BKK live, trip #16
 

Sawasdee kah, from a very quiet Sukhumvit Soi 8 at 7:30 on a Wednesday morning.

I arrived in Bangkok last night just before 11:00pm. My flight (in econ+ on UA) from ORD to NRT to BKK actually arrived a bit early. My quick check in at immigration, bag collection, and the "slow" taxi (as in, everyone else on the road was passing us) got me into the Adelphi Suites by about midnight. Not bad! The tolls were 70 baht (one of them went from 40 to 45 baht since my last trip here). The meter on the taxi was under 150 baht. Then there is the 50 baht fee for public taxi. Add it all up, plus a tip, and it was a 400 baht taxi ride into my hotel/apartment.

The young man at the check-in desk remembered me (as did a gentleman sitting in the lobby... "A familiar face.." he called me). This is my 5th stay at Adelphi after all. This time I have a studio, not the one-bedroom apartment I usually get. I just decided I didn't need all the extras in the apartment and settled for the cheapest room here. The studio is still very nice. I'm sure I will be very happy here. The Adelphi is showing some wear, but it is still my first choice for hotel in BKK, as the 1-2 minute walk to the escalator UP to Nana BTS station is of primary importance to me... and Maeng is about a 7 minute walk from here...

Speaking of Maeng, I dropped my bags in the room last night and walked over to the Pickled Liver to say hello to everyone there. DS had not yet arrived there, as he was playing pool, and I wasn't really expected at PL until nearly 1:00am. I was early. Maeng fixed her fantastic garlic shrimp and we visited a bit. Once DS showed up, I was about ready to crash. A quick stop by 7-11 for a few items and then back to Adelphi. I needed to unpack and then try to sleep.

Well, here I am, very early on a Wednesday morning, posting on fodors. So you know that I did not sleep very much... haha. Might as well get up. Breakfast buffet awaits!

There is a chance we (DS and I) will go out to the printing company factory today, to watch our latest publication being put together. I hope we get to go! I've never been out to the factory. I guess it is at least an hour out of the city, by company van. We can hop on the van about 11:30, and will probably stay until around 4-5pm. I think I can stay awake that long... (smile) Right now I'm ready to go!! Oh how the mind can override the body when one first arrives in Bangkok. You'd think you could get out and go forever... but the jetlag will take its toll, I'm sure. I hope I don't snore too loudly in the van ride back into BKK from the factory!!! haha

Anyway, I'll be posting here, live, and will try to tell it like I see it here, on Suk soi 8!!

Enjoy your day, where ever you are spending it.

Carol

Welcome back Khun Carol!

It goes without saying that I'm uber-jealous that you get to return already!

Have a great time this time...keep the city warm for us...although, from what I hear, with 100 degree temps, you shouldn't have any problem!

LA actually has about the same temps right now, so when I go outside and if I close my eyes I can almost pretend that I'm there. One can dream, at least. :)

Welcome home. Illinois is just a way station. We rarely feel jet lag going to Thailand. It bites double hard when we come back.

Carol, enjoy your time there! Looking forward to reading more, as usual.

FW-it may be HOT here in LA, but thankfully it's nowhere near as <i>humid</i> as BKK! :-)

Hi Carol,
Enjoy your stay in your home away from home.
If you do intend on going to the weekend market whilst you are there, I would be interested to know how "fully" operational they are on a Friday night. It would be much more pleasant to avoid the heat of the day and as Suan Lum continues to wind down it would be great to have a nightime alternative for our forthcoming trip.

Carol - Jeane and I were on Soi 8 (Kinnaree) just 5 hours before you arrived. Please mind the store for us...

Carol, I love visiting Bangkok through your live reports!

Carol, We wish we were there with you in Bangkok, your favorite city, but will be following along with you through this report. Say howzit to Brad for me. Have a wonderful time!

Aloha!

I too would be interested in what you think of the markets if you get out there on a Friday night.

