October 24, 2004
Flew from Los Angeles Airport to Taipei, Taiwan, on the way to Bangkok.
My seat
wouldn't recline, but I stayed in it anyway. I sat next to
a man who was from Kaohsiung.
(One of my best friends grew up in the same
city.)
October 25, 2004
Flew from Taipei to Bangkok. I sat next to a male Thai student. He
was studying at the
University of Illinois in Champagne-Urbana. He
helped me a lot with my ability to
speak Thai intonations.
"Thank You!" The plane arrive at Bangkok airport at 2:20am
(20
minutes late). I took a 300-baht taxi ride to the Woraburi Hotel (on
Sukhumwit-Soi
4), took a shower, and went to bed. By the way, at
that time, the dollar was worth
approximately 41 baht.
October 26, 2004
I had the complimentary breakfast at the hotel. (The fruit was very
good.) I bought a
prepaid cell/mobile phone (2,990 baht) and some
time on it (700 baht). I planned on
selling it to either my friend
in Korat (The purpose of my trip was to visit him.) or my
friend in Bangkok
(who I met on a previous trip to Thailand). I took the Skytrain to go
shopping. (I kept taking it to the wrong stations and the wrong
direction. I had a Big
Mac for lunch and called my 2 friends.
I met the one in Bangkok at 'Bus Stop', my
favorite outdoor restaurant in
Bangkok. After a couple of Thai iced teas, we went to a
beer garden
(bar) on Soi 7. ("Soi" means "street" in Thai.) We met a woman
named
Mahlee (sp?), the sister of a woman that my friend knew. The
three of us went across
the street to eat some dinner. Afterwards,
my friend and I went to a pool hall and played
a few games. After
that, he was tired so I went to a bar by myself. I met 4 people -- 3
men and 1 woman -- from England. When the bar closed, I went out and
people-
watched. I ran into them and the five of us went to a remote
after-hours bar in the
Patpong area. We left after about one hour.
One of the men and I went to a street
vendor and had dinner/
breakfast. When we finished, the sky was getting brighter
because
the sun was going to be rising soon. I walked back to my hotel and
crashed. Boy, did I! Wait until you read the next part!
October 27, 2004
When I woke up, I called the front desk because there was no clock in the room.
The
person said that it was noon. "Nah!" I
was still tired, so I went back to sleep. When I
woke up, I called
the front desk again. They said that it was 5:30. Wow!
Talk about
jet lag! So, I called my friend in Bangkok and met him
at 'Bus Stop'. We had dinner, I
dropped off my passport at the hotel
(because I cashed a travelers check earlier), and
met my friend at the beer
garden on Soi 7. He wasn't feeling well, so he left 15
minutes
later. I talked with a woman for a few minutes and then went out to some
other
bars. I met a couple of nice women -- Pai and Poo. I
took Poo out for a late dinner and
ran into one of the people that I went
out to a bar with the previous night. After the
three of us ate, I
took her back to the bar and I returned to my hotel at 3 o'clock.
October 28, 2004
I woke up at 6:30 and got up at 7:00. I took a taxi to the airport and
flew to Chiangmai.
The plane took off at 10:25am and we arrived one hour
later. (It cost around $100.) I
tried to find the hotel that
my friend in Korat suggested, but had no luck. So, I stayed at
the
hotel that the taxi driver took me to -- Downtown Inn. It cost 700 baht
per night. I
walked to the "main road" where the night
market opened after sunset (at that time of
the year, around 6 o'clock).
I bought some time for my cell phone. I had a stomach
ache,
so I rested in the room until 4:30. Later, I walked down to the night
market area
(3 blocks of vendors selling clothes and food). I
checked my email (7 baht for 20
minutes). I asked the man working
there for a good restaurant and he suggested "The
Riverside".
The food there was okay and the atmosphere was great. It
overlooked the
largest river in the city and they had background piano
music.
