imago said:

Any number of Thai islands will do.

Ko Si Chang is nice and close to Pattaya, so you're always near civilization, but can still escape.

You can see Ko Si Chang here in the background.

Looks stunning.

But seriously, is Koh Si Chang nice? We've wanted to go there for a while now. The king has his summer residence there doesn't he? I want to see the turtles there.

Fauxie said:

imago said:

Any number of Thai islands will do.

Ko Si Chang is nice and close to Pattaya, so you're always near civilization, but can still escape.

You can see Ko Si Chang here in the background.

Looks stunning.

But seriously, is Koh Si Chang nice? We've wanted to go there for a while now. The king has his summer residence there doesn't he? I want to see the turtles there.

Let's totally go.

I'm told it's a 'quiet' getaway.

You can rent motorscooters and tour the island, and the roads are REALLY untravelled so it's not unsuall to see something strange walking around on the road. WORD!

Fauxie said:

imago said:

Any number of Thai islands will do.

Ko Si Chang is nice and close to Pattaya, so you're always near civilization, but can still escape.

You can see Ko Si Chang here in the background.

Looks stunning.

But seriously, is Koh Si Chang nice? We've wanted to go there for a while now. The king has his summer residence there doesn't he? I want to see the turtles there.

Let's totally go.

I'm told it's a 'quiet' getaway.

You can rent motorscooters and tour the island, and the roads are REALLY untravelled so it's not unsuall to see something strange walking around on the road. WORD!

Tittypants said:

I'm thinking you should try......

AHHHH!!!

Tittypants said:

I'm thinking you should try......

I see the crazy folks are still present!

Isn't living on a tropical island merely a dream that marketeers of travel agencys want you to have?

Not that I have a very interesting live at the moment, however, at a tropical island, after surfing and diving in the first few weeks, what are you going to do? Isn't it boring as hell after six months?

This is a serious question, I have thought about moving to the tropics, however, I think I'll bring myself, and my problems aren't geographically however personally. I still be the same person, on a tropical island or in my current surroundings, my problems will not change, as long as I'm still the same person, will it?

dJJ said:

Isn't living on a tropical island merely a dream that marketeers of travel agencys want you to have?

Not that I have a very interesting live at the moment, however, at a tropical island, after surfing and diving in the first few weeks, what are you going to do? Isn't it boring as hell after six months?

This is a serious question, I have thought about moving to the tropics, however, I think I'll bring myself, and my problems aren't geographically however personally. I still be the same person, on a tropical island or in my current surroundings, my problems will not change, as long as I'm still the same person, will it?

How about just a better place where you can get a job and have a better quality of life because the cost of living is low?

purplethunder3121 said:

dJJ said:

Isn't living on a tropical island merely a dream that marketeers of travel agencys want you to have?

Not that I have a very interesting live at the moment, however, at a tropical island, after surfing and diving in the first few weeks, what are you going to do? Isn't it boring as hell after six months?

This is a serious question, I have thought about moving to the tropics, however, I think I'll bring myself, and my problems aren't geographically however personally. I still be the same person, on a tropical island or in my current surroundings, my problems will not change, as long as I'm still the same person, will it?

How about just a better place where you can get a job and have a better quality of life because the cost of living is low?

I like to get challenged. I every way possible. There are not that many books on a tropical island, are there. Not much theatre nor art that challenges you, is there?

dJJ said:

purplethunder3121 said:

How about just a better place where you can get a job and have a better quality of life because the cost of living is low?

I like to get challenged. I every way possible. There are not that many books on a tropical island, are there. Not much theatre nor art that challenges you, is there?

Not all tropical islands are miles from anywhere populated that has those things. The island itself may offer those things, as with somewhere like Phuket. It's quite a large island and you could likely find yourself a beautiful, secluded corner of it, all the while being no more than half an hour from 'civilisation'.

Fauxie said:

dJJ said:

I like to get challenged. I every way possible. There are not that many books on a tropical island, are there. Not much theatre nor art that challenges you, is there?

Not all tropical islands are miles from anywhere populated that has those things. The island itself may offer those things, as with somewhere like Phuket. It's quite a large island and you could likely find yourself a beautiful, secluded corner of it, all the while being no more than half an hour from 'civilisation'.

you know that says fuckit...

Fauxie said:

dJJ said:

I like to get challenged. I every way possible. There are not that many books on a tropical island, are there. Not much theatre nor art that challenges you, is there?

Not all tropical islands are miles from anywhere populated that has those things. The island itself may offer those things, as with somewhere like Phuket. It's quite a large island and you could likely find yourself a beautiful, secluded corner of it, all the while being no more than half an hour from 'civilisation'.

The Dutch people around me that I hear talking about their holiday to Phuket don't inspire me to want to go there. Au contraire. They make me want to stay away from Phuket as far as possible. Eventhough I've never been there.

