this probably isn't even really worthy of a TR but i'll write anyways. i really just wanted to share the great thai boxing match we saw the night after i got there.
we went to an official muay thai fight in bkk, paid like $60 or something for the seats. these fighters were definitely better than those we've seen previously in smaller areas and it was great fun.
looking now, i dont even really have any great pics. most of it was a result of me a) sucking at taking photos and b) them moving like cats.
the fighters were all pretty tiny, like 100-130 pounds. with that said, all were super machines and incredible fighters.
overall, a fun event. lost the double or nothing on the main event for 2k baht but won the last fight when my fighter elbowed the shit out of the other guy (and KOed him).
it was odd to see them take most all KOs or TKOs out on stretchers...we saw some pretty insane shit. one guy got his arm broken from a kick, didn't even know that was possible...seemed like a normal kick but the guy screamed in pain and the fight was done.
didn't do a whole lot the rest of the days there. hung out w/ some other 2p2ers for a night, walked MBK and shopped a bit. in portland now, long ass time here to wait.
overall, this trip was very fun. some random notes-
Food-
thai food was excellent. didn't know how much i'd really like all the authentic shit (and who even knows if i ate authentic thai food, mmmm? im sure id have to go inland for more of that). but w/e...the food overall was good. a tad spicy for my liking, i'm sure i'd have to build some sort of tolerance if i lived there. everything is mad cheap as well (if you look)...like $2 or so for a plate of food.
some of the things i really enjoyed were the garlic and pepper chicken, mixed fruit shakes, and alot of the weird seafood. alot of the natural fruit there was really interesting and good as well, and if you like fruit you'll be happy.
budget-
-thailand can be however cheap or expensive you want it to be. if you want to do other stuff, it'll probably cost more $ (obv). if you want to live cheap and just backpack around, you can live off like $20 a day (if you looked hard enough). i overheard a backpacker saying that she only looked for 100baht hostels a night (~$3)...which is just nuts. but she was determined so more power to her. the most expensive thing is the flight (obv again), but after that, it's pretty much all up to you. doing some of the extracurricular stuff can get pricy though (stuff like rock climbing, scuba, etc).
but, if you just wanted to do hiking and back packing and living cheaply, you could make it out really cheap.
wrt staying places, its fine to book online...obv cheaper in terms of hotels. but you can also just wait till you get off the boat/plane in the southern islands and you'll be able to find a place, often cheap. alot of those places send people out and you can get great deals but either walking into town or having them show you a place. the quality of stay probably won't be as good as those online (obv) but you'll be able to get out cheaper. we stayed at a place in koh phangan for like 600 baht (~$20) a night for AC/hot water/2 beds. and you can even get it cheaper than that.
ladyboys/prostitutes/etc- obv you'll see a ton of these all around. if you want it, go get it. might be a price attached, might not be. might also be a dick attached too...lol.
internet- can be spotty all throughout thailand. some places have nice connections, many do not. alot of the time the connections are fairly inconsistent barring some big city (ie. bkk). playing poker can be hazardous.
the game-
the game is common in all of thailand (and poorer countries in general). the game is one that takes place in any $ exchange, be it for a product or service. 'bargaining' is another word for it.
you can decide to play the game or not. depends how dedicated you are (both in principle and budget). if you are the type of person to fight for every penny for the hell of it (or because thats just what you do), you'll probably do fine here. obviously the strategies are pretty simple and standard- start low, have them move up, you move back down, etc. if all else fails, just walk away, and you'll find that they 'can make a special price 'for you, my friend''.
i myself got ripped off a fair amount. i can admit this. when i was fighting and bargaining with the people, i found we were fighting over like 20 baht (~$.50). i thought to myself 'well, this person probably needs this 50 cents a bit more than me, so whatever'. i'm not going to try and sound arrogant either...i'm far from the richest poker player out there...it was just something that i grew to accept.
with that said, i didnt totally give up on the game. i still bargained, at least to a degree. didn't really buy a tremendous amount of things...missed out on alot of cool paintings (very prominent in the south, not so much in bkk). picked up alot of tshirts and such...stupid jewelry for my sisters.
cant think of any more random notes either, will give them if the idea arises.
back in port now. long flight back but i slept most of the way. didn't end up in the ocean or an island...a shame, too bad i couldn't play the chinese version of jin from LOST.
cheers.
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