Pictures
http://www.not5150.com/0901thai/pictures.htm
Wednesday Sept 5 2001
Arrived at 11:00 PM. Took about 45 minutes to clear immigration, because of the huge amounts of people in line. It took only five seconds to clear customs.
I exchanged $200 in travelers checks. The girl behind the counter started laughing, and said that I was rich. These checks were left over from the last trip. So I wanted to convert them ASAP. The current exchange rate is around 44 baht per US Dollar
I paid 650 baht for an airport taxi to Majestic Suites. This is above market price, generally the taxi ride should only cost about 200-300 baht. The reason I chose the airport taxi is that I was tired from the flight and wanted transportation ASAP to my hotel. I didn't want to stand in the taxi line outside. I still ended up waiting about 15 minutes for a driver. The ride took about 30 minutes, because the driver didn't know where it was. I was explaining that it was on Sukhumvit road near Soi Nana. I find it amazing that I know the directions better than the taxi driver.
Check-in was painless and only took about three minutes at Majestic Suites. They had all of my information already on computer from my last visit. It was around 2 AM, and I tried to go to sleep. Damn jetlag stopped me, so I dressed up and explored the neighborhood. I went to Nana Plaza, Angel's Disco, Thermae, and a bunch of other places. They were all closed. Noticed that there were quite a few ladies milling around on the sidewalks. In fact, across from Majestic there were about 15 ladies sitting on one corner. Some of them were desperate, as they tried to block my way, by stretching out their arms.
Quite a few stunners walking on the sidewalks. I was in a exploratory mood, so I didn't approach any of them. Did have an interesting conversation with a lady near Thermae. Actually it was at the doors of the mall above Thermae. There were three ladies. Two of them were a 6, while the third was about an 8. The so-so one was trying to get me to go with the other so so one. The good looking one was ignoring me, putting on her makeup. I asked the 6 if Thermae was closed. She said that it closed at 2AM, but said that she was open! She asked where in Bangkok I worked, because I spoke good thai. I told her that I was on vacation from Los angeles. She didn't understand what vacation was, so I said holiday.. Then she understood. Tip to everyone.... the girls here dont understand the word vacation, they understand holiday. I didn't ask about her good looking friend, because it might have been considered to be a loss of face for her ugly friend. I told her thank you and left. She pretended to cry.. I hate it when girls do that.
Thursday September 6 2001
Woke up at 10AM, and had the free Majestic Suites breakfast. I always pick the Thai style breakfast, which consists of boiled rice, and chicken. I became addicted to this the last trip as it has the right amount of spicy kick to start you off in the morning.
I exchanged the rest of my travelers checks at a nearby bank. I decided this trip that I should exchange the checks ASAP. On my last trip I took three separate trips to exchange all my checks.
I got on the Internet at the Coffee World next to Majestic Suites. Access was 100 baht for 80 minutes. Try to beat that price in the United States
The throughput was slow, I think that they were sharing a modem line. I went to Panthip Plaza, and thanks to the policies of Prime Minister Thaksin (some call him PM toxin), no vendors would sell me pirated software and DVDs. They said that if I bought anything that it would be mailed to me in about three days. Many of the same booths that were open my last trip were closed. Strange thing is that the booth itself was still up, but the people were gone. That was really a drag.
I explored Siam Center, the Discovery Center, and MBK mall. I had lunch at the Pizza Hut on the top floor of MBK. Two tourists walked in with a Thai lady (not bad prob an 8). The sat down on the table next to some high school students. The HS students started talking to and teasing the girl. Evil stares were coming from the HS students also. Not very nice, even if she is a prostitute. The bill for Pizza Hut came out to 168 baht, about 4 bucks for a pizza, garlic bread and two 7-Ups. I love thailand. One walk in MBK mall during the day and you will be convinced that the women in the United States suck compared to thai ladies. The best looking girls are the University girls.