Hope your trip goes really well and you find lots of interesting new things.

hi carol, say hello to maeng for me, and save some garlic shrimp for me. she also makes a delicious pork with winter melon soup.(usually only for the staff, but i invite myself anyway.lol)

whats the b now? hello to brad.

Craig, I hope we can connect in BKK sometime. Too bad you are leaving just as I'm arriving! I trust your dinner at Kinnaree was delightful. You would have passed Adelphi on your way down the soi.

Ken, I'll give Maeng a "hello" for you. I'm going to ask her about this pork with winter melon soup!! VASU exchange rate today is 35.47 baht per US$. I think it was 35.58 a day or so ago... but it's still better than 31.2!! That was what I was getting last trip here.

I hope to get to the Friday night weekend market! Probably not THIS Friday night, as I think there are some other plans in the making. But there is always the next Friday...

We (Brad and I) are headed to the printing factory in about 45 minutes. I think it will be very interesting! I just hope I can stay awake MOST of the time.... (smile).

If trackcoach is reading this thread, I saw lots of folks in shorts at breakfast this morning, both inside the hotel restaurant and out on the street... and some were Thais. This area is quite relaxed, really. Yes, if you are going touring to the temples/wats, you need to reconsider wearing shorts. But for shopping, wandering the sois, casual dining, you are just fine.

More later!

Carol

Loving the reports already and i too am super jealous,wish we were in BKK.

Hi Carol - like u, i too am from IL and have visited BKK regularly since 95 hence my name. Anyway, was there last month and a friend took us to a marketplace near Chatuchak called "Aw Tor Gor Market", outside the Kamphaeng Phet train stop. Khun Hanuman, forgive me if that is not the correct way to write/say that. :-)

I don't know how long it's been there. It's just your basic market (food products, khanom, etc.) but different because it was "roomier" and we bought a lot of foodstuffs (one of the better "mieng kham" for me) to snack on. I think you may like it if you haven't been there yet - but it was something new for me even after all these times in BKK.

bkk95,

It has been there quite a while and you called it correctly! We buy live seafood there, predominantly live mud crabs and prawns etc.. In the same compound is a small supermarket for the Royal Foundation which sells vegetables from the projects. Another market but not near there is the Bon Mache market which has even better sweets and cooked food stuff.

Carol,

Just came back from the BIG trade show and it's much smaller than previous years but still good for a visit.

I wonder if that market is the one Maeng refers to as O-top? I've been to that one, and it is very impressive. It is next to Chatuchak as well. The quality of the food items was very high... thus the name, I guess.

DS Brad and I went to the printing factory today, at Bangpoo. We had lunch at the Bangpoo Country Club. Lovely golf course! Hanuman, have you played there?

The trip out to Bangpoo was very interesting. I saw parts of the city that I've never seen before. Once you get away from the center, the signage is predominately Thai. I could recognize a few big-name logos, but that's about it.

We saw a Toyota factory. If I understand correctly, tarrifs on cars coming into the country are very high. Some manufacturers have opted to build their cars IN Thailand rather than have their customers pay the tarrifs when buying their cars. I understand that BMW also builds cars in Thailand. I'm sure there are many others who build here as well.

I noted that the BTS is going out quite a ways beyond On Nut. It is still under construction. Hanuman, is that the route that will connect to the airport, or is it yet another BTS route? I know that we were near the airport today, as the factory district is in that direction from the city.

I saw many colorful buses today. The printing company guide who drove us out to Bangpoo said that these buses carry the workers out to all the factories in Bangpoo district, and pick them up again at the end of the work day. These buses were brightly painted and illustrated. I thought they looked more like tour buses I've seen in big cities. I learn something new everyday!

Along the route, we passed the huge 3-headed elephant "statue", which I believe is a museum inside. I don't recall having ever seen anything about it here on fodors. Maeng has spoken of it before. I also saw the location of Old Siam. I think if Maeng has some free time, I would like to have her show me around these places.

