Travel Blog
November 19th, 2010
The capital of Thailand affords lodging for any kind of traveler and becoming to ones style and leisure. Whether the travel to Bangkok is for enterprise or vacationer purposes, the lodging alone will likely be memorable.
There are dinner cruises on the Chao Phraya River or rooftop bars on one among tons of of excessive-rise skyscrapers. Traveling in and across the metropolis and countryside in direction of different components of Thailand is quite effortless. There are ample taxis and conventional tuk-tuk available. One of many faster means of transport is the Sky prepare and the underground train.
There are space guides that might help you getting your approach around Bangkok. If you happen to were a primary time visitor the busy streets can be fairly overwhelming, ensure you make use of the guides. There’s a huge quantity of lodges available.
Thailand provides superb sightseeing opportunities. Gleaming temples such as the Grand Palace, the Siamese Ruins and the Ruins of Ayutthaya are only a few. There’s a floating market and bike trails by the gorgeous villages. The alternatives of accommodations are just as vast because the locations to see. There are 5 star motels for the wealthy and leisure looking for guests and there are budget accommodation catering for enterprise and household oriented customers.
Thailand will offer quite a few nice locations to see or visit. One of those places can be the great grand palace. There are also a number of different temples to see. To learn in regards to the ruins of Ayutthaya and Siamese you would be a part of the river cruise. Different places to visit could be the floating market. Thailand also presents great bike trails to discover the villages. Budgeted lodging could be found in Thailand. Remember to visit Thailand.
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August 29th, 2010
In many ways than one Sukhumvit is the face of modern Bangkok. It is not only one of the longest roads in Thailand, but one of the longest roads in the world. Towards the west end you have Ploenchit Road and Rama I Road, but to the east it runs most of the way to the Cambodian border.
The fleshpots of Nana and Soi Cowboy are also just off Sukhumvit, as are plenty of more (or less) salubrious bars. Also, the sidewalks of Sukhumvit itself become a huge market carrying everything from luggage to fake Rolex watches, and then after midnight they turn into sidewalk cafes and bars.Sukhumvit offers some of the best dining in Bangkok, From 5 star dining to street carts, The variety of choices and taste are almost overwhelming.
Some of the major attractions in Sukhumvit are Siam Square- which could be termed Bangkok’s Time’s square and the Jim Thompson house which is named a former CIA operative and houses a quality silk store that was founded by him, the house was crafted from six traditional Thai style houses. Erawan Shrine is a small but interesting place to visit and visitors can also see traditional Thai dancing during the day.
Sukhumvit being the modern face of Bangkok is a great place to go shopping or to dine out. A number of shopping malls and plazas can b e found dotted all over the Sukhumvit road and offer items ranging from modern electronics to traditional Thai souvenirs. There is a huge selection of places to eat in practically every cuisine in the world is represented, you can sample some of the best Japanese, Lebanese, or Indian food you will ever eat.
To explore Sukhumvit Road fully and to enjoy its nightlife it’s advisable for travelers to spend a few nights in the area. A number of Bangkok Sukhumvit apartments can be found and are a much more reliable and safe option than staying in small guest houses. Bangkok serviced apartments usually offer guests are host of facilities and are as convenient and comfortable as a hotel.
Tags: Bangkok dining, Bangkok food, eating Bangkok, Modern Electronics, Quality Silk, Sukhumvit Apartments
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August 29th, 2010
Mumbai is a city full of energy and soul. The magnetism and fascination of this city can not be explained in words. Mumbai is rightly called the city of dreams. The city was named after the Hindu Goddess Mumba Devi. The British made it the erstwhile Bombay. It has been known as Mumbai since 1995.
This city is among the most populous cities of whole world. It is home to around 20 million people and is commercial capital of India. This city is home to some of the fastest growing enterprises. The city of Bollywood is a famous tourist destination.
Mumbai is the melting pot of India where you find people and tourists from not only India but whole world. Right from attire to cuisines this city brings out the best of every culture so is the right destination for any keen cosmopolitan traveler. Before coming to Mumbai you must have detailed information about Mumbai. This article will feed you with essential information before landing at Mumbai.
Weather of Mumbai:
Being a coastal city, Mumbai normally sees humid weather throughout the year and temperatures hover around 30 degrees C on an average. In January the city is at its coolest with temperatures between 15 degrees C and 27 degrees C.
