Thailand

[Crash]

I'm thinking about visiting Thailand sometime this year and was wondering if anyone has heard anything good or bad about it. I tried doing some research and found this site. I had wanted to see Phuket, but after reading this I am definitely not going there (and am afraid I would want just 5 minutes alone with those evil handlers. ) as I don't want to cause an international incident .

Has anyone heard anything about Bankok ? I know that there is an open market (Chatuchak) where they sell pets, but do not kill animals there -- I think. Has anyone heard anything to the contrary ?

[tal]

Hi Crash,

It's sad about those gibbons, they are so cute and should not be treated the way they do. I don't remember a lot of how the animals were treated when I was last there, but being a SE-asian country, you will see the usual chickens in cages everywhere, and I do mean everywhere. Unfortunatley you will most likely see a lot of animals not doing very well there.

The best way to not cause an international incident there at the moment would be to not smuggle drugs into the counrtry! lots of problems (particularly with a few certain dumbass Australians who have done so) in that regard. Be sure to get your cases wrapped in plastic at your airport and if it gets opened then report it to customs as soon as you get your bags.

The best advice I can give you is to avoid Phuket completley.. unless you don't mind being ripped off by every single person you encounter there. Bangkok is okay.. I only spent two days there and I had mixed feelings of it. Good night life but very bad food, very dirty and like in Phuket, the locals are very rude/scheming to westerners.

If you do end up going there, you absolutley must go to Phi Phil islands, it was one of the most beautiful places I've ever been to. Also Chiang Mai was great as well, city was nicer and the national parks were fantastic, very pristine jungle wilderness out there I was quite surprised.

I'm afraid I can't really help you out in terms of the way they treat their animals there. I highly doubt it is well, in Phuket you could buy live chickens that they decapitate and wrap in newspaper and sell to people like that, blood oozing through the paper... that was one of the more gross things that I saw there.

[Crash]

Thank you for the advice and information Talyn, it's greatly appreciated.

We were planning on going to Bankok, but I have decided against asking for Phuket to be one of the places visited. I do want to see Ayutaya. I don't know if we will get to Phi Phi - but you are the 2nd person to recommend it, so I will look into it (thanks for the tip to both of you). What national parks did you see ?

I don't do drugs, so that's nothing to worry about (I take it your luggage has to be wrapped with plastic so that no one attempts to smuggle anything in your bag ?)

Thanks again !

[barnz2k]

Hey there
Anyone else got info about Thailand? What to eat and where to avoid?

Also Vietnam? My mate wants to visit there too as its close - ive heard bad stories there though (dogs) and scared what I might see and react to!

[Rubber_Ritchie]

Hey Crash,

You're going to Thailand? Can you take a package for me? I'll pay you well. Only joking. I lived in Thailand for a few months. I didn't see anymore animal abuse there than I do in England. Perhaps it's a little more in your face like seeing chickens on the street but it's not everywhere, only in the odd market. It's just more sanitised in the west but I think it's nonsense about it being it worse in Asia. We just like to think so living in the west. Oh, those nasty asians.

I found food to be great. Although it helped being with a Thai lady There are people everywhere selling fruit. They chop it into small cubes to eat with a stick and it costs 10p!

I may be going there next year.

[^toby^]

I love this vego cafe/photo gallery in Bangkok
http://www.tamarind-cafe.com/

I was there 3 years ago:
http://thumb13.webshots.net/s/thumb1/1/24/47/166412447WfIqCW_th.jpg

Top: Vegan (on request) fried rice in a pineapple, bottom: Vegan (on request) pad thai:
[img]
http://thumb13.webshots.net/s/thumb3/1/ ... Ncx_th.jpg[/img]

[veganlove]

I went to Thailand a few years ago and loved it. I spent most of my time in Bangkok and had a good time. I can't really help much with food advice, I wasn't vegan when I went. But the food I had was very good!! I went to traditional meals with performances and did lots of photography. The temples are amazing

[becka123]

I'd love to go to Thailand, it looks beautiful.

