Tonight is my last night in Thailand and I'm sitting at my hotel going over the past three months and how my vacation went and I'd say that overall it went quite well. I accomplished some personal goals and visited a few different areas of the country but I don't have too many crazy stories about my adventures with Thai women because, game wise, I didn't do so well. This happened for two reasons:
#1) I didn't party or drink a lot : Outside of a couple of crazy nights in BKK and Pattaya, I didn't go out to many clubs and I kept the heavy boozing to a minimum, which kind of messed things up because, in my opinion heavy drinking is the best thing to do if you want to pick up in Thailand, at least I did well when hammered.
#2) I didn't get the yellow beaver fever: I dated a couple of Thai women and SNL'd a few, yes they were slender, feminine and easy to get along with, but I'm not too fussy over them, more on this later.
I did do a lot of other activities that I really enjoyed and that's what I'd like to focus on in this data sheet for guys out there who are interested in other things than partying like rock stars and racking up the notch count, which Thailand is obviously a great place for.
Before I went: I honestly never had a big interest in visiting Asia, for the same reasons that other guys on here don't: long flight, cultural differences, language barrier, etc. However, a good friend of mine has been coming here for years and always gets after me to go to Thailand and reading the reports on here made me finally pull the plug.
I didn't know much about Thailand or its culture and I never really interacted with a Thai person outside of ordering some food at a Thai restaurant back home. I was busy with work before I came and didn't pipeline much or practice and Thai language, something I regret.
I also had some last minute reservations and thought about pulling out and going back to Colombia instead, as I wrote in this thread: http://www.rooshvforum.network/thread-17...ge-2.html? , well I"m glad that I decided to go through with it and don't regret coming to Thailand at all, I will be back in the future.
So here's the cities that I ended up staying in:
-Bangkok-3 weeks
-Chiang Mai-3 weeks
-Pai- one month
-Koa Tao-one week
-Koh Phangan-2 days
-Pattaya-2 day
Impressions of each city:
-BKK: A lot has been written on here about BKK and I didn't have any unique experiences here so I'll just say that this city is awesome! Great night life, plenty of food options and awesome shopping. I don't think I could live here long term (too hot, too crowded) but I love this place for a week at a time, which I did three times.
-Chiang Mai: Nice city, great place to train Muay Thai but I didn't really like the night life. Refer to Rionomad's great CM data sheet for more info: http://www.rooshvforum.network/thread-88...chiang+mai . CM is however the best spot in Thailand to do "adventure tourism" activities, more on that later.
-Pai: Loved this small town, check out my recent data sheet for more info: http://www.rooshvforum.network/thread-20300.html
-Koa Tao: Also loved this place, very chill place and a great spot for diving, check out Qwests data sheet for some solid info: http://www.rooshvforum.network/thread-19...ht=Koh+tao
-Koh Phangan: Wasn't impressed but didn't do much partying there, stayed one night in Haad Yuan and it was boring but nice, other night in Haad Rin where the full moon party takes place, decent beach but a bit of a dump.
Pattaya: Sex tourist infested dump but I had a fun time there with 20nation and travelhardcore.
Things I did:
-Muay Thai: By far the most rewarding activity I did in Thailand, I"m so glad to have done it and thanks to the RVF and especially YMG for inspiring me to do it and providing all of the information to do so. I trained at the following gyms, here's a quick break down of each for those who are interested.
Team Quest Thailand: Located in Chiang Mai very close to the biggest mall in town but a bit away from the action. This gym is run by two guys from USA and Canada and has top notch, champion Thai trainers, they also teach MMA. They are beginner friendly but there are also a lot of guys there who participate in local fights every week and a couple of pros, so some guys are pretty serious. Actually its a great environment if fighting is your goal, the trainers push you really hard and so do the other guys training there. One of the best experiences I had was the several fights I went to with a big group of fellow Muay Thai guys to the Friday night fights at the night bazaar, the atmosphere was amazing and if the Team Quest guy won, they'd usually spend all of their earnings (3000 Baht) at a bar on booze for everyone, good times. They have some good videos on youtube of these fights, just search "Team Quest Thailand".