Afterwards, I found a taxi and asked him to take me to a karaoke bar. We
went to one
named "Orchid". A girl named Khing went to a
room with me and we sang and drank
for one hour. The mama-san
brought the bill and it was 3,100 baht. I only had 880
baht, so one
of the waiters took me to my hotel so that I could get more money. I
cashed
a travelers check, we returned to "Orchid", and I paid the
remaining money. I also
tipped Khing, the mama-san, and the waiter
-- Num. Num drove me back to my hotel --
for free -- and I went to
bed at about 11:30 after watching CNN international news
about the U.S.
presidential election. I woke up at 2:30 and laid in bed for one hour.
When I realized that I wasn't going to be able to go back to sleep, I got
up to enter this
information into my journal. As I went to get it,
there was a large (2-1/2" long by 1"
wide cockroach on the desk.
Wow! I was more careful where I stepped the rest of the
time that I
was in the hotel. I finally went back to sleep around 5:30.
October 29, 2004
I woke up at 8 o'clock. I had a complimentary breakfast at 8:30.
At 9:30, I took a taxi
to Wat Phra Taht Doi Suthep. (It took 40
minutes to get there and cost 600 baht.) I
walked around the temple
for about 50 minutes. The taxi driver -- Art -- took a picture
of me
standing in front of the entrance to the temple and then drove me back down to
the city and to 2 more temples. I returned to the hotel at 12:15.
At 1 o'clock, I went to
the airport. While I was waiting for
my flight (after accidentally trying to get onto the
flight before it), I
met an American woman -- Carmen -- who was a professor at the
University of
Washington in Seattle.
In Bangkok, I checked into the Dynasty Inn. (It was close to the
"fun" and the Woriburi
Hotel had raised its rates for the high
season.) I took a nap and woke up at 7 o'clock. I
took a
shower and went to 'Bus Stop'. My American friend living in Korat met me
there
at about 9:45. We left at about 10:30. We went to a
billiard bar in front of the 'Nana
Entertainment Plaza'. After about
15 minutes, he played a game -- and lost badly!
The girl that he knew
there hadn't written down my so that I could play , so we finished
our
beers and left. We went to another bar (Soi Cowboy) and had a beer at a
bar there.
After that, we went to another bar there and had a couple more
beers. We then went to
a final bar there and had a couple more
beers. We returned to our hotels at 9 o'clock.
October 30, 2004
I got up at about 7:45. I met my friend from Korat at 'Bus Stop' and ate
breakfast. I
left the hotel at 10 o'clock and we went to the bus
station together to go to Korat. At the
station, I took a picture of
the bus "hostess", but she wasn't working on our bus.
Wouldn't you
know it -- The hostess on our bus was a lady-boy! Ahhhh! Well, we
arrived at Korat about 3 hours later.
We took a tuk-tuk (motorcycle taxi) to my friend's house. We took
showers and relaxed
watching TV until his girlfriend arrived about 45
minutes later (3:45). (My friend
pointed out that there were no
taxis in Korat because the man who owned the tuk-tuk
company arranged with
the local government to prohibit them. That way, he gets all of
the
taxi-oriented business in the city.)
After an hour-and-a-half, we went to a local steak house -- 'Steak Jim Jaw'
(aka, 'Steak
Dip Sauce'). Afterwards, we went to "The
Mall". We looked around for things for me
to buy for gifts and
souvenirs and then we went to an ice cream parlor ("Swenson's").
Afterwards, we went bowling in the mall. It was 10:15 when we finished
and we were
tired, so we went back to my friend's house to crash.
