THAILAND AND LAOS

[skoo_gurl]

HI!!! I'M PLANNING TO GO TO THAILAND IN THE MIDDLE OF DECEMBER TO THE END OF JANUARY ON A MISSION TRIP. I DON'T KNOW IF I REALLY REALLY REALLY WANT TO GO.
I THINK IT WOULD BE A GREAT EXPERIENCE BECAUSE I LOVE GOD AND I WANT TO DO SOME KIND OF MISSIONARY WORK, BUT I DON'T KNOW IF I SHOULD GO. I WANT TO TEACH THE LITTLE CHILDREN ABOUT GOD!!! HAHA...
NEXT YEAR WILL BE MY FIRST YEAR IN COLLEGE, I DON'T KNOW IF I AM GOING TO BE FINANCIALLY ABLE TO GO. OTHER THAN THAT, I DON'T KNOW IF I'M GOING TO BE MISSING SCHOOL CAUSE I DON'T WANT TO DO THAT. I HAVE TO RAISE MONEY LIKE HECK TO GO....BUT I THINK THAT IT WOULD BE WORTH IT. WHAT DO YOU GUYS THINK?


HAVE ANY OF YOU GUYS BEEN THERE? HOW WAS IT LIKE? HOW ARE THE PEOPLE IN THE VILLAGES? ANY WORD OF ADVICE? WHAT SHOULD I BRING? WHAT SHOULD I NOT BRING? WHAT SHOULD I DO? WHAT SHOULD I NOT DO? ETC.
THANKS IN ADVANCE.

 

[Vamkim]

HI!!! I'M PLANNING TO GO TO THAILAND IN THE MIDDLE OF DECEMBER TO THE END OF JANUARY ON A MISSION TRIP. I DON'T KNOW IF I REALLY REALLY REALLY WANT TO GO.
I THINK IT WOULD BE A GREAT EXPERIENCE BECAUSE I LOVE GOD AND I WANT TO DO SOME KIND OF MISSIONARY WORK, BUT I DON'T KNOW IF I SHOULD GO. I WANT TO TEACH THE LITTLE CHILDREN ABOUT GOD!!! HAHA...
NEXT YEAR WILL BE MY FIRST YEAR IN COLLEGE, I DON'T KNOW IF I AM GOING TO BE FINANCIALLY ABLE TO GO. OTHER THAN THAT, I DON'T KNOW IF I'M GOING TO BE MISSING SCHOOL CAUSE I DON'T WANT TO DO THAT. I HAVE TO RAISE MONEY LIKE HECK TO GO....BUT I THINK THAT IT WOULD BE WORTH IT. WHAT DO YOU GUYS THINK?
HAVE ANY OF YOU GUYS BEEN THERE? HOW WAS IT LIKE? HOW ARE THE PEOPLE IN THE VILLAGES? ANY WORD OF ADVICE? WHAT SHOULD I BRING? WHAT SHOULD I NOT BRING? WHAT SHOULD I DO? WHAT SHOULD I NOT DO? ETC.
THANKS IN ADVANCE.

Well, I have never been there, but as far as I know sometimes villagers or street peoples will come to you and beg for money, yes money! And I dont mean to scare anyone or you but sometimes peoples get ambushed by bandits and get their luggages stolen. But anyway this is something that I know that kinda scares me haha. But if your going then please be very careful sometimes.

 

[Mae]

Ummmm....aren't many of those people more into buddhism, muslim and animism, not necessarily into God....ummm..just my opinion, even though my sister who just came from there says some are Christians, but that's such a small minority.....

 

[YM_gurl]

HI!!! I'M PLANNING TO GO TO THAILAND IN THE MIDDLE OF DECEMBER TO THE END OF JANUARY ON A MISSION TRIP. I DON'T KNOW IF I REALLY REALLY REALLY WANT TO GO.
I THINK IT WOULD BE A GREAT EXPERIENCE BECAUSE I LOVE GOD AND I WANT TO DO SOME KIND OF MISSIONARY WORK, BUT I DON'T KNOW IF I SHOULD GO. I WANT TO TEACH THE LITTLE CHILDREN ABOUT GOD!!! HAHA...
NEXT YEAR WILL BE MY FIRST YEAR IN COLLEGE, I DON'T KNOW IF I AM GOING TO BE FINANCIALLY ABLE TO GO. OTHER THAN THAT, I DON'T KNOW IF I'M GOING TO BE MISSING SCHOOL CAUSE I DON'T WANT TO DO THAT. I HAVE TO RAISE MONEY LIKE HECK TO GO....BUT I THINK THAT IT WOULD BE WORTH IT. WHAT DO YOU GUYS THINK?
HAVE ANY OF YOU GUYS BEEN THERE? HOW WAS IT LIKE? HOW ARE THE PEOPLE IN THE VILLAGES? ANY WORD OF ADVICE? WHAT SHOULD I BRING? WHAT SHOULD I NOT BRING? WHAT SHOULD I DO? WHAT SHOULD I NOT DO? ETC.
THANKS IN ADVANCE.

