Category — Travel Tips

Sure this is a travel blog and we should be ensuring you all is peachy-keen in Thailand but it just is not the case at the moment. Is any place in Thailand, less Bangkok, great to visit right now? It sure is. But I wouldn’t plan on taking in the whole Bangkok experience.

Follow the latest political developments from a foreigner’s perspective on Twitter @ http://www.twitter.com/jazzinchiangmai or @jazzinchiangmai

I found the video below that gives a pretty broad overview of the process of renewing your visa to stay in Thailand via a popular land border known as Mae Sai on the Thai side and Tachelik on the Myanmar or Burmese side.  As the host notes it’s pretty straight-forward.  You go through to the Thai Customs desk, then walk over to the Myanmar immigration desk, pay either your 14 day visa, or day-visa fees and can either walk around the small city under the watchful eyes of the dictatorship’s minions or walk right back over to the Thai customs counter and get another Thai visa or visa renewal.

For up to the date information on Thai visa rules, experiences and information you’ll want to bookmark www.ThaiVisa.com.

Name: Dusit Princess Hotel
Location: Korat (Nakhon Ratchasima), Thailand;
1137 Suranarai Road
Naimuang District,
Amphur Muang,
Nakhon Ratchasima 30000

Contact: +66 (0) 4425 6629
Price Experienced: 1,500-1900 THB for a standard roomMy Rating: 8/10

My Thoughts:

Nakhon Ratchasima, also known as Korat (lazily pronounced Ko-lat) is the largest, if not, the second largest province/city in the Kingdom of Thailand.  But the infrastructure isn’t what you’d expect from a large city.  Even the selection of 1st world standard hotels are next to nothing.

We frequently drive from Bangkok up to Isan and somewhere in between is good ole Korat.  For some reason we make the supremely wise decision to drive during peak holiday and even traffic hours it seems and by the time we reach Korat, we’re beat and ready to take a hot shower, eat some good food and catch up on some rest.

Out of 10 or so trips we’ve only stayed at 2 hotels.  The other hotel being a total sh*thole that tried to pass itself off as a 4 star hotel.  It would be lucky to get 0.25 stars in the West.  Anyhow, the Dusit Princess is the only hotel that we have ever even seen near the main road/downtown Korat that looks like a proper hotel a westerner would expect.

Guess what?  It makes the grade.  This hotel, is just what we needed.  It is up to date, has high speed internet in all of the rooms, above average room service, a contemporary lobby and friendly staff who speak English surprisingly well.  I’ve seen the occasional westerner (farang) there with his Thai wife/girlfriend/friend on occasion but generally the guests seem to be of middle-upper class to upper class Thai families who roll 5+ deep.  Apparently the Dusit Princess in Korat is not only my own personal watering hole after all!  As well it shouldn’t.  Just because you’re in the middle of nowhere on the way to the dirt-path rice paddies doesn’t mean you have to arrive all pent up!

In conclusion if you’re not a National Geographic reality TV backpacker explorer type and you just don’t want to rock up to the farm village feeling beaten down ALREADY, then take that pit-stop in Korat and don’t take any chances, stay at the Dusit Princess and arrive relaxed for what’s sure to be an interesting visit to Isan.

Here’s a snap from my phone of the infamous Krisdadoi Chiang Mai gardens. There’s a 70bht entrance fee (at least for farangs) but worth it. Beautifully manicured gardens and even a little waterfall, a restaurant and some resort villas.  The gardens are pristine but I’ve read mixed reviews of the hotels guests with the main complaints being the lack of English spoken by employees and the 30 minute distance from central Chiang Mai.

I always thought this was the whole purpose of resorts high up in the northern Thailand mountains… Total solace..  If you’re not looking for absolute, natural beauty or a one-ness with nature then stay somewhere in the middle of the city, hello!

This site will encompass all things related to travelling in Thailand.  We will give first hand reviews of hotels, resorts, limo and taxi transportation services and the like here.  If we’re giving a secondhand review, we’ll tell you so.

We once came to Thailand for our first time also, and since then (10 years ago) we’ve learned alot, met alot of really nice people in the hospitality industry all the way from 5 star resort CEO’s down to the humble taxi or tuk-tuk drivers in all of the popular tourist destinations and even further into to great unknown parts of this wonderful Kingdom.

Rest assured the information on this site is tried and true and if you have any questions which are not already covered here, feel free to post a comment or reach us via the contact page.

Happy holidaying from all of us at Thailand Travel Depot!