October 31, 2004
Unfortunately, I got up early again -- 4 o'clock this time! I tried to
go back to sleep, but
I gave up at 5:15 and got up. After my friend
and his girlfriend got up and showered, we
dropped off our laundry and
then had breakfast at a nearby hotel's restaurant. Then,
we went to
a driving range and hit golf balls for about one hour. (They had machines
that automatically place the balls on the tee for you.) Afterwards,
we picked up the
laundry, returned to the house, hung up the clothes to
dry, and took naps. An hour
later, my friend and I went to a
restaurant -- "Pizza Shop" -- for lunch/dinner while his
girlfriend got a massage. We returned to his place, took showers, and
watched a movie
(an American one via satellite TV). We were still
so tired from hitting golf balls that we
took 1-hour naps again (and
decided to NOT play golf when we went to Bangkok the next
weekend).
At 7:30, we went back to "The Mall" for me to buy things.
I got three 100%
silk shirts, a 100% silk tie, and some tennis
shoes. (Mine were worn out.) I wanted to
get some more
things because everything was so inexpensive (Each silk shirt cost between
$12 and $13 each.), but I was tired of shopping (which doesn't take much for
me).
We went to a BBQ restaurant in "The Mall". My
friend's girlfriend decided that she
was tired, so my friend and I went
to a local pub and played snooker (my first time). He
and I beat
the other guys (an American and a Canadian) and then my friend beat me at
one-on-one. At 11:30, we went back to my friend's place and crashed at
about midnight.
Note: Thai people do not celebrate Halloween except at
some bars in order to attract
foreign customers.
November 1, 2004
I woke up at about 6 o'clock and packed my bag for my return trip to Bangkok.
At
about 8 o'clock, my friend and his girlfriend left for work.
At 9:15, I walked to "Main
Street" and caught a tuk-tuk to
the bus station. It left at 9:35 and I arrived at the 'Mo
Chit' bus
terminal (the one farthest away from my destination, of course) at about 12:45.
(It cost 157 baht.) I took a taxi (150 baht) to the Dynasty Inn.
I met another American
friend who flew in from The Philippines that
day for business. He, his Thai girlfriend,
and I went to a mall.
He wanted to get business cards made there. He wasn't successful
because the people working there couldn't find the file with the card
information in it
that ones of his business associates had made at the same
store. So, they returned to his
hotel and I went to 'Bus Stop' for
dinner. I left at about 7:15 and went around to a few
bars.
I went to bed around 3:15. (I must have had fun, but I don't remember a
lot
about that night.) Note: My friend in Korat told me that not all
monks are "in for life".
Apparently, every Thai man is required to
become a monk for at least 6 months some
time during their life.
Interesting! "Monk For A Day!" ;)
November 2, 2004
I woke up at 8:30. I had breakfast in the Dynasty Inn lobby. I
cashed a traveler's
check, took some pictures around the 'Nana
Entertainment Plaza' area, read and sent
some email messages, and then I
took the free shuttle from the Dynasty Inn in Bangkok
to the Dynasty Inn
in Pattaya. Note: At that time, gas cost 21.50 baht per liter. In
dollars per gallon, I think that it's around $2.25. The Dynasty Inn
is MUCH nicer than
The Royal Palace, the hotel that I always stay at when I
go to Pattaya. It is SO nice that
I decided to stay there all 3
nights that I was in Pattaya. In particular, it is relatively
new
(about 3 years old), so it is very clean, had a very nice TV with satellite,
and is
convenient to the post office, laundromats near there, and halfway
between "Beach
Road" and "Main Street".
I went to
'Blue Parrot' for lunch, gave the the bottle of Dave's Total Insanity
that I
brought with me from San Diego (for the owner, Kevin), and played
'Connect 4' with
one of the women who worked there -- Boh. The other
women working there that
afternoon were Bang and Didang. After that,
I walked down "Walking Street",
stopped in a beer bar, and played
'Shut The Box' with a couple of women working there
-- for money (5 baht
for low score and 10 baht if one of us got all of the numbers. I
thought that I would get scammed and lose my shorts, but I ended up breaking
even.
One of the two women got all of the numbers during the first 3 games
that we played.
Wow! I've never seen that happen! Then, I
returned to the hotel, took a shower, and
rested for 1-1/2 hours.
