A very warm Land Of Smiles hello to all...

[Christoff]

Hey Brian - seems like we did a lot of the same things whilst in Thailand!

Was that the Canoe tour that visited 5 islands including the James Bond Island? Well worth the money (cheap anyway) in my opinion. especially going through caves that are very, very low.

Good pictures too

[Casinomeister]

...Was that the Canoe tour that visited 5 islands including the James Bond Island? Well worth the money (cheap anyway) in my opinion. especially going through caves that are very, very low.

Yes, it was.

[Land OF Smiles]

Yes
It is so beautiful over in Thailand "The Land Of The Free"

You are quite right. I live about half an hour a way from the pier to Koh Samui Island, now that is paradise. Did you know that the word 'Thai' in the Thai language actually means free, so 'Muang Thai' or 'Prathet Thai', actually means Free Land or Free Country, respectively. You could'nt have been more correct!

welcome land of smiles glad you are here

Nice to be here laurie, and I am just as glad. Hopefully all the warm welcomes will metamorph into good luck that I can carry with me to the tables.

I went to Thailand about 2 months ago - I loved it over there.

Just wish I could go live there permanently - the Grand Palace was superb and so was the food.

Then I headed down to Rawaii Beach in Phuket and stayed at the Evason Phuket. The hotel was great and had it's own private island called Bon Island.

The only problem I had was that it was too hot most of the time.

Nice to meet you Christoff, The Evason chain of resorts is the epitomy of class in Thailand. You can't get a better hotel over here. I used to work in the travel industry and that's how I made my way over here. The Evason in Hua Hin is particularly breathtaking.

The temp rarely drops below 30c all year round, but now is the rainy season and forget the flooding in the UK, the rain here is ridiculous.

P.S. Living here permanently is a veritable mine-field, since Thaksin (deposed ex-PM stopped the monthly visa runs to Cambodia, Myanmar, Malaysia and Laos. You now need to go through reams and reams of paperwork. Fortunately I work in a profession where all that is sorted for me, so I suppose I am lucky in that respect.

I want to go to Thailand, but after watching Broken Down Palace... I am a little unsure about it

Films quite often don't do this place the justice is deserves. The people do smile an awful lot and are friendly, but like any place, it has its detracting factors and problems, and more-so than we are probably used to in the west. The one thing I have found surprising is under the veneer the people are quite, no very, xenophobic. But then again, we Brits are arguably just as xenophobic.

The only real rule in Thailand is stay away from drugs. In any shape, form or manner. I had a problem a while back and my move to Thailand was spurred by my want to kick a habit and it worked. The maximum penalty for drug dealing, etc. is the death penalty and it really make you think. (In fact you get a more lenient sentece for murder, depending on who you kill.)

It's a beatiful place - very scenic, nice people, good weather, great food, not expensive.

I'll be going back

I live here Visitors have nothing to worry about, Thailand is one of the safest places I've ever visited or lived in.

Welcome, LOS!

Thank you spear. Did you say that you live in Thailand now. If this is the case which online casinos do you frequent and do you have any banking probs, etc. It's be nice to have a heads up. For ex-pats in Thailand the process of getting a Thai based credit card is ridiculous, you actually need to give the bank a million (yes a million) Baht bond to cover and fraud that you (obviously) intend to commit. Peh!

Any suggestions you have would be greatly appreciated.

Hi Land of Smiles!

And welcome to the forum.

Photographic proof that Thailand is a beautiful place and a reason to be smiling:

http://www.casinomeister.com/images/...2007/index.php

The newsletter that covers this is here (Spring Break 2007):
http://www.casinomeister.com/newslet...april2007.html


Intercasino is still one of the top casinos by a long run. They are pretty much a standard bearer when it comes to online gaming. Some of the graphics and games are still the same - which in my opinion is great. I like to walk down memory lane sometimes with single hand VP

Pleasure to make your acquaintance Bryan. Nice to actually see the 'God of Forum' speaking to his peons. How many forums have I been a member of where you never got to speak to the main man.

Yeah, I've re-installed Intercasino and have contacted them about re-instating a dormant account. Live help was akin to speaking to a bunch of gibbons, so I've gone the email route instead. I'm 99% sure that my account is now dormant, so we'll see what they say in the next couple of days.

Anyway again thanks for the warm welcome and I shall be posting very soon and very frequently, you have been warned!!!

[Christoff]

The Evason Phuket was superb - will defintely be trying this chain again.

The best thing was the atmosphere - very relaxed and very calm.

I just wish I could live there permanently

[PurpleZelda]

Welcome LOS

You are a very lucky man! I spent a couple of months in thailand a few years ago and had an amazing time - I would love to return one day. It truely is the land of smiles

A magical place!

[Swede]

A very warm welcome indeed, LoS! I've also been fortunate enough to experience Thailand where I stayed for little over a year. Bangkok was action-filled, just like I like it but extremely expensive. The months spent living in Karon and Phuket was so much better and I had the time of my life, enjoying every second. I even got to party with the dude in the pic below, you know who it is

I will most certainly visit again, perhaps when the snow begins to fall. Maybe I'll see you there

[spearmaster]

Swede, you partied with Mr Buffalo?


Actually, that's Ad Carabao (Carabao is buffalo in the Isaan dialect if I am not mistaken). You might call him Thailand's most famous country singer, kinda like Kenny Rogers.

LOS - responded in the other thread where it was more appropriate. I've been to Samui once, must go down again soon, as I also own a travel agency which is setting up online (very slowly, been two years now). As for the xenophobic bit, I think that's more common in southern Thailand. It is certainly not the case here in Bangkok nor did I find that to be the case in Chiang Mai either.

Agree about Evason, but to be honest there are many spectacular hotels here in Thailand for the price of a closet in London!

[Land OF Smiles]

Hi guys.

Yes Swede, the man in the pic is the frontman for Carabao Si Dteeng. They have a massive following in Thailand and are sponsored by a Red Bull-type drink, from which they took their name or the drink nicked the band's not quite sure of which.

In reply to the Xenophobia part, I would agree Spear that the only xenophobia I have encountered has been in the south and not in the troubled provinces either (Songkhla, Yala & Hat Yai). It wasn't directed at me but two back-packers, one Belgian and one Canadian, who were bumming it around Thailand en route to Australia and the Thais couldn't get their heads round the fact that some Westerners would like to rough it on the beach. After lengthly explanations that this is par-for-the-course for 20-something to keep travel costs down, they still were quite rude an abrasive towards them.

My analysis is that unless you have lots of money, they have a tendancy to be uninterested, but that does not go for everybody and it a bit of a shallow statement.

Anyway thanks again for the continued welcomes.

LOS>

[spearmaster]

Carabao Si Daeng (the drink) is named after Ad Carabao. Carabao has been a fixture in Thai music circles for at least 20 years and he is prominently seen in the forefront of any peoples movement-type activities. The drink has only been around for roughly 5 years by comparison.

I'm still learning a bit about the southerners as I don't encounter them quite as often. But my experience is that they have a more disinterested attitude in general, almost as if they prefer to be left alone. Even people in Phuket react differently to a situation than people in Bangkok would.