Sor Wisarut: Located in Pai, its a gym run by an Italian guy named Emanuele, very nice guy and accomplished K-1/Muay Thai fighter. This gym is mostly beginners and attracted a lot of Europeans, there were also fewer guys training there than TQT, so a lot of one-on-one instruction.
Joe's Muay Thai: Located in Pattaya, I only trained there one day with Travelhardcore and it was pretty good, run by an American guy named Brian from Seattle, also beginner friendly and open from 8000-2000, just drop in at any time.
So overall the Muay Thai training was great, I got into decent shape and lost a few pounds and learned the basics. I don't know if I'll ever get any fights but I'm happy with the training and look forward to doing more in the future as it is a great cardio work out and awesome way to get into shape.
Fishing: I didn't realize that Thailand had such great fishing but it makes sense as it has lots of lakes and rivers and is surrounded by the sea. I'm a self confessed fishing nut so if I get a chance to go I definitely will, here's where I fished and what I caught:
-Koh Tao: I wrote about this in Qwests' data sheet but I went out fishing for a day and we caught lots of snapper, a marlin and a king mackeral, some of the best fishing I've ever done. This was organized through the hotel, you'll see the signs everywhere, it cost 1600 baht for the entire day and I got to take home a big chuck of marlin at the end of the day, very tasty on the BBQ.
-Chiang Mai: Went to a stocked lake about 45 minutes north of the city and caught seven or eight giant Mekong catfish, including the biggest fish I've ever caught, a twenty kilo catfish that took me about fifteen minutes to land. This cost 1500 baht for a half day and included pick up and return from hotel. There's a resto on site and you can buy beer there too.
-Pai: Went to a stocked Piranha pond (Link in my Pai data sheet), didn't catch anything but as the saying goes, "a bad day of fishing is better than a good day at work". Fishing was cheap, resto and pub on site.
Kayaking: North of Chiang Mai, about 1.5 hours, I spent a day kayaking in the Chiang Dao valley, we covered about twenty kilometers, it was my first time kayaking and I really enjoyed it. I did this with "Chaing Mai Mountain Biking and Kayaking", very well run operation, their brochures are available in most hotels. This cost around 1200 Baht including pick up and return to hotel and lunch.
Zip Lining: Chiang Mai, I did this with "The flight of the gibbons" company: http://www.treetopasia.com/ , it was pricey at 3000 Baht but definitely worth it, I was impressed by the system of zip lines they had, price included tee shirt, lunch and pick up and return to hotel.
Trekking,bamboo rafting,elephant riding,long neck village and water fall: This was okay but nothing too exciting, decent way to spend the day and cheapest activity at 900 Baht. I went with Panda tours, again pick up and return included, lunch too.
Diving: Second best thing I did in Thailand, I loved it and look forward to doing a lot more in the future. Koh Tao is an awesome spot to do this and big up to Qwest for recommending the dive shop "Simple Life Divers": http://www.simplelifedivers.com/ , it was cheap, fun and I lucked out and had one-on-one instruction for my entire PADI open water course, it cost about 10,000 Baht for the course.
So that's it for the activities, I spent about six weeks seriously training Muay Thai for five to six days a week, I'd usually do about four days of just one session a day and the other two sessions, its seriously hard but you will get used to it. Expect some minor injuries, bruises and soreness. The other activities in Chiang Mai, I did those over a ten day period and would take a day off in between, being out in the hot sun all day doing rigorous activities can be hard on the body.
Some other things I'd like to add about Thailand: It took me awhile to warm up to the place, in fact for the first four to six weeks, I'd dare say that I was Bearish on Thailand! BKK kind of freaked me out during my first week there and it wasn't until the second time that I visited that I really warmed up to the city, this is par for the course according to most guys on here.
Another factor was that I was hanging around a lot of people who were negative about Thailand, this included a girl I dated in BKK (a farang student) and also a lot of the Muay Thai guys. Many people who've been in Thailand long term will say "I love the country, I just hate the culture" and will go on about how the people are lazy, racist, dishonest, etc. I didn't really get it but being around those negative people made me focus a lot on the negative aspects as well and it wasn't until I got up to Pai that I really started liking Thailand because I had some really good experiences with the locals up there and of all people, those evil stinky hippy backpackers!