(I watched 'The Horse Whisperer', starring Robert Redford.)
Later, I went
to a beer bar near 'Sabai Land'. I returned to 'Blue Parrot' and had a
burrito for dinner. I asked how Laye was doing, a woman who always
worked there
when I visited Pattaya, and the woman working behind the
counter said that she had
gotten married and moved to Laos. I didn't
know that she was Laotian!? After that, I
went to a go-go bar, then
a beer bar until about 2:45am. There was a 1 o'clock curfew
imposed
by the government at that time, so the beer bars would shut off the music, turn
down the lights, and stay open. The sly foxes!
November 3, 2004
I had breakfast at the Dynasty Inn at 9 o'clock (195 baht). I walked
along "Beach
Road" and window shopped. After noon, I had
a couple of beers at a beer bar and
showed a woman there the 'Connect 4'
game that I brought with me. She thought that it
was very funny.
??? I returned to the hotel and took a nap. I went to 'Blue
Parrot'
and had lunch. I went to a go-go bar ('Tahitian Queen') for
a couple of beers. I went to
"Walking Street" and went
into 'Living Dolls #1'. I had one beer and went to a beer
bar across
from 'Marine Disco'. I played a few games of pool there and then went to
'
Disco TK' across the street. I had a couple of beers there and
then went back to the
hotel shortly before they closed at 1am.
November 4, 2004
I woke up at about 9:00, went to the mall, and ate brunch. I went to
'Made in Thailand'
(great prices!) and bought some gifts and souvenirs.
I had to take a break after about 30
minutes because it was so hot
in there. (The place is a bunch of shanty-type shacks
covered with
tarp. So, it keeps the heat in.) I had an iced tea, did some more
shopping,
and then returned to the hotel and took a nap. I went to a
local Thai BBQ restaurant
for dinner and ate until I nearly exploded.
(It cost me $6.) I went back to the hotel and
fell asleep
(again) while watching a movie. I went to "Walking Street"
again and went
into 'Doll House'. They had a guy body-painting the
girls while they danced. That's
pretty impressive! I went
back to 'Disco TK' again and there was a woman there that
was very drunk.
She wouldn't leave me alone, so I went to the bar in the front.
She and
her girlfriend found me out there and started bothering me again,
so I returned to the
hotel. That was about 2am. (Obviously,
the government-imposed curfew is loosely
enforced in Pattaya.)
November 5, 2004
I woke up at about 11 o'clock. Finally! I slept in! I had a
Thai breakfast at a nearby
restaurant. At 1 o'clock, I caught the
hotel shuttle (350 baht) back to the Dynasty Inn in
Bangkok.
Unfortunately, they couldn't find my reservation, so they found me a room at
Woraburi Hotel. (I was pissed off and I walked the 5 blocks to the
hotel, pulling my
suitcase behind me. It was probably just as well
so that I could blow off some steam.) I
checked in and called my
friend in Korat to find out his plans. He said that he had to
work
on Saturday morning and that he would arrive in Bangkok on Saturday between
5pm and 6pm. I called my Bangkok friend and we met at 'Bus Stop'
about 45 minutes
later. Note: Drinks cost the same for the woman
working there as they do for the
customers. That's the same
situation with the beer bars but the go-go bars charge more.
Afterwards,
my friend and I played pool at a place at the entrance of Soi Cowboy. I
played 5 games -- 2 of them doubles, was on a hot streak, and won all of
them. One of the
women who my doubles team played twice and beat
both times "wanted to play me and
kill me", according to the
woman who was my doubles partner. So, she and I played
against each
other. She won the first game and I won the next 5 games, only letting
her
have one shot in one of them. She was more mad than ever!
Well, another Thai woman
doesn't like me. My friend had already
left, so when I was done with the last game, I
went back to the Woraburi
Hotel and went to sleep.