Chhatrapati Shivaji International Air port:
Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport is named after the 17th century Maratha Emperor Chhatrapati Shivaji Raje Bhonsle. The airport has 4 terminals – 2 international and 2 domestic. It is India’s biggest international and domestic airport. Mumbai airport is the busiest in whole South Asia.
The airport is considered as a gateway to the subcontinent. This airport is served by 46 international airlines. Main Indian airlines operating here are Air India, Jet Airways, Indian, Go Air, Spice jet, Indigo and Kingfisher Airlines.
The International airlines operating from Mumbai include British Airways (London-Heathrow), Cathay Pacific (Bangkok, Dubai and Hong Kong), Delta Airlines (Atlanta, New York), El Al Israel Airlines (Tel Aviv), Gulf Air (Bahrain, Muscat), Qantas (Sydney), Virgin Atlantic (London), Swiss International airlines (Zurich) and Saudi Arabian Airlines (Jeddah, Riyadh, Medina, Dammam). Some other important carriers also operate from here like Air France (Paris), Air Mauritius (Port Louis), Emirates Airline (Dubai), Singapore Airlines (Singapore) and Thai Airways (Bangkok).
International terminal:
International terminal is located at Sahar, east of the suburb of Andheri. It takes about 60-120 minutes by road to reach the main city centre with a distance of 35 kms. The international terminal comprises of 2 terminals – Terminal 2A and Terminal 2C. Transport facilities to reach any destination in Mumbai are pre-paid taxis, meter taxis, local buses, private cars available for rent and three wheelers. If you need to travel outside Mumbai then you can take private luxury coaches and rental cars.
Domestic terminal:
It is located in Santa Cruz, East. To reach to the main city one would take approximately 60-90 mins, with a distance of 25 kms. There are two domestic terminals – Terminal 1A and Terminal 1B. Here peak traffic occurs during daytime. The transport facilities include Meter taxis, three wheelers, local transport buses and private rental cars only from Terminal 1A.
Major tourist attractions in Mumbai:
You are offered many tourist spots when you travel Mumbai. Main attractions here are Gate way of India, Prince of Wales Museum, Jehangir art gallery, Marine Drive, Hanging Gardens, Haji Ali, Juhu beach, Kanheri caves, and Elephanta caves.
Tags: Bangkok car hire, Bangkok Transportations, El Al Israel Airlines, getting around Bangkok, Gulf Air, Humid Weather
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August 28th, 2010
Medical Tourism
Whenever we hear the term “Medical Tourism”, it invokes a mixed expression in our minds, one as a promising new alternative for the people who had to rely on already outstretched Public healthcare system in western countries, and the second is the uncertainty about the quality offered. The portmanteau “Medical Tourism” was created way back in the late 80’s by Travel agents and media as a catchall phrase to describe a new trend where people travel to other countries to obtain cheaper medical care. As we speak, this phenomenon has reached to a point where it has become one of the most promising foreign exchange revenue earners in some Asian nations predominantly India, Singapore and Thailand.
The reasons patients travel for treatment vary. Many medical tourists from the United States are seeking treatment at a quarter or sometimes even a 10th of the cost at home. From Canada, it is often people who are frustrated by long waiting times. From Great Britain, the patient can’t wait for treatment by the National Health Service but also can’t afford to see a physician in private practice. For others, becoming a medical tourist is a chance to combine a tropical vacation with elective or plastic surgery.
And more patients are coming from poorer countries like Bangladesh, Cambodia, Vietnam, and many African nations, where treatment may not be available.
Medical tourism is actually thousands of years old. In ancient Greece, pilgrims and patients came from all over the Mediterranean to the sanctuary of the healing god, Asklepios, at Epidaurus. In Roman Britain, patients took the waters at a shrine at Bath, a practice that continued for 2,000 years. From the 18th century wealthy Europeans travelled to spas from Germany to the Nile. In the 21st century, relatively low-cost jet travel has taken the industry beyond the wealthy and desperate.
Countries that actively promote medical tourism include Cuba, Costa Rica, Hungary, India, Israel, Jordan, Lithuania, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand. Belgium, Poland and Spain are now entering the field. South Africa specializes in medical safaris-visit the country for a safari, with a stopover for plastic surgery, a nose job and a chance to see lions and elephants.
India
India is considered the leading country promoting medical tourism-and now it is moving into a new area of “medical outsourcing,” where subcontractors provide services to the overburdened medical care systems in western countries.