Went back to the hotel and took a nap til about 6. I started hitting the bars at 7. The great thing I like about staying at Majestic is that Nana Entertainment Plaza is so darn close. It is about a minute walk from the hotel. Im just so surprised that the girls in NEP give you a blank stare when you say that you're staying at Majestic suites. Decided to tour NEP and started with the Vodoo bar. The dancers were decent looking. One of the welcome girls was cute, but I was only looking at that point. I paid 130 baht for an orange juice and a coke for the waitress. 65 baht seemed to be the average price for drinks at all of the bars.
My next stop was the Rock Hard Go-Go. Rock Hard used to be located on Soi Cowboy, before they lost their lease. Kinda a small gogo.. A nice touch was the full wall sized mirrors so that the dancers can look at themselves. Not that great of quality. I went to the Carnival gogo on the third floor. Some pretty dancers. Things are starting to pick up as it is 9PM.
Went to Rainbow I, which had some very nice dancers. I was put off by the pressure for drinks. I was swarmed by two dancers and three waitresses for drinks. Final tab came to 725 baht! Of course I bought a lot of drinks (10-11 or so). The waitresses were asking me if I liked anyone... I said no. Then a stunner walked by, and I was tell them, "Pretty, pretty!! I want her!" One of the waitresses took off after the stunner, and came back saying she was taken. Damn damn!!!
If anyone else says that I look Japanese I will kill them. Every single girl that I talk to says that I look Japanese. Quite a few will actually start talking to me in Japanese. They seemed shocked when I tell them that I am American. I also tell them my name is Bob and that I am 100 years old
Walked over to Rainbow II which seemed to have a more laid back atmoshphere, spotted a stunner and barfined her for 500 baht. I noticed that the same ladies work at Rainbow I and Rainbow II. That should be too much of a surprise. Has anyone notices the one lady that wears the flourescent green outfit?
Here is a little tip in terms of procedures in the go-go bar. If you see a girl that you like that is dancing, just get one of the waitresses to help you. I will give the waitress a 100 baht to tell the dancer that I like her. I suppose the normal way is making eye contact and smiling, but when you are in a dark bar it is very difficult. Buy the lady a drink and try to have her sit down, because she is probably tired and thirsty from dancing.
Took her back to the room... and uh watched TV
I will leave out the lurid details for brevity, but she was one of the few bargirls that could really french kiss. Her personality really picked up in the hotel room, I think the ice breaker was the talking Pooh that I had on top of the television. This talking Winnie the Pooh is only $17 at Kaybee Toy Store's in the United States. I has a large vocabulary and Pooh's head rotates and tracks your voice. I was wai'ing it like it was Buddha. You need to have something in your room to make her feel at ease. That is why I let her shower first and turn the TV to the MTV Asia Channel. It seems that bargirls are addicted to MTV for some strange reason. They will stare at it transfixed Paid her 1500 baht for a short time. Probably a little high, but oh well. I wanted her to stay for a longtime but she said that she didn't have time. Friday September 8 2001
Well rainy season has come, huge thunderstorms early in the morning. Damn this jetlag.. I feel tired but I can't sleep. It's 5AM, I am tired, but I can't sleep.
I think Majestic suites is a great hotel, but this time I have bugs in my room! Little things that move very fast, probably dust mites or fleas. They were crawling all over my luggage and backpack. It wasn't a big deal until they started crawling on my Ipaq and laptop. I will ask the management if they can change my room. Hopefully this is an oversight on Majestic's part, but next time I come here I will try staying at another hotel.
Ate breakfast again (thai style). It is raining outside which should cool things down abit.
After the storm, the sky cleared up. Wow! Blue sky with puffy white clouds... First time I have been able to see blue sky in Bangkok.
So far I have only taken one picture with a borrowed digital camera. It can take pictures with 3.1 megapixel quality, which should be a lot better than the 1.3 megapixel camera that I usually bring. I should make up for the deficit today.
Went on a little shopping excursion to Siam Center/Discovery Center again. I tried to find the Hard Rock Cafe at the Siam Center but couldn't. I will try again tomorrow.
