Wedding ALOROS..or anyone w/ Thailand honeymoon info

[Neveah]

Hi!!!
I saw your post on the HONEYMOON QUESTION.... My Fiance and I are very interested in going to Thailand for our honeymoon.... any advice on where to stay/go would be appreciated (if you don''t mind) My Dad works for Delta so we will be able to fly super cheap and really want to put that saved money into staying in awesome resorts. We found a couple of sites with itineraries that look and sound amazing and are really great deals...however a little leary.... Did you wing it? Get there and then decide?? Any info would be much appreciated!!!!
Thanks!

 

[surfgirl]

Hey...search for Thailand and you should come up with some threads...I gave a ton of info to neatfreak I think it was...should come up with a search!

 

[brazen_irish_hussy]

Not to scare you, but I knew some people who got really sick on their honeymoon to southeast Asia. Before you go, I highly recomend looking into an immunizations you might want before going. That being said, I have heard mostly really good things about the high end resorts in thailand.

 

[Neveah]

Not at all.... that''s great advice! thanks!

 

[Independent Gal]

First off, Southeast Asia is my FAVOURITE place to travel. Love love love love it! Three thumbs up.

But uh, re Brazen's comment, there's nothing to be scared of, but I hope no one goes to Southeast Asia (except, say, Bangkok for business for a few days) without consulting a travel doctor. What shots you'll need depends on where in the country you're going, and if you have jungle plans (which I highly recommend!), you may need malaria medication too. You should visit the travel doctor at least a couple of months before you go. More if you don't have the Hep A vaccine already (or twinRx).

The travel doc (or your normal doc) can also kit you out with emergency meds: so, e.g., I always take cipro and loperamide with me (along with the usual band-aids, aspirin, etc). Then e.g., if you get a serious stomach thing, you can take the cipro, which I hear tell kills about anything.

You also want to make sure that you have bug repellent with serious amounts of DEET in it, and lightweight long sleeves and long pants in case you go into the jungle (which you can do with ELEPHANTS in Thailand!) or go walking in the evening when the mosquitos come out. Best way to avoid getting sick is to avoid getting bitten!

Then as long as you're verrrrry careful wtih food, you should be fine. Careful means: Obviously, don't drink water that's not bottled, NO ice in your drinks, and then the rule is: Cook it, Boil it, Peel it, or forget it. No salad! No raw fish! And only eat from those street stands where they whip up something fresh and hot in front of you, or where the broth is boiling - NOT where food has been standing for a while. I never had a problem finding stalls like that in Thailand. Fresh fresh fresh!

It's not hard once you get the hang of it, and the food is so damn good!

But, yeah, you definitely want to be careful.

 

[Pandora II]

Being careful is the important thing - IG gives really good advice.

I spent a month in China, ate mainly at street stalls and didn''t catch a thing.

Spent a week in Tunisia, ate only in a 4 star hotel and spent most of the holiday with food poisoning - avoid buffets like the plague.

Lots of people I know got Hep A in Italy.

If you plan to spend a lot of time in rural areas you might what to consider having the rabies shots - especially if you will be some distance from a big city with medical facilities (maybe you are vaccinated anyway in the US? We don''t have rabies in the UK)

With anti-malarial, watch which brand you take - Larium can be very unpleasant if you suffer from depression, anxiey etc. Also make sure you keep taking it for the recommended time when you get back. The girl I shared a room with at boarding school came back after visiting her parents in Ghana, stopped taking her anti-malarials 10 days early - and then spent 4 weeks in hospital very ill with malaria!

I''ve travelled extensively in a lot of SE Asian countries and have never really had any problems. The worst I can think of were infected mosquito bites and coral poisoning - both treatable with antibiotics. I do always take a medical kit with me with things like rehydration salts, antiseptics, broad spectrum antibiotics and sterile needles and syringes.

Start checking out vaccinations now and make sure you are up to date on all of them, or get them in time to be effective.

 

[Independent Gal]

RE the malaria meds: there''s a newish one called ''Malarone'' which is pretty awesome in terms of minimal side effects. Some of the old ones caused hallucinations and stuff! Only thing is, it''s pretty expensive ($6/pill?) so I hope you have insurance! The jabs can add up too. E.g., I have to get yellow fever for my Peru trip, and it''s $130 (but covered by my HMO).

And what Pandora says about continuing to take the FULL course of malaria pills is seriously true. The pills don''t prevent you from getting malaria, they prevent the disease from making you sick. So if you stop taking them before the prescribed time and you''ve got the disease, you''ll get sick. That''s why you have to take them a week or so in advance (to built up levels) and then for a while afterward too.