Go To Thailand
Why you need to go to Thailand
If you've never been to a 3rd world country before then you need to go to Thailand as your first port of call. Why? Because Thailand although still 3rd world is an economic powerhouse in south east Asia and is the most developed country in the region behind Singapore. You need to go to Thailand because it is still a cheap destination to travel to, has hundreds of fantastic beaches and numerous islands to explore, the north of Thailand has rain forest jungles with wild animals and protected parks. You need to go to Thailand because of the people who are so friendly greet you wherever you go, the fantastic and not so fantastic smells and sounds that make Thailand so great, finally you need to go to Thailand to try the amazing delicious and different food that you can get nowhere else on the planet. If you like to Shop then you need not go anywhere else except for Bangkok which has the most malls and clothes outlets anywhere on earth, in fact over a 1,000,000 people base their livelihoods around the shopping that goes on in Bangkok.
If your planning on living abroad then Thailand is a cheap place to live. You can live in Thailand on no more than $10 a day! And for that little amount of money you can have a great time and party a few times a week. You could spend more than that and live like a king, but too much good living can have it's downsides too. That's what's great about Thailand, it's a land of extremes.
Go To Thailand
Why you shouldn't go to Thailand
You shouldn't go to Thailand if your too uptight, Thailand is a relaxed place where people seem to take their time to do anything, it's not the cleanest place on earth as this is a reflection of Thais "it'll do" attitude. If your super paranoid and hate random people talking to you afraid your going to get sick from the slightest mosquito bite then perhaps you shouldn't go to Thailand. If your scared about getting scammed in Thailand or otherwise afraid to fall in love with a Thai girl then you shouldn't go either.
Getting to Thailand
Thailand has direct flights from almost every country on the planet. airfare.com has excellent deals on flights to Thailand and are much easier and cheaper than booking through an agent. Typically flight times to go to Thailand are as followed:
Sydney - Bangkok - 9 hours
Los Angeles - Bangkok - 19 hours
Heathrow - Bangkok - 15 hours
New York - Bangkok -22 hours
If you can swing it, try to get a flight where you arrive about 9pm in the evening, this way by the time you get to you go to your hotel you'll have time about 3-4 hours to go out and party in Bangkok if that's your final destination.
Booking a hotel in Thailand
When planning your trip to go to Thailand if your like me, you don't plan too much, if you like a really good planned Holiday then sign up to a Kontiki tour or other kind of Tour, however if you like to wing it and not planning your trip to much the thing you'll need to do the planning for is booking a hotel room in Thailand.
I was stationed @ U-Tapao AB in Sattahip in 1968 and worked as an air traffic controller..I had the best time that anyone could have possivly had as a 20 yr old airman slinging B52,KC135,etc traffic for 6 hrs a day from the control tower,and having the rest of the time to myself [unsupervised]..I was paid $8+ a day for meals,because of our inability to make it to the chow hall during regular serving hrs;so I spent 7 baht for a heaping bowl of kowpot or 25 baht for an enormous snapper w/ it’s head & tail hanging off of the plate:Those were the days my friend..
I have desires of returning to the Sattahip area to hang out and possibly work for a couple months out of the year for the next 10-12-15 years..
I would appreciate any input you may have..Kop koon mach.