Portege:

I bet you are sure glad you have a digital camera instead of a film camera.

MM

Portege, how is the scene in the immediate area of Secrets between 2-3am?

I have a flight landing at 11:45pm at BKK on a Saturday night. I am really on the fence about going straight to Pattaya or staying in Bangkok for the first night. Traveling backpack only and would have showered in Japan, so I am willing to directly hit the street and check in with my first girl.

If you have a car waiting for you, you should be in Pattaya before 2am (assuming there are not long lines at immigration). That time of night you should easily make the drive in less than 1.5 hours probably closer to 1. I usually arrive at that time and personally think it is easier to just go right to Pattaya rather than spend the night in Bangkok. Everything will still be hopping, some of the hottest girls may have been taken but I am sure you will find something. The flight from NRT to BKK is still a good 6+ hours, so you really may want to take a quick shower when you arrive.

At 2am there are a number of options.

A stroll down walking street can score some nice freelancer cutie's heading for the disco's.

And the discos themselves, Lucifers, Marine disco and my favorite Insomnia, the I club up-stairs gets going after 3am, many ago-go girls will be coming in after 3:30am when the ago-go's close.

I BF'ed some hottie's out of Airport ago-go at 2am and after, well worth a check. Very close to secrets.

Actually, I learned on the last day I was there going back in the shuttle there are beer bars open until 6am. The Secrets bar and a few other places are open until 4am around the Walking Street area. The women who dont get barfined in the go-gos when they close usually hit the discos which are open late. As I was going back in the shuttle, we stopped to pick up a guy who was hanging out at a beer bar with his friends. There was a row of guys still drinking at 5am and women were working the beer bar. When I was standing outside at 5am waiting for the shuttle, there were still a few women walking by me and smiling. Usually when they gave me that smile it meant they were up to do business.

I think for a diversity of experience it might be worth it to spend a night or two in Bangkok, but I am not certain how much better the women are there then in Pattaya. I know they are more expensive in Bangkok.

You could check right into the Secrets hotel at 2-3am and walk in their bar to grab something. One of the best things about the Secrets bar is that short time is 2-3 hours which is unlike other bars. Many of the other go-gos and bars define short time as 1 hour or basically 1 pop.

The Bell Travel Service shuttle stops operating at a certain time and you will be too late to catch their 200 baht shuttle. You will have to take a taxi which goes for somewhere in the neighborhood of 1000-1500 baht. I saw different rates for the taxis.

If all else fails, I can give you the number to a woman in the report and she will stay with you all night for 2000 baht...more or less...

(Message edited by Portege on December 21, 2009)

Thanks for the trip report and I really appreciate your pics. It seems like you had a great time, more power to you.
I think you have been harshly judged by some on this board but you did get on the wrong side of many LOS Veterans who gave you good advice prior to your trip that you did not want to believe.
I thought it better to read your entire trip report before making comment, might I suggest that you go back and take a look at your at your Chat Board posts and the subsequent replies and maybe you will understand why you received so much negative comment, some justified and some not IMHO.

Will 2 grand be enough for 30 days in Pattaya? - Portege 20:46:14 11/16/09

I joined CH because I wanted advice for my Cherry AC trip. I got plenty of excellent advice and had a great time courtesy of this advice. I only had 8 days, not 1 month so I had to hit the ground running, see my (one and only) trip report for further details. If you read this trip report you will also see a bit of a discussion between myself and Ceenotes relating to our differing styles, preferences and methods of Pattaya mongering. I am very price conscious as I gather you are also, always trying to get the most BANG for my buck, but I have also been known to disperse as many bucks as it takes to get the BANG that I want when on a mongering trip. Please note that what I can afford and what I am willing to spend are two different things, I am not what you would call impoverished. But be careful in the LOS and familiarize yourself with the Thai phrases “Kee Neeow” and “Kee Nok Farang” if you hear this sort of thing you will know that you are not popular with the locals.

Two points of advice if you are planning to return to LOS.

1. Before your next trip to LOS go to the trouble of learning how to speak the numbers in Thai, zero to ten at the very least.
2. Go to stickmanbangkok.com the “weekly column” is great and the “Readers submissions” are worth the read – you may even stumble across 1 or 2 of my submissions

Thanks again for the reports and best of luck

The Yobbo
P.S. If we happen to be in Pattaya at the same time ’I’ would be happy to catch up for a beer. Next trip is planned for April 2010 before Songkran

Actually Secrets closes at 3:30 am, not 4 am.

Been there done that.

Checking out Bangkok is one thing, but if you’re thinking is to spend the first night in Bangkok because after the brutal flight you’re dying to knock out the first load and think it easier I recommend against it. I have done it both ways and think just going straight to Pattaya is much easier, and you really don’t lose that much time.

I take that same flight and what I do is arrange a car with someone reliable. I use Mr. Toom (toom39@msn.com), but there are others. He charges 1200 Baht (plus I usually toss the driver 100), which seems about standard, yes there are ways to get there cheaper, but at midnight I am not going to screw around to save $15. I want to know someone will be right there waiting to get me to my destination. After you pass through immigration only exchange enough for the ride and your first night, because you will get a better rate in Pattaya. That time of night immigration usually is not too bad (but you never know), my experience is that I am usually at my hotel before 1:30.

If you are just looking for the quickest release, finding some freelancer along Walking Street may be the fastest route. If you want to run around a bit take all the other suggestions. If you do go to Insomnia, be sure to bring your space suite because it is very popular with girls employed in a certain area of town. Seriously, my personal observation is that Insomnia does seem to be the top of the disco food chain these days.

majormajor, Digital camera? WTF are you talking about. His secrets girl is a gem and won my attractive votes, but I could not give him quality picture votes.