Bangkok-Pattaya tics, 11/2001

by Green Grasser
greengrasser@yahoo.com
(formerly El Hunter)

Continuation.


42. FORTUNE HOTEL, www.fortunehotel.com, Ratchadapisek Road (which to the south near Sukhumvit Road becomes Soi 21), Bangkok. Do not confuse this hotel with Fortuna Hotel in the Sukhumvit area. Four-star hotel, in-room safe, carpeting, big closet, drawers, fruit basket, hair dryer, etc. Got a special rate of B1500 for single or B1700 for double (two persons) through Showtime's financee. Showtime suggested registering for a double in order to bring a girl in without paying a visitor fee (B800 or more). I did see evident tourist males from Europe or America with the better Thai females aged 20 or more. These rates were the same as the hotel's low season rates, spring to October. One major advantage was the three-floor mall adjoining the hotel, which contains a supermarket, department stores, bunch of cheap food vendors, five fast food chains, computer vendors, and other vendors. One fourth floor store displayed used cameras, such as Mamiya, Nikon, Nikkormat, and other optical goods like a pawn shop. Three third floor stores sold various merchandise including used 33.3 rpm LP vinyl records. Leaving the hotel, turn left and walk about 15 minutes and on the left are several buildings setback from the street in a u-shape. The furthest one back is a theater with a transvestite show for Asian tourists and the admission was over B800. One building has a large lobster sign over it and it may be the place that Showtime said one buys some tickets to dance with Thai girls. Leaving the hotel, turn right and two massage parlors are within a ten minute walk. See item #40. However, I could not find anyone selling tourist tee shirts. To go elsewhere, one has to take a taxi, which are plentiful at all times of the day or night, or a bus. A free hotel shuttle was available at three different hours per day, with only the 8 pm shuttle going to Pat Pong and the bell boy suggested a shuttle reservation a few hours in advance.

43. LASER SURGERY. Bumrungrad Hospital, between Soi 1 and Soi 3, near Sukhumvit Road. On Soi 3, there is a Thai man directing traffic in and out of a barely two-lane alley which leads to a huge six-story building. Walk towards this building to a car drop-off point in front of revolving doors. Take the escalator to the mezzaine and another to the 2nd floor, where there is an overhead sign that states registration. After registering as a new patient, take the escalator to the 3rd floor, turn right, and look for the Skin Center on the left. Check in at the counter. In August 2001, I e-mailed the hospital for an appointment to remove some moles, age spots, and cysts from my face and arms. It took about two months and ten e-mails to get a response, a physician, two appointments, and a cost estimate. The first physician said that the delay was due to a physician conference being held on the days I planned for Bangkok, which nearly all physicians would attend. My plan was to arrive in Bangkok, the next day have laser surgery, go to Pattaya for a week of fun, return to Bangkok, go to the hospital for a follow-up visit, enjoy the Showtime parties, and leave. Instead I had to agreed to my first appointment on my second day. However, the first appointment was just a physician consultation and she wanted to do the surgery two days later. She explained that laser surgery on the arms or torso would leave a scar, because of the lack of blood flow in those areas unlike the face. We agree on surgery on my face on a day after my return from Pattaya. She warned me to stay out of the sun or else the color of the lasered skin will be darker after recovery. This delay was actually better, because I did not realized until after the laser surgery that it would leave wounds in my face. I arrived at the hospital at 9 am and signed a release form and a nurse put an anesthetic ointment on my face. After an hour wait for the ointment, the doctor came in and lasered the crap off my face for 20 minutes. I felt nothing, except a minor tingle once or twice, and smelt something burning once. She told me not to wash my wounds for two days, put an antibotic cream on the wounds twice a day for a week, and afterwards wear a sunblock for up to three months while the pits filled in and the pink spots returned to natural color. After the surgery, I looked in a mirror and was shocked by the wounds in my face. No bandage was placed over them. I was embarrassed by how bad it looked. However, not a single Thai person registered any emotion on seeing my face, except the employees of a deluxe facial salon in the mall next to the Fortune Hotel who merely turned away, and my American and European friends were kind enough to say that my face did not look bad but looked different. Searching the internet about laser surgery, different types of laser are mentioned. A CO2 (carbon dioxide) laser was used on my face. The internet said that for CO2 laser surgery, the patient recovers in one to two weeks and redness remains for months for most patients, but never mentions skin wounds. For colored light laser surgery on age spots, freckles, and broken blood vessels, there is supposedly very little skin discoloratrion and redness is present for up to a few weeks. Does this mean no skin wounds? After two days, dark scabs began to form on my wounds. I waited to the third day to wash and all the scabs fell off, except for three spots that were large. One of the scab was itchy for two days. By the sixth day, my face looked like there was a moderate case of acne. Two weeks later, all wounds were healed but were pinkish, which could be acne. Other than no explicit warning about the facial wounds for five days, my only complaint is that one small plugged-up sebaceous cyst was reduced in size but was not lasered enough to remove it. Another side effect was the surgery was a shock to my system, and about a week later I caught a chest cold which I attribute to the surgery's shock on my system. The costs were B300 for the consultation and B9,013 for the surgery, which included B7,500 for the service, B110 for the antibotic cream, and the rest for equipment and supplies. If I do this again, I would allot one week for the surgery and recovery and not plan any activities, except for a few beers which helped to increase the blood flow to my face. I hope the hospital obtains a colored light laser.