Ate lunch at Au Bon Pain in the Siam Center. I had a Ceasar Salad and -Up for 85 baht, or about 2 bucks
I finally found Hard Rock Cafe and bought two polo shirts. As I was leaving the sales person said, "Arigato gozaimasu." I was about to jump over the counter and kill her!
At night, I started with the Titty Twister bar on the second floor of NEP. It was very small and didn't have too many girls. I didn't think the quality was that great, even though some people on the net think so. I left after one drink for myself and one drink for a girl.
Next stop was the G-Spot which is also on the second floor. It is famous for nice girls and their shower/dildo show. This place is BIG. Probably at least 20 -25 girls dancing at one time. Some of them were VERY nice. As with other bars, I was latched onto by two girls, no doubt because of my Japanese looks. They spoke excellent English.
I saw one girl dancing that had nice tits (boob job). She had a nice smile and was dancing fairly energetically. I told one of my girls that I liked her. After she stopped dancing she came over and I bought her a drink. She thanked me and said that she had to return to dancing. As she started dancing an American that was seated next to the stage started talking to her and offered to buy her a drink. I told one of the girls I was with that I wanted to barfine her NOW. I gave a waitress 500 for the barfine, so basically I pulled the rug out from under the guy. We had some dinner at the nearby restaurant, and then it was back to my room for some ummmm TV watching. We did have a good conversation of bargirl economics and politics.
She says that all of the farangs and night workers hate P.M Thaskin. The day workers like him, because his views help them. She said that the dancers have to get their barfines in early to make money. I asked her about the situation at Panthip plaza, she said that the police have cracked down on pirated software. She gets 40 baht per drink and averages about 10 - 20 drinks per night. Now that is ALOT of cola. She also gets 7000-10000 per month for dancing. Im sure she gets barfined often, because her watch/shoes/clothes/etc were all bought by farang customers. She also showed me some German money that tourists tipped her with. Now this is really stupid, because you're in a foreign country and you tip in your native money. Doesn't reflect too good on german tourists.
Now lets add up the numbers. Let's take the low side of 10 drinks per night. She says that she works 6-7 nights a week.. So lets say 25 days a month. 10 drinks would give her 400 baht per day, or 10000 baht per month. Add this to the 7000 she makes from dancing equals 17000 baht... Not including any barfining customers. She can definately get at least one per night.. so thats about 1500 baht/day times 25 days. That makes a grand total of about 44500 which I think is on the low side, because she probably can get multiple barfines. Some customers (japanese) might also give more than 1500 baht for a shortime.
We also had a discussion on what kind of guys bargirls like. She said that alot of them marry Americans. They like Japanese men for their money, but not for conversation. She said that most japanese guys are really boring because they cant speak thai or japanese. After doing the deed, which she performed well, she said that she couldn't stay longtime. I paid her 2000 baht, which is too much, but I didn't have any purple 500 baht notes on me. DOH!!! A tip for ya guys never run out of 500 baht bills.
Saturday Sept 8
What is strange is that I have spent less than $300 on this trip. So I went to the ATM and withdrew 15000 ($340 USD) baht. The great thing about the ATM is that they automatically convert the currency for the best rate. Today will be a "shop til I drop" day.
Went next door to Majestic Tailors. I have heard many good things on the Internet about them. I bought two cashmere wool suits, and six all-cotton shirts for 17800 baht ($400 USD). Everything was hand-tailored.... So talk about a great deal! The comparable price in the United States would have been a few thousand dollars.
Next stop was the Emporium gift shops. This is very easy to get to.. Just take the SkyTrain to the Phrom Phoeng (sp?) exit. The Emporium shops have their own walkway on the south side. There I purchased prescription Ray-Ban sunglasses for 6800 baht ($150 USD).
I went to Burmagrad Hospital to get three moles on my face removed. See my separate report on the hospital for more information.