Language barrier: Not too much of an issue along the tourist trail and in BKK, you can communicate the basics and get what you need, you'll even be impressed with the high level of English that some Thais speak but there are few of them that I met. This was one of the main issues I had with the women there, especially outside of BKK, which brings me to the next topic.
Thai women: I dated a few of them, one regular in BKK and one in CM who spoke decent English but neither were that attractive and were both kind of boring, I went on dates with a few others but their English was very limited and the dates were like pulling teeth, I ended them quickly.
As I mentioned earlier, I agree that some can be attractive but I didn't seem to click with them and I the ones I met up with seemed to be of lower quality, I didn't spend enough time in BKK or CM to try to meet the higher class ones, nor was I motivated to do so.
I had a couple of wild nights with travelhardcore and 20nation where I got pissed and hit the bars and banged some Thai girls, shores for sure, drunk ass cave man style works well here.
I hooked up with a couple of Farang women and dated one in BKK but I regret not spending more time partying on the islands down south where hooking up with foreigners is a much more common and easy thing to do.
Actually I also regret not planning my trip right, I did it arse backwards, I should have partied hard first then concentrated on the Muay Thai, I also had a female friend from home travelling with me for a month and that was fine but I had to consider her plans for the time we were together but it mostly coincided with things I wanted to do anyway.
So that's about all I have to say about Thailand, a great travel destination for you guys to check out, good gaming options and tons of activities do do. Its cheap, safe and easy to get around, all of the activities are well organized and of high standards to cater to foreign tourists. All in all I was impressed and will back here in late April after a stint in the Philippines.
I will also be doing a comparison between Thailand and Colombia for those who are interested, its a tough call on which place I liked better.
Big shout out to all the RVF forum members I met in Thailand: 20nation, THC, DVY, Asaxon, Kdog, Rionomad, Qwest, Internationalswagger and the Norweigen guy who's name I can't remember.
Also a big shout out to Beyond Borders and Rionomad for all of the invaluable information that you guys continue to contribute in the Thailand threads.
Guys if you're apprehensive about travelling to Thailand like I was, I say DO IT, you won't regret it!
#1) I didn't party or drink a lot : Outside of a couple of crazy nights in BKK and Pattaya, I didn't go out to many clubs and I kept the heavy boozing to a minimum, which kind of messed things up because, in my opinion heavy drinking is the best thing to do if you want to pick up in Thailand, at least I did well when hammered.
#2) I didn't get the yellow beaver fever: I dated a couple of Thai women and SNL'd a few, yes they were slender, feminine and easy to get along with, but I'm not too fussy over them, more on this later.
I did do a lot of other activities that I really enjoyed and that's what I'd like to focus on in this data sheet for guys out there who are interested in other things than partying like rock stars and racking up the notch count, which Thailand is obviously a great place for.
Before I went: I honestly never had a big interest in visiting Asia, for the same reasons that other guys on here don't: long flight, cultural differences, language barrier, etc. However, a good friend of mine has been coming here for years and always gets after me to go to Thailand and reading the reports on here made me finally pull the plug.
I didn't know much about Thailand or its culture and I never really interacted with a Thai person outside of ordering some food at a Thai restaurant back home. I was busy with work before I came and didn't pipeline much or practice and Thai language, something I regret.
I also had some last minute reservations and thought about pulling out and going back to Colombia instead, as I wrote in this thread: http://www.rooshvforum.network/thread-17...ge-2.html? , well I"m glad that I decided to go through with it and don't regret coming to Thailand at all, I will be back in the future.
So here's the cities that I ended up staying in:
-Bangkok-3 weeks
-Chiang Mai-3 weeks
-Pai- one month
-Koa Tao-one week
-Koh Phangan-2 days
-Pattaya-2 day
Impressions of each city:
-BKK: A lot has been written on here about BKK and I didn't have any unique experiences here so I'll just say that this city is awesome! Great night life, plenty of food options and awesome shopping. I don't think I could live here long term (too hot, too crowded) but I love this place for a week at a time, which I did three times.
