date a young "9" or "10" here.

Also it's ALWAYS hot here. Every day. Not sure if this is a + or - though. It's less humid than in Guangzhou though, which is definitely a good thing.

You've only been here ten days. You're still a tourist struggling to find his way.

Traffic and pollution are two of the worst things about Thailand. If possible, work your schedule around traffic. It can mean the difference between taking 30 minutes to get somewhere or 90 minutes.

The transportation system here in Thailand is fantastic if you take the time to learn it. Up until a year or so ago I rarely used anything but taxis. Now I use taxis, BTS, MRT, boat taxis, and occasionally, buses. Taxis can get expensive during peak traffic hours but other than this, transportation is cheap.

I'm assuming by stating you need to be able to read Thai to use the transportation you are referring to buses. The website Transit Bangkok can help figure how to get from Point A to B via sky train, subway, bus and boat taxi. Although not completely flawless, Transit Bangkok can lead you in the right direction and make navigating the Bangkok transportation system much more simple. There are also bus maps in some 7'11's. The sky train is being expanded and in a couple of years will have a much broader reach.

Info on Boat Taxis (Klong Saen Saep Line)



If you're in the tourist areas, don't be surprised if there's irritating people there, whether Chinese, Indian, Pakistani, African, Russian, American, Brits, whatever. Thailand is one of the most popular tourist destinations in the world so this shouldn't come as any surprise.

As far as the popularity with the Chinese, the film has something to do with the spike but Chinese have always been a major source of tourism for Thailand. Thailand is 15% ethnic Chinese and with it's proximity to the China, it seems logical a huge number of Chinese come each year.

Young western women who come here tend to be the worst foreign tourists I've come across. I find the cheap, rude, mouthy backpacker chicks wearing fishing pants and letting their fat titties hang out extremely annoying. Last week when I went to Phuket, I was surrounded by them several times...thank God for headphones.

You should be learning to speak some basic Thai and practice it with women every chance you get. It's their nature to help - so ask them for help. You're green as an Irish field and this is an in with Thai women. To them you're a Thai virgin. Forget the online dating sites and that will eliminate online scammers. You're here — you're not some guy in the UK searching for a bride.

Mangy dogs (not women) are everywhere but once you get into some of the nicer neighborhoods people tend to keep them on their property and you see less of the packs. The good thing is that most of the Thai Soi Dogs are small enough that if one attacks you can kick the shit out of them.

Vicious Dog in Thailand Attacks



I don't remember if you're in an apartment or a hotel but get out of the tourist areas as often as possible. You'll experience a much different Thailand. It's only natural to want to go to the major tourist attractions but if you're living here, you have time to see everything. Go to one every week or two and the rest of the time go to places where you'll find less tourists. If I take a taxi to the Nana area, it might take me an hour+ to get there. If I take a boat it takes 30 minutes. Plus you interact with the locals, which in your case is a good thing.

Thailand is hot but you've been here ten days and I'm not sure but have you left Bangkok yet? Northern Thailand tends to be cooler but Bangkok will cool down in a couple of months. It's always warm but if the heat bothers you, go to Chiang Mai where it's cooler. For many years I would spend weekends in Koh Chang, Pattaya, Krabi, Hua Hin, Bang Saen, etc., and when I got hot I'd go jump in the ocean to cool off.

Also, to say Thailand isn't generally as educated is probably true. Thailand has it's head up it's ass with regards to it's education system. But to say it has less beautiful women than in China shows me something - I don't know that I agree with this. Anyway, I prefer the personality and attitudes of Thai women vs. Chinese.

You say it's much easier here to date a young 9 or 10 here in Thailand. How many have you dated? The reason I ask is that for the vast majority of guys, myself included, dating a 9 or a 10 is extremely difficult. Most Thai chicks that are attainable for foreigners and 9 and 10's in looks are going to be straight up hos. Nothing wrong with this but to score a long-term gig with a chick of this caliber takes time, patience, and in most cases, knowledge of the culture and big cash. 7's and 8's no problem but 9's and 10's are generally the elite Thais or hos.