44. VAN TO/FRO PATTAYA. [1999 - On soi 11 near Sukhumvit is a travel agency called A.W. Business Center. Cost was 400 baht for round-trip. Pickup and dropoff at your hotels. Runs thrice a day. Major drawback is that the two-hour ride will take three hours or more due to all the passengers' pickups and dropoffs. From Pattaya, the ride can be shorten by half an hour by giving the driver 40 baht for the expressway tolls.] This time, A.W. Business Center said that it no longer dealt with van transport to other cities, only air travel. At least two agencies provided van transport to Pattaya. A ticket booth outside of the Soi 7 beer garden advertised 300 baht one-way to Pattaya via van and 1400 baht via car. Storefront travel agencies offer the van service by CR Tours for 350 baht. CR Tours said that its vans left Bangkok at 8 am, 12 noon, 3 pm, and 5 pm and it would start its pickup of passengers up to 1.5 hours prior. Also, CR Tours said that it would charge 450 baht if one books directly with its office which is near the Indra Regent Hotel. Nevertheless, I had two problems with CR Tours. First, I booked through a travel agent at the Nana City Inn on Soi 4 and told her that 3 pm was too late for going to Pattaya. She asked what time I wanted to leave. I said 1pm. She booked me for pickup at 1pm. CR Tours picked me up late at 1:40 pm, had me wait in its office an hour until 3 pm, and delivered me to my Pattaya hotel about 7 pm, due to its pickup of several passengers from hotels on the east side of Bangkok about 3:30 pm a block away from the Siam Orchard Inn. This area looked like it catered to the backpacker crowd. Second, on my return from Pattaya, the CR Tours owner denied my telling him in Bangkok that my return to Bangkok was to the Fortune Hotel. His office called the travel agent who booked the transport and the answer was that the travel agent made an error and CR Tours could not deliver me to the Fortune Hotel because the hotel was not in its area of coverage. Distance-wise, Fortune Hotel was closer to CR Tours office than was the hotels a block away from Siam Orchard Inn. I spent 40 baht to take a taxi from CR Tours office in Bangkok to the Fortune Hotel. My recommendation for those with limited vacation time is to pay 1500 baht for a private car and driver in order to save some hours and hassle, which can be halved by teaming up with another guy through a discussion board.

45. PATTAYA. Schedule more days in Pattaya than in Bangkok. Pattaya has more clubs, bars, and girls and was cheaper.

46. BEACH VIEW HOTEL, [no web address], Soi 2 near Beach Road, Pattaya, 650 baht per day, breakfast not included. Has excellent buffet breakfast until late mornings, 99 baht, which I charged to my room bill when I ate it. No room has a full scenic view. One side of the building has its view blocked by another building less than 20 feet away. Other side of the building, south side, has a full view of the Royal Cruise Hotel across Soi 2, and a diagonal view of the ocean. Excellent room for the price, with air conditioner, full bath, mid-sized refrigerator, cable television with HBO, MTV, CNBC, and several other channels in other languages. Bring shampoo, a big bar of soap, and flip-flops for the tile floor. Others criticized the location, because of the need to take the baht bus and after midnight the difficulty of finding a taxi. I liked the location, because it was quiet, a three-minute walk from the beach, cooler temperature than Second Road, easy walking to a bunch of beer bars and one go-go club and three deluxe massage parlors on Soi 2 near Second Road, a 15-minute walk to North Pattaya Road and Naklua Road where stores, restaurants, etc are little less touristy. In-room regular massage costed B500.

47. MALL, Pattaya. A large upscale two-floor mall is located on Second Road across from Soi 2, behind a KFC building. It has eateries, souvenir shops, supermarket, cinemas, a magazine shop with some books in English, drugstore, etc.

48. INTERNET STORES, Pattaya. There is a building at the intersection that has stores along its Second Road front, North Pattaya Road front, and interior which has five or more internet stores, including one that opens 24 hours. Cost averages 60 baht per hour.