India’s National Health Policy declares that treatment of foreign patients is legally an “export” and deemed “eligible for all fiscal incentives extended to export earnings.” Government and private sector studies in India estimate that medical tourism could bring between $1 billion and $2 billion US into the country by 2012. The reports estimate that medical tourism to India is growing by 30 per cent a year.
India’s top-rated education system is not only churning out computer programmers and engineers, but an estimated 20,000 to 30,000 doctors and nurses each year.
The largest of the estimated half-dozen medical corporations in India serving medical tourists is Apollo Hospital Groupwith 37 hospitals, with a total capacity of 7,000 beds, which performed an estimated 60,000 surgeries on visiting patients between 2001 and 2004, and now under negotiations with Britain’s National Health Service to work as a subcontractor, to do operations and medical tests for patients at a fraction of the cost in Britain for either government or private care.
Medical Tourism in India began to grow in the mid 1990s, with the deregulation of the Indian economy, which drastically cut the bureaucratic barriers to expansion and made it easier to import the most modern medical equipment. The first patients were Indian expatriates who returned home for treatment; major investment houses followed with money and then patients from Europe, the Middle East and Canada began to arrive.
Thailand
While, so far, India has attracted patients from Europe, the Middle East and Canada, Thailand has been the goal for Americans.
India initially attracted people who had left that country for the West; Thailand treated western expatriates across Southeast Asia. Many of them worked for western companies and had the advantage of flexible, worldwide medical insurance plans geared specifically at the expatriate and overseas corporate markets.
With the growth of medical-related travel and aggressive marketing, Bangkok became a centre for medical tourism. Hospitals like Bangkok’s International Medical Center and Piyavate Hospital offer services in over two dozen languages, recognizes cultural and religious dietary restrictions and has a special wing for Japanese and Arabic patients.
Even though most of the medical tour companies targeting cosmetic surgery patients often put emphasis on the vacation aspects, offering post-recovery resort stays and holiday packages, private healthcare consulting companies, like, MedAsia Healthcare who specialize in critical care services like open heart surgeries had gone one step further by providing personalized care to the patients by offering surgeon screening, treatment planning, insurance support and even the surgery loan processing on behalf of the patients. With medical professionals who know the psyche of the patients, they can provide that extra comfort on quality and trust.
Emerging Destinations
Other countries interested in medical tourism tended to start offering care to specific markets but have expanded their services as the demand grows around the world. Cuba, for example, first aimed its services at well-off patients from Central and South America and now attracts patients from Canada, Germany and Italy. Malaysia attracts patients from surrounding Southeast Asian countries; Jordan serves patients from the Middle East. Israel caters to both Jewish patients and people from some nearby countries, and South Africa offers package medical holiday deals with stays at either luxury hotels or safaris.
Dental Tourism
The newest and fastest-growing area of medical tourism is a visit to the dentist, where costs are often not covered by basic insurance and by only some extended insurance policies. India, Thailand and Hungary attract patients who want to combine a teeth whitening, extraction or root canal with a vacation. Most notable destination for Dental tourism is Thailand, where the competitions between the clinics for expatriate customers are clearly visible. In a way that competition is actually serving good for the customers, as the clinics deploy the latest cutting edge technologies, employ overseas trained and qualified doctors, and multi lingual marketing team to keep their edge on the market; says Dr. Bob of Bangkok Smile Dental Clinic, a pioneer in the dental tourism industry with multiple clinics in Bangkok. Clinics like Bangkok smile offers the latest same dental implants where by the patient can fly in and get the implant fixed on the same day and fly back on the next day instead of the 2 – 3 visits before, at their clinics for almost 15 – 30 % of the cost one would have to pay if they get it done in US, Canada, Australia or UK. As we speak, Australia is one of the biggest markets for these clinics, and tour companies like Aussie Dental Tours based in Perth, Australia are quick to realize that and offers escorted dentist visits to Thailand.
Tags: Bangkok airfares, Bangkok flights, Flights to Bangkok, New Trend, Public Healthcare, Waiting Times
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August 28th, 2010
One of the most popular tourist destinations in the world, Bangkok is also the most fabulous shopping destination in Asia. In fact, shopping in Bangkok is truly fun as well as a great experience, with an array of shopping locations, ranging from glitzy modern shopping malls to traditional bustling street markets selling antiquities and designer and traditional jewelry.
