* China town: Walk around and have a look at what's going on, wait in the rain with the rest of the people and watch the umbrella man sell his different umbrellas.

* National museum: I think that when you are in a new country you should get to know it's history. Go for a walk in the University areas just south of the museum, get to see the everyday life of bright Students. You are heading towards the Grand Palace anyway, even though it's hot you get to feel the distances instead of driving a taxi all day.

* Kao San road: This is a place where you get western food (part from Pizza Hut and so on at various places in Bankok, order more pizza than normal since Thai people don't eat that much and BIG is really MEDIUM in Asia) and you get to see snotty youth from all over the world.  You get to shop here too and you get to see the latest in Video movies.  There are also quite cheap places to sleep here still with a bit of a clean standard.

* Shop: Tailor (James Fashion International) is recommended by a travel agency in Norway and some of the customers are also ambassadors. The address is 344/2-6 Sukhothai rd in Bangkok. Pathpong is of course the place you have to go and it's really easy to bargain (I hate bargaining, but here it is easy), during daytime you should go to Siam Center (almost no tourists) where you get everything you have ever dreamed of to a fixed price (if you buy a lot you can bargain here too). If you don't like to shop you can just walk around feeling like a local or play games in the game hall.

* Tuk Tuk/Taxi: After being in Thailand two times now, I AM NOT TAKING ANY TUK TUK ANYMORE!!! IT'S NOT HEALTHY DUE TO CAR EXHAUST AND IT'S DAMN HOT AND YOU ALWAYS GET FOOLED TO PAY MORE THAN YOU NEED TO (if you are a tourist of course). TAKE A TAXY, ALWAYS!!

* Getting there: You can get to Phuket by bus from anywhere (Bangkok-Phuket took 18 hrs, too long) or by airplane (2000 Baht one way and you are there in no time if time is important). It's 10 times more expencive to go by plane, but if you have the money it's 10 times better as well.

* Going out on the town: You have all kinds of people in Phuket. Old/young couples, single men (gay and straight) and single women. I have heard that it's not that fun for single females to go out on the town. At a large disco in Patong we were seated beside some gay couples. I found out that they were gay quite fast, but the local girls looking more like rap girls from New York (big trousers and stuff) wanted them to come along and dance with them. Maybe the local girls knew they were gay as well, I guess they were sick of those straight men unable to dance at all. It was really terrible watching some white straight men dance. They didn't have rythm at all, it looked like they were playing an act in bed instead of being on the dance floor! But these gay boys and especially one of them Hiiihaaa. He had been dancing before! The local rap girls wanted him on the podium after a while and he danced the ass off all of the girls. It was really enjoying to watch somebody dance that well and with that energy. The local dancing queens lost their breath, but he kept on. After these guys left, it all went dull and we left the place as well. There are loads of nice places to eat and sea food is their speciality.

* Activities: There are boat rides to anywhere, there are 4 golf courses (give the female caddies loads of tip, they deserve it!), scuba diving, wind surfing, MC/car rentals, fixed price taxies, cave kayaking and sailing + more.

* Beaches: Kata is nice and quiet, Karon is long, Patong is busy (still very nice) and Laguna (Sheraton and two other hotels) is expencive and still not clean (and nothing is going on there except for Triathlon and why didn't anybody inform the tourists, it would have been really fun!!! We were there, but it was all these "important" people not having fun at all). I like Patong, you have everything there. But it is slightly more expencive than Karon.

Norwegian link to Thailand. Brita and Gunnar