World Championships 2011 Bangkok

[cmhardw]

Just booked my flights today Prices went down by about $150 (US) in just the past couple days and I figured now was as good a time to buy as any! See you all there, I can't wait! I arrive late on Monday night of the 10th and leave late on Monday night the 17th.

 

[nlCuber22]

Ok, the following snacks will be banned during the WC, Popcorn – for obvious reasons, Pringles chirps – cause everything pops with Pringles. And If sport commentators from different countries comes the Swedish commentator Andre Pops will be banned!

Might as well ban acne while you're at it.

 

[David Zemdegs]

I bought a tailor-made suit during Asian Championship 2010 in the shop near the reception of the Baiyoke Sky Hotel. Took them 3 days to make it.
I think they are not cheapest you can get, but I like the suit a lot and it still does not wear out.

Thanks Ron. I didnt consider something close to the hotel. I was going by the tripadvisor recommendations. Do you remember how many baht it was and was it just suit and pants or a shirt as well?

 

[James Cavanauh]

pinkys is not the best place for suits. I lived in bangkok for 2 years and visit often and the absolute hands down best was rajas fashions.

 

[Ron]

Do you remember how many baht it was and was it just suit and pants or a shirt as well?

I paid around 200 EUR for a suit and an extra pair of trousers.

 

[David Zemdegs]

I paid around 200 EUR for a suit and an extra pair of trousers.

Thanks heaps for that Ron. It will save me a longer trip to get a suit. And that price is great for a tailored suit and as you say, the quality is as good as most places in bangkok it seems. Do you remember the name of the place? I want to get there to get the initial measurements asap after we arrive as we are leaving on monday.

 

[Ron]

Do you remember the name of the place?

It is called Pearl Collections and it is on the 18th floor of the Baiyoke Sky Hotel. Reception is on one side of the elevators, the small tailor shop is on the other side.

 

[David Zemdegs]

Is there a normal method for determining the order of competitors in an event? e.g. alphabetically, by country, qualifying time, random???

 

[Hays]

I'm going for sure.

 

[Jaycee]

SWEET. Go Kevin, I'm sure you have many people rooting for you! We all want to see that 6x6 WR

 

[Ron]

Is there a normal method for determining the order of competitors in an event? e.g. alphabetically, by country, qualifying time, random???

There are different methods, for WC 2011 we will do slowest groups first, fastest groups last, based on qualification times.
On Friday we have some overlapping events, so people doing multiblind, 4x4blind, 5x5blind can tell us in which group they prefer to compete.

 

[masterofthebass]

Looks like I won't be able to go after all. My school schedule just changed quite a bit :/

 

[cmhardw]

Looks like I won't be able to go after all. My school schedule just changed quite a bit :/

You hadn't already bought tickets or anything had you? I hope you are able to rearrange your schedule and still go to Worlds. I once had a conflict with my school schedule in college for a cubing engagement. I basically approached my instructors and was really honest about why I would be absent (and I did a demo speedsolve for each professor) and they all ended up approving it as an excused absence. If you would really like to go, you may try scheduling a meeting with your professors/whomever you're scheduled to meet with and at least see what they have to say.

 

[masterofthebass]

You hadn't already bought tickets or anything had you? I hope you are able to rearrange your schedule and still go to Worlds. I once had a conflict with my school schedule in college for a cubing engagement. I basically approached my instructors and was really honest about why I would be absent (and I did a demo speedsolve for each professor) and they all ended up approving it as an excused absence. If you would really like to go, you may try scheduling a meeting with your professors/whomever you're scheduled to meet with and at least see what they have to say.

I haven't gotten tickets yet, but that really isn't the problem. I'm starting grad school now, and I really don't want to be missing basically 2 weeks of classes. My schedule just didn't work out like I had hoped :/ Perhaps I may be wrong, but at this point, it doesn't look good.