In short, Bangkok is a mecca for shopping enthusiasts, and everything including electronic items, computer software and hardware, art and craft items, Chinese specialties, textiles, jewelry, and much more can be shopped here.
Perhaps most popular among the shopping highlights in Bangkok is the Siam Square, which is strategically positioned at Central Station on the BTS Sky Train route. This area is dotted with hundreds of high-end shopping malls, among which one of the most sought after is Siam Center and Siam Discovery Center, within which one can find a number of shops selling branded items.
There is also an elegant cinema complex on the top floor of Siam Discovery Center, with comfortable seats. This is a great place to relax after a day of tired shopping. Located just ten minutes walk from the Siam Square is another much famed shopping spot in Bangkok, namely, Mahboonkrong Shopping Center, dotted with a large number of shops selling quality clothing and electronic items at knock-down prices.
One can also find a couple of shopping malls and department stores, close to the Chit Lom BTS Sky Train station. Among which, perhaps the most significant is the eight-storied World Trade Center, attached with a number of duty free shops. Found on the top floor of the World Trade Center is an ice skating rink. The Central Group’s flagship store, Central Chit Lom Department Store, is also located here. Such shopping centers as Gaysorn Plaza, Maneya Centre, Sogo, and Narayana Phand, a great spot to shop handicraft items, are also situated in this area.
For those who want to shop computer-related items and peripherals at cheap prices, a great way would be to head to Pantip Plaza on the Phetburi Road. This is a paradise for shopping computer items. Every floor within the plaza has a number of shops selling both original and pirated software and hardware items. One could buy copy of VCD movies for a price as low as 100 baht.
A good number of small as well as large shopping malls can also be found along the Ploenchit Road and Sukhumvit Road, such as, Robinson, Ploenchit Plaza, Times Square, Emporium, and Landmark.
Popular shopping areas in Bangkok also include Silom Road, located to the south of the Siam Square. Just few among the shopping malls in this area are Silom Center, Central department stores, Silom Plaza, Thaniya Plaza, Silom Village, and Holiday Inn Crown Plaza.
Shopping at Bangkok would not be complete without taking a tour to Chatuchak market, which becomes alive in the city every weekend. Located near the Mo Chit BTS Sky Train station, Chatuchak market is an incredible outdoor market, from where everything from handicraft items and livestock items could be shopped and that too at bargain prices. Further, you can also find a large number of food stalls in the market, selling delicious Thai food items such as fried noodles, noodle curry, and barbequed satays.
Other popular shopping areas in the city are Bangrak Market, a bustling area which is famed for its flower stalls, engage in selling enormous variety of cut flowers, jasmines, and orchids; China Town, with alleys packed with outlets dealing in almost all types of goods; Pratunam Market, which is a great place to relish hygiene as well as delicious food items; Woeng Nakhon Kasem – a popular spot to shop items such as brassware, old fashioned furniture, industrial items, antiques, and Chinese porcelains.
Above all, for a unique shopping experience, take a tour to some of the most fabulous night markets in the area. Most prominent among the night markets in the city are the Suan Luam Night Bazaar, whose specialty is stalls that sell products brought from every corner of the country.
Pratunam Market Complex, which is a great spot to shop fashion accessories such as handbags, purses, trendy apparels, and designer accessories; Patpong Night Market, which is not only popular for stalls selling designer good at cheap prices but also for night clubs and other establishments conducting sex shows; Buanglamphu Market, a descent place to shop clothing and food items; and the Memorial Bridge Night Market.
Tags: Bangkok dining, Bangkok Restaurants, Craft Items, dining Bangkok, Discovery Center, Street Markets
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August 27th, 2010
Thailand has some great holiday home accommodation that holiday makers can rent while staying in Thailand on their vacations. Some holiday makers rent luxurious villas with swimming pools on one of Thailand’s many clean beautiful beaches. Some holiday makers stay in self catering holiday apartments in Thailand.
A rich and colourful country, Thailand is a land of exotic monuments, splendid beaches, temples, shrines, waterfalls and lush green landscapes. Thailand is flanked by Myanmar, Malaysia, Cambodia, Laos and the Gulf of Thailand. The country’s tradition, culture and heritage attract many tourists from around the world. Visitors can get an up and close view of the Thailand and its people with boat rides and rice-barge cruises. Thailand is a blend of both traditional and modern.
Bangkok, the capital city is a popular destination for tourists. The city is the business centre and the hub of economic and political affairs. It is referred to as Krung Thep. Many holiday makers stay in a holiday apartment in Bangkok and experience the night life to the full of this capital city of Thailand.