I guess I'm not a very tolerant person. In Amsterdam it's okay to be intolerant, because it's crowded with tourists and it has a lot of positives. It's imo the most beautiful city in the world, and has a lot of culture, music, literature, theatre etc. to offer. And everything is a bike ride away. That's also what I love, not to many cars in the centre. It's faster on a bike than a car.

However, the wheather sucs, the current government is horrific, most Dutch people aren't my cup of tea and I'm an intolerent person in general. And there's no beach around the corner.

dJJ said:

Fauxie said:

Not all tropical islands are miles from anywhere populated that has those things. The island itself may offer those things, as with somewhere like Phuket. It's quite a large island and you could likely find yourself a beautiful, secluded corner of it, all the while being no more than half an hour from 'civilisation'.

The Dutch people around me that I hear talking about their holiday to Phuket don't inspire me to want to go there. Au contraire. They make me want to stay away from Phuket as far as possible. Eventhough I've never been there.

I guess I'm not a very tolerant person. In Amsterdam it's okay to be intolerant, because it's crowded with tourists and it has a lot of positives. It's imo the most beautiful city in the world, and has a lot of culture, music, literature, theatre etc. to offer. And everything is a bike ride away. That's also what I love, not to many cars in the centre. It's faster on a bike than a car.

However, the wheather sucs, the current government is horrific, most Dutch people aren't my cup of tea and I'm an intolerent person in general. And there's no beach around the corner.

It all depends on where you stay. There's everything from built-up, touristy and a bit sleazy, through reasonably quiet with a mix of Thais and foreigners, to very quiet and secluded. We would never stay in Phuket Town or Patong. We like to stay somewhere towards the middle of that spectrum called Bangtao Bay, at the one place that has single storey bungalows. You have a couple hundred metres of beach between the maybe 5-20 ppl staying there at any given time. There are a couple of big, modern hotels nearby on the bay, but all the tourists there don't seem to ever leave the hotel/beach area. That means that when you go inland a few hundred metres to walk around the little village area there with shops and restaurants you don't see many tourists, just a few Thai folks working there. The only bars are little cozy ones. If you don't walk up or down the beach a few hundred metres to where the big hotels are you'd really never know those five-star 2 week staying holidaymakers and families are even there. There must be thousands of tourists staying in Bangtao Bay but with the right choice of place to stay you get a nice, quiet bit of beach oblivious to it all. We never search for that elusive, incredible untouched beach like so many young backpackers. Just a bit of life when needed, combined with some quiet space for relaxation is just right for us.

.

[Edited 9/20/11 18:55pm]

imago said:

Fauxie said:

Looks stunning.

But seriously, is Koh Si Chang nice? We've wanted to go there for a while now. The king has his summer residence there doesn't he? I want to see the turtles there.

Let's totally go.

I'm told it's a 'quiet' getaway.

You can rent motorscooters and tour the island, and the roads are REALLY untravelled so it's not unsuall to see something strange walking around on the road. WORD!

Yes! Let's just commit to making it happen, just say 'Fuck it! We're going to Koh Si Chang sometime in the next 12-18 months and that's that!'

Bahrain!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bahrain

Extracts:

Bahrain ⁱ/bɑːˈreɪn/ (Arabic: ‏البحرين‎ Al Baḥrayn), officially the Kingdom of Bahrain (Arabic: مملكة البحرين‎ Mamlakat al Baḥrayn Arabic pronunciation (help·info), English: Kingdom of the Two Seas), is a small island state near the western shores of the Arabian Gulf.

The Lonely Planet Guide describes Bahrain as "an excellent introduction to the Persian Gulf",^[99] because of its authentic Arab heritage and reputation as a liberal and modern country.

Plus it's very safe apparently.

Extract from an expat site:

http://www.justlanded.com/english/Bahrain/Forums/Property/Safety-in-Bahrain

"I am a woman who lives alone and have not had any problems. I also read the paper daily and talk to people from all over the world who live here, and apart from blatant discrimination between the two main Islamic sects, and against the poorer Asian workers, there is nothing really to worry about. Economically and technologically the place is really booming, with some very impressive new projects springing up all over the place - see Bahrain Financial Harbour, World Trade Center, Al Areen etc. etc. www.clickbahrain.com is quite a useful site to continue your research. Good luck!"

Fauxie said:

imago said:

Let's totally go.

I'm told it's a 'quiet' getaway.

You can rent motorscooters and tour the island, and the roads are REALLY untravelled so it's not unsuall to see something strange walking around on the road. WORD!

Yes! Let's just commit to making it happen, just say 'Fuck it! We're going to Koh Si Chang sometime in the next 12-18 months and that's that!'

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seychelles