# Travelling to Thailand



## Mowze (8 Apr 2010)

Early this summer I am going on a short (2 week) backpacking holiday with two friends. Apart from visiting the usual tourist trap backpackers destinations and beaches I also intend to visit as many LFS and natural bodies of water as possible along the way. Iâ€™m not 100% sure of where or how I am getting to any places but so far we have compiled a small list of places we will probably visit:

Bangkok
Pattaya
Kanchanaburi
Phuket
Ko Pha Ngan
Ko Phi Phi islands
Ko Samui
Ko Tao

 Whilst I am there I intend of doing a lot of snorkelling, fishing with my travel rod, bit of netting in the streams and smaller ditches and rivers and hopefully looking out of any nice plants. I also want to have a look at as many LFS as possible basically to get an idea of how things are run over there compared to back here and hopefully pick up a few bits and pieces or plants that arenâ€™t available here.
 I donâ€™t know if many people have much experience with Thailand but mostly what I want to know is what I should look out for, any shops or fish markets worth checking out in any of those places or anywhere else for that matter! Is it possible/legal to post plants back to myself, I know I cant take them on the plane with me (or can I?) I have brought plants from Asia before via snail mail and as far as I can remember they werenâ€™t checked my customs or DEFRA, is this actually legal or is paperwork required? Again, Is it legal to collect small numbers of any plant from the wild?
 Another thing I am having difficulty with is finding a decent resource for listing native species of plants and fish found in Thailand that I should be looking out for on my travels as I tend to naturally gravitate towards any small or large body of water I see wherever I go!


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## Nelson (8 Apr 2010)

been there a couple of times but had lost interest in fish etc then.so can't really help there.
just thinking its a lot of places to go in 2 weeks  :? .


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## Mowze (8 Apr 2010)

I dont think we will go to all of them they are just places that I am interested in or have been recomended. I dont think my mate really cares where we go either (to be honest I'm not sure if he even knows where Thailand is.)

 I know for certain we will be going to:

Bangkok
Pattaya
Kanchanaburi (Which can be done as a day/2day trip from Bangkok with the intention of visiting the bridge on the river kwai, the cemetries and searching for Pogostemon and Cryptocoryne balansae)
Phuket and the Phi Phi islands

 Maybe

Ko Samui
Ko Tao


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## Mawgan (9 Apr 2010)

Sounds like a wonderful itinerary.  May I suggest that you:

a. are very wary of young ladies wearing a numbered badge on the shoulder of their dress;

b. are suspicious of any bedroom where the wall doesn't reach all the way to the ceiling;

c. avoid bars in Patpong Road in Bangkok.  The last one I was in was hand-grenaded not long after I left (and the beer wasn't that bad!);

d. are not overly impressed by what some of the above mentioned at a. can do with ping pong balls;

e. remember that Pattaya was a Rest & Recreation venue for Americans during the Viet Nam war.  Some of the virus strains may well have died out by now, but then again...   

Apart from those few cautions, have a great time.  The Thais are wonderful people.


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## Nelson (9 Apr 2010)

Mawgan said:
			
		

> d. are not overly impressed by what some of the above mentioned at a. can do with ping pong balls;


i thought it was quite amazing   .and bursting balloons   .

what kind of bar were you drinking in in Patpong   .


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## a1Matt (9 Apr 2010)

Same as Neil - that looks like a lot of places to go to.  The beaches get a bit same samey after a while. Pha ngan is great for parties (infamous for the full moon parties, but find a bar girl and get her to take you to the locals parties they are much better), and phi phi does have perfect white sand, and ko samui does have great diving and so on (yep I've been to all of them   ) but for a 2 weeks I'd say pick a few days in 2 or 3 types of landscape. i.e. city, mountain, beach, jungle, village. (village is my fave.)Even that is still a shedload of travelling.

With regards to snorkelling what season you are in dictates what side is best for snorkelling\diving (i.e. East or West coast). I forget which it is at this time of year sorry   Definitely something to check out.  Also plan it around the moon cycle (moon affects tides; more tide = less visibility) It is never 'bad' anywhere though!

One thing I have not done is the fish\plant markets in Bangkok. Will make sure I do that next time I am passing through there.

You will love it, it is a great country and the Thais are really welcoming.  

No idea on the license though!


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## Lisa_Perry75 (10 Apr 2010)

Mawgan said:
			
		

> Sounds like a wonderful itinerary.  May I suggest that you:
> b. are suspicious of any bedroom where the wall doesn't reach all the way to the ceiling;



I'm intruiged...

                   ...Havent really done much travelling but plan to travel to thailand in the future. I guess I don't have to worry about a?


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## ashpitt (11 Apr 2010)

Better for you to avoid Bangkok for the time beeing...just to avoid any incident during their internal politic turmoil.