-Chiang Mai: Nice city, great place to train Muay Thai but I didn't really like the night life. Refer to Rionomad's great CM data sheet for more info: http://www.rooshvforum.network/thread-88...chiang+mai . CM is however the best spot in Thailand to do "adventure tourism" activities, more on that later.
-Pai: Loved this small town, check out my recent data sheet for more info: http://www.rooshvforum.network/thread-20300.html
-Koa Tao: Also loved this place, very chill place and a great spot for diving, check out Qwests data sheet for some solid info: http://www.rooshvforum.network/thread-19...ht=Koh+tao
-Koh Phangan: Wasn't impressed but didn't do much partying there, stayed one night in Haad Yuan and it was boring but nice, other night in Haad Rin where the full moon party takes place, decent beach but a bit of a dump.
Pattaya: Sex tourist infested dump but I had a fun time there with 20nation and travelhardcore.
Things I did:
-Muay Thai: By far the most rewarding activity I did in Thailand, I"m so glad to have done it and thanks to the RVF and especially YMG for inspiring me to do it and providing all of the information to do so. I trained at the following gyms, here's a quick break down of each for those who are interested.
Team Quest Thailand: Located in Chiang Mai very close to the biggest mall in town but a bit away from the action. This gym is run by two guys from USA and Canada and has top notch, champion Thai trainers, they also teach MMA. They are beginner friendly but there are also a lot of guys there who participate in local fights every week and a couple of pros, so some guys are pretty serious. Actually its a great environment if fighting is your goal, the trainers push you really hard and so do the other guys training there. One of the best experiences I had was the several fights I went to with a big group of fellow Muay Thai guys to the Friday night fights at the night bazaar, the atmosphere was amazing and if the Team Quest guy won, they'd usually spend all of their earnings (3000 Baht) at a bar on booze for everyone, good times. They have some good videos on youtube of these fights, just search "Team Quest Thailand".
Sor Wisarut: Located in Pai, its a gym run by an Italian guy named Emanuele, very nice guy and accomplished K-1/Muay Thai fighter. This gym is mostly beginners and attracted a lot of Europeans, there were also fewer guys training there than TQT, so a lot of one-on-one instruction.
Joe's Muay Thai: Located in Pattaya, I only trained there one day with Travelhardcore and it was pretty good, run by an American guy named Brian from Seattle, also beginner friendly and open from 8000-2000, just drop in at any time.
So overall the Muay Thai training was great, I got into decent shape and lost a few pounds and learned the basics. I don't know if I'll ever get any fights but I'm happy with the training and look forward to doing more in the future as it is a great cardio work out and awesome way to get into shape.
Fishing: I didn't realize that Thailand had such great fishing but it makes sense as it has lots of lakes and rivers and is surrounded by the sea. I'm a self confessed fishing nut so if I get a chance to go I definitely will, here's where I fished and what I caught:
-Koh Tao: I wrote about this in Qwests' data sheet but I went out fishing for a day and we caught lots of snapper, a marlin and a king mackeral, some of the best fishing I've ever done. This was organized through the hotel, you'll see the signs everywhere, it cost 1600 baht for the entire day and I got to take home a big chuck of marlin at the end of the day, very tasty on the BBQ.
-Chiang Mai: Went to a stocked lake about 45 minutes north of the city and caught seven or eight giant Mekong catfish, including the biggest fish I've ever caught, a twenty kilo catfish that took me about fifteen minutes to land. This cost 1500 baht for a half day and included pick up and return from hotel. There's a resto on site and you can buy beer there too.
-Pai: Went to a stocked Piranha pond (Link in my Pai data sheet), didn't catch anything but as the saying goes, "a bad day of fishing is better than a good day at work". Fishing was cheap, resto and pub on site.
Kayaking: North of Chiang Mai, about 1.5 hours, I spent a day kayaking in the Chiang Dao valley, we covered about twenty kilometers, it was my first time kayaking and I really enjoyed it. I did this with "Chaing Mai Mountain Biking and Kayaking", very well run operation, their brochures are available in most hotels. This cost around 1200 Baht including pick up and return to hotel and lunch.
