Directory A–Z - Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos and Northern Thailand - page 1046

» Roaming is bad for you! Do not be that idiot who cluelessly yaks his way around the world and returns
home to a US$3000 phone bill. Instead, buy a local SIM card, configure it for 3G, and call home for pennies
via VOIP.
» Some phones are 'locked' by the issuing company back home, but most telephone shops in the Mekong
region can 'unlock' them in seconds for a small charge.
» Mobile phone coverage usually extends to all but the most remote areas in the Mekong region.
Time
Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam are seven hours ahea of Greenwich Mean Time or Universal Time
Coordinated (GMT/UTC). When it is midday in Bangkok or Hanoi, it is 10pm the previous evening in San
Francisco, 1am in New York, 5am in London, 6am in Paris and 3pm in Sydney.
Tourist Information
All the countries in the Mekong region have government-funded tourist offices with varying degrees of use-
fulness. Thailand offers by far the most efficient tourism information service. When it comes to the rest, bet-
ter information is often available from dedicated internet sites, guesthouses and travellers cafes, or your fel-
low travellers, rather than through the state-run tourist offices.
Travellers with Disabilities
Travellers with serious disabilities will likely find the Mekong region a challenging place to travel. Incon-
veniences include the following:
» chaotic traffic
» lack of lifts in smaller hotels
» high kerbs and uneven pavements (sidewalks) that are routinely blocked by parked motorbikes and foot-
stalls
» an almost complete lack of disabled-friendly public amenities, even in big cities and major tourist hubs.
On the positive side, most people in the region are helpful towards foreigners, and local labour is cheap if
you need someone to accompany you at all times. Most guesthouses and small hotels have ground-floor
rooms that are reasonably easy to access.
Bus and train travel is tough, but rent a private vehicle with a driver and almost anywhere can become ac-
cessible.
The Travellers With Disabilities forum on Lonely Planet's Thorn Tree ( www.lonelyplanet.com ) is a good
place to seek the advice of other disabled travellers.