It would take a brave soul to launch something new into the Thailand/ Korat forum scrum at the moment. In both cases it seems to be a two horse race: Teak Door vs. Thai Visa, and K-Farang vs. KFart. I can't see the stats, but in both cases the volume of posts seems to be well down with only a hardened few making regular posts. The result is that posts tend to go in ever-decreasing circles: familiar posters generate replies so their topics feature in the 'most recent' lists.
I continue to maintain the Pix Isaan Flickr Pool in the hope that I can encourage a dialogue with others who have an interest in artistic photography (by which I mean taking photos for fun and sharing them, not a place for critical discourse)
http://www.flickr.com/groups/2248788@N24/. It is an open group, and everyone is welcome: if you enjoy taking photos please join and post.
For the forum, and entirely from a personal perspective (bearing in mind I am in the UK and visit Korat often), I would like to see more about:
- new coffee shops: I love a good coffee.
- decent restaurants: by which I mean a combination of good food and (importantly) interesting environment/ location.
- new hotels: I happened on the new hotel by the lake in town completely by accident last time I was in Korat. I was genuinely surprised there was no mention on the forum. But then again, most people on the forum live in Korat and forget to mention things that might interest visitors.
- golf courses and golfing nearby.
- the interesting and quirky side of Korat: I once went down a soi that had antique shops. I couldn't tell you where it was.
- things that are a bit out of town but worth seeing: curious Wats, beautiful scenery etc.
It would also be good for locals to share some inside knowledge - I wish someone had warned me about getting a tuktuk to go from the Hermitage (sh*thole) hotel to the Mall early evening: I very nearly threw up from the traffic fumes, and realised what a horrible death trap the bloody thing was. If you want the tourist experience do it once. I'd rather be in a taxi or on the back of a scooter.....
Thanks Johnnie for all your efforts: I would be sorry to lose this forum.
CK