Dinner tonight will be a take-out pizza from Via Vai, which is right across the soi from my apartment building.

Oh, by the way, there is a new Grande Adelphi, which just opened a couple of weeks ago. It is on soi 41, which is near guenmai's favorite apartment/mall, the Emporium. The Grande Adelphi is far enough down the soi that they probably have a shuttle to and from the BTS station. Looks nice! Looks very similar to my Adelphi building on soi 8, only larger. If I get curious, I may have to go have a look. (but I still prefer my 1-2 minute walk to the escalator UP to the Nana BTS station!!!)

gpanda... I just thought of a question for the thread about 20 things to think about in Bangkok...

"If I take a nap now (5pm), will I wake up at 3am and be wide awake and ready to shop?" (jetlag)

Later!

Carol

Carol,

Yes I've played at the Bangpoo golf club. Nice course but it has too much water for my taste so I loose a lot of golf balls there.

Regarding the car import tax. It's quite complicated but you can safely say that a typical car price in Thailand will be around 300% higher than in the USA and Europe. The local assembly plants(BMW, Mercedes, Toyota, Volvo etc) have to use 60% locally made parts and most of them import the engines and chassis from abroad. Tax for locally assembled cars are determined by engine size and horse power. Example a BMW 320i cost 2.7 million Baht while a 335i cost 7.5 million Baht. Up to a few years ago if you don't buy a locally assembled car(which at that time one did not have much of a choice) and you buy an import you COULD NOT import a new car only 2 + years or older vehicles were allowed.

Sorry but I'm not sure about the BTS in that part of town.

Get some rest Carol you can wake up and watch a Manchester United play at 2.00 am!

Thailand is the Detroit of SE Asia. Even GM makes cars (and money) here. Taxes are actually on a sliding scale, depending on the percentage of local content, and engine size.

The Erawan Museum is actually quite interesting. The 'chapel' in the belly of the beast is really rather spectacular. Here's my page on it:
http://thailandforvisitors.com/centr...wan/index.html

Worth noting that the Ancient City is a full day outing. It really takes an effort if you want to see it all.

greetings from iguazu falls, argentina where it is raining like mad....

glad you arrived, COACH, safe and sound....ok exec coach....

we went to that small park and museum where the 3 headed elephant is with cherry one day....it was quite interesting and a nice take...

i will be anxious to know how craing and jeane liked kineree....have a pizza for us across from AS...

B&K

Good morning from BKK. It's 6am. I started to take "that nap" at 5pm, but then woke up at 7 and went shopping at Central Chitlom for about an hour and a half. So, today I'm feeling quite refreshed and rested!

I did not end up having pizza last night. I had snacks in my room instead. I bought soup and crackers and etc. at Central and just chilled out and watched TV a bit.

It looks like we will get rain today. Craig left and the right time... lol. It will be a good day to go shopping. I want to find that 60baht store that BKK95 mentioned in another thread. It's supposed to be at Siam Discovery. I love finding intereting gadgets that I never knew I needed.

Bob, interesting that you've been to the 3-headed elephant. I really hope to get there this trip!

Tonight is the big birthday party. Michael, hanuman, if you are in town and available, you really should come and join us at Tawandang (the original one). We will have probably 2 big tables right at the base of the stage, enough room for about 25 people. It will be a fun evening of food, German beer, dancing, singing, and all out revelry. It will be an interesting mix of friends and business associates. I don't think any other fodorites will be there, although mango7 was invited, since I knew he would be in town. Mango is strangely absent from fodors... is he banned???

Breakfast buffet awaits, as does a special hairdo for tonight. Gotta' go see OD at Central Chitlom. I'll do that after I run around and find the 60baht store... lol

Enjoy your day/evening! Wish you could ALL be here for the big birthday bash tonight.

Carol

Have a great trip! Happy Travels!

Carol,

Please tell Brad happy birthday from me and thank you for your kind invitation. Will try and drop by but I don't think I make it.