The river Chao Phraya flows through the city. The Grand Palace and Wat Phra Kaeo, the temple complex which is home to the Emerald Buddha, are also found in Bangkok. The city has drastically changed and become a slick, prosperous and modern place. The city is also home to around 300 Buddhist temples and shrines. The Temple of the Reclining Buddha is the most famous temple in the city. The floating market, modern night clubs, and many historically important buildings make this city such a popular tourist destination.
Chiang Mai is the second-largest city in Thailand and has many interesting views to offer in the form of ancient and beautiful temples, teak forests, elephants, caves, waterfalls and a visit to the hill tribes. Doi Suthep temple and elephant trekking are very popular with tourists staying here. Doi Suthep another famous temple in Thailand that is located on a hilltop. Elephant trekking allows the tourists to get a closer look at the natural splendour and wonderful places of the city.
Kanchanaburi province is filled with jungle clad hills and waterways. The town is the original site of the popular and historically famous Bridge over the River Kwai where allied prisoners of war and Thai labourers were killed by the Japanese. Train trips are arranged for a visit across the post war bridge and this is a very moving and emotional experience.
The Phang Nga Bey is located near to Phuket. The bay shot to international fame after the area featured in the James Bond movie, The Man with the Golden Gun. Around 3500 islands are scattered in this bay. The islands are home to fauna and flora. For many decades the islands were considered impenetrable but now canoe trips are arranged for the tourists and the locals through the tunnels and the cracks in the rocks. There are some stunning holiday villas in this part of Thailand.
Ko Phi Phi Islands are yet another place to visit on your holidays in Thailand. The twin islands are full of natural splendour. The largest of the two, Ko Phi Phi Don, is dumbbell shaped and has a coastline that is full of white beaches and further inland tropical rainforest.
It does not matter if you want to stay at the hill tribe villages, go elephant trekking, adventurous boat rides or admiring the stunning seascapes and landscapes, Thailand can provide them all. Many holiday makers choose to rent a holiday villa or stay in a self catering apartment during their holiday in Thailand and use them as a base to explore this stunning country.
Tags: Bangkok attractions, Bangkok holidays, Bangkok travel, Barge Cruises, Splendid Beaches, World Visitors
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August 26th, 2010
Something worth knowing before venturing forth into the laid back, tropical environment that is Thailand: There are no copyright laws, and this is especially strange coming from the West, where copyright laws are borderline ridiculous, they’re so rigid – that’s why shirts and pants and shoes can be mass-produced for, oh, 2 cents in Thailand and then branded with a designer logo. (I don’t know why this surprises me…most cities over there don’t even have traffic lights.) Anyway, this lack of copyright law also means that there are fake tourist agencies who pose as TAT (Tourism Authority of Thailand) but in fact, are small independently owned companies that give cab drivers commission to bring yourists there, and possibly charge more than they should.
Such proved to be the case with Dan and I. Although we paid a fairly decent price, we were left hanging far too many times, and so when we get back to Bangkok, we will see about getting some of said money back. All of this is ok, though, because the fun we’ve been having has greatly out-weighed the annoying lack of political and moral infrastructure. Moral of the story DON’T. TRUST. ANYBODY. Not even me. I might scam you hardcore…there’s a little bit of residual Thai in me now, and I have been known to haggle prices down to ridiculous rates, so watch your back.
And something else to be very aware of: My boyfriend and I were visiting a temple, the Reclining Buddah, to be precise, and we were approached by a really sweet, friendly Thai man. He was chatty with us, showed us where to go, even gave us a little bit of history about this particular temple. Then he asked, “Have you bought a suit yet?” We hadn’t, but we had heard that in Thailand there are hundreds of tailors who will make you suits for really great prices. We were, in fact, looking for such a place, but not the kind that could potentially scam you. This man, well dressed, handed us the business card of a suit company and went on to tell us that he is an accountant, and he buys all his suits from this place. “Look at the double stitching,” he told us. We ooh-ed and we ah-ed. “And they do two fittings instead of just one, so you can rest assured the quality of the suit will be superb.” Well! This sounded marvelous. What a sweet man, we thought. This has been a lovely day. Let’s go buy a suit!