[Repatriate]

A Thai 9 or 10 is basically a maxim, tv soap star, or HM model. Like anywhere else in the world you either need superior game or great looks and significant social proof/exotic advantage to swing this. My very handsome and tall Thai-American friend wasn't even hitting the 9's-10's. In fact the only time i've seen guys date those girls is if they are rich or famous like the super hot top shelf girls anywhere else in the world. Oh I did see a very handsome male model French sounding guy with a 9 Thai girl at a club once but i'm sure a guy like that can score big literally anywhere. My friend finally married a pretty mixed white American/Thai girl from a top tier family but even she isn't in that category beauty wise.

In Thai nightclubs around Thonglor frequented by young Thais it's not unusual now to see way more handsome young foreign and Thai men who both have money gaming girls hard now. Since I first arrived in Thailand i've noticed way more of these young rakish types than before. Before there was a lot more of the usual old leering farang but it's definitely a younger set of western men in the nightclubs now rolling out game and stuff. That tells me that the p***y dry spell in the west must be getting worse too. The ratio still favors men but it's like a bunch of 5's-7's and then a small concentration of 8,9,10's. It's not terribly hard to find a nice 7 but I feel most foreign men settle with way lower than that for various reasons.

I mentioned this before in a post I wrote a long time ago but at Ikea I saw a LOT of fairly busted to downright ugly Thai guys with pretty Thai women. These were all fair middle class looking girls who would certainly qualify as 7's.

[Everdred]

The name of the famous Chinese movie about Thailand is Lost in Thailand (人再囧途之泰囧) [2012]. While Chinese tourists have certainly been coming to Thailand for years, I can't help but think they're here in far larger numbers now. I visited Bangkok as a tourist twice before living here, and I don't remember running into many Chinese tourists back in those days. Go to any tourist site in Thailand now, and I guarantee you'll be running into hundreds if not thousands of Chinese mainlanders. I've talked to quite a few of the mainland tourists who pass through Bangkok, and they always go to the same places - Bangkok, Pattaya, Chiang Mai, and/or Phuket. When I ask many of them what made them decide to come to Thailand, very often the movie Lost in Thailand is mentioned. When I visited Bangkok from Dalian for the first time three years ago, not many of my Chinese coworkers even knew what to make of the situation. It seemed as if they knew next to nothing about Thailand. Fast forward three years later, and I've already been visited by three of the very same Dalian coworkers while living here in Bangkok. Thailand is very much on the mainstream track for Chinese tourists these days.

I also notice many mainlanders come to Thailand as part of a tour package. Many of them will visit Malaysia, Singapore, and then Thailand all as part of the same package. The trips usually only last a week or two. Chinese refer to this as 新马泰旅游. Occasionally, I'll run into some younger Chinese who have come here with a small group of friends, but they're heavily outnumbered by the ones who are here with a tour group. Unfortunately, Chinese tour groups are extremely obnoxious, probably the worst of any nationality I can think of (with Indians and Russians coming in second and third), so I prefer to stay as far away from them as possible. For that reason, going to the Grand Palace with Xiongmao was a big no-no. I should've known better, but everyone's gotta see the Grand Palace at least once. I once went with a Chinese tour group to Jeju-do, South Korea, and needless to say it wasn't a very fun trip. It was interesting to see how these Chinese tour groups operate from the inside.

Concerning public transportation in Bangkok, I think I agree a bit with both sides. Even though Dalian and Bangkok are totally different in terms of dynamics, I'd take Dalian's public transportation over Bangkok's any day. I'm not trying to say that Dalian is a god-send in terms of public transportation, but it takes far less planning, money, and effort to get around in Dalian than it does in Bangkok. Bangkok does have many options, such as the songthaew (red trucks), motorcycle taxis, taxis, BTS, MRT, BRT, riverboat and so forth. However, it's very foreigner un-friendly, and I can't help but think everything here is laid out illogically. Getting from point A to point B can be a tremendous task for someone who doesn't want to constantly splurge by taking taxis everywhere. The BTS, MRT, and BRT are already too overpriced and overcrowded these days. Prices on the BTS went up just a few weeks ago. Sometimes I want to get somewhere cheaply and quickly in Bangkok, but it's just not that simple when you live and work here. The BTS is good because it avoids traffic, but it's severely overcrowded these days, overpriced (in comparison to China), you often have to climb steep stairs to get to the top, and it only hits some major spots in the city (not the lesser-visited places). Always having to transfer at the Siam BTS station is another huge pain in the ass, especially during peak hours.