Have fun!

Happy Birthday to Brad from Muffin and I too.
Good look with the bargain hunting

happy birthday to brad...have fun

B&K

I'm just back from the big birthday bash, and it's 2am. I'm not going to write much now, other than it was a really great party. There were over 30 of us this year. Everyone had a marvelous time. The food and beer were great; we enjoyed the stage entertainment; and we danced the night away! I need SLEEP!!! lol

old women should not be out to 2AM!!!

I guess you have lost that jet lag then,lol.

Good night, see you in the morning!

Aloha!

Bob, be nice. I'm NOT old... haha just well preserved.

HT, yes, the jetlag is gone. I can't believe I'm up at 8 this morning, and I just put my head down on the pillow about 5 hours ago... darn body clock! But I don't think I will try to make it to buffet breakfast this morning. I've got my yogurt and cereal right here in my studio apartment. No need to dress until NOON.... Yippeeee!

I found that Daiso store yesterday. I had expected it to be located right along the main street, but Siam Square is a bunch of small sois with small shops. I think the Daiso store was a little ways into soi 2, or maybe soi 3. In any case, the soi is right across from Siam Center/Paragon area. I bought 6 items that I didn't realize I couldn't live without... what a fun shop for looking! Everything is made in Japan. And the MUSIC playing while you shop.... what a riot!! They played the wedding march (Here Comes the Bride) as well as some piano concerto by ?, and then there was a spooky sort of Halloween sounding piece as well. I remembered to give a listen for the music. Glad I did!!

Today is the small GTG at the Marriott at 3:00. Looking forward to meeting more fodorites and hearing more travel stories about BKK and other places.

Tonight we go with our retired military friend Dr Jack, whom I've mentioned before, and also Maeng, to a private dinner. That should be fun. Not sure where we are going...... Tonight the weekend market is supposed to be open, but looks like I will have to hope for next Friday night to see how it is.

I'm going to try to work in a bit of shopping around noon today. Yesterday it was 104 degrees in BKK... I sure hope it isn't 104 tomorrow at the weekend market! I know for sure I'll be heading out there with Maeng. We should go early, I guess.

Enjoy your day!

Carol

Carol,

I'm glad Brad had a great birthday party and my apologies for not attending. I was up until 3 am working and it wasn't until about 9 pm that I remember about the party!

Have a great day and don't forget about the BIG fair at Impact.

What a day this has been!!! OMG...

I headed over to Central Chitlom store to see a man (OD) about a haircut. Those of you who have known me for a while know that my hair which is normally pretty straight but with a slight wave turned very curly back in 2004!!! Several reasons for it, I'm sure.... but now, after about 5 years of trying to deal with natural curl, my hair is pretty much straight once again! Anyway, OD cut my hair and I was pleased with the result, as always.

I had intended to go to MBK to have pictures from last night's birthday bash developed, so I could hand them out to various folks who were there, but got sidetracked instead. One of the guys at the party last night was cooking lunch and I was invited. I'm not one to miss out on a home-cooked meal, so off I went after my haircut. Very tasty. I didn't know this guy could cook!! He's from my own area back in Illinois, and was in BKK on vacation.

2:00... we (DS and I) needed to get from Omni on soi 4 to the Marriott on the river for a mini GTG at 3:00. We allowed an hour to get there, considering traffic and the river shuttle. As we were leaving Omni Tower (on soi 4) we noticed heavy traffic, and sidewalks were also crowded. So.. we opted for the "fastest" way to get to the skytrain at NANA. In all my 63 years (yeah, I'm really THAT OLD...lol) I had NEVER been on a motorcycle and really had NO desire to get on one.... well.... when in Bangkok, if you need to get somewhere quickly, you take a motorcycle taxi! Brad talked me into it. It was 20 baht for a short and uneventful ride. I thought, "wow... I've just ridden a motorcycle for the first time in my life, and it wasn't bad..."

