When I was on my Martial Arts Nationals for my 1st Dan, a fellow 2nd Dan told me of someone he knew who went to Thailand for 3 weeks to a Muay Thai training camp.

Among the stories of brutal exercises and gruelling hours of practice, he mentioned that he had been told, that Thailand has to send the trainees out of the country each week for one day...as apparently Thailand only allows visitors to spend a maximum of 1 week in the country at a time.

Is this indeed true? Or is this another one of those crazy myths you always get? Sounds too restrictive to be true to be honest.

as far as i know, this is not true. maybe it is different depending on what country you are from. i can stay in thailand for 30 days without a visa on a US passport (i am thai, but born in america so i have US citizenship). i have been able to get a visa for extended stay (i stayed for 2 months once) in as little as 2 hours from the thai consulate in NY. your best bet would be to check the visa laws in your country. also check with the Royal Thai Consulate in Glasgow:

Royal Thai Consulate
4 Woodside Place, Charing Cross, Glasgow, G3 7QF. Scotland
Tel 0141 353 5090

maybe what he meant is that every week, at least 1 trainee leaves the camp to do visa work in another country for 1 day. this is not so strange.

I know a very useful website for tourists, want to share with you all :

http://www.virtualtourist.com/

If you're going to visit Thailand, here's the best :

http://sawadee.com

Thank you, both of you.

Hi !!!
Anurak, maybe this question is for you!!!:
I plan to in Thailand with a friend in February or March 2007; I'd like to know if its a good period to go there; which month is the best period?
I think we'll stay only for 2 weeks, is it enough? What are the main things to see and visit over there?

Thanx for the reply,

hi caro, in my opinion two weeks is not a lot of time because there is so much to do !! at the end of 2 weeks, you will wish you can stay for 2 months !!

but realistically, 2 weeks is a good vacation. you will have fun every day for sure !

february is a good month to visit; it won't be too hot. april is the hottest month of the year, so be careful about march as well.

will you be traveling to any cities besides bangkok? in bangkok, be sure you visit the grand palace and the temple of the emeral buddha. you will also have fun shopping at the shopping malls, like siam paragon mall. maybe you can also see a khon performance at the national theater, or a puppet play at the joe louis theater.

a really great website for things to do in thailand is http://www.discoverythailand.com/

also... be sure to try the local foods. don't be afraid to sit at a table on the sidewalk with locals. don't be afraid if you don't know what to eat... just point to what you want and be polite, and everyone will be nice to you ! try not to eat where too many tourists are eating; eat where the locals are eating !

hope this helps !

Thanx a lot Anurak!!! I have writen everyhing you advised me to do in Thailand!!
Sure, 2 weeks is very short but maybe we won't have the choice with my friend...
With my friend we don't like to do like the tourists... we like to share with people of the country we visit. We want to go "chez l'habitant", I don't know how to say that in English.. but someone told me that it will be difficult to do...
I will have the time to go on the website you advised me!

You're from New York no?? But are you born in Thailand or in the US?
An american friend of mine spent 3 days in my home, here in Chambery, it was really fun and I plan to go in the US back in 2008.

Thanx again for your kindness!!!

hi caro! de rien ! it's nothing

i am thai, but born in NY. if you are going to come to visit NY, let me know ! i can help to take care of you while you are here.

another website that you might find helpful is ecoexplorerthailand.com

i don't know about chez l'habitant in thailand (maybe that website will help a little bit); whenever i go to thailand, i have a very easy chez l'habitant because all of my family is there! anyway, i hope you are able to find what you are looking for !

You're so nice!! Thanx a lot!!
Sure I think my friend and I will find what we are looking for in Thailand; by now, I have always find it when I travelled; I love discovering new culture and I like so much Asia... I may can't be disappointed!!
If I go to US, I'd like to visit NY for sure, but my American friends are more in The West Cost, especially in Seattle, a city I find very pleasant!
I'll tell you about my plan when it will be the time, thanx (again lol) for your invitation... It will be a pleasure to welcome you in France. Sawatdee is not far from me and I'm sure it will have no problem with her too to welcome you, even if I can't talk for, I know by mail that she's a very nice woman!!

See you later!!

Hey caro

It's true that April is the hottest month of the year. But we have Thai new year in April. Or we call it Songkran festival (or water festival). It's DA BIGGEST THING in Thailand. The entire country will throw water to each other for about three days and nobody will mind that. It's really really fun. Highly recommended.

Check this out for more information about Songkran.

Wow, thanx Ongkot!!
The picture is very funny!! It seems to be very nice Songkran, but Im afraid that we couldn't go in Thailand in April... I think now, it will be more in March... but Im really impatient to visit this wonderful country!!
Bye!!!!!!!!

I am really considering visiting Thailand sometime next year. Thank you for the information. Gbya