 

[anders]

Just booked my flights today
Arriving on the Wednesday and staying at the Baiyoke Boutique Hotel. Leaving the Wednesday after to go to Singapore for 9 days. Let me know if you want to join me down there

I live in Singapore, and I will return from the WC on Tuesday.

/Anders

 

[amostay2004]

There's a good chance I won't be able to make it there because it's peak busy period at work and I'm not sure if I can take some day offs Will see how it goes

 

[SittinonSukhaya]

Just a few head ups for those who are going to Thailand

Transportation-wise

There are four types of transportation that you can take. One is motorcycle. Two is took took (which look like this http://www.rd1677.com/backoffice/PicUpdate/35994.jpg ). Three is Taxi. Four is Sky train and sub way.

Motorcycle is usually used for short distance transportation. It is the fastest on-road vehicle in Bangkok due to the traffic. The ride should "NOT" cost more than 3 USD or 90 baht, so be sure to ask the driver how much before you get on because there is no meter like taxi. It usually cost about 1 to USD dollar or 30 to 60 baht for about 2 kilometres drive. If it's more than 5 kilometres, you should consider other transportation such as taxi

Took took have similar system as motorcycle except it can hold 3 people maximum and can take you further (may be like 10 kilometre ). However, it will be slower than motorcycle.

Taxi is the most reliable transportation since it should be able to take you anywhere and there is a definite rate that you can check. The starting cost is about 1 USD or 35 baht(I am not really sure about the rate, however there should be a rate table in the taxi)

Sky train/ sub way will be the most reliable transportation if you know where you are going since it will take you to a definite destination. This kind of transportation will be useful when you are going to a mall.

Keyword for going to the competition place

If you say "Baiyoke sky hotel", the driver will likely misinterpret your destination. The reason is that there are two baiyoke buildings. We usually call them "Baiyoke 1" and "Baiyoke2". The competition place is at "Baiyoke 2". So you should tell the driver "Baiyoke 2" or "Baiyoke song (song = 2 in Thai)". However if they sent you to "Baiyoke 1", don't be too grumpy, because they are close to one another (walkable distance, except the passage will be "very crowded" since there are market places all round the streets ).

Shopping-Wise

There should be no problem if you are shopping in a mall. However if you are buying stuff other than food on the street side, make sure to have a thai person to help you ask for the price. The reason is some merchants might rip you off because they treat you as a foreigner.
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if you have any other question feel free to ask me, I am more than willing to answer them.

 

[David Zemdegs]

Thanks for those tips. I have one question about the thai language. As a male I have to be polite and add a suffix to the end of what I say. So instead of sawadeet, i should say sawadeet khrap. My first question is do I say khrap or khap or doesnt it matter? And do I have to add the suffix at the end of every sentence?
And if I go into a shop or ask about buying a train ticket etc, would it be more polite to ask "khoon phuut phaa saa ang grit dai mai?" instead of assuming they speak english?

 

[SittinonSukhaya]

Well... As for a foreigner, it is pretty hard to pronounce the suffix right because there is an accent that even Thai people sometimes pronounce it wrong. So I would say it doesn't really matter. However it is usually written and pronounce "Krub" in many of the guide book that I have seen.

It's not a "must" for you to add the suffix every time, but it's nice for you to do that. So I would say you should

In general, asking people that they can speak english or not is not necessary sine the majority of us can't speak english. However most receptionist do speak english at the certain level. Staffs at the airport link, sky train station, and malls should be able to speak english. Other than that most should be able to communicate you easy english such as yes, no, ok, and all the numbers like 1000 25000.

 

[Erik]

Really looking forward to the WC. Thanks to Sittinon for all the great Thailand advice, I usually read stuff like that like a spunge. Goal of the WC is no WR's or anything, but not getting ripped off

Ron: will you make a notification on the website when the scheme with groups per person is ready? Last EC it was really helpful to make a personal time schedule, since I had so many overlapping events. (plus squeezing in the Mosaic building)