interesting, i haven't been to thailand but i've been to laos.. i think you should go.
it will be a great experience like you said, perhaps it'll be fun too.. it would. if you work
hard to go, go.. you'll miss home & all but it'll be worth it.. depending on how long you're
going to go.. one month... five month? me, one month is enough! LOL.. however, i'm planning
to go back & visit sometime in December this year..

ok, omg.. the people in the village.. they're nice.. depending on who you meet.. some can be creepy. LOL.. ones who knows manner, don't asked for $$.. the ones who doesn't.. asked.. some they make you feel sorry for them by telling their life to you to get money.. it works. they even cry... ~ what should you bring? to the village? YOUR OWN TOILET PAPER!! FLASH LIGHT & PLENTY OF BATTERIES.. ~if you're going to be in the city, like for example.. Vientiane or this one place called "lat- 52" you don't need it. you pay 10 cents to used the bathroom & it's provided... (don't forget it while paying..it's pink. there won't be any inside the bathroom so yeah!..) What you should not bring? tennis shoe.. it's bad.. you can't walk up the hill, perhaps you might slide back & fall.. SCARY!
~what should you do? if you have relatives than you'll be fine if you don't than i don't know.. better make some relatives.. but if you know how to speak lao than that's a different story.. one thing, just because you're from america.. don't act like you know it all & act rich.. so yeah! you should go, it'll be fun..i went to laos.. & you're going to thailand so it'll be a different experience..good luck!

 

[neena]

i was there in 2005...thailand and laos, i visited. i had the best three weeks of my life actually. i had the most fun in laos rather then thailand. even though its a poor country it was so fun to be in because the ppl...i love the ppl there. thailand is amazingly beautiful and they're a very traditional country with about 97% of the ppl are buddhist. (same thing goes for laos) honestly, i think you will lose time and effort to teach anyone there about god...just spend your time having fun and enjoy a nice vacation....

my parents are returning this december and if i get enough $$ i'll go with them too!! i'm working my butt off right now...so i'm praying!

 

[skoo_gurl]

WOW!!! THANKS YOU GUYS!!! GOOD ADVICE!!! I'M REALLY LOOKING FORWARD TO GOING NOW!!! HAHA...
SEEMS LIKE SOME OF YOU HAVE HAD GOOD EXPERIENCES WITH LAOS AND THAILAND!!
AND I'M GOING WITH OTHER PEOPLE WHO HAVE BEEN THERE, SO I THINK THAT I'LL BE SAFE! HAHA...AND YEA,
I'M ALMOST TOO BROKE, I DON'T THINK I CAN GIVE MONEY TO ANYONE!!! HAHA...

 

[leek18]

well i think i don't know but if you want to meet some guys like Tub Yaj, Somchai Yaj, and other then you should go to laos if you really want to go to thailand for fun or something else then you should go to thailand. you can still go to thailand if you went to laos well my uncle and my dad both went to thailand and laos the same time but this is one thing to say well it take ntev ntev heev mam li txog thaib teb but make sure you guys don't lose your passport so all i have to say that you should go

 

[mly]

have faith in God, He's the one who will help you if you set your heart to it. Although there aren't that many Christians in Thailand, it's better than nothing. We need ppl like you to go if you can and spread The Word. Satan is already working right now, if you read some of the comments here. so i'll pray for you and you keep praying too. I wish i have the will like you! I applaud every missionary out there who's giving everything to the Lord. May God bless you and the ppl you're going with.

 

[YM_gurl]

oh yeah, talking about going to laos & thailand... my uncle just came back from Laos, two weeks ago.. he didn't even get to go because he didn't have a visa. he was planning to go there & make it there but them "lao" people wouldn't make it for him. they took a looked at his passport & told him no.. they said because he was a Vang.. fucked up shit! they told my uncle to go to thailand & make his visa there.. he went.. & they told him the same thing.. "no because he was a vang" i mean, wtf!!! u know.. so what!!!! so yeah, my uncle flew over there.. freakin' 13 hrs & came straight home.. he was hecka mad.. but good thing.. my uncle came home.. so yeah, skoo gurl!! make your visa a week before you go..

 

[onlyhlub]

I'm glad to hear that you'll be going to Thailand. I have not been to Thailand but I went to Laos this past Christmas with my mother and my sister. I had so much fun and it was truly a great learning experience for me. We stayed mainly in Km 52 and Vientiane. The people there are great but remember that no matter where you go, there will always be people out there who are trying to take advantage of you, especially if you're a foreigner. When I was there, I heard of stories where foreigners where attacked and their money, passport, etc were stolen. My advice is where ever you plan to go, always have someone from the area who you trust and who knows that language go with you so that you won't be cheated. When my sister and I wanted to go shopping, we would always bring our cousin because she's from Laos and she can bargain well for good deals and the Laos people can't cheat us this way. I found that you can't shop as freely because if you touch an item, they would assume that you want to buy it and would try to get you to buy it.