Taxis require the least amount of physical energy from you, but they're at the mercy of traffic jams, and they cost more than any other form of public transportation. The buses here are cheap (though still more expensive than in Dalian), but just like taxis, they're at the mercy of traffic jams, they're often severely overcrowded, and there's no bus route map at the bus stops. You have to know ahead of time where the bus will go, and there's no announcements as to what each stop is either. The bus route maps in Dalian made everything clear and effortless. It's also common for these buses in Bangkok to take up to an hour just to go a few kilometers. Motorcycle taxis are okay, but they're by far the most dangerous way to get around, and I don't recommend them for going long distances. Sure, one could do a combination of the above public transportation options, and I sure do that myself, but it's very exhausting and expensive doing that. Even though it's not practical at all, I strongly recommend avoiding any form of transportation during rush hour in Bangkok. Good luck with that, though.

[xiongmao]

Guangzhou has many problems, but the public transport was pretty good. The metro has 10 (!) new lines under construction, and the existing lines go pretty much anywhere a foreigner would want to go.

Also the bus network was extensive and pretty much fully air conditioned. While the timetables are only in Chinese, the buses themselves have announcements in English.

On top of that, the metro/bus network was dirt cheap, and after 15 journeys a month you get a 40% discount on further journeys. That made a bus journey about $0.16.

Anyway, enough about Guangzhou... things are looking up in Bangkok!

Tonight I had my first date here. Nice girl, from Issan, and quite light skinned. She was more like a Cantonese girl. Anyway, she was really lovely, but the real star tonight was the little street food place we ate at - truly magnificent food and just so much better than anything I ever ate in China.

Funny thing was though, I was sweating buckets, she was wearing a pullover. I kid you not!!!

She did speak a bit of English, but it was kind of hard to understand her. I should start my Thai course soon though. Having mastered a fair bit of Mandarin I have the confidence to crack any language at all.

Well anyway, there are nice girls here, but they'll take a bit of finding.

At the same restaurant there was a farang with a pretty hot older Asian woman. Not sure what the story was there.

The walk back from the date was good - I spotted a few new places where P4P girls hang out, although I was only window shopping.

Hopefully I'll get a few more dates soon. It will be much easier once I move out of Nana - no legit lady in Thailand will date a guy who stays in a hotel here!!!

I'll go back on Thai Love Links and see who I can find next. Eventually I'm going to end up with a ladyboy surprise, I just know it!!!

In a couple of days I'm moving to a cheaper hotel, a sort of half-way house between a hotel and a rental apartment. It's in the Ekkami district and it was a complete pain in the ass to find today. On the upside, the neighbourhood is pretty nice. A surprise discovery was a huge shopping mall populated exclusively by Japanese stores and restaurants. There's even a Maid Cafe - Everdred and I had better check it out some day!!!

Actually Bangkok does remind me of Japan. The little houses are very similar, as are the maze of backstreets. Certainly Bangkok is absolutely nothing like China, that's for sure. Well maybe China Town is, although I never saw any Guangzhouians eating Sharks Fin soup.

Good food and sexy beautiful women who give you plenty of eye contact, this has to be the perfect place for Winston to live!

[anamericaninbangkok]

Guangzhou has many problems, but the public transport was pretty good. The metro has 10 (!) new lines under construction, and the existing lines go pretty much anywhere a foreigner would want to go.

Also the bus network was extensive and pretty much fully air conditioned. While the timetables are only in Chinese, the buses themselves have announcements in English.

On top of that, the metro/bus network was dirt cheap, and after 15 journeys a month you get a 40% discount on further journeys. That made a bus journey about $0.16.

Anyway, enough about Guangzhou... things are looking up in Bangkok!

Tonight I had my first date here. Nice girl, from Issan, and quite light skinned. She was more like a Cantonese girl. Anyway, she was really lovely, but the real star tonight was the little street food place we ate at - truly magnificent food and just so much better than anything I ever ate in China.

Funny thing was though, I was sweating buckets, she was wearing a pullover. I kid you not!!!

