Carol,

There's suppose to be a gathering on May 1st by the red shirts in Bangkok but during their last meeting, last weekend, their numbers have dwindled down to around 5,000 only. One of the red shirt leaders who is still at large, not Thaksin, have declared that he want to start a "guerrilla" type of campaign but I don't think that will happen either.

I would not worry and enjoy the long weekend in Bangkok which should be pretty deserted from Bangkokian holidaying elsewhere. Why don't you and Brad stay cool and head to a beach resort some where?

Bob,

We need you back to help the hotels in Thailand!

You can tell, just walking around, that things are quiet in Bangkok. Last night I walked into the new Adelphi Grand on soi 41 to ask rates. The place looks empty! The rates are somewhat higher (maybe 25%) than I pay at Adelphi Suites on soi 8. The soi 41 location is not nearly as handy as the soi 8 location!! I will not be switching anytime soon.

Today was quiz day at the Pickled Liver. I had never been before, so I headed over there around 6 and had dinner and visited with Maeng. Quiz Night started at 8:30 and went on until about 10pm. It was really fun. I joined a team of Brits. We did OK, but not good enough to win. The guys on my team are regulars on quiz night. They tell me that the winning team and the second place team do the circuit of quiz nights in BKK so they are well versed in trivia! The questions varied a lot; some were sports related... you lost me on those! Some were movie/music/Bible. If I were in town next Thursday I'd try again... but alas, I'll be back home by that time. Ken, have you tried trivia at the PL? You would enjoy it.

The menu at Maeng's includes dishes from all around the globe. I had a Brit/Ozzie meal... it was English sausages, fried eggs, baked beans, and french fries. Strange but good! I really didn't want Chinese or Thai or Italian food tonight.

Re: red shirts, hanuman, I think I agree that the movement is dwindling. I'm really not fearful, just using caution, that's all.

Bob, enjoy the rest of your time in BA. Glad you didn't have to sit in jail in Paraguay.. not much fun! What was the visa issue you had? Just curious.

I will not make it to find out how the weekend market is doing on a Friday night tomorrow. We have dinner plans. I'll have to wait until next trip. I WILL be going to JJ Mall on Saturday morning though. And maybe off to see the 3-headed elephant after that, with Maeng. We'll see.

It was not quite so hot today. No rain. Maybe a little less humidity? Every skytrain I rode was packed w/people.

I went to the Emporium this morning. Bought a nice Jim Thompson cosmetic bag in a sort of "feathery" looking print for a friend at home. There are sales sales sales all over the mall , but not at JT! The only place to get good deals on JT silk/cotton items is at the outlet on soi 93.

Jimmy Choo is a popular name for copy bags right now at MBK. D and G is also popular, as is Mulberry and Todds. Today I was looking around. A friend at home has a favorite color... a sort of royal blue. Years ago, I bought her a JT wallet that was this color. She loved it. She always asks if there are any other pieces in her color, so I'm always looking for more items for her. It isn't easy to find! Today I was surprised to see that some Choo bags come in this color! I couldn't resist! handbag is a personal item; not easy to buy for someone else... we shall see if my friend likes this bag. I KNOW she will like the color!

Errands to run tomorrow. Some places will be closed, but malls will be open. Dinner at a place to be determined. The Thai friend we will see for dinner always knows the latest and greatest places to try. I wonder what she will suggest for us this time! This is the same friend that directed us to the Long Table, which is a great place to dine. We have not made it back there this trip. We tried it, and liked it, back in Dec/Jan. DS is dining at the top of the Centara Grande (Central World Plaza hotel) tonight with a pool-playing friend. I opted to see Maeng and have an early evening instead. I'll be anxious to hear about Centara.

Evelyne, if you are reading this, did you try Sky Bar at the golden dome before leaving BKK?

Do enjoy your day!

Carol

Hanuman, I just read a thread "to simpsonc510" and on that thread I see a reference from you to seeing me on the 3rd. Are we planning a GTG that has completely slipped my mind? I hope I get to see you. That would be great.

I wonder if trackcoach has arrived in the city now. He was suppose to be here last night, staying down by On Nut.

Carol

Hello Carol
Did not have time to do Sky Bar but did the big shopping center and went to Jim Thompson outlet and the market of course, the last night we were suppose to go but had supper at the Trader's Vic and had a bit too much to drink....so went to bed for early 7:00am flight.
I really have the love bug for Thailand soooooooo I will be back.... going on a tour of Tokyo today by myself Jocelyn is working, hope to meet nice people like my fodors friends.
Enjoy Bangkok I miss it already

Carol, I'm not sure who posted the 3 May GTG but I'm in Hua Hin until the 5th. If you come down here then I think a GTG would be great - first beach GTG!

OK I looked at the post you mentioned and that was from 2008.

hanuman... lol lol lol! I sure did not note that date at all!! I don't have the time to come down to Hua Hin this trip. I really do want to get there sometime though.

Evelyne, so glad that you and Jocelyn enjoyed Bangkok! There is just something about this city. It keeps drawing me back, as you can tell by the title of this thread... trip #16. Enjoy Tokyo! And keep coming back here to fodors and stay in touch!