[mangomagic]

I agree with Talyn, avoid phuket if you can and visit phi phi. It is gorgeous!

[benzilla]

[quote="mangomagic"]I agree with Talyn, avoid phuket if you can and visit phi phi. It is gorgeous!

[Tarz]

[quote="barnz2k"]Hey there
Anyone else got info about Thailand? What to eat and where to avoid?

[RobertCheeke]

I have a bank account I'm setting aside just for a Thailand trip fund

My good friend Jordan has been there twice and plans to live there. He and I hope to visit sometime in the next year or so. I've heard wonderful things about Thailand and hopefully I'll experience it for myself soon

[ha]

ive travelled the world and thailand is the safest country ive been too.
ive walked all night in bangkok..slept on park benches..only hassle was mozzies..

yeah if we hang at night clubs..its the usual risk.

im out of bangkok and go to the fruit growing regions..the real thailand. no drunk kickboxer wannabe farang! lol! just the locals sell'n mad fruit deals..

thailand is the easiest country ive travelled as a vegan. BY FAR!
no where in the world is fruit easier to get 24/7..ive eaten many a midnight durian and won the world champs this year..got on national tv and prize money..insane.

i got there for a few months each year. sleep in cheap roach friendly hotels, parks, jungles...

as for cooked vegan food...its there but you have to search hard. and you never know what they put in it...most of the workers aint vegan..they asume you want animal products like the rest of the puffy white westerners that come there for hookers, beer and loui purses..

thailand..thumbs up for me. go where there is no tourists..its cheaper, more real and the true thailand. not some poor worker smiling for an extra tip..just people smiling cos they like seeing you appreciate the beautiful abundant thai fruits. do a month on fruits in thailand..youll look and feel amazing..

ive riden thousands of km in thailand..ZERO road rage..but here in sydney australia..its like a box'n ring! lol!

[Tarz]

Ha,

Two of the examples I gave weren’t at nightclubs – one at a restaurant in a dispute over a few baht, and the other over a scratched number plate on some quiet road in the daytime.

A lot of dodgy shit happens outside Bangkok and not just to pissed up farangs who think they’re in Benidorm or wherever.

Yeah, where nightclubs and alcohol are involved there is an increased risk but it’s simply wrong to state the danger there is only as a result of frequenting nightclubs.

Thailand is safe - safe that is until things starts to go wrong, therein where things can get very, very dangerous very, very quickly. People don’t know this when they go out there, and they should.

To say Thai’s incredibly over-react to situations would be somewhat of a understatement. Yes, Thai’s are very friendly and placid, but when provoked ( which doesn’t take much at all, and this is what people don’t know, how a seemingly innocuous look or remark can be a fatal mistake ) there’s few people as brutal… To get in a dispute with a Thai male is literally gambling with your life and it also means getting into a row with ten –> twenty of his mates as well or however many are around. Thais’s don’t fight one on one. They don’t settle for fists or knees either – more often than not Thai’s will use blades or a gun. Once they set upon you they normally don’t stop until you are dead.

If ever you have a ‘disagreement’ with a Thai male, you go and grab your bag – or just leave it - and you get the fuck out of town, or get the first ferry off the island, coz there’s a pretty good chance he’ll come back and kill you.

Thailand markets itself as some tropical paradise, which it is, but the police and judicial system out there is a complete and utter piss-take, not only through corruption but indifference too.

Yeah, bad things happen all over the world. The difference with Thailand though is the Thai’s willingness to use extreme force and their utter ruthlessness. Then you have the authorities who don’t care about what happens to farangs, only about Thailand’s image in the world. Thailand is happy to take the tourist dollar, if only it showed real concern for the safety and well-being of its visitors.

[fredrikw]

Hey, let's not get all dramatic and generalize a whole country's population, ok? I know several people that has been in Thailand and got home in one piece. I'm sure you've had some bad experiences while being there Tarz, but that's no reason to pass judgement on all men living in Thailand.