*Travel Advice - Help with the Ladyboys*

It also goes a long way learning more than just hello goodbye and thanks in the native language.

Yeah we always try to learn as much as we can before we go, japanese was good as i have always had an interest in thier language anyway not sure how im going to grasp some thai though :D
 
Yeah we always try to learn as much as we can before we go, japanese was good as i have always had an interest in thier language anyway not sure how im going to grasp some thai though :D

I must admit when I went to Tokyo I learnt zilch and I really struggled at times. God bless their amazing tube system though. Never got lost once the whole time I was there. I get lost on the London Underground all the time.
 
I must admit when I went to Tokyo I learnt zilch and I really struggled at times. God bless their amazing tube system though. Never got lost once the whole time I was there. I get lost on the London Underground all the time.

I will agree about the tubes, they are AMAZING. There is a lot our country could take from japan in general. The tubes are clean, well maintained, on time all the time, easy to navigate, cheap, the list is endless.

Wish i was going back to japan :( :p
 
I will agree about the tubes, they are AMAZING. There is a lot our country could take from japan in general. The tubes are clean, well maintained, on time all the time, easy to navigate, cheap, the list is endless.

Wish i was going back to japan :( :p

me too, I don't think I'll ever be lucky enough to get a $1 return flight from Auckland to Tokyo again
 
do elaborate? :D

When I was working in Wellington. Air New Zealand have a daily deals page. Every week or so they would sell international flights for mega cheap.

I would constantly try and get one of these bargain tickets...to anywhere in the world. For 5 months I tried and tried but could never get through the transaction process quick enough to get the cheap tickets (apparently there were only ever 5 or 10 tickets up for grabs) and there were like 15000 people on the site whenever these deals went through.

Literally one week before my contract was due I had the idea to try and work out how they change the ticket prices, so I signed in to the actual Air NZ site, when the flight destinations were announced I would sit on the buy a ticket page, stretched across the whole day...and literally f5 refreshed all day long. I spotted one of the $2000 prices went down to $1000 and thought hmmm something odd there, so refreshed again once, price was still $1000, took a chance and clicked on it, on the next page, the return price was $1 + $84 in taxes. Then due to me already being logged in with Air NZ, only had to put payment transaction through and ticket was mine.

$85 return for a $2000 ticket on Air NZ. BARGAIN !! and it was over Xmas time too.
 
Oh and then after I returned back from my 19 month trip. I entered a comp to win a Dragoman 20 day adventure land across Peru and Ecuador. I won !!

I went back in April. Loved it !!

OK now im sure, I hate you

That is some serious good luck right there! Karma may one day catch you up and strike you down!! But tbh with those two trips under your belt im sure you would'nt care.
 
Dont walk in Bangkok, get either a tuk tuk or taxi. Walking is a scary experience!

I spent about 4 days there in total on the way back from Australia a couple of years back. To be honest, we spent the first day doing the tourist stuff (monastries, floating market, shopping centres), then 2nd day we stayed round the hotel and then went out to Phat Pong at night to experience the markets and 'Ping Pong Show' sellers. After that, it wss Bangkok pretty much done for us! Wouldnt bother going back again, would rather spend time on the islands than the City.
 
OK now im sure, I hate you

That is some serious good luck right there! Karma may one day catch you up and strike you down!! But tbh with those two trips under your belt im sure you would'nt care.

I'm still paying the first trip off, a year and 2 months later. I can't afford to own a car at present, so the karma was really already in place after I won those things.

Got to try and save to go back to NZ by end of next year though as made loads of good friends out there and there are some weddings to attend.
 
Dont walk in Bangkok, get either a tuk tuk or taxi. Walking is a scary experience!

I spent about 4 days there in total on the way back from Australia a couple of years back. To be honest, we spent the first day doing the tourist stuff (monastries, floating market, shopping centres), then 2nd day we stayed round the hotel and then went out to Phat Pong at night to experience the markets and 'Ping Pong Show' sellers. After that, it wss Bangkok pretty much done for us! Wouldnt bother going back again, would rather spend time on the islands than the City.