November 6, 2004
I woke up at 6 o'clock, probably because I went to bed earlier than usual -- 1
o'clock. I
ate breakfast and packed my things. My friend
living in Bangkok offered me a room
during my last night in Thailand in his
4-bedroom apartment, and I accepted. I tried
calling him 3 times
between 9:30 and 10 o'clock (He said that he was always up by 9
o'clock.),
but he didn't answer. So, I walked the three blocks to his place.
He was
there, along with an American co-worker who was staying in one of
the other rooms. He
had turned off his cell phone the night before
and forgot to turn it back on. He said
"C'mon over!", so
I went back to the Woraburi Hotel, got my things, paid the 200-baht
fee for
checking out between noon and 4pm, and moved into one of his extra rooms.
He and his colleuge had work to do, so I went to a beer garden on Soi 7.
I had a couple
of beers and spoke with two sisters that my friend and I had
met before (Mahlee from
October 26th). My friend from Korat called
me at 5 o'clock while I was there, so I
finished my beer and left to meet
him at 'Bus Stop'. After I arrived, he and I ate dinner
and had a
couple of beers. I decided to give the woman -- Pung -- who always sat
down
with me whenever I went there, a gift. I paid her "bar
fine" (more like a "restaurant
fine" since that's what we
were in) so that she could take a couple of days off to visit her
family.
However, she insisted on spending the time off with us. So, she,
my friend from
Korat, my friend from Bangkok, and I went to (yet another)
pool hall ('Swan Inn') and
played about 10 games. Wouldn't you know
it -- The one table that my Korat friend and
I played on was being racked
by a lady-boy. It was scary because I wouldn't have known
it if it
wasn't for his/her voice. He/She wasn't too tall, didn't have an adams
apple, didn't
have hairy arms or knuckles, or any of the other tell-tale
signs.
Afterwards, my Bangkok friend returned to his place and Pung took my friend and
I
took a local Thai comedy show at a place called "Coliseum".
It is a large, 2-story
building and can hold around 350 people.
They had dancing, singing, and a lot of joking
around about lady-
boys. After about 1 hour, my friend returned to his hotel because he
needed to get up early for the 3-hour bus ride back to Korat. Pung
and I stayed for
another 30 minutes and she insisted on going back with me
to the apartment. So, she
did, but we didn't "mess
around". I think (hope?) that she is a "good girl".
November 7, 2004
We woke up at 8:15 and got up at 9:15. (No, we didn't do any hanky-
panky!) She kept
insisting on seeing me off at the airport.
I kept responding that I didn't want her to do
it, but she wouldn't take
'No' for an answer. I started some laundry, took a shower, and
the
four of us went to a beer garden/restaurant on Soi 8. After that, we went
back to the
apartment, I dried my clothes in the dryer (which is unusual to
have in Thailand), and
packed my suitcase. My flight was at 5:50pm, so I
left at 4:15. Pung went with me, I
checked in my bags, and then went
back out of security to sit with her until I needed to
leave. You
should have seen the sad, puppy-dog type face that she had as I turned
around to wave goodbye as I walked through the final door. Yet another
Thai woman
who doesn't like me, maybe.
That's it! Another fun, adventurous, interesting, scary trip to Thailand.
As much fun as
Thailand is, I don't know if I'll ever go back again.
There are too many other interesting
places and people to see. But
this will probably be a "kiss of death" and I'll probably go
back
again. Hey, I didn't get sick during this trip! That's a first!
One last thing -- The
real name of the capital of Thailand is not
Bangkok, at least for the Thai people. The real
name is 'Krung Thep'.
At least that's what I thought. My friend in Bangkok found out
what the real name is from his girlfriend. It's 'Krung Thep
Mahanakhon Amon
Rattanakosin Mahinthara Ayuthaya Mahadilok Phop Noppharat
Ratchathani Burirom
Udomratchaniwet Mahasathan Amon Piman Awatan Sathit
Sakkathattiya Witsanukam
Prasit'. "Oh-ho!"