Finding Cheap Flights to Thailand from the UK on eBay

If you’re hoping to score a cheap flight to Thailand from the UK, and aren’t committed to any specific dates.  You may find the following tip useful.

If you’re not aware of it, eBay does have a fairly active ‘Flight Tickets’ category.  Where those who have booked holidays in the land of smiles, but who, for whatever reason, are forced to cancel, are able to offer their flight tickets, and/or packages for sale to bidders.  Usually, those who are forced to sell their flights in this manner, unable to get a refund from their operator, are often selling close to the date of departure, and are just trying to recoup whatever they can.

To search for flights on ebay.co.uk, click on the ‘all categories’ on the ebay home page.  Next choose ‘Holidays and Travel’, (and if primarily interested in just flights, select the category ‘Flight Tickets).  You can now either browse through the category, or use the search box, by typing in something like ‘Thailand’, to check if there are any flights/holidays being offered for sale.

If there aren’t, at the time of searching, (and this is the tip), you can store saved searches in ebay (you’d be surprised how many people don’t know about this option).  And what this does is, every time somebody lists a new item that matches your search criteria (i.e. Thailand - in the Holidays/Flights section), emails you to the email address associated with your ebay account, to let you know of new listings.  So that you’ll never again miss out on any cheap flights to Thailand that might pop up on ebay.  

And if you’re particularly free and easy with travel dates, and departure points, you could score a real bargain (I have).  And additionally of course, if it doesn’t necessarily have to be Thailand that you’re looking to visit, this also works for any other search criteria too (and also works on most non-UK ebay sites too). 


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Thailand Scams - Tuk-Tuk and Petrol Coupons

You won’t have been in Thailand long, before being approached by a Tuk-Tuk driver, who offers to give you a tour of wherever you’ve touched down (assuming that is, that you’re holidaying in one of  the more commonly visited locations), often, for a ridiculously cheap sounding fare (even for Thailand).  And should you climb aboard the waiting Tuk-Tuk, you have just become, potentially, the next victim of what is known to some as the ‘Great Tuk-Tuk Scam’.

While you might have been hoping for a tour of the more scenic areas of your holiday spot, you’ll find that your driver is more inclined to take you on a tour of a more commercial nature.  At some playing on your sensibilities, by explaining that if you’d be willing to visit a shop he knows (his brothers, uncles, whoevers), he’ll be rewarded with free petrol coupons.  

You had no specific agenda in mind when you set out, and as a wealthy foreign traveler, feeling a little sorry for your poor Thai driver, who in these hard times could obviously use all the free petrol coupons he could get, you agree.  And so your tour begins.

You’ll be whisked around the city, from one stop to the next.  Delivered by Tuk-Tuk to sellers of fine art sculptures, electronics, jewellry, and to high priced restaurants.  Establishments, that form deals with Tuk-Tuk drivers, and pay them commissions, both upon final sales, but also for every potential customer they can bring through their doors.  

As scams go, in general, the Thai Tuk-Tuk scam is not among the most severe.  Tourists are not usually forced into visiting these establishments, by means other than a persistent cajoling.  And as long as you keep your wits about you, and your guard up, you should come away from your tour with, at worst, your wallet a little lighter (or considerably so), than when you began.  With the main problem, with this scam for tourists ultimately being in lost time.  Because if you’re not the incredibly rich globe-trotter that many Thai’s will believe you to be.  And you’ve saved up all year for a single week or two, in the exotic land of smiles.  A day lost to the sneaky shenanigans of the commission seeking Thai Tuk-Tuk driver, is a day (and a memory) you’ll never have spent doing something far more rewarding.

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The Samurai Pork Burger - Eating at McDonalds in Thailand

For most, it’s the differences from back home that make travelling so exciting.  And while the discovery of an ‘alternative’ McDonalds menu item may not be the greatest of cultural differences, such small discoveries can still be fun.  And at the very least, offerings such as the ‘Samurai Pork Burger’, give the less gastronomically adventurous travelers among us the chance to tell the folks back home how much they enjoyed the local Thai cuisine - without, arguably, telling too big a fib.

The Samurai Pork Burger is a burger common only to (at time of writing) Thailand.  And is a burger made up of a pork patty, salad, and teriyaki sauce (A Japanese sauce made of soy sauce, sake or sherry, sugar, ginger, and seasonings).  Priced at around 50 baht (if I remember correctly), the Samurai Pork Burger is a must try for McDonalds lovers abroad -and makes for an interesting alternative to the usual selection of cheese-laden beef.  

Taking their name from the ‘Samurai’ (a powerful military caste in feudal Japan), the Samurai Pork burger are also available from time-to-time in Malaysia.  Though as a seasonal promotional item, rather than as a permanent menu fixture, as in Thailand.  And a similar burger is also offered to customers in China, though there it goes by the name of ‘Shogun Burger’.

Other Thailand specific items served up by McDonalds in the Land of Smiles include: Jasmine rice patties, the Caribbean shrimp burger, and a salad shaker based on som tam papaya salad.

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Nakorn Ping Hotel Review - A Quiet Hotel Near Khao San Road

A ten minute walk from Khao San road (a good thing if you want to near the hustle and bustle of that particular street, but not necessarily within it), the Nakorn Ping is a hotel that came recommended by a bargirl friend of a Thai girl I’d been knocking around with at the time.  And if anybody is likely to be able to offer good advice on quality budget accommodation in Bangkok (having spent more time in the budget hotels of Bangkok than the average person probably has) it’s a Thai bargirl.  And, as it turned, it was advice gratefully received.  

The Nakorn Ping would most likely not be a suitable hotel for my best friend, who craves eternity pools, and elegant Thai silk sheets.  But as a budget hotel, that offers clean rooms, generally friendly staff, air conditioning (should you be be willing to pay a small premium), television, fridge, and a working shower (99% of the time), the Nakorn Ping, while being somewhat dated in appearance, offers great value for money.  For those more interested in what lies outside of their room, than inside it.

With a clientele made up primarily of the less raucous cross-section of backpackers, and with the occasional sex-tourist thrown in, the Nkorn Ping is located on ‘Soi Samsen 6’, and in addition to be within easy walking distance (or an even easier Tuk-Tuk ride) of Khao San Road, it’s also close to the Chao Praya River, where a small coin or two (I forget the exact fare) will buy you riverboat passage to a wide selection of Bangkok’s temples, monuments, and to the epic Grand Palace.  Just be sure to check what time the last boat back is. ;)  (though of course a Tuk-Tuk is never very far away).

Enter through the greenery shrouded entrance, into the slightly antiquated, but somewhat charming reception area, where in addition to the check in desk, you’ll find a room providing internet access, and a freezer filled with ice-creams, should you fancy such things, and for around 500 baht (at time of writing) you can book yourself a simple, clean room.  The perfect location from which the budget conscious traveler can begin their Bangkok adventure.  Or for the more seasoned traveler to take time out, and recover from more exhaustive endeavors.

Visit the Nakorn Ping Hotel Online: HERE for more information.