She did speak a bit of English, but it was kind of hard to understand her. I should start my Thai course soon though. Having mastered a fair bit of Mandarin I have the confidence to crack any language at all.

Well anyway, there are nice girls here, but they'll take a bit of finding.

At the same restaurant there was a farang with a pretty hot older Asian woman. Not sure what the story was there.

The walk back from the date was good - I spotted a few new places where P4P girls hang out, although I was only window shopping.

Hopefully I'll get a few more dates soon. It will be much easier once I move out of Nana - no legit lady in Thailand will date a guy who stays in a hotel here!!!

I'll go back on Thai Love Links and see who I can find next. Eventually I'm going to end up with a ladyboy surprise, I just know it!!!

In a couple of days I'm moving to a cheaper hotel, a sort of half-way house between a hotel and a rental apartment. It's in the Ekkami district and it was a complete pain in the a** to find today. On the upside, the neighbourhood is pretty nice. A surprise discovery was a huge shopping mall populated exclusively by Japanese stores and restaurants. There's even a Maid Cafe - Everdred and I had better check it out some day!!!

Actually Bangkok does remind me of Japan. The little houses are very similar, as are the maze of backstreets. Certainly Bangkok is absolutely nothing like China, that's for sure. Well maybe China Town is, although I never saw any Guangzhouians eating Sharks Fin soup.

Good food and sexy beautiful women who give you plenty of eye contact, this has to be the perfect place for Winston to live!

Good you popped your dating cherry...where did you meet her, online?

Just curious, why are you staying in a hotel as opposed to an apartment?

It never ceases to amaze me how Thai chicks are cold when I'm sweating. Right now I'm sitting in my office with the fan on. I'm hot and she's crashed out on the sofa with a thick blanket over her. My sons are the same way too though. I'll walk a couple of blocks and sweat is pouring off of me. They're bone dry.

Once you start speaking halfway decent Thai, it'll open up a whole new world for you. Read and write it and you'll be even better off.

What I did in the beginning was dated the good girls, got laid once every so often, and if I got horny enough went to a massage parlor or took some chick working in a bar. While it's good to practice your Thai with anyone who will listen, you want to be careful of picking up bad language habits from lower end chicks or Thais.

I rarely ride the buses and do not have a monthly pass. Bus fare is between 20 cents and 50 cents depending on the length of your journey and type of bus you take. If you have a monthly bus pass I'm sure there is a discount so the price is even more reasonable. If you want to use the bus, use the TransitBangkok site I suggested and look in 7'11's for the bus maps. Using these definitely helps.

Have you tried the Coffee Club on the corner of Ekkamai and Sukhumvit?

Bangkok does have many options, such as the songthaew (red trucks), motorcycle taxis, taxis, BTS, MRT, BRT, riverboat and so forth. However, it's very foreigner un-friendly, and I can't help but think everything here is laid out illogically. Getting from point A to point B can be a tremendous task for someone who doesn't want to constantly splurge by taking taxis everywhere. The BTS, MRT, and BRT are already too overpriced and overcrowded these days.

The entire city is laid out illogically but there's not a helluva lot that can be done at this point. This is the Thai way though — do what's easiest at the moment and think short term instead of thinking what's best for the long-term - Thais have never been considered the brightest kids on the block, that's for sure.

I use the boat taxi, MRT, BTS, taxis, and occasionally motorcycle taxis and buses. I've been here far long than you but honestly, getting around usually is a piece of cake. I rarely go anywhere during rush hour because I can usually arrange my schedule. Rush hour is bad in nearly every major city in the world though so I just accept that if I need to go somewhere during peak hours it's going to take longer. It's a good time to read a book or listen to a podcast.

[Repatriate]

The cheapest transportation is probably the local songtaews which are the opened backed covered trucks which drive around picking people up. They will stop anywhere on the route unlike buses and you can just jump in the back and push a button to jump off wherever you want too. Those are just 6 baht or so. They are very handy because you can get on and off whenever you want and if you get stuck in traffic you can hop off and walk out of the jam.

Don't ignore the chao phaya river boats either. They are very handy in getting to the Yaowarat or Khao San area fast. They are also pretty cheap I think the orange flag express boat is only like 15? baht or something.

[xiongmao]

Yeah, Everdred and I went on a boat, it was pretty cheap but also a little confusing (well like a lot of things here). 15 Baht got a pretty good boat ride.