Zip Lining: Chiang Mai, I did this with "The flight of the gibbons" company: http://www.treetopasia.com/ , it was pricey at 3000 Baht but definitely worth it, I was impressed by the system of zip lines they had, price included tee shirt, lunch and pick up and return to hotel.
Trekking,bamboo rafting,elephant riding,long neck village and water fall: This was okay but nothing too exciting, decent way to spend the day and cheapest activity at 900 Baht. I went with Panda tours, again pick up and return included, lunch too.
Diving: Second best thing I did in Thailand, I loved it and look forward to doing a lot more in the future. Koh Tao is an awesome spot to do this and big up to Qwest for recommending the dive shop "Simple Life Divers": http://www.simplelifedivers.com/ , it was cheap, fun and I lucked out and had one-on-one instruction for my entire PADI open water course, it cost about 10,000 Baht for the course.
So that's it for the activities, I spent about six weeks seriously training Muay Thai for five to six days a week, I'd usually do about four days of just one session a day and the other two sessions, its seriously hard but you will get used to it. Expect some minor injuries, bruises and soreness. The other activities in Chiang Mai, I did those over a ten day period and would take a day off in between, being out in the hot sun all day doing rigorous activities can be hard on the body.
Some other things I'd like to add about Thailand: It took me awhile to warm up to the place, in fact for the first four to six weeks, I'd dare say that I was Bearish on Thailand! BKK kind of freaked me out during my first week there and it wasn't until the second time that I visited that I really warmed up to the city, this is par for the course according to most guys on here.
Another factor was that I was hanging around a lot of people who were negative about Thailand, this included a girl I dated in BKK (a farang student) and also a lot of the Muay Thai guys. Many people who've been in Thailand long term will say "I love the country, I just hate the culture" and will go on about how the people are lazy, racist, dishonest, etc. I didn't really get it but being around those negative people made me focus a lot on the negative aspects as well and it wasn't until I got up to Pai that I really started liking Thailand because I had some really good experiences with the locals up there and of all people, those evil stinky hippy backpackers!
Language barrier: Not too much of an issue along the tourist trail and in BKK, you can communicate the basics and get what you need, you'll even be impressed with the high level of English that some Thais speak but there are few of them that I met. This was one of the main issues I had with the women there, especially outside of BKK, which brings me to the next topic.
Thai women: I dated a few of them, one regular in BKK and one in CM who spoke decent English but neither were that attractive and were both kind of boring, I went on dates with a few others but their English was very limited and the dates were like pulling teeth, I ended them quickly.
As I mentioned earlier, I agree that some can be attractive but I didn't seem to click with them and I the ones I met up with seemed to be of lower quality, I didn't spend enough time in BKK or CM to try to meet the higher class ones, nor was I motivated to do so.
I had a couple of wild nights with travelhardcore and 20nation where I got pissed and hit the bars and banged some Thai girls, shores for sure, drunk ass cave man style works well here.
I hooked up with a couple of Farang women and dated one in BKK but I regret not spending more time partying on the islands down south where hooking up with foreigners is a much more common and easy thing to do.
Actually I also regret not planning my trip right, I did it arse backwards, I should have partied hard first then concentrated on the Muay Thai, I also had a female friend from home travelling with me for a month and that was fine but I had to consider her plans for the time we were together but it mostly coincided with things I wanted to do anyway.
So that's about all I have to say about Thailand, a great travel destination for you guys to check out, good gaming options and tons of activities do do. Its cheap, safe and easy to get around, all of the activities are well organized and of high standards to cater to foreign tourists. All in all I was impressed and will back here in late April after a stint in the Philippines.
I will also be doing a comparison between Thailand and Colombia for those who are interested, its a tough call on which place I liked better.
Big shout out to all the RVF forum members I met in Thailand: 20nation, THC, DVY, Asaxon, Kdog, Rionomad, Qwest, Internationalswagger and the Norweigen guy who's name I can't remember.
Also a big shout out to Beyond Borders and Rionomad for all of the invaluable information that you guys continue to contribute in the Thailand threads.
Guys if you're apprehensive about travelling to Thailand like I was, I say DO IT, you won't regret it!
