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