a couple of questions

[schuey]

hi,i have a couple of questions which i would like to ask this very helpfull forum
1}how much are cigarettes in phuket,im sure they are much cheaper than the uk
2}wot would you say the average age of bgs are in phuket,of what ive seen they look early 20 s,not that im complaning mind
3}ive never tried thai food before,is it a required taste or is it easy if not to my likeing to get western food?
thanks

[Caerphilly]

Duty free in Heathrow £70 per thousand although only allowed to take 200 into Thailand

Patong street vendor on Bangla - Marlboro about 70 bhat per 20 (£1)

Bangkok airport or phuket airport duty free £8 per 200 again only supposed to bring 200 into the UK

Umm...how did these get in here????

Bar girls can be any age you want them to be.......just keep it legal I suppose

[cotambear]

Thai food is highly rated by the worlds gastronomes, and I love it.

The great thing is that the street food can be as good as, if not better than stuff in the resteraunts. Pick a place to eat thats busy with thais (don`t be afraid of the `tin shack` type places),the food will be fresh and good.

Some of it can be strongly flavoured (fish sauce, lime juice, chillies etc) so can take some getting used to if your palate is used to the bland.
Experiment, try a different dish or place to eat every day. Yum Yum.

[dawsey]

Originally Posted by schuey

hi,i have a couple of questions which i would like to ask this very helpfull forum

2}wot would you say the average age of bgs are in phuket,of what ive seen they look early 20 s,not that im complaning mind
3}ive never tried thai food before,is it a required taste or is it easy if not to my likeing to get western food?
thanks

Thai girls look very young for their real age. If you guess 20,she is more likely at least 5-10yrs older. Ask her, as said keep it legal.

If you enjoy spicy food,and seafood then you will be in heaven. Its easy to get western food if you don't enjoy thai.
Try some in the UK before you go but its expensive here.
Reckon on £1 to £3 for a big filling meal. Look at the restaurant thread to find the recommended eateries.

[Insomniac]

Price of smokes depends on what you smoke... marlboro being one of the most expensive, Londons and LM's are cheaper... Either way MUCH cheaper than in the UK or the rest of the western world.

age of girls... well they come in all ages, shapes and sizes.... Some even come with a little surprise package... I personally find them scary...

Lastly, food.... Well depends what you're used too. Thai food is exellent, if you can't take spicy food, take it slow and ask them not to make it too spicy... If you can take spicy food in Europe, don't think you're superman when you come to asia, spicy food in the west is not at all spicy unless you go real ethnic in a china town or little india. Had a friend from the UK come down once, because he has "spicy food" in the UK ordered Tom Yam and asked for very spicy... Took one sip and downed his beer... But don't worry they have many non spicy options for begginers.

[Gloryfan]

Sorry, I can't help you with the cigarette prices. However with the other two questions I can offer an opinion.

The girls do vary in age and they often appear about 5 years younger than what they actually are. I would suggest that mid 20's is about average.

Thai food comes in a variety of forms but as others have said you can have it hot and/or spicy, mild or whatever. If in doubt start with the simpler, plainer dishes and then work your way up to the more adventurous offerings.
Trying it out is all part of the fun.

Enjoy yourself.

[barfly]

Originally Posted by Gloryfan

Sorry, I can't help you with the cigarette prices. However with the other two questions I can offer an opinion.

The girls do vary in age and they often appear about 5 years younger than what they actually are. I would suggest that mid 20's is about average.

Thai food comes in a variety of forms but as others have said you can have it hot and/or spicy, mild or whatever. If in doubt start with the simpler, plainer dishes and then work your way up to the more adventurous offerings.
Trying it out is all part of the fun.

Enjoy yourself.

The problem is a newbie won't know what the simpler, plainer dishes are. I thought I would try that strategy on my first trip and ordered the mild sounding beef and basil leaves. It blew my mouth off! Pi*sed by the end of the meal drinking so much beer to cool my mouth down! I wouldn't mind but I tried it again back in the UK thinking it would be a bland version of the real Thai one and it was even hotter!!!

A useful phrase is "mai pet kap"(not spicy), though most places in Patong will speak English.
Or perhaps head to a BM's bar where people there will keep you right. Faulty Towers does very good food.

[JayBee]

Thai food is awesome. I love it. It is hot. I thought I was immune to hot, because Mexican food is very hot, and I eat it all the time here in California. Thai food in CA is not hot at all. So I was in for a surprise when I first went to LOS. Thai food the way the Isaan girls like it is unbelievably hot, but not just hot, hot and spicy! So I have to be careful. Some of the curries are so hot, I can't eat too much, and same goes for Tom Yum Goong. Actually, I can eat anything, no matter how hot it is. But the trouble is what it does to my insides 2 or 3 hours later! That is why I am careful. I usually tell them "a little bit hot." In Thai, "pet nitnoi."

Rule of thumb is that the pricier the restaurant, the less hot the food is, because it is made for the farangs to eat. The cheaper the restaurant, the spicier the food, because then it is made for Thais to eat. With the street vendors, you can have it either way, because they cook it right in front of you, and usually ask if you want it "pet". If they kow a little English, they may ask you "Want spi-cee?" Say no or nitnoi, unless you are the kind of guy who can throw down a handful of little hot chiles without even blinking, as I have seen many TGs do.