Long story short This man was a plant. He had been told to wait around the temple for tourists, preferably of the fresh, wide-eyed, nave variety, to make some preliminary chitchat, and then sell the suit place. Sell it hard. And it worked. And $500 later, we emerged with a suit and a jacket, nice looking, but certainly not worth what we paid. And the quality was certainly not what the kind man at the temple had gone on about either. That is the day we learned we must be skeptical of everything. It felt almost like a rite of passage. Like we must be the ones to inform fellow travelers, keen and bright-eyed like ourselves, that this beautiful paradise called Thailand had, in fact, some fairly rough edges.
Tags: Bangkok attractions, Bangkok holidays, Bangkok travel, Copyright Law, Designer Logo, Suit Company
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August 25th, 2010
Attending an international teaching job fair can be very stressful. Whether it is for your first teaching job overseas or your tenth, international job fairs can play havoc with your nerves. This stress can affect your ability to show your best side to recruiters, so eliminating it is a priority. One sure fire way to reduce or even remove the stress you feel is to have a backup plan.
Your backup plan can take many guises. Here are two that I have used successfully in the past to make attending overseas teaching recruitment events more bearable:
1. Plan to attend more than one overseas recruiting fair
There are more than ten job fairs each year that are dedicated to international school teacher recruitment, and you can apply to attend more than one per year. You can even attend more than one organized by the same recruiting agency.
Not every international school attends each fair. You can meet directors from many different international schools if you go to more than one job fair. One way to ensure that you get maximum exposure to recruiters is to apply to attend more than one fair.
The different job fair organizers; Search Associates, CIS and ISS have different schools recruiting with them, so mixing up your job fair registration and attending more than one job fair can increase your chances of finding the perfect overseas teaching position for you.
Many of the job fair organizers offer job fairs in the same locations back to back, so you can fly into Bangkok or London for example and attend two job fairs organized by two agencies in a single trip. Full details of the dates and locations of the job fairs organized by the three big organizers are available in The Complete Guide to Securing a Job at an International School.
2. Know what your next move will be if you do not get offered an international teaching contract this academic year.
When I attended my first international teaching job fair I had two backup plans in the unlikely event that none of the school directors offered me a contract. I did not have to implement either of them, which is a shame in some ways, because my backup plans were almost as exciting as teaching abroad in an international school!
Here are some backup plans you may wish to explore…
> taking a year out and travelling around the world – you can find places you would like to live along the way and begin relationships with recruiters by visiting them at their schools.
> volunteering with an organization that teaches refugees or works with local teachers to improve methodology and pedagogy – this is an excellent way to gain international experience which will make you more attractive to international school recruiters.
> signing up with the Teachers on the Move, a company that finds temporary teachers for international schools to cover for maternity or long term sickness positions.
> applying for a teacher exchange program such as the JET program that places teachers in Japanese public schools, or the VIF program which places overseas trained teachers in American public schools.
Once you have made your decision to attend a job fair and received your invitation, you need to prepare for an intense two days in a pressure-cooker environment. Careful planning prior to the event and conscious networking at the event are the keys to landing a great teaching job abroad.
Tags: Bangkok airfares, Bangkok cheap flights, Flights to Bangkok, Havoc, Iss, Recruiting Agency
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August 25th, 2010
Why Travel Insurance is Important
If you are a frequent traveler in and out of the country, you should know by now why travel insurance is important. Sure, travel suppliers bombard you with travel insurance before you board a plane or ocean liner; but the thing is – that insurance is only in effect as long as you are onboard the plane or the watercraft. Once you set foot on land, you are on your own.
Dangers Abroad
You never can tell what is lurking out there. It could be aa simple as a theft of your digital camera. If you have no travel insurance, you can never replace it until another million years of saving for a new digicam. Kick yourself all you want for not getting a comprehensive travel insurance that allows you to claim for stolen items, medical expenses, cancelled flight, accidental injury or disability, and legal assistance.
Other dangers facing the unsuspecting traveler are excessive car rental fees, food poisoning, lost or delayed baggage, and heaven forbid an airliner closing shop when you are ready to fly back home! Such disasters mean money; money that you do not have, or money you cannot spare. With travel insurance, you do not have to worry yourself to knots should disaster strike.
Travel Travails
My destination was Bangkok, Thailand and Chang Mai my ultimate goal. Chang Mai is a shopper’s paradise for local craft, silks, lacquered bowls and trays, jewelry, celadon bowls, sa paper frames, paper parasols, bootleg CDs, and much more.