Slept until 1:00 AM and then went to NEP. Dropped into Fantasia (2nd floor Nana) at around 1:30 AM. It was pretty dead, girls were OK. At 1:55 AM they started putting up the stools and turning off the lights. It is a strange feeling to walk out into NEP, and see all the bars dark. Guys, girls, everyone were streaming out into the square. Some girls were pretty desparate to get guys at this point.
See my separate report on coping with the 2AM crackdown. It is still possible to find sanuk after 2AM.
Dropped into the Nana Coffee Shop at around 2:30 AM. It is packed with people.. And some nice girls. I had beef fried rice and a sprite for 100 baht ($2.50 USD). It takes them a long time to make the food, but what do you expect for a big coffee shop.
Sunday September 9, 2001
Well today is my last day in Bangkok. During the day, I ventured into Soi Patpong and Soi Thaniya. Soi Thaniya has many Japanese themed bars, but they were not open. I will try them tonight. According to the Internet newsgroups some of the best looking women are at Soi than iya. Of course the price is geared towards Japanese business men.
As I was walking through Soi Patpong, I was bothered by three touts. I really hate these men and sometimes women that try to steer you to certain massage parlors. They will have glossy photobooks, with very nice looking women in them. These women are generally not the same ones that you will find if you visit the place. The touts are extremely bothersome and follow you for blocks and blocks. After continous NOs, they still follow you. Is there a spray to get these people off of you?
I picked up my suits and shirts from Majestic Tailors, and everything fit perfectly. With the six shirts and two suits, the trip has paid for itself. I am very impressed with the workmanship and the demeanor of Majestic Tailors and their staff. They threw in a free silk tie, and served me Earl Grey Tea while I was there. Majestic Tailors keeps your measurements on file, so you can mail order suits/shirts from them in the future. They said that they don't advertise too much, because word of mouth is their best advertisement. I agree with that!
I checked out the Art Bars on Sukhumvit Soi 33. They are named after legendary figures such as Napaleon, Van Goh, Renoir, etc. The Art Bars are similar to the hostess bars in the United States. The ladies are dressed in cocktail dresses. The surroundings are quiet, unlike the noisy go-go bars. I visit the Napoleon Bar, because they had six dressed to kill ladies sitting out front. There were a few pools tables inside. Once again, everyone started talking Japanese to me. All the ladies started laughing when I ordered an orange juice. Since I don't drink, this usually gets that reaction.
This bar had three mamasans, and all of them spoke excellent English. Much better than the mamasans in the go-go bars. Since the Art Bars cater to wealthy foreigners, this should be no surprise. One of the mamasans came over and said that she had a very special lady for me. The mamasan said this lady was brand new, and it was her first day on the job. I was feeling a little adventurous so I told her OK. Out comes a really nice looking girl wearing a red cocktail dress. She spoke very little English and was quite shy. I asked mamasan if I could take the new girl outside. Mamasan said yes, and asked if I wanted a second girl to tag along, because the first one couldn't speak good English. The barfine was 1500. Total price for drinks and barfine came out to 3070 baht. I bought everyone a drink, in exchange for taking a few pictures. Yes, much more expensive than the Gogo bars.
I took the new girl to eat by Nana Entertainment Plaza (all of you ASFO'ers know this place). I had a really good time, however she would not go into the hotel with me! It was funny seeing the looks on the Majestic Suites staff and security, as I tried to coax this girl into the hotel lobby. She stayed outside of the glass doors. I wonder if the mamasan told the new girl everything about how things work. Since I already had a good time, I wasn't going to push the issue. I gave her 500 baht a taxi, and sent her away.
Went to the Rainbow I Gogo, and was latched onto by a nice looking girl. Barfined her for 500, and paid her 1500 for a short-time.
I had a 7:35 AM flight on Monday. Make sure that you leave at least 1 1/2 early, because it takes a taxi about 20-30 minutes to get to the airport. This was a great trip, because I knew exactly where to go. The first trip was a feeling out trip… this trip I went to all the places I missed the first time. I will return again soon… and visit Soi Cowboy and Soi Patpong.