Carol

Perfect. Two fodorites planning a GTG a year late. How has Bob caused this confusion? Maybe we should change our screen names every year to avoid this in the future, e.g., gpanda2009. Kind of catchy, eh?

Just back from a pleasant dinner at a new place (for us, anyway). The name of the restaurant is Kuppa. It is located on Sukhumvit soi 16, just beyond the Long Table. Kuppa isn't 30 floors up; it's on the ground leverl; but I liked the atmosphere. Relaxed, casual. Our table had very comfy overstuffed chairs and a double/triple sized swing with soft cushions.

The menu has Thai and Italian dishes. We tried the foie gras, which was served with mango. Very tasty. I had a margherita pizza, which I would not order again; waaaaay too cheesy. But Brad's lasagna and our friend's Thai dishes from the Chiang Mai area were all good. I had a chocolate pudding for dessert(which was just like a lava cake) with ice cream and chocolate sauce. Almost too much chocolate, if that's possible.

Before I completely forget, I saw a sign at a BTS station, or on a BTS train. It was advertising the fashion and leather fair at Impact Center, August 13-16. If anyone is in the city at that time, it might be worth looking.

Andy, the cigar shop which used to be in the basement at Gaysorn, and then moved to the ground floor of the newer side of Central World Plaza is now officially closed. DS thinks that the owner (who is a friend) can do enough business selling boxes of cigars to his regular clients and can forego the overhead costs of having a store front. They were never all that busy when I was in there; but it was a nice place to sit and sip wine while the guys smoked a cigar. They had a special permit to allow smoking (special ventilation required).

If you want to print photos from your digital camera, go to MBK 2nd floor, on the opposite end from Tokyu. They will let you select the pictures you want to print, rather than having to print a full set of photos from a memory stick. The cost is 4bt per photo. The pictures were ready in about an hour.

I also did some developing at the ground floor of Wave Place, Ploenchit BTS station. The cost was 6bt per photo, and you had to wait 24 hours to pick them up. But, that said, the size of the photos on the screen, when you were selecting the ones to print, was much larger than at MBK, where you had to look at tiny thumbprints and squint your eyes and think, do I want that picture??? I almost think I prefer the larger photo thumbprints and the easy program for selecting which photos you want, as well as how many you want. I didn't even mind waiting 24 hours to pick them up.

I really thought we would get rain today; but we never did. It was extremely sticky today!

Back to JJ Mall tomorrow morning with Maeng.

Enjoy your day!

Carol

Ha ha, Carol. We sat at this specific table just about 4 days ago! My wife and I sat on the swing. We ordered the pumpkin filled pasta, the margarita pizza(Way too cheesy and not too great, lol), and some other stuff I can't remember. It was pretty good otherwise. Glad you're having fun, but I'm so glad to be home now :P

Carol: Everything I read says the hotel rates have really dropped due to the low occupancy; but, the website for Adelphi is the same as it was a year ago. Did you find that they have dropped their rates? We are still planning to stay there if we get to BKK anytime in the next couple of years, as I love the idea of being near the BTS.

I rarely am able to read Fodor's these days except when I see that you are "in town." Then I vicariously live this year's trip through you!Thanks!

Sandra (McBeanie)

Mango... glad you also enjoyed the swing table at Kuppa. It was great to have that swing, as we had a 2-yr old with us. She enjoyed the swing very much.

Sandra, thank you for the kind words about my "live" reporting. Much appreciated.

Re: hotel rates... My first 7 nights here at Adelphi were 2899bt, and the last 6 nights at the regular rate of 3199bt for a studio. I see that the rates for the executive apartment have gone up since we last booked. We did a one month rent in Dec/Jan, minus breakfast, and it cost us 62,000bt. I do know that I got my special rate for the first 7 nights on the internet, after reading michaelbkk's note here about rates. I had not thought about rechecking the going rates until I read what he had to say. I had to cancel my original booking and then rebook to get the better rates. I was concerned that I was within the 3 day cancellation clause, so I emailed the booking agent (Compass) and they said no problem, since I was rebooking and not cancelling a reservation completely.

I'm heading down to breakfast and then will catch up with Maeng for a trip back to the weekend market. I know it is going to be hot hot hot out there, but mostly we are going to JJ Mall and will not have to venture very deep into the crowded stalls of Chatuchak.

Carol

i will explain the visa issue in my full report next week....

one thing that is not that great in bkk is leather....so we are taking full advantage of it here and will spend part of the day seeking out some more items to bring home....

one primary item we are looking for is a muzzle, no not for our dog, we don\t have one....but for gpanda of course....it has to be strong///have you ever seen his teeth...yes those buck teeth... and some restraints also....

we had an invite by well known south america forum contributor, avrooster, to visit his home about 40 miles north of BA yesterday, a national holiday....WHAT A TREAT....his hospitality rivals that of pook/hanuman in bkk....his wife cooked us a delicious argentine bbq and we spent a wonderful afternoon conversing in english and spanish/karen enjoying the larndscape of his considerable property....like all other fodorites we have met, he and his wife, were absolutely delightful...