I'm not sure if you'll be staying in the villages or in the city. In the villages that we visited, there weren't any running water or electricity. In Km 52, we were lucky that my uncle and them had running water and electricity. They also had the tall toilets like we have here in the US but some distant relative and friends of my mother had the toilets on the ground where you had to squat over it (I hated these...sometimes I would wait until we get to my uncle's house to use the bathroom). I worried about hand hyigene...I would advice you to bring hand sanitizer...why??? Because water is not readily available for you to wash your hands...if you there is water, water is not always clean, especially if it's in a bowl or bucket. People tend to wash their hands with same water at places like food stands on the street or even at some people's house they do that. Also, bring sunblock because it's super hot and you could easily get sun burn.

I think that you should go if you have the time and money. You should try to see if you can schedule your trip around your winter break. I'm a senior in college (graduate this May!!!) and we went around my winter break (4 weeks). Also, make plans ahead of time with your professor to see if you can take any exams early. Education is important but it should not be something that should stop you from going to a place where you have a goal or a mission in mind. If you wait longer, there will always be something else that would come up and probably delay your plan as well.

Have fun! Hopefully, we'll hear about your trip when you come back.

 

[jenjen]

ive been to thailand...
summer of 2005 and umm it was fun...we were in the cities the whole time but we went to see the hmong villagers once! just once. it was like i guess u can say a christian thingy becasue my teacher that went with us goes to the same church as one of the ladees there who was running the place. It was sad how there was only kids, like their parents were up in the mountains and they live there to go to school..its like boarding school?? but yep if ur interested...i think its in chiangmai and i can ask my friend for more info...

 

[cinny]

I went to Laos and Thailand with my parents in 2003 and again with my all girl friends in January of 2005. My friends and I are planning another trip to Thailand next April. I'd such a great time there and seen a lot of things there that made me really appreicate life here in America. You should go but just be careful in Laos because the Lao government are very strict about Christians. As many people mentioned earlier, make sure you know someone there so they can take you around or bargain for you.

 

[neena]

oh yeah, talking about going to laos & thailand... my uncle just came back from Laos, two weeks ago.. he didn't even get to go because he didn't have a visa. he was planning to go there & make it there but them "lao" people wouldn't make it for him. they took a looked at his passport & told him no.. they said because he was a Vang.. fucked up shit! they told my uncle to go to thailand & make his visa there.. he went.. & they told him the same thing.. "no because he was a vang" i mean, wtf!!! u know.. so what!!!! so yeah, my uncle flew over there.. freakin' 13 hrs & came straight home.. he was hecka mad.. but good thing.. my uncle came home.. so yeah, skoo gurl!! make your visa a week before you go..

i'm a vang and they let me go to laos...and my uncle is in laos right now, he's a vang also...hmmm thats pretty weird.

 

[onlyhlub]

i'm a vang and they let me go to laos...and my uncle is in laos right now, he's a vang also...hmmm thats pretty weird.

Yeah, when we went there, my sister got her visa upon arriving in Laos with no problem. I heard that it's easier for females to get their visas upon arrival. I also heard from my uncle in Laos that many of the men from America who went to Laos were courting young girls (I even saw it with my own eyes...it was disgusting...sorry, if I offend anyone with this comment) and somehow had gotten themselves into trouble with the Lao goverment and can't return to Laos. Maybe your uncle couldn't enter Laos because his name was similar to a name that the Lao government had on file. Also, maybe they didn't let him enter for his safety if his name is similar to names of former Hmong leaders. About five or six years ago, one of my uncle couldn't go to Laos for his own safety because of his name. These are just my thoughts...I don't know for sure.

But skoo_gurl...you don't have to worry if you have a clean record...the Lao government shouldn't be able to denial your entrance. Plus, getting a visa into Thailand is much easier than Laos. Just go and have a blast!

 

[YM_gurl]

i don't knoe... but the lao people wouldn't make a visa for my uncle..cause he was a "Vang" i still think it's fawked up! anyways, yeah.. sorrie for my bad language..

 

[jenjen]

yea that happened to my uncle too. my mom dad and uncle went to laos in november and they did their visas...my parent's came like in two weeks but he got his like the day before they were to leave...he almost didnt buy the tickets..my mom said sumthing about whta most of u are saying that its hard for vang men to go there now and my uncle coincidently has the same name as this dude who like onlyhlub said is not allowed into laos..but they went and it was fine.