For starters, the safest bets are "Guay teeowl nam gai" which is a very tasty chicken(gai) soup or pork(mu) with rice noodles, which is safe because they give you the spices and you spice it yourself, and "Pad Thai" which is rice noodles with egg, tofu, and many other ingredients and you usually tell them whether you want it with mu, gai, neua(beef), goong(prawns), bpu(crab), hoi maeng poo(mussels) or talay(mixed seafood). They will usually ask you if you want it hot, or give you the hot sauce on the side.

Avg. age of BGs - I estimate 25 as avg., but the typical range is 19 to 35.

I don't smoke.

[ThaiLearner]

Originally Posted by barfly

The problem is a newbie won't know what the simpler, plainer dishes are. I thought I would try that strategy on my first trip and ordered the mild sounding beef and basil leaves. It blew my mouth off! Pi*sed by the end of the meal drinking so much beer to cool my mouth down! I wouldn't mind but I tried it again back in the UK thinking it would be a bland version of the real Thai one and it was even hotter!!!

A useful phrase is "mai pet kap"(not spicy), though most places in Patong will speak English.
Or perhaps head to a BM's bar where people there will keep you right. Faulty Towers does very good food.

When eating spicy food don't keep drinking beer or water because it is too hot this will not help as this clears your taste buds so the heat will not alter, try eating plane rice instead.

[schuey]

thanks guys,damm i only smoke marlboro,i dont spose anyone knows how much these cost at a vender,if £2 a packet that would still be great

[Yahooka]

I`m a Marlboro smoker myself and the normal price at the vendors is 60 baht for a pack.But the problem IMO is that the Marlboro`s you get in LOS are either made in Malaysia or Phillipines.I find them much dryer and I have problems with soar throat etc... this doesn`t happen to me when I smoke European or US made Marlboro`s !!

[sundancekid]

When I first came here I always smoked Marlboro Lights, but soon changed to LM lights (the blue one). You can get them for 46 baht a pack at most stores. 50 on Bangla.

Mild Seven if I’m gonna smoke a ton to ease the soar throat.

Think BGs would average around 24 - 25. I stayed with one for a few weeks who claimed she was 21. Got into all the discos with a "fake" id (when I finally say the picture it didn't even look like her. LOL). She turned out to be only 17 (and NO she did not look 5 years younger). So yes, beware!

As to food, depends on whether or not you can stomach the spicy dishes. If not, you can try sweet & sour, garlic & pepper chicken, some noodle soup or fried rice. All good and very cheap. Also a whole fish with lemon & garlic should be ok.

Personally, I love the curry dishes, Thai (red) curry for the most parts. A bit of hit and miss on the spiciness though. It needs some punch for it to taste ok. Nid noi (a little) at the Thai places and “medium” at the more farang oriented restaurants usually does it for me.

[barfly]

Originally Posted by ThaiLearner

When eating spicy food don't keep drinking beer or water because it is too hot this will not help as this clears your taste buds so the heat will not alter, try eating plane rice instead.

The problem I've had there is that the rice is still very temperature hot by the time my mouth is on fire from the spicy part! I guess I should order my meal and have another beer and wait for the whole lot to cool down when the rice should guard aginst the spice.

Good advice from JayBee but I've also been nobbled by a harmless looking skewar on my way back to my hotel, late at night, already had enough alcohol but had to have a lot more for my mouth!

[ThaiLearner]

When I was in Pattaya i paid 70 bht a pack for Malbro lights.

A friend of mine brought some LM blues back from spain and there not bad either.

[philly]

I used to smoke M'bro Lights in the UK but found the Thai ones a bit dry.

Now I smoke L&M blues but I dont like the ones they sell in Duty Free, again they seem a bit dry/harsh.

The money I save by buying my ciggies in los pays for my flight. Yes I know your not supposed to bring more than 200 into the uk but I haven't been stopped at customs yet.

[ub2yoo]

Originally Posted by philly

I used to smoke M'bro Lights in the UK but found the Thai ones a bit dry.

The M'bro Lights I smoked in Thailand were actually okay, but have you seen the recent pictures on them ? WTF....I'm used to a lot of "messages for the stupid smoker" on ziggy packages, but they
really did it for me. They almost ruined my joy's and I had to unpack them every time...!

And yes, I'm living (smoking) in denial.

[philly]

Originally Posted by ub2yoo

The M'bro Lights I smoked in Thailand were actually okay, but have you seen the recent pictures on them ? WTF....I'm used to a lot of "messages for the stupid smoker" on ziggy packages, but they
really did it for me. They almost ruined my joy's and I had to unpack them every time...!

And yes, I'm living (smoking) in denial.

Yeah the pictures are a bit gross, I've heard that the UK are going to be doing the same sort of thing soon.

[ub2yoo]

Originally Posted by philly

Yeah the pictures are a bit gross, I've heard that the UK are going to be doing the same sort of thing soon.

Thanks for the warning, I know what to do then ! Can't believe it, being in Thailand can be so cruel sometimes ...

[ThaiLearner]

i get the person behind the counter to get me the packet the says

Smoking when pregnent harms your baby.