The reasons i decided to travel to LOS goes back a long way , in my younger days , had the usual life , good mates , girlfriends here in the UK , good social life and so on ... after a while i got fed up with relationships with british women , the usual arguments / nagging ..etc .. .after that used to chill with my mates but after years of doing this found the same routine of getting pissed in the same pubs and clubs very boring , as i got older found that many mates moved on , settled down , kids...the usual thing but i stayed on the shelf so to speak. i have always been interested in travel and only went abroad for the 1st time to Ibiza when i was 17 , after that went to amsterdam a few times with mates to get pissed and stoned but found it was a struggle to persuade my mates to travel as most of them were the type that couldnt be ****d doing anything different , became a recluse for quite a long while , just living a hum-drum life ...going to work then chilling at home with no social life , then discovered the internet years later and met a young lady from Romania in a chat room , got on with her well and as i have always liked ''off the wall'' destinations rather than package holidays (mainly because of a travel program call Lonely Planet ...which is now called Globe Trekker on Discovery channel) , I decided to go and meet this chick and go by myself to a small town near the border with Russia called Bacau to meet her , when i arrived i admit i was a little scared in Buchurest on my own , but managed to negotiate a train to Bacau using the phrase book i had bought, met the girl , had good sex and the rest is history , this experience was the catalyst for my LOS adventures , it gave me the confidence to travel the world by myself and not worry about it , after all my old mates are probably still going to ''magaluf and lanzarote'' with their wives/girlfriends which to me is not interesting enough. I knew a student guy years ago who told me about his trip to thailand , as a backpacker (not for sex) and he made it sound very interesting , also i knew from TV reports about the famous sex industry and though to myself if i go there at least im guaranteed a lay rather than relying on ''chatting birds up'' Bear in mind this was my first beach holiday out of the UK since Ibiza at 17 years old , i was totally blown away by Bangkok and then Phuket , to me patong was paradise compared to anything i had seen before , the travel agent i used was the same as when i went to Romania and they were a small family business and were very helpful both times , when i said i wanted to see Thailand they told me about all the travels they had done themsleves all over the world (the husband had been on holiday and business just about anywhere you can think of) and they told me that Thailand was always there 1st choice above anywhere in the world , which to me was sounding like the best recommendation you could ever get. I was sols there and then and have never looked back since , people often ask me why i dont try places like barbados and the like , but i tell them i found a place thats now in my heart but i dont think they understand me . I love everthing about LOS , best holiday atmosphere , not much trouble (unlike the pissheads in spain ...usually from my country im ashamed to say) the most welcoming of people (the thais's) the nicest food i ever eaten and the calmest and most relaxing time ive ever had, ill never look back now.
As for favourite places , have to agree the country itself is hust a joy to visit , i havent been to Krabi or Ko Samui yet but i like Phuket so much i dont really mind either way , i have stayed in a village too north of Khon Kaen situated between 2 provinces (Nongbualumpo and Udon Thani) and had a wonderful real life eperince instead of the tourist stuff .....
For me Thailand is for life not just for christmas