3 more days left to our trip and we will be homeward bound...

Yeah, I'll bet it was a real "TREAT" for Avrooster to have Bob at his house. My guess is that his residence in Argentina was assured after his ever so long visit from Bob.

Sure Bob loves leather. It reminds him of the good old days and the leather whips his kind used to subjugate the masses. Of course, Bob probably thinks that one subjugates a verb. On second thought, he may just do that. His use of the English language could definitely be described as a form of tyranny. (I'm hoping someone will explain these slights to Bob. I'd hate to think they went unnoted.)

Sounds like a great time Bob and Karen. Can't wait to hear all about it when you get home.

P.S. That leather muzzle would have to be very strong to hold back that panda and all that excess energy......his name real screen name should have been the energizer bunny,lol

Aloha!

Carol,

How can a pizza be to cheesy, I loooooove cheese pizzas ;)

We have to be in BKK when you are there one of these days so Linda can shop with you.....maybe sometime in 2010

Mango, I hope you kept notes on the outdoor vendor foods stands ;)

Aloha!

Aloha, ht... would love it if you and Linda were here in BKK the same time as me sometime. That would be great! I could show Linda some places... for sure!

Too cheesy, just means that the whole top 1/4" of the pizza is gooey cheese that you can barely cut with a knife. Too much cheese for me... yuk. I like the tomato and basil on my margherita pizza. The pizza at Kuppa seemed to be lacking! Tomorrow night I'll get my favorite Via Vai pizza.

Bob, leather in BKK is quite good. I found a couple of really nice handbags for friends back home. I think they will really like the leather! But I would agree that a leather jacket or pair of boots would be better in BA.

Dinner tonight was very interesting. I don't quite know how to tactfully tell the story. You recall I said I had talked with a couple of girls who work at a bar; that was while waiting for friend Jack and DS one afternoon a few days ago. I had a very interesting conversation with these two girls. To make a long story short, DS and I opted to take these two to dinne tonight, at Centara Grand (55th floor). They had never been before. It was a delightful evening, actually. You have to pay a bar fine to take the girls away from their work for the evening. We paid that, and we also paid the girls for their time. Time is money for these girls. The funny thing is, they didn't quite understand that we just wanted to take them to DINNER (that's all)... but they did get the message. It took a little bit of time. Their English is rather sparse, and DS speaks some Thai. We all had a good laugh.

Centara Grand Red Sky restaurant gets two thumbs up for service and price. A much better deal than dining at the top of State Tower! The food we had was all excellent and very flavorful. We shared a bottle of red wine as well. No desserts tonight. Had we gone to Sirrocco it would surely have cost about double what we paid at Centara.

Two thumbs up, as I said, for service and price and the food. But I prefer the openness at Sky Bar (State Tower). The Centara is smaller, a bit more intimate. The view is really nice, but there are walls on two sides of the restaurant where the view is blocked. You can dine either inside or outside. We opted for outside. It was a good evening for it. The place was quite busy, considering that tourism is down. All tables seemed to be full. We dined at 10pm. I don't usually like dining that late, but I made an exception tonight.

Tomorrow will be the mini-GTG with trackcoach. We will meet in the atrium restaurant/bar at the Times Square building, next to the Sheraton Grande Sukhumvit.

Shopping is all done. I cannot put another item into my suitcases! NO ROOM! I just hope I can squeeze in my dirty laundry... lol

Tomorrow, Sunday, is my last day in BKK for this trip. Time has flown, as it always does when I'm here. I will start thinking about when I can return as soon as I check out of my apartment tomorrow! lol

Enjoy your day!

Carol

wait a minute /// before gpanda gets ahold of this.....the girls thought you and brad might be taking them out for some
s?x with the 4 of you?

let me get this straight....a 60ish woman, who looks much younger, a 45ish son and two young thai girls.....ken put a stop to this kind of story about our carol....maybe it is carol with an e?

Bob, it was all very innocent! But you must understand what these girls do for a living, under the normal circumstance. One of them has two young girls at home that she must feed and clothe, along with paying her rent and utilities. Her Thai husband deserted her. She would love to get enough money to go back to Chiang Mai. It's a whole 'nother sort of life in BKK. Family is EVERYTHING and girls are expected to take care of their mothers and children. Elders are honored, not set aside like in some other cultures. And no, it's not Carol with an 'e' talking here, lol. Once you get to know more and more Thai friends you will experience life from a different perspective.

Something else that happened last night, I went into the ladies' room at one of the pool bars and a ladyboy was in there, primping, and sort of dancing around checking out how he "looked" in various poses.... it ain't Galesburg!!!!!!

Carol

Aloha Hawaiiantraveler! I intend to write a trip report, but I am still ragged from the lag big-time. I ended up getting unusually sick at the tail end of the trip and ended up at BNH hospital, so that's probably why this is the worst I've felt after arriving home over the 7 trips I've done. Talk soon...

Mango