Anywhere with tourists attracts all kinds of scammers, like people telling you the boat won't run on a Sunday, and you can hire a taxi etc. etc. etc.

I'm staying at a hotel. Tomorrow I move to a much cheaper hotel, it's kind of an apartment block turned into a hotel I guess.

Joy of joy - the nightmare Indian tourists have moved out of the hotel. I swear they were cooking in their room! They're replaced by weird Japanese guys. Not seen them with any girls so I don't know what they're up to.

When I get my 1 year visa I'll get an apartment. Ekkamai looks a nice area, On Nut is slightly cheaper but full of street dogs. The Japanese mall is a big attraction in Ekkamai - very cheap Japanese food and now I'm no longer in China I don't feel weird about going to a Japanese store or restaurant.

As far as dating goes, I met the girl on Thai Love Links. I'm getting a lot of interest, but no actual dates. I'd guess that 70% of the women on there are just looking for guys to send them money and don't want to meet a guy IRL. The lb's are more up for meeting IRL.

I sat in McDonalds in an air-conditioned mall and watched office ladies on their lunch break. There are some nice ladies here, even if there aren't as many stunning ladies as there were in China. But Thai girls seem to have better personalities, plus their country is much nicer to live in! Both huge pluses as far as I am concerned.

Finally I think my Uncle has been located, and it seems he has a new Thai gf. I'm really looking forward to seeing what kind of girl he's gone for. I can kind of guess though!!!

[Jester]

Hi this is Xiongmao reporting from Bangkok, Thailand!

I had originally decided to stay in China for another three weeks or so. But in the course of a single weekend a whole host of things came to a head, and I baled.

I have a long history of losing my mind in Guangzhou. Maybe I should have hung on in there for a little longer. But the idea of living in a democracy is much more appealing. Facebook works here, you can buy loads of English books and there are even English language newspapers.

I've only had a quick look round Bangkok, but I like a lot of what I see.

First impressions are that it's much cleaner than China, and much more friendly. Cars don't seem to have horns here. And there are less dangers, like those nightmare cyclists cycling the wrong way. It's still crowded, but not as insanely overcrowded as Guangzhou.

The food is much more varied here. Thai food looks much better than Chinese. And you don't seem to need to pick bones, stones and other rubbish out of your food here!

On the way from the airport the city looked more like Tokyo than anywhere else I've been so far. It looks nothing like China, that's for sure.

On the downside, it's definitely more expensive here than in Guangzhou. And I'm here in the rainy season so the weather can be a bit crazy.

Also we Brits don't appear to send our best and our brightest here. So I guess any younger and/or smart guys who come here will be huge hits on the local dating scene!

As for what Thailand has to offer... There's plenty of P4P here but I want to stay away from that and work on my game so I can find sexy beautiful women from real life. While sex is popular here, a lot of the foreigners here just like sitting in bars talking to women.

One thing that's surprised me is that tall Thai ladies are quite common.

While I think China has the most beautiful women on average, there are some absolutely stunning women here. Or are they women - who knows? People who've been here are right - the a few of the ladyboys are some of the most perfect women you will ever see!

I'm under no illusions about Thai women though. Back in 2009 I spent a whole month just reading Stickman Bangkok's readers submissions. And my uncle's had a few Thai gf's, but every time he goes back to the UK his women find new guys who can love them long time (well as long as they're in Thailand anyway).

Back to the present, and I met Rock and Falcon last night. We grabbed a beer and talked about all kinds of stuff. They certainly gave me a lot to think about.

While Rock and I waited for Falcon, we sat in the lobby of the Nana hotel. It was just great seeing guys walking in with all kinds of girls.

Also we indulged in a bit of sex tourism tourism - people watching is great here. I really do want to try and see what Chinese tourists do here.

I'll try and post some photos from the places I visit (well not THOSE kind of places). But as Rock says, everything has already been photographed here or written about. Even the "guy goes to Thai jail" niche is saturated by the looks of what's on offer in the bookstore! I've not really seen many people walking round with cameras anyway. It really feels like what goes on in Bangkok stays in Bangkok .