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## Graeme Edwards (12 Apr 2010)

Lucky dude. Sounds like a great trip.

Regards legalities... Yes its illegal to take in and take out, in any form from any country or from the wild. If you got caught bring plants back from Thailand in your bags, you could and possibly would get locked up. Its a very serious offense though im sure some do it and get away with it. You could send it over and hope it gets through. 
Its tough, because we love plants so much, but by bring plants back, we could be contributing to the invasive plant list in the UK. Spare a thought of how _myriophyllum_ got into our water courses? You could have all the best intentions, looking at a gorgeous plant in your aquarium, and some cutting could make their way into a stream, an there you have another invasive plant ( possibly ), depends on how adept the plant is at acclimatising. 
Its exciting, but not totally safe.

Cheers.


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## mlgt (12 Apr 2010)

I found the chuktuchuk was manic and took me a while to find the fish market. Its more towards the back of the map.

However loads of really cheap fish in bags, cheap plants and theres 1 particular shop that specilised in mosses.

I only remember this as it seemed the only planted set up there and had a 3 foot tank with mosses. Will try and upload a pic later on 

There was a few fish farms outside of Bangkok, but I didnt trust the taxi driver so decided not to go there. You will find that many will try to drop you off at Diamond stores


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## Mowze (13 Apr 2010)

Graeme Edwards said:
			
		

> Regards legalities... Yes its illegal to take in and take out, in any form from any country or from the wild. If you got caught bring plants back from Thailand in your bags, you could and possibly would get locked up. Its a very serious offense though im sure some do it and get away with it.
> 
> Cheers.



 As I said, I have no intention of taking them in my bags on the plane. Surely it must be legal to post plants to the UK, you very often see people in Thailand and other parts of Asia selling plants to the rest of the world and I also know that there is at least one supplier working for one of the main tropical fish importers who specialises in bunched plants from Thailand to our own Aquatics stores. I'm not talking about risking trying to do this illegally but I'm sure there must be a way of doing this legally and above board with the right paperwork.


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## Graeme Edwards (14 Apr 2010)

If you were to do it legally, then you need a clearance certificate. This is checked by the countries authorities from your plant list to see if any of the plants are potentially damaging to the recipient country. Also, the certificate confirms that the plants will be free from parasites and other animals which again could do some harm.

http://www.fera.defra.gov.uk/plants/pla ... h/imports/ 

This is the kind of thing that applies when plants are leaving exotic countries.

People do send plants from the far east. We have to presume that they are doing the paper work to make it safe and legal to send them over.

Cheers.


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## Mortis (14 Apr 2010)

Chatuchak market is your best bet for fishy stuff. It is in Bangkok and only open on Sat and Sun so plan your trip accordingly


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## mlgt (14 Apr 2010)

Yes thanks for remembering to put that in Mortis. I deliberatly planned my trip to Thailand around this so was able to enjoy Phuket and Phi Phi islands from mon-fri and then head to Bangkok for the remaining 3 days of our honeymoon.

I would say wear loose clothing as it can get very hot there during the day!! But a fantastic market nonetheless. Its mayhem!


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## Vito (18 Apr 2010)

Ko Pha Ngan if your up for a party, you wont regret it.


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## Becca (18 Apr 2010)

Mawgan said:
			
		

> May I suggest that you:
> a. are very wary of young ladies wearing a numbered badge on the shoulder of their dress;
> b. are suspicious of any bedroom where the wall doesn't reach all the way to the ceiling;
> c. avoid bars in Patpong Road in Bangkok.  The last one I was in was hand-grenaded not long after I left (and the beer wasn't that bad!);
> ...


 
   Hahaha that's a hilarious post!

The trip sounds amazing, enjoy every minute!

Becca


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## ashpitt (18 Apr 2010)

Vito said:
			
		

> Ko Pha Ngan if your up for a party, you wont regret it.


+1 for this..plan for fullmoon party at Haad Rin Beach.
For Phuket, head for Bangla Raod at Patong Beach for night activity. Take fullday island hoppinig package for snorkelling. 
 Regards


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## Mowze (21 Jun 2010)

I'm off in a week any last minute tips?
 planning on going to Bangkok, Phuket, Phi Phi islands and a short 2 day trip to Kanchanaburi See this link to find out one of the biggest reasons! http://192.38.244.204/article.asp?type=aquaristic&id=851

 Anyone with experience of shops, public aquaria or other fish/plant places of interest in any of those areas? Hopefully going to get some fishing and diving done although that will more than likely only be in the sea!


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## a1Matt (21 Jun 2010)

Mowze said:
			
		

> I'm off in a week any last minute tips?



Have a great time


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## Mortis (22 Jun 2010)

If you can get some Black Tangs cheap then do that. They sell for Â£500 each. Could recover the cost of your trip with a few of those lol


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