We arrived at the Marriott at 3:00 sharp and headed upstairs to the Elephant Bar. The bar was CLOSED... but, Evelyne was waiting there, and she asked if we might be the people from the internet who were going to be meeting. We said yes, and then headed into the club lounge since the bar was not open. I kept an eye out for anyone else who looked like they might be looking for someone... but I never did see Leigh Travel. I'm sorry, Leigh, if you came and we didn't manage to find each other!

Anyway, we sat and visited with Evelyne, her husband, and their friend for over two hours. I really think we could have kept up the conversation, and maybe even had dinner together, but Brad and I had a 6:30 dinner already planned for the evening. Evelyne and DH and DF were just as nice as all the the other fodorites I've met over the past few years. It was delightful to meet up with a newbie! She's only been posting for a couple of weeks!!

EEEEKKK!! My computer "posted" before I was done typing. BTW, JamesA, I see what you mean about fodors being S-L-O-W to load. It's taking forever tonight!

Back to the day's events...
Since Brad and I needed to get to a special dinner by 6:30, we had to leave the Marriott by 5:30... only we didn't get away until nearly 6:00. Ooooops! Guess what... taxis were sitting on Sathorn Rd making it look like a parking lot. We needed to get about 3-4 miles straight up Sathorn. There were some MOTORCYCLE TAXIS sitting near the Saphan Taksin BTS station.... so guess what we did....

OMG OMG OMG I could see my life flashing in front of my eyes as we went hurrying down Sathorn, weaving in and out of the traffic! I kept thinking, "Why am I doing this!!!" It took about 10, maybe 15 minutes, to get those 3-4 miles. There were times when we had to be going 40mph in between the rows of cars. It was somewhat like a life-changing experience for me. I almost gave the driver (who got 60 baht for the ride) and extra 100 baht just for the THRILL of it all!!! lol We made it to dinner, alive! I got off the motorcycle and discovered my legs were like wet noodles! My knees were shaking! My stomach was full of butterflies! WHAT A RIDE!!!!!!!!!!!! I found it difficult to eat much dinner as my stomach was churning.... but it was a pleasant evening with friends. No restaurant recommendation, since we didn't actually eat in a restaurant tonight... but that's a whole 'nother story.

What a day. What a ride! How many fodorites have been on a motorcycle taxi in BKK in the middle of the 6:00 rush hour traffic!!! (I'm NOT recommending it, I'm just asking) Ken, I would guess maybe you've done this.

Tonight I'm getting to bed early. I'm pooped! Tomorrow, chatuchak at 9:30 with Maeng.

Enjoy your day!

Carol

It's not Fodors Carol there's too much international net traffic at the moment and Thailand does not have bandwidth going outside of the border. I'm getting 4,750 kbps for the Thai net an only 43 kbps for outside of the country! I'm stuck trying to finish building a new website so I guess I'll give up for the day and continue tomorrow.

Rise and Shine, Khun Carol! (Bangkok time)

Now, sounds like you have it all going today; perhaps in future, do the classic 'same day turnaround', BKK-SIN-BKK, with those sensational Singapore Girls! Late morning flight, a few hours of shopping at Changi, then back to BKK with those gorgeous Girls, taxi to Adelphi, and then, yes, ringing up an Aviva masseuse. (Outcall, upon request.)

Have fun, let's try to kick this thread into 'nickbots' territory on sqtalk, and don't forget to pay respects to the soon retiring 'Mr. K' at the Oriental : one fine gentleman, with quite the memory.

macintosh (robert)


... All Around The World -- Singapore Girls ...

Carol, Very brave of you. I have been on a motorcycle taxi in Hua Hin with golf clubs stapped to my back and didn't think I was going to make it. To do it in peak hour Bangkok traffic, now that is really something...might have to give it a go just to tick it off, like sky-diving and bungee-jumping.

