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thaiprivateeye
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May interest some whose 30 days are up - the run up to aranyaprahthet is pretty simple if in need of a visa update. Whilst bus/train go regularly, it is also an easy 3 hour drive by car - most local places rent for around 1000bt for a 24 hour period, and basically a highway all the way, head to chaosongsao, kabinburi, then the border, you get pestered by desperate cambodians, who want to mind your car, escort you, etc etc, but can walk over easy enough alone, cost you 1000 bt for a visa on arrival in cambodia, walk down to near the casino to get it stamped, cost you another 100bt, then walk back, stamped out and back into thailand, take you less than an hour - countless offers of all sorts, young, as in 12,13 etc in nearby poipet all mentioned, but i never venture there, still i guess its an option - Anyway round trip by car about 7 hours, and total cost under 3000 bt include Car/petrol, visa - take a passport photo !
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Bangkok Girls : Meet Attractive Thai Girls
Posted on: 3:03 am on Sep. 20, 2002
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chateaujade
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I have been to Poipet as I was considering setting up a (non-erotic) business there (and have since rejected the place).
Unless things have changed in last 90 days you cannot get a Thai visa at the Aranya crossing, you must go all the way to PP for that. There is no Thai consulate in Poipet. Also bringing a car from Thailand into Cambodia is non-transparent and rather a high risk of thievery is present. As in at gunpoint, by punks with AK47s.
You CAN obtain a visa at the Hat Yai crossing (Trat province) on the way back from Koh Kong, this is a longer drive than Aranyaprathet/Poipet, but is compensated for by being 4 lane highway, whereas a long stretch of the road to Aranya is 2 lane and is notorious for fatal headon collissions esp at night.
Poipet is a dusty wildeast sort of place whose economy is defined by seven casinos. It can be quite dangerous at night and hotel rooms can get scarce.
Border crossing is only open 7 AM-5 PM although there is talk of making it 24 hrs, there is also fact that when the Thais and Khmers get to arguing over any old bullshit they change the rules or close the crossing entirely. Recently the Khmers started charging 1000 baht for the Thai gamblers for a 'visa' -- this was a complete ripoff as Thais do not NEED a visa to enter Poipet...the Thai players boycotted and stayed in the border market on the Thai side, the casino operators went ballistic and this little mosquito bite went away fast.
Incidentally the place to stay in Aranyaprathet is the Aran Mermaid about 7 Km from the border. Good hotel, not expensive and with a good restaurant. Beautiful rickshaw outside the main entrance.
The nearest city is Sa Kaew, power center of Snoh Tienthong, the Sa Kaew airport is actually between Aranya and Sa Kaew, so flying to Sa Kaew puts you a taxi ride from Aranya and 7 Km from Poipet.
Poipet is RIGHT on the Khmer side of the crossing; the casino strip is like 200 m away from Immigration. There's a muddy dustry roundabout. The place I was being offered for my business was 1 rai sandwiched between two casino hotels, they wanted 100,000 baht a month with a 4 year lease and 2 years up front. I passed on this because I already spotted a gorgeous new house in Vientiene on half a rai, 4 BR, for 25,000 a month and only a year's rent up front...1/4 the upfront money...and I can fly Bkk-Vientiene-Bkk, or more economically Bkk-Udon Thani-Bkk, just as facilely as Bkk-Sa Kaew-Bkk. Plus the Lao have discovered things like indoor toilets and macadam for the roads, which are still mysterious farang concepts to the Cambodians.
Vientiene is quiet, sleepy, but civilized. There's good variety of French wine and cheese (unlike Bangkok and a lot cheaper) and French style bakeries, there's a branch of the L'Opera first class Italian restaurant, the Lao Beer is OK, people are friendly especially the secret police. But I'm just going there to distill liquor legally which I can't do in Thailand (monopoly here) and that's a fact, Jack.
If I need some Lao pussy then Nong Khai is close enough. In fact we will keep a house in NK and/or Udon. The Mekong Riviera!
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Bangkok Women : Meet Sensual Bangkok Women
Posted on: 6:55 am on Sep. 20, 2002
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MrJoe
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chateau,
Didn't realize you planned to MOVE there. I'm quite jealous; Living in Vientiane used to be a dream of mine.
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Thai Girls : Meet Sexy Thai Girls
Posted on: 7:10 am on Sep. 20, 2002
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chateaujade
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Well, I reckon first year at least I'll be spending majority of my time in Vientiene probably starting in 2nd quarter 03. But I won't abandon Bkk entirely, and hope to grow fond of the waypoints between like NK and UT.
One of my heroes, Tony 'Poe' Poshepny used to live in Nong Khai, but ol' Tony pulled up stakes in 93 and now lives with his daughter's family in Bay Area now, waited on hand and foot more or less by grandchildren plus the entire Hmong community in USA who revere him as 'Father'. He was our finest Special Forces officer commanding indig forces in Laos (and there were some other fine ones too).
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Bangkok Girls : Meet Sexy Bangkok Girls
Posted on: 7:16 am on Sep. 20, 2002
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MrJoe
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Wow.
The guys you're talking about actually had an impact on my life. Part of the reason for the two most important decisions of my life, volunteering to be a Ranger (with the original intention of going for SF after enough time in service) and moving to Thailand, came from reading about those guys and what they did in Laos.
What can I say, I was young and a romantic.
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Bangkok Girls : Meet Attractive Thai Girls
Posted on: 7:27 am on Sep. 20, 2002
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MrJoe
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BTW I knew those guys were around and had met some years ago, but if I had known you when Tony Poe was around I would have PAID to be introduced.
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Bangkok Women : Meet Beautiful Thai Girls
Posted on: 7:31 am on Sep. 20, 2002
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MrJoe
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Whoops, meant to say I met ONE of those guys several years ago.
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Bangkok Girls : Meet Attractive Thai Girls
Posted on: 7:43 am on Sep. 20, 2002
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chateaujade
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Another graduate of the John Wayne School for Boys! (Bells ring). Verily I hope I shan't be called upon to remember all the words to "Blood on the Risers" this late in life.
(I was not a Ranger nor was I SF I just spend a whole lot of time working very closely with them on various hardware and tech-intel matters. Civilian straphanger.)
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Thai Girls : Meet Active Thai Girls
Posted on: 8:23 am on Sep. 20, 2002
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MrJoe
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Hoo Hah!
(You don't have to sing as long as I don't have to recite the Ranger creed.)
BTW it wasn't just the warrior aspect of those gentlemen in Laos that I admired. I loved the way they became part of the people there and the beautiful relationship that developed into such an effective force.
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Thai Women : Meet Matured Thai Women
Posted on: 8:34 am on Sep. 20, 2002
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chateaujade
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Tony ruffled a lot of feathers back at the Embassy precisely because he was so frighteningly effective, he disregarded orders to lead from the rear, he didn't mind engaging the Chinese when they stepped over the border, and Amb.Sullivan was paranoid about the Chinese entering the secret war. But mostly Tony led his people from the front, in the killing of the NVA on Laos soil. When his handlers questioned his body counts he stapled ears to his reports and sent them back like that.
Some of our brethren might find this discussion in poor taste. Perhaps we ought to take it private?
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Bangkok Girls : Meet Attractive Thai Girls
Posted on: 8:43 am on Sep. 20, 2002
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