Phitsanulok

P-lok is civilized, uh, mostly. Exactly halfway between Chiang Mai and Bangkok on the train (7 hours) and bus (usually less than 6). Frequent service too. There is an airport with flights to Bangkok. By bus P-lok is 6 hours from Chiang Mai, 6 from Bangkok, 6 from Khon Khan, and 1 from Sukhothai, and 4 from Mae Sot.

What do you consider entertainment? There are: several shopping places – Big C, Tesco Lotus, Topland Plaza, Night Bazaar, etc. A movie theater in Thai at Big C, but as of October 2006 Tesco Lotus will have a soundtrack theater. Dozens of amazing places to eat – riverboat restaurants, stationary river restaurants, the Night Bazaar’s famous ‘flying vegetable,’ restaurant, one ok Japanese restaurant, one good ‘international restaurant, Korean BBQ’s, and several hotel buffet restaurants. Also, there are a bunch of nightclubs (Picasso, Discovery, The Best) that pound out electronic tunes and have a ‘show.’There are more laid back bars, though usually they are empty. I think “Sanook Nuk” is the best place in town, a cool bar/restaurant which features some alright musicians (once in 3 months a Thai superstar) playing every night. There are a seemingly endless amount of festivals –food festivals, OTOP festivals, the annual Narauean festival, the annual Wat Yai festival, etc. Also, karaoke bars galore.

Reasonable. Money wise, P-lok is reasonable. My friends and I pay between 2500-3500 a month for our apartments, which are pretty decent. We live in modest condos, but if you want there are nice houses multi-story houses for more, maybe 5000 a month. Some places over residence to their workers, but most offer real estate advice.

For day to day living needs, there are department stores (Big C, Tesco), malls (Topland Plaza, and local joints), an ok Nigh Bazaar (mostly retail and food), plus many smaller local stores. There is also a huge selection of regional crafts and products to be found in various stores and at the market at “Wat Yai” (Big Temple). So yes, almost everything you need you can find here.

Cheap internet cafes litter the town. 15 baht an hour is standard. Mostly good connections. Also, most schools have some sort of free internet service.

P-lok is a pretty safe town. I don’t know of any foreigners having problems. Accept for this one guy who was bargaining a 50 baht hooker down to 40 baht, but he won’t be missed. (joke)
Depending on your school and who you are, you will probably be a minor celebrity. But don’t worry about too much attention, most people here genuinely love falangs.

Not an ideal situation. Fortunately you can go most places by walking if you live near the center of town. Taxis don’t exist here. Buses do, and are ok for trips to the inter-city bus station (the number 1) or Big C (the number 1). Tuk tuks are ok, but sometimes expensive. Motorcycle drivers hang out at a few places. Tricycle bike riders can take you around, but it really isn’t romantic at all. Get a bike, moped, or car and you will be fine. Easy place to ride a moped.

Reasonably fun mid sized city, with a great number of schools that want you. Great and cheap food. We actually saved a good amount of money here, 400 USD a month. Thai people will want to be your friends. Cool wats (actually you can teach at Wat Yai – go to the monk chat center and see if they need you, ask for Ajarn Khunakorn or Phra Cree.) River events. Nice river park. It seems like a festival every month. Sukhothai, waterfalls, rice paddy villages, Chinese mountain temples, and parks make good weekend trips. Bangkok and CM are 6 hours away..

Not many great English speakers, and that includes teachers. You may need to prepare all your own material, including curriculums, lesson plans, etc. Some people aren’t satisfied with their schools administrators, but most people can endure these relatively light problems. If you don’t have your own wheels, getting around may be difficult. Really nothing drastic, it is easy to have a great experience living here.

Previously mentioned, but here it is again – the river, the river restaurants, amazing food market at night in town, the public river park, folk museum, Buddha casting factory, bird conservatory, many wats, Wat Yai and the famous Buddha image there, waterfalls an hour away, national park 2 hours, sukhothai 1 hour, etc

Not a strong suit of P-lok. There is a bar called “Lady Jane’s.” Meet your colleagues or stop by a language school. Some falangs frequent some of the local bars, restaurants, and clubs mentioned. Learn a bit of Thai and become friends with some Thai people and you will be more than fine.