Shane, sounds like you live life on the edge. I can't see a reason to jump out of a perfectly good airplane; and bungee jumping is NOT on my list of things to do before I die!! Now, I have done parasailing and hotair ballooning. The taxi ride was more stressful than either of those experiences, for sure.

Today was much less stressful, thank goodness. I went to the weekend market with Maeng and another friend from my area of Illinois. It was extremely hot in the market today, but we lasted almost 4 hours!

DS and some of his friends were playing in a pool tournament this afternoon at a really nice place called Hustler. It is located in the basement at the Times Square building, which is at Asok BTS station. DS did not win, but when I left the tournament (after the weekend market and a bit of rest in air con) one of his friends was playing in the final match. I did not stay to see who took the top prize.

Tonight I'm yawning early, so instead of going to the Hard Rock with the bunch of pool players, I opted to get a Via Vai pizza and take it to my apartment and relax. Via Vai is a really good pizzaria and it is right across the soi from the lobby of my apartment building.

I'm not staying up until 1am or even until 11pm tonight. Should get a good night's sleep!

More tomorrow.

Carol

Hi Carol - well done!!! I've done that ride once or twice. I don't particularly recommend it - have also been sitting in a taxi outside the Pen - stuck in traffic when a motobike came through traffic and smashed into the side of the taxi. Bit of a mess but fortunately the rider was only a bit dazed.

I ride on the back of a big bike at home - mainly because DH rides bikes all the time but I wear a good helmet, gloves, boots and protective clothes - a little different to Bkk. Traffics a bit better here but there are other hazards like Kangaroos that jump out on you.

its also slow from paraguay..... and from boston


carol...i think the next time we are in bkk i will ride a motorcycle, but mine will have to be a huge side-car---karen is reading this and she says like he.. you will...

andy used to be a bicycle messenger so he would have no problem....so we will put him on one....

we were just told a story two days ago by a CA doctor....a collegue, also a doctor, was in bkk and rode a conventional bicycle and fell off, broke his arm, got septic shock from his wounds after returning home and DIED..... stay off the bikes...

back to argentina tomorrow, if we get our visa problem straightened out, otherwise its a pargauayian jail for life...

Mary, I've been to Australia 6 times and I have many memories of the roos, but none that jumped out in front of any vehicle I was riding. lol I love those big roo catchers on the front of buses and trucks (road trains) in the outback.

Bob, you'd need a very large sidecar. Best not to get in one. The way the drivers go thru the traffic, the side car, with you in it, would be left miles behind!

I saw the lady with the "jeweled" scarves at the weekend market yesterday. She tried to get me to buy some more, but I resisted. They are beautiful, but too expensive for my small town in the midwest! I may have a friend put them on eBay for me.

I did buy some sarong-type scarves though. They were made of rayon and had wax block rpinting on them. Really pretty and colorful. Since summer is coming, they will make nice bathing suit covers.

I love the rooftop bar places in BKK. Sky Bar is my all time favorite, but there are a number of them here. I saw on the TV today about a new one, called "Nest," on soi 11. That makes it "just across the street" (Sukhumvit) from my apartment. Not sure how far down the soi it is, but soi 11 isn't terribly long. Now I'm wondering which tall building rooftop on soi 11 it might occupy. I'll try to have a look, if possible.

I think we will have rain today. I was awakened early by the sound of thunder and the flash of lightning. It went on for a couple of hours, but no rain...yet. Very cloudy and hazy looking outside. The temp is probably in the upper 90s once again, or 100+, as it has been really hot here this trip.

Some of our friends from home that have been here for two weeks are flying home today. Our friends from S Korea (US military guys) will leave tomorrow. That means all the scheduled activity of the past week (dinners, shopping, etc) will ease a little bit! My time will be MY time.

Carol

Hey Carol, looks like rain at my place in Wangtonglang as well. That's good news, since several people told me that Monday (tomorrow) is supposed to be the hottest day of the year, although I think it will be cooler than today.