you might have been in mid-air when this catastrophy occured, but you are now in the midst of this tragedy. how are things going for you? what is the atmosphere like in bkk? did you have any problems with your hotel room? lets us know how you are doing, as we are all concerned for everyone in thailand. hope all is well.

Thanks very much for asking. I am doing well, just a bit jet lagged. Talked to a few people here who were thankful that they had changed plans at the last minute and were not in Phuket on Sunday morning.

My plan was/is Bangkok - Chiang Mai - Siem Reap - Bangkok. My last night here I will not be spending the night at Bob's place but will take a redeye to NRT and on to Seoul. The only other change I made was to not go to KIX but will fly Seoul to Toyama and meet KimJapan & family in Kanazawa.

The trip over was great (as good as any 23-hour trip can be) on ANA and Thai.

There were plenty of tourists at the Grand Palace complex yesterday, that's for sure. I also visited Wat Po and Wat Arun before strolling through Chinatown. I took a look at a king room at the GCP. Nice room, very firm bed, high up (16th floor) so that there was no street noise. Only 2200 baht.

Arrived a day early (to skip PEK transit) and so made a one night reservation for a Deluxe Tower room (as Bob recommended) at the HI. Got upgraded to Club level and will keep the room for the 5 nights of my priceline stay (at $24 more than the pl cost).

I think I will go to Ayutthaya by train today.

sounds like you are having fun...tell us more about how you actually find the HI....while i viewed it i did not stay there....sorry you will miss out on the marriott...next trip..

bob

glad to hear that you are safe and sound. will post later about the hi and rail ride. right now, my questions are insignificant, as compared to the sorrow of the masses that were affected by the tsunami.

kuranosuke, thanks for posting this. I woke up on Dec. 26 while on vacation, heard the news, and had an hour of panic until I could find the posting w/mrwunrfl's itinerary. So many others were not so fortunate.
mrwunrfl, have a great time meeting up w/KimJapan. Regards and a happy, sober new year to you.

Happy New Year to you too!

The mayor of Phuket was on the radio today saying that Phuket was recovering quickly and that they were looking forward to tourists visiting. A friend from Japan arrived in Phuket on Sunday. Got an e-mail from her on Tuesday saying that you couldn't tell that a tsunami had hit. I would go to Phuket if that was my plan (it's not). As far as visiting Bangkok, Chiang Mai, and Siem Reap goes, there is absolutely no reason to change plans.

Ratt picked me up this morning and dropped me off to go with Mr. Nop for the day. Before Ratt went off to pick up glorialf, she mentioned that they are looking for blood donors here. Something about 10,000 Thais donated blood but it can't be used (because of blood type?) and they were looking for foreigners to donate. Sounded like they were only looking for universal donors (not me), though. Do you guys have any info about that? Maybe the info will be in the Bangkok Post.

Oh, I see that the answer to my last question was already posted on this forum.

Bill: Am I the only one to notice the goof on the Hiroshima map on the Nara page on your website? Some poor soul out there might try to follow the FFX Co. park calendar and schedules as they leave the Hiroshima train station and get really lost ("it says here this street is right next to the pool?&quot As for me, I just got New Japan Solo, so I have the correct map, but I liked the little turkeys on the Nov. pool calendar.

If I could figure out how to spell "lol" on this Thai keyboard, I would reply to that last post.

so was it accidental or were you waiting to see if someone would notice??? do tell.

bill, a couple of questions on the hi. i just lucked out on pl and got the hi on silom instead of the marriott. i saw that you upgraded for $24 to the club level. what amenities did you get for this upgrade, and do you think it was worth it. also, what is your eval of the hi overall...location, service, etc.

since i basically spend nearly all of my time outside of the hotel, i was just wondering what the upgrade extras were, and decide if it would be worth it for me.

also, did you find any good jp restaurants around the neighborhood?

btw, just kidding, roberto, about lucking out on the hi. was disappointed that my bid wasn't high enough to get the marriott. maybe next time. .

orgy7, ready for a beer?

Your bid may not have been low enough to get the Marriott R&S. Remember I bid $75 and got the HI and bid $50 and got the R&S.

I am at the Yahoo! Cafe in Narita airport. Have a 6 hour layover between flights from BKK and to ICN.

The HI location was good. There are lots of taxis and tuk tuks on Silom Road so it is easy to get quick transport. It is three blocks from the BTS station, farther than I was happy with but I used the BTS the first three days.

I paid the $24 for the upgrade from Superior to Deluxe. I got there a day in advance of my pl stay and paid their rate for the Deluxe Crown Tower. They upgraded that to the Executive Club and kept me in the same room for the 5 nite pl stay. I got the free upgrade because of membership in Priority Club, I think.

Nice large room, king bed, love seat and small coffee table, chair with ottoman. Large bathroom with separate tub and shower. The bed was quite comfortable as it was firm and had a nice cushy pad on top (just like Bob described from his scouting trip). Comfortable pillows (there is a pillow menu but only two types were present).

I think that it costs $12 more to go from Deluxe to Executive Club level and I think that I would pay it if I didnt get it free. Eggs cooked to order, pastries, juices, etc. for breakfast. The Club level staff was very good, friendly and kind, and there is a lounge where I met a few other travellers. The coffee was really espresso, so that they had to go and brew the one cup (unlike the Sheraton CM which had a roving coffee pot guy). There was only one computer in the little office on the Club levelk, but it was free. A couple of times I used the computers in the Maria restaraunt next door to the hotel. There was happy hour every evening with some pretty good food (including sushi). In fact, that served as dinner for me the first two days (and I was asleep by 9:30 PM those nights).

The upgrade was definitely worth it for me. Consider that for Siem Reap I was considering staying at Angkor Village but read that the beds were hard. I cancelled that res and went to the deluxe room at the Sofitel at about twice rate because I expected a comfortable bed. The hotel and the room were very nice but I was really disappointed at the rock hard bed. Also, I cancelled from the River View in Chiang Mai to stay at the Sheraton for the same reason. The Sheraton bed was more comfortable than the Sofitel but not as nice as the HI. I was at the Marriott R&S yesterday (Friday). Arrived 11AM and left at 9PM, well before the normal 2PM check-in so I took what they gave me, a room by an elevator with a little triangle balcony and relatively small bathroom. The bed was comfortable enough, I guess. Didnt get to see too much of the resort though as I had tummy trouble. Oh yes, three nights at the Sofitel and only ate there, drank canned soda when out sightseeing. Might have slurped a handful of tapwater. Had a tough night Thursday, last night at Sofitel, and then flew back to BKK, slept at Marriott R&S, then took the Thai redeye flight to Tokyo. Still suffering a bit this morning.

In a kawaii contest, the FAs from JAL would beat ANA.

thanks for the info. don't fly jal, but lots of beauties on sq. enjoy your bi bim bap and kook soo, and osakana.

its hh here, time to go.