Yeah we are only in bankok for 3 or 4 nights anyway so not really keen on spending to much time there, the rest will be spent in phuket and the surrounding islands etc.
 
Take the express boat one of the days, can't remember which sticker/flag boat to get but they can take you up and down the river, can stop off at some of the local sites (Grand Palace etc) and can see other temples and sites from the boat. http://bangkok.sawadee.com/expressboat.htm

edit: just as cheap as a tuk tuk and you get the crusieyness of a boat along the river...far cooling than a smog enduced ride in the tuk tuk
 
I dont know why, but this post slightly offends me :o

Not everyone has £3000 to blow on lady boys, So I will let it slide to a point although i Must admit I didn’t realise Qutar where considered a budget airline? I suppose it might not be first choice for the "travel elite" ...

I suppose everyone’s perceptions of cheap vs expensive are different.

I certainly wouldn’t consider what I’ve spend so far on flights hotels and internal flights etc "budget" though.

edit: Qatar not Qutar

Regardless of the airline, if you're hoping to do 2 weeks in South East Asia on £600 then that's a budget holiday by any standards.

I'd say £500 per week + Flight, would be a fair budget per person for Thailand (so around £1400-1500 for a fortnight in total).

Your first time to Thailand will be more expensive than any return visits too, since you'll not be certain what to pay sometimes and occasionally people will take advantage of that.
 
Last edited:
Regardless of the airline, if you're hoping to do 2 weeks in South East Asia on £600 then that's a budget holiday by any standards.

I'd say £500 per week + Flight, would be a fair budget per person for Thailand (so around £1400-1500 for a fortnight in total).

Your first time to Thailand will be more expensive than any return visits too, since you'll not be certain what to pay sometimes and occasionally people will take advantage of that.

Please help me understand the high costs then?

Its all very well popping into a thread declaring that its not going to be enough money.

I never said that my budget is not negotiable but from what I can understand people have managed very lavish holidays on a similar budget in the same areas we are travelling to.

Concidering we dont drink a lot and party please help me justify where the extra costs will be going?


If food is so cheap as people say, as well as everything else (day trips tuk tuk rides, etc) how am i possibly going to need £45+ (2200 THB) a day for 3 meals and a few activities?
 
its about choices

you have the choice to eat in a cheap and cheerful thai place and have a soup and noodles

or a nice restaurant that charges full money for good food western food

which will you choose ?
 
its about choices

you have the choice to eat in a cheap and cheerful thai place and have a soup and noodles

or a nice restaurant that charges full money for good food western food

which will you choose ?

Can i use a 50/50 please chris?

:p

Tbh we will probably go for a mixture of both. Sometimes having el cheapo foods (street food) when out on a busy day or have a nicer more expensive meal on a relaxing evening when we are relaxing.

I’m just interested to hear his breakdown of costs and how he justifies the high costs in comparison to what everyone else says.

When you mention Thailand most people say everything is cheap, so I’m interested to see what warrants such a high budget when going out there.
 
Relax, no need to be so defensive, I'm just trying to warn you that if you think you're going to go over there and everything will be 50p then you're going to getting a healthy dose of reality coming your way.

It's cheap sure, but not nearly as much as it used to be, especially in Bangkok.

£300 per week is a backpacker budget, not a holiday budget.
 
Dont worry, Qatar is not a budget airline. They have injected massive amounts of cash recently and its on its way up. Very good service and a lot of expat pilots. A good friend of mine is a 1st officer with them and whilst he doesnt like living and working in Qatar, he has never said they are a cheap budget airline.
If you know where to go etc Thailand can be very cheap by any western standards. A meal for 2 with a drink shouldnt cost more than £25-30 in a reasonably nice thai place.
 
Back
Top Bottom