The shrine will provide shade at the Marriott pool. It will consist of a plate of Chicken and Cashews and another plate of Mango with Sticky Rice. Countless Fodorites will be protected from the sun by the umbrella-like qualities of the shrine. Offerings will be made daily by Jack and Ms. Yai.

Is it just me. or do other readers of this report wonder why Bob talks to the manager at every Asian establishment that he visits? I suspect that he causes such a ruckus everywhere that management is quickly called by the staff. I would dearly love to hear their versions of the "interactions". I might learn some new Thai words, generally not found in a dictionary. How do you say "Here, we go again" in Thai?

urban envy!!!

"Urban Envy", an oxymoron. I do note that there was no denial of any of the allegations contained therein. I will take that as an admission. Bob usually doesn't pay admission, so it's a victory.

could it be that the managers recognize me as a VIP and flock to me to make sure i am happy??? only a thought...please note the ROS manager was no where to be seen and i did have a true complaint there!!! kathie had eaten all of the hors d'oeuvres...

bob- you're a star for putting together such an exhaustively detailed and chatty report! we've been back from bangkok and phuket for a month or so, but your report whetted our appetite for another trip, ASAP! as i mentioned earlier, jack (themanthemyththelegend) at monet il sarto told us our trip in may overlapped with yours..shame we didnt have a chance to thank you in person for all the great tips in your posts. we also loved the marriott resort and spa in bangkok- porn and korn at the lounge on the lobby level were especially helpful and decor was fab.. i wish we'd sat through the timeshare presentation at the JW marriott resort and spa in phuket for those juicy bonus points,but we couldnt seem to drag ourselves away from the pools and from our sala!
i'll post this separately as well, but wondered if you'd had any experience with online booking for hotels in china? 've been checking out asiarooms (which dosnt accept amex) and asia-hotels but wondered if i'd missed something..perhaps a china-specific equivalent of the huahin.20m.com site you use for hotels in thailand?
PS: you know you need to write a travel book, right?

have never booked hotels in china on line...so can't help there..

if i decided to do a book my wife would undoubtably kill me before it was finished...this report was bad enough

Let's ponder a few of the Chaptewr titles for Bob's upcoming "book":

Hotel Managers I have Known

Around the World in 80 Marriotts

Best Pools

Why I never Stay in One Place for more than Three Days

Tongue Thai'd

Harm-Moan-Eek

Etc.

We can't wait for a first edition. I hope to get it signed by the author.

Andy, Your sense of humor and lively banter with Bob have given this site an added dimension. Thanks - Jeane and I have really enjoyed it. Craig

Andy, you crack me up. Keep it coming.

i told you a long time ago you and karen should be travel/tour guides. after years of extolling the virtues of bkk to you you finally went and now it is one of your favorite places.

however you are remiss in not giving the price of the ice cream you bought. karen is slipping in her ledger duties.

i must point out two things...first haroth is our "best man" and it is his fault that i am now stuck with one travel destination: thailand...he was the first to introduce the idea to us...


second----andy is certified...totally crazy and belongs behind bars, make that padded bars... probably wouln't work as he would chew through the bars or else charm them into release...

Andy, with Dave Barry in - hopefully - temp retirement am sure IHT has need of a humour columnnist! Meanwhile keep it coming...I am in splits!

yep. "Dave Berry goes too tokyo" is the only travel book I could finish. thats one type of humer i stomech for a while. . On this site I think many people think Im being rude and mean spiretid but Im just joking around... my travel stories tend too be a mix of
-Dave Berry, (self defacing and finding humm in everyday things. .
-Willium S, burroughsd.. Word play. and destruction of the english language.
-Fyodor Dostoevky. black hummor, political and religious digs.
-RHKMK, "Greatest travel writer of all time .
(ohh man. I'm trying too think of something I have in comen with RHKNK but it's not easy)...

cashew and chicken, beer
-------------

Gpanda.. a man who RHK thinks deserves too be in a nut house seems like a cool guy too me.. hmm you must be a New Englander it seems there is something in the lobster.

Andy, You make me laugh out loud (LOL?). Would love to see you & Bob in live action. Looking forward to the Boston area GTG..

Clove1, We are also looking into a trip to China. Thinking of combining one city/area in China with a return visit to Thailand so that it is doable in in 2+ weeks. Please post what you find about hotels, flights, etc.

Thanks for all the kind words. Thanks to those who are not amused from refraining from commenting.

I am merely Sancho Panza to Bob's Quixote. It's easy to tease, much harder to accept it as graciously as Roberto.

In truth, when Bob and Karen deign to have dinner with Beth and me, the discussion is unnervingly pleasant and much fun. While we have diametrically opposed opinions on some topics (politics, ROS, massages), we never care to convince the other (or spouse) that we are correct. All 4 of us have very strong opinions, but we all love BKK and Asia.

Orgy7, your well-developed sense of humor is evident to all of us. I'm not sure Cambridge is actually part of New England, but you do have to drive through NE to reach Heaven.

Back to the book idea. I've read volumes of Bob's posts on Fodors and understand why he made his living with numbers and not words. My cat spells better than he does. He thinks syntax is a tariff on cigarettes and liquor. Hence, the forthcoming book will be published by Marvel Comics and star "Marriott Man". A superhero clad in long pants, shirt with collar and sandals (note the correct spelling) with socks. Good taste prevents me from contemplating a cape and tights. He will stamp out injustice to tourists everywhere. Hotel clerks and waitpersons will cower before him. Unfortunately, he can't fly and can only get around on seats in rows 62 on Northwest. This limits his adventures and our enjoyment thereof. "Look!, It's a bird, it's a plane, it's Northwest". Commonly known as the Needham Knight, his only weaknesses are pools and Umbrellas (This assumes the Ladyboy pictures were not censored).

(taking a short break from work to read and reply)

And when is the aforementioned GTG in NE? I'm ready and willing to schedule a trip. Let's not wait until the snow begins to fly, OK? What about early to mid fall, with the beautiful colors you folks have? I was in MA, ME, NH in early October about 7 or 8 years ago for a 3-day weekend and it was spectacular!

I'm laughing out loud (LOL) at all this book talk and bantering. gpanda thanks for leaving out the cape and tights in your description of the man who will rescue all tourists from unfreindly hotel staff, busboys, pool boys, wait staff, etc. BTW, have you ever read the discussion on the Europe forum about people who wear sandals with socks? Yikes!! They do get testy when traveling across the pond (the smaller pond, that is...). I'm certainly glad Asia (across the BIG pond)is much more casual, not to mention friendly!!

Carol

P.S. Bob, let me know when you have some chapters ready to edit. I'm very experienced at that job.

I'd like to know about the NE GTG also. Since I have a house and a husband in Albany, I go up there every now and then and Albany isn't too far from some parts of MA.

My sense of the Europe board is that they are more judgmental. Perhaps it stems from the much greater number of posters or maybe a need for style that eludes us. There is, however, an incredible amount of useful information available. Go back in the archives and you can read Bob's great trip report on his adventure in Italy. I refrain from sniping at him on that board. It's just not playful enough. I've E-mailed Bob on a GTG.

gpanda, do me a favor and start a new GTG thread, once you guys get something going. Much as I love this RHKKMK trip report thread, it's gettin' bloody long, and takes a few seconds to download! That way, folks who don't take the time to read this thread will know that something is being planned out in NE.
Thanks!!!
Carol

Yes, I have also found information and posted information on the Europe forum, but it can be so judgemental that I ALMOST ...but not quite... feel intimidated by it. This Asia forum feels much more like home.

ok...who's going to be the 200th poster to this spectacular prelude to Bob's career as a starving novelist?