If anyone else is here then it would be great to meet! I could see myself staying here for a year or so. I'll have a rummage around Google and see what options there are for me to work or study here. I think you'd have to have some sort of structure to your life here, or you'd end up sitting in a bar all day and night.

Congrats on your new adventure, XongMai, and glad you met up with HA folks. Didn't realize The Falcon had landed there already.

Great, inspiring, informative thread here, thanks to all posters!

[xiongmao]

Yeah, having a good time in Bangkok.

I've got a better idea of living expenses here now. Sorry they're in GBP as just packed my calculator before I move hotels.

Basically a studio apartment will cost around £250 a month - there's cheaper available if you want to live away from the main transportation lines or don't want Western comforts.

My general food/transportation budget is £10 a day. Food and beer is generally more expensive here than in China, but it's much better quality.

My 1 year educational visa will cost around £500 - this is for a year's Thai language tuition at a language school. Hardly anyone actually goes to their classes, so you might be the only student!

Health insurance is £129 for 1 year.

Slash costs by cooking at home (a big 3Kg bag of rice is about £3) or eating street food (rice and fish about £1.50), and staying out of tourist areas.

Add on however much you want to spend on flights home, trips to other countries (Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Myanmar, Vietnam, Cambodia and China are all less than 2 hours away) and bar-fining Issan girls!

[Jacaré]

Wow, didn't log in to this site and now, I see that XM has left GZ and is now in BKK? Wow, didn't see that one coming amigo! What made you want to leave GZ? I thought you wanted to improve your Chinese, enroll into a uni,even do an MBA there and get a biz going there while enjoying the fine long legged Chinese women!
I LOVE BKK! I initially went there to travel for a couple of weeks and stayed a few months! That city grows on you the more you stay there. Literally!

Oh and for the equivalent of QQ in BKK, get Whatsapp. It'll solve all your problems and is the best thing to do hook up with girls in BKK.

Have fun in BKK, you'll love it. It's a very addictive city!

[xiongmao]

Ha ha ha. Yeah, didn't last long in China did I?

Actually yesterday I would have left Gz anyway to fly back to the UK. So this way I've got 2 trips out of 1.

I left Gz for all kinds of reasons, but it kind of all came to a head over one weekend.

Still, I'm in good company, there is a long history of people suddenly leaving China... like my in-law's family in 1949 ha ha ha.

If I had returned to China later in the year then I don't think I would have gone to Guangzhou again. But I just don't know which would be a better city for me to go to. I have some ideas, but nothing concrete yet.

Anyway, I'm learning more about China here - not least yet another tainted food scandal which of course is unlikely to be reported in China. That shit scared me, not least because my own University there bought some contaminated rice. Yeah, do you really think the local restaurants also have biochemistry labs to examine the stuff they're buying?

Bangkok is great. Dating got off to a slow start but mobile chat apps are the way to go.

Plus it's also a great place to get a CELTA or TESOL if you're going down the teaching route.

The food in Thailand is tremendous. Western food, Thai food, Middle Eastern food, it's all fabulous.

Also beer's more expensive here and you can't buy it in the afternoon so I can get more work done ha ha ha.

I got flamed on another forum for posting photos of real Chinese women. But you know what - I wish more people would post real photos of real foreign ladies, not just those airbrushed AFA photos!

Thai ladies look so much different than I imagined. They're taller than I expected, and there's a definite Indian influence. The well to do Thai ladies look much more like high caste Indian ladies (i.e. the Bollywood stars). They don't look at all like Chinese ladies.

The other good thing is that I can visit so many other countries while I'm here. Plus there are non-Thai's here as well - I'm meeting a Vietnamese girl later!

As to other things, well I was enjoying learning Chinese but I had to question if it was a good use of my time.

I did one of the MBA modules for a few weeks but decided that it's not a good place for a Westerner to study. A Western future employer won't value an MBA from China that much. Plus most of my class mates were from developing countries and their English was terrible. I pretty much failed to get anything useful out of any of them. And I don't want to study anymore.

I wouldn't start a business in China, not after seeing the quality of stuff made there. Plus if you get involved in a business dispute they can take your passport away.

Also I sneakily found a way of measuring my favourite juice bar's daily income... I crunched the numbers and they weren't making much money. Most Chinese companies are also on wafer thin margins.