49. BAHT BUS. The local public transport is not comprised of buses, but of pickup trucks that have a roof over and bench seats in the back end. Costs B10. Locals supposedly pay B5. A taxi is one of these pickup trucks that the rider hires for specific travel. My cheapest taxi ride after midnight was B50.

50. BEER BARS, Pattaya. Clusters of beer bars are located all over the town. A beer bar is basically four counters in a square with a refrigerator of beers, bottles of liquor, a music box, and a cash register in the center, stools around the counters, and three or more girls to chat with you and play board games. A cluster of beer bars is usually under a supported roof with no walls.

51. GOGO CLUBS, Pattaya. A gogo club is similar to the air-conditioned clubs in Pat Pong, NEP, and Soi Cowboy, where ten or more girls are freequently on at least one stage dancing to the music. Many clubs will have at least a midnight show when one or more girls will do solo tricks like a magician pulling several rabbits out of a top hat. Price of beer is higher in a club than in a beer bar.

52. MASSAGE PARLORS, Pattaya. Four large deluxe massage parlors dedicated to males. So, Bangkok rule in this specialty, both in quantity of parlors and their waiting room decor and entertainment. But Pattaya massage parlors are cheaper, with the initial tourist quote of B1,500 for 1.5 hours of bathing, soapy massage, brief regular massage, and service. Did not find out if the price was different if I said no taxi driver brought me. Names of three parlors begin with the name Sabai and are located on Second Road, near Soi 2. The fourth parlor is called Happy and is on Naklua Road. Do not confuse these male relaxation massages with "physical" massage.

53. FAVORITE PLACES, Pattaya. 1- FLB (refers to www.freelancerbar.com), Walking Street, ocean side, has a Sunday 8 pm meeting of friendly single men, including several club owners, and parties. Ask to meet the owner or his manager and either will introduce you to the other guys in the club. Also, a good place for tourist couples when its live band plays. 2- Sunday dance contests, at a different club each week. A list showing the schedule and places was posted outside the men's room at Doll House Gogo club, Walking Street. 3- Super 7 Gogo club, Soi 7 has a DJ who played good dance music. 4- Soi 8 Gogo club has 12 Russian girls. The Asian guys were fascinated by them. A lady drink started at B150. 5- Superbaby Gogo club, Soi Diamond (look for sign above Walking Street that says Diamond Beach Hotel) which runs into Walking Street. Watched the tour groups visit a live gogo club, especially the young Korean males who chased the peroxided blonde Thai girls. 6- Misty Gogo club showed a videotape of no-holds-barred ultimate fighting. 6- Spicy Girls Too gogo club, www.spicygirls.org, was under two new owners from London for a year, who were very friendly. 7- Hot & Cold bar, www.freexxxpages.com/hotandcold, Soi Post Office, appeared to be a small, old-style bar where several senior men relaxed with the few available Thai girls.

54. JOMTIEN BEACH. Mr. Gleg recommended, [1999 - "take a baht bus up to Jomtien Beach. This is a better day beach than in town. Hang out with your girl or whatever and get served just about anything you want or activity in the water. 40 baht beach fee(each area is controled by a different Thai). They provide the umbrellas and chairs, keep the beach clean. There are many hotels and guest houses up here that are much quieter than the Pattaya area. I stayed at an old friends place called Moonshine Place. Basic accommodations (a/c,fan,pvt. bath, queen bed)with a internet cafe next door."]

55. BAR FINE. Price paid to the house for the privilege to take out an employee. The price might depend on whether the take-out is short-time, overnight, and/or before a certain time such as midnight. Each place has its own prices. [1999 - The price usually (exception - Happy House) does not include what one pays the girl for her services, which also should be negotiated before you leave the premises. The usual bar fine was 500 baht for a club, like a gogo place that has girls dancing on a stage. A beer bar or beer garden is usually outdoors (thus, no air conditioning and no shows and no girls dancing on a stage) and charges less, maybe 200 baht.]

56. SHORT TIME. In a club, short time means two hours. But, one should check to make sure. [1999 - At Thermae coffeehouse, one girl offered short time and defined it as 30 minutes.]

57. NEGOTIATE. Be sure to negotiate with your selected girl on what you expect. This includes: price, number of hours, number of embraces, extras.

58. GIRL MAGNET. A young-looking normal male should have no problem in attracting Thai girls. Others may have a problem, even in a club where there are girls who are not entertaining a guy. Ten years ago, many Thai girls would swarm me the first time I enter a club, except in the very expensive clubs. Now this is no longer true. However, a big smile and a willingness to buy a lady's drink (usually the same price or less than your beer) will win a few moments of friendship with a girl, for even an old coot. When asked for a lady drink by a girl who did not meet my minimums and I did not already have a girl sitting next to me, I would simply give her a 50 baht bill. She would leave happy and another girl would come over. This was my winning formula and maybe it will work for those guys who are not girl magnets.