But I did not get to shop in Chang Mai. Instead, I landed in one of their stuffy jails. In the afternoon of October 12, as I was waiting for a ride to the train station to take me to Chang Mai, a young man approached me and showed me a packet loaded with gold jewelry. I took the packet and took closer look. Without warning, he fled, leaving the packet with me!
Before I could move a muscle, the police swooped babbling and gesturing but I was able to understand that they were accusing me of being an accomplice to theft. I tried to explain that the packet was not mine but no go. Despite my tearful protestations of innocence, they handcuffed and hauled me to jail.
Never Again
Oh to be a foreigner in a strange land and in jail! My sister had to borrow money to get a lawyer to bail me out, but it took four days before the police were finally convinced that I was innocent. Gone was whatever little money I had to spare. However, the expense for the lawyer was worth my freedom.
I am not going back to Thailand, never again. After that horrible experience, I got comprehensive travel insurance. Who knows again what is out there for me. But for my next holiday, no more exotic culture and harsh laws for me. This winter, a Colorado holiday will be perfect. So need I explain more why travel insurance is important?
Tags: Bangkok Tours, Bangkok travel, Bangkok vacations, Money Money, Ocean Liner, Train Station
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August 24th, 2010
Bangkok, the capital of Thiland is located on the banks of the Chao Phraya river. lt is the political, commercial, cultural, spiritual, education and diplomatic a Canere of the country.
In 1767, when the Thai capital of Ayutthaya fell to the Burmese, the Royal family established a new capital in Thonburi, on the west bank ofn the Chao Phraya river. In 1782 King Rama l of the present Chakri Dynasty moved the royal residence to the east bank of the Chao Phraya and named the new ca[ota; “Krung Thep” (City of Angels).
Bangkok is one of the fastest growing, most economically dynamic and social progressive cities in the East Asia and the capital with population estimated at around 9-1 million.
Nowadays, Bangkok can be divided into main geographic areas of follows:
The riverside to the city’s east is Silom, Siam and Sukhumvit, young Thais and Keen Dhoppers head to the area World Trade Centre etc. Heading east along Ploenchit road and Sukhumvit road, there is plenty of shopping which spring up around the beginning of Sukhumvit and stretch soi Asoke, Central Chidlom and Dmporium. The Ekamai, the Eastern bus terminal is located on Soi Ekamai very close to the Science centre of Education.
Central Bangkok is the Siam Square district of the city. This is Bangkok’s most western feeling shopping district, Pratunam next to Silom is also great for shopping Sukhumvit road is night time heart of Bangkok.
Dusit District also offeres plenty of tourist attractions Vimanmek Palace, Wat Benchamabophit and Dusit Zoo are found here.
Northern Bangkok’s highlife for tourists is Chatuchak
Weekend market, best reached by catching the Sky-Train. Mor Chit bus terminal is located at the same stop. Don Muang, Bangkok’s omtermatopma; aor[prt os abpit 15km . future nouth. The Don Muang has been being moved to Suwannaphum airport. lt opening of the new airport in 2006.
Sathorn, Silom area is a financial district. The area has a number of Embassies and hotels such as Sukhothai hotel, Dusit Thani hotel, if you ueach west along Sathorn or Silom, you’ll come to Charoen Krung road and the Chao Phraya riverside again. This riverside is popular hotel area, the city’s beast hotels including the Oriental hotel, the best hotel in the world, the Shangrila and the Royal Orchid Sheraton.
North along the rivers way is Chinatown, Pahurat and lndian district. Here you’ll find wat Trimit, the Golden Buddha is head over to Chinatown where you can gaze upon a nine feet tall the Buddha statue, weighing more than five tons. This attraction is believed to be the worlds largest solid gold Biddja statue.
Ratanakosin lsland is the most heavily visted area, Bangkok’s old city lying on the eastern bank of the Chao Phraya river. Here you’ll find historical architecture such as the Grand palace. Wat Phra Kaew, Wat Ratchanaddaram etc. The city’s founding pillar is found in this district including the National Museum, National theatre and the Sanam Luang area is the Political capital of Thailand.
Backpackers head to the Banglamphu and The wet areas, behind the Democracy Monument, with guethouses and cheap restaurants.
You may want to visit to Bangkok. You may choose to attend a Thai Kick – boxing match where you may lose yourself with all of the available displays.
Tags: Bangkok Airport, Bangkok car rental, Eastern Bus Terminal, getting around Bangkok, Heading East, Travel Bangkok
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