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 Grand Palace by Homanded
you will be offered "help" and inevitably told that regretfully, the temple/palace is closed until later on that day for religious ceremonies or prayer services.
The scheme always involves a very helpful stranger who ALWAYS walks up to you and asks where you're from. He'll ALWAYS have a friend who ALSO lives in (in our case, America).
He will ask where you're going: "Grand Palace"...He will then inform you that it is closed until 2pm due to prayer services.
All of this takes place with a smile on their face and alot of persistence on their part that you should INSTEAD visit this or that place until a later time.
At the Grand Palace, we were told the same story about 5 times in the distance of 1 block. One was even a Palace employee dressed in Palace uniform.
Do not believe them, continue on to the entrance and you will see a large sign that states you should NOT believe anyone and that the palace is always open!
Do not make eye contact, thank them and keep walking ignoring their "advice".
Do not ask THEM for an alternative place to visit. They are hoping for this as they will have a Tuk Tuk friend who will be able to take you for a ride until palace opens....(literally).
They are wanting you to take the bait and be taken on a wild goose chase of shopping and jewelry/tailor shops.
Only after you have verified the validity of their claim yourself, be the one to decide which place of interest you want to go to.
Palace should be done early (great lighting for photography), markets / China town later on in day or early evening. Leave a Comment
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 by Homanded
Beware of the following: Certain points of interest such as Waterfall, Orchid garden and such will be advertised but, due to the various unscheduled shopping stops you may not actually get to see them due to a time constraint.
Not necessarily a big deal but, the numerous buying stops get old quick - specially when you're looking at putting in a 12-16 hour day!
We were picked up at our hotel in Chiang Mai at 7:00am and didn't get back until after 10:00pm!
There seems to be no way to avoid the stops but, if you MUST stop, here is what I suggest:
Use the stops as a bathroom break...know that the guides are getting a kickback for your purchases and are simply trying to make an extra buck. Be kind...refusing to stop only seems to encourage bad attitude from your guide. Stick to your guns and don't purchase or, in the case of the Jewelry stop...Don't spend any time there. The offer to have you watch them work the stones is simply part of a loooooong sales ploy! It's a waste of time which is better spent at the Hill Tribes people.
Finally, if you're taken to the Golden Triangle stop, take the time to do the 1/2 hour boat ride down the Mekong and into Laos. Once there, get your passport stamped for fun and be aware that upon return, if you photograph the children sitting under the "Northern most point in Thailand" sign, you'll be expected to pay a fee!
Instead of totally declining the stops, walk around but don't actually speak to or make eye contact with anyone unless you epect to seriously enter into endless bargaining. Walk througfh hurriedly, nod thank you and go promptly back to your van.
At the Golden Triangle border, there are some interesting souvenier shops dealing in very affordable trinkets, pottery, puppets and local sculptures. Leave a Comment
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If your train is cancelled and there are "agents" at the train station, well dressed and ready to help to find alternative transport and take you to their company office, beware. You will end up getting charged extra for this "service" provided. Worst, the train information assistant have this arrangement with these "agents" by introducing them to you.
So better to find out where are the travel agents and go directly to their office without a third party agent.
Similary, if you are walking on the street, if a taxi cab, tuk tuk driver or "promoter" offers to take you to a nice restaurant, entertainment center, etc, you can be sure that you will be paying more as the venue you are going to will have to pay a commission to the person taking you. So again, better to go directly yourself.
Above are considered "legit" way of making money and so if you, like me, ended having to pay this extra service, do not fret. Be careful the next time.
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If you are planning to go to Malaysia on an overnight bus all the way without stopping, any backpacket travel agent who can do so if you are paying more is taking you for a ride.
Unless, you joined a tour, all backpackers are put into a system for the journey south of Bangkok. You will arrive at Surat Thani at 3-4am in the morning, redistributed into other buses or vans depending whether you are going to Phuket, Krabi, Koh Samui, Hatyai, Butterworth (Malaysia). Then when you arrive at Hatyai, again you are "redistributed" into minivans and cross the Malaysian border no longer on the Super VIP direct bus you were promised and paid more for. You spent several hours of waiting as your paid ticket is being transfered from agent to agent and driver to driver.
Just be prepared to be "handled" like checked-in luggage. So get the cheapest price at Bangkok so that you do not feel that you have been "cheated". Another option is to take the train or fly instead of the human cargo transport.
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 The little Island off Pattaya by shelnlin
We didn't mind doing this and commented on how that wasn't a bad idea and like the rest of the group we boarded that boat.
When we got back from our little day out, the same man and a couple of others had set up a little table with the pictures that they had taken that morning of us and the others and had put them into a little white plastic frame and came up and offered them to each of us as we came off the boat for 100 baht!
Now that was a bit cunning we thought!
We did however end up purchasing the photograph as it was a nice one but for some people they may have got a shot of themselves that was not really that good. If the photo was not that great we would have left it but it was actually not a bad one and we did get it.
But all the same it was quite funny the way they did this! I.D photos my foot!
:+)
Just bear in mind that these guys may be around before you board your boat, everyone has their photo taken but hey you don't have to purchase the photo if you don't want to and fortunately these guys were not pushy pushy either so that was something. Leave a Comment
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 Pattaya by AndreSTGT
That was all i could think of when i took a short side trip to the infamous beach resort of Pattaya.
This place is the pits!!! Ugly hotel blocks, fat and bald Germans with young Thai girls and groups of rowdy Russian package tourists.
I had intended to stay overnight, but after two hours and an overpriced coconut on the beach i decided to flee to Bangkok as soon as possible and got on the next bus.
It's a miracle to me how anyone could spend their holidays in this hell hole. Leave a Comment
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Enjoyed the many reasonable prices backpacker group day tours from Bangkok. But almost all will end up at a gem outlet for an hour or so before sending me back to my drop off points. If you are protest, you will be told that these outlets subsidized the tours or it is requirement by the Thailand Tourism Board.
Whatever the reasons, just accept this as part of the package although time is precious. If you are in a hurry, just get a cab back. Otherwise, enjoy the aircondition after a hot day of tour, any free refreshment provided and check out the prices without buying. No one will be foreced to buy anything, we usually do not as our form of protest.
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 Sukhothai by AndreSTGT
The ruins are certainly beautiful, if a bit too neat and overrestored for my taste.
The best way to see them is to rent a bicycle, like this you're faster than the tour groups.
Visit early in the morning or late in the afternoon! Leave a Comment
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 by bhoeyb
Notice the strange fluorescent blue and green colour on the edge of the cans.
Black cookies with vanilla taste are OK to eat but eating something 'black' gives you a strange feeling.
Also popular, drinking Coca Cola from a plastic bag :-\ ...
You must taste these strange looking drinks and food. Just only once ;-) ... Leave a Comment
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 by Cincinnati1313
Take your own beer and don't buy Dr O or Dr M.
Don't dive in to the first tour you are offered. Shop around Chaing Mai for a bit and you can probably find a better deal. Leave a Comment
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