59. THAI BAHT FOR THE HOTEL, HOTEL VEHICLE, AND DEPARTURE TAX. [1999 - Grand President Hotel only accepted Thai baht and credit cards, the latter involves an additional 5 percent charge. GP Hotel would not accept nor exchange US dollars and traveler checks. The travel agency in the GP lobby only accepted Thai baht for its ride to the airport. After checking in with the airline, one has to pay the Thailand airport departure tax of 500 baht (only baht is accepted) before passing the immigration check. But, the Bangkok airport had banks in the departure area (after immigration check and before entering the area for the various gates) which will exchange baht for US dollars (about 39 baht + $1). So, after giving an airport bank all my Thai money I left Thailand with a ten baht bill and a one baht coin in my pocket.]

60. HOTEL TO AIRPORT DEPARTURE LOUNGE. I reserved and paid in advance B600 to a gentleman at a desk near the Fortune Hotel front door for a car and driver to take me to the airport at 3:30 am. He was on time and waiting. I saw plenty of empty taxicabs driving by the hotel at that time. The airport has two terminals, so need to know which terminal. Northwest Airlines was in Terminal 2 and it has no sign in front of the terminal. After check in, go to a window to pay the departure tax of B500, payable only in baht.

61. BANGKOK AIRPORT'S TERMINAL 2. Baggage to be checked was opened for a guard's inspection and then x-rayed. Checked-in at the Northwest counter. Next pay the airport departure fee at a booth near the entrances to the Immigration area. Cleared Immigration. Walked into the passenger departure area. Save B20 for coffee at small food stands and the KFC, which is located inside the passenger departure area to the right. All the other stores in the Bangkok airport's departure area only accepted dollars. Exchanged all my bahts for dollars at a bank window and was given dollar bills and the rest in baht coins. Walked towards the departure gate and on the way passed a security checkpoint where my hand bag was x-rayed. Arrived at the waiting room of the departure gate, where some passengers were selected for closer hand baggage and body checks.

62. CHECK-IN [1999 - United Airlines desk clerk and specialist said that I owed $75 for a change of routing. I said that I had asked for a change of date before leaving the US and United said that there was no charge for this change. But, United in Bangkok said that my original routing was through Narita airport, which was changed to Hong Kong and therefore I owed $75 for the change. I said that I was not staying over anywhere and I only wanted US to Bangkok and return and that I was not paying any additional amount when United in US said that there was no extra charge. So, the United specialist changed my ticket to go through Narita. I checked in with another United desk clerk, who said that I would be on stand-by in Narita and therefore would not have a reservation. Luckily, she was older and obviously more experienced than the first two United employess and she discussed my situation with a United supervisor. They changed my ticket back to routing through Hong Kong without a payment of $75 and explained that for United the Hong Kong airport was cheaper than Narita airport.]

63. RETURN FLIGHT. Northwest Airlines. Bangkok to Tokyo, 5+ hours; wait, 2 hours; to Detroit, 11 hours; wait, 2.5 hours; to east coast, 1.5 hours. Avoid Detroit airport for two reasons, two separate buildings requiring a free bus shuttle (ten minute-ride) in the cold and small, crowded, poorly maintained interior in the building for domestic flights. Flight was ordered to wait half an hour on the tarmac before departure without any stated reason; I suspect some passengers looked too middle eastern.

64. TRANSIT AIRPORT SECURITY CHECK. [1999 - Hong Kong airport security made me open my carry-on bag to check my spray can (shaving cream).]

65. THAILAND INTERNET SITES. www.freelancerbar.com is excellent on hotel recommendations and its two discussion boards were excellent on Pattaya; www.nanaplaza.com has a discussion board excellent on Bangkok. asfo.com has an e-mail list that is frequently excellent on Thailand, but may be closed to new members.

66. HIGH POINTS OF MY TRIP were:
-- Showtime's bachelor party at the Pink Panther, Pat Pong 2, Bangkok.
-- Turkey meal directed by Showtime, Fortune Hotel, Bangkok.
-- Laser surgery, Bumrungrad Hospital, Bangkok.
-- FLB's Sunday evening meeting with other single males.
-- Ten to fifteen para-gliders in the sky over the Pattaya waters.
-- Old friends and new friends, such as: Greg (It's Showtime), Pattaya Pete, Freddy, Sugarloafer, Mr. Gleg, Cactusjack, Lady Drink King (also known as Big Daddy Don), Partyhead, Parrothead, Lucky, and many others.
-- Friendly people of Thailand.
-- Warmth of Thai girls.

Bangkok and Pattaya are two cities that every male should visit and experience and even some adventurous females.