follies in Bangkok - ramblings

[follies]

Greetings, all.

These are just a series of random notes, musings, and observations, from my last trip to Bangkok (from Jan 21-30). I?m not motivated enough (nor do I have the time) to create a comprehensive day-by-day trip report, as one often sees in this section, so there is no particular chronological order to these notes. I?m just recalling things as they occurred to me, sometimes that would be days after the observation. Anyway, I hope that this is of interest to some of you.

 

- Nice to be back in Bangkok, I came through the airport in record time this trip. From the gate of the plane to my hotel room (Novotel Lotus, Sukhumvit Soi33) in less than one hour?outstanding

- My general taxi experience this time was good. Although I mostly avoid taxis if I can get where I want to go on the skytrain, I had no issues whatsoever with meters, excessive charges, etc. Even got in a taxi that used the meter outside of Patpong.

- Soi33 gets more bars every time I come here. Unfortunately, there are now so many bars that the customer base is spread very thin. Hit a couple of bars where we were the only customers?.and that was at 10pm. Personally I liked the good old days when there were only a handful of bars and they were all loaded with good-looking ladies and lots of customers. A couple of the new bars seem to do well ? The Office is a good example, generally always a good spot, with nice scenery and reasonable prices. As always, Soi33 more of a happy-hour spot. After that, it can get expensive. I still visit Renoir, one of my original haunts, but I know too many people in there now, so the lady drink tab can add up.

- I was, as a whole, generally disappointed with the 3 main nightlife areas. I think this is a combination of the fact that the novelty has worn off, and the standards have gone down. To each his own, I suppose. I?ll discuss each area in my personal order of preference?.

- Soi Cowboy. Clearly IMO the best nightlife area at the moment. Did not visit all the bars, but the area in general was lively with a good atmosphere. Dollhouse was busy, a fair amount of nice girls, beer at 110Bt. Wish they?d do away with the annoying pingpong ball thing, though. Reminds me of something you?d see in a zoo. Tilac was OK too, a pretty good crowd when I visited. Suzie Wong also OK. Usually avoid Long Gun, but even that was OK this time, with a pretty creative & interesting showtime. As for the immediate area, glad to see that the corner of Soi23 and Suk has been improved. Now if they can just get rid of the sewage smell?..

- Patpong. As annoying as always on the outside. Quite hard to keep your cool when you are constantly having pieces of card thrust in your face, your arm grabbed, and having to hear ?sexy show?..sex DVD?.? Etc. all the time. One guy stepped directly into my path as I was walking, I made no attempt to alter my course & he bounced off me pretty good (I?m not the biggest guy in the world, but I?m pretty solid). I was not aggressive in any way, and he apologized as he got off the floor?.maybe he?ll think twice next time. As for the bars, Goldfinger was quite disappointing. A poor selection, the only decent body was as ugly as a hatful of a**holes. Plus, the place smelled. Not impressed. Kings Castle II was jumping, girls were very aggressive, and the waitresses annoyingly so. Despite all Patpongs faults, it still ranks higher IMO than??..

- Nana Plaza. Sorry all you aficionados (and I know it?s the namesake of this board), but Nana was a dud for me on this trip. Yes, it has the bars ? and in some cases the girls ? but I find it very exploitative, a LOT more than it used to be. Everything seems geared to the lowest-common-denominator customer, the assumption (I suspect, unless they know you already) is that you are just another dumb falang, ready to be ripped off. It did not used to be like this, now everything is so jaded. You really have to hunt to find the fun, rather than the fun finding you. Word of advice ? stick to beer. At least you usually know what you are getting. At my first two bars ? G-Spot and Rainbow II ? I ordered a mixed drink, and received (for my 125Bt) a very small glass, loaded with ice, with only the tiniest trace of alcohol.

- Sports Section ? in my case, Golf (please skip if golf bores you). Managed 3 rounds of golf this trip, two with hangover, which actually improves my golf somewhat. Plans for a nice quiet round at Muang Ake on the first day were spoiled by a Thai holiday, some sort of military day off. Looks like most of the Thai army were playing golf today. Why is it that Thais like to play golf in groups of six, each player with two caddies? Like the frickin? Ryder Cup out there.

- Food Section ? had my fill of Brit Pub food this trip, probably more than I should have, given that I can get this kind of stuff at home. New pub on Sukhumvit near entrance to Soi 33/1 ? Robin Hood ? has reasonable Cod n Chips, but zero atmosphere the time I was there. Londoner still busy, but their ?house brew? still an acquired taste. On another food-related topic, managed several bowls of my favorite Thai soup ? Tom Kha Gai ? at various locations. My favorite lunch is a big steaming bowl of Tom Kha Gai with a plate of steamed rice ? won?t weigh you down for the afternoon.

- Odds & Sods (even more random thoughts)??Novotel, please remove all cellphones from Koreans at the breakfast buffet??the walk from Cowboy to Soi33 late at night is fun, particularly if you have to have your wits about you to avoid aggressive Katooeys?..Panthip Plaza worth a visit, as always, for DVD & software, though I find prices for hardware to be higher than the USA??.for an envigorating massage that will make your skin tingle, try Sazanka in Washington Square

 

OK that?ll do for this. Despite my occasional negative comment in this report, I?ll be back, I just like Thailand too much to go too long without a visit.