soi6

Are there Safes in the room??

I'll always remember this post from the Stickman site of a fella who retired to early: http://www.stickmanbangkok.com/Reader/reader1713.htm I had a great job in the USA working as an investment banker on the fast track to the big bucks and I was only 32 at the time. I'm 54 now and literally broke and back in the USA living with my aging mother. I'm working at a gas station and mini-mart making US$8.50 an hour and I'm glad to have the job. I have no retirement to fall back on and what little I contributed to social security will not be enough for me to survive until my last breath. I'll be working at a dead end job the rest of my life. Let me tell you my story. A friend and I made our first trip to Thailand in 1981. Thailand was much different then. Everything including bar girls were dirt cheap and their attitudes were very pleasant, focused on servicing their customer to the max. Two weeks were spent there. We made all the runs on the bars in Patpong and Pattaya. We had a blast. We were hooked. So much in fact that we returned in less than four months and carried on where we left off. While my friend kept his head on, I lost mine to Thailand as a junky gets lost on heroine or cocaine. After my second trip I decided that I wanted a life in Thailand. I had about $200,000 in cash and investments at the time and I figured that would be enough to retire on for the rest of my life. I could live in Thailand and bliss forever. And, I made the leap of faith and moved there after selling all my possessions. I took an apartment on Silom Road and settled in for the long haul. My daily routine for the first year was to party all night, bring home a hot bar girl and sleep until noon the next day. After nursing a hang over for a few hours I'd be back on the street to do it all over again. After the first year my body began to tell me to slow down. Besides, I was becoming a bit tired of it all, but I wasn’t going to let go of my dreams of staying in Thailand. I was making farang friends doing the same thing I was doing. We would meet for breakfast daily, shoot the breeze, maybe play a little golf, then hit the bars on a more sober basis. I was still bar fining regularly. About three times a week. My investments were spinning off good money and I settled into a somewhat comfortable and quiet routine of doing nothing or contributing nothing to the world. I was essentially a well financed bum doing nothing all the time. I must say that I was the envy of many male tourists I would meet in a pub or bar while nursing a beer. They all wanted what I had. In 1987 the markets took a dive and my investments dropped. I was still okay. All I had to do was tighten the belt a bit. But, this resulted in my spending more than I was making and I was dipping dangerously into my principal to maintain even my now cut back lifestyle. I was confident the markets would rebound and they did for that matter. But, by then my principal was down to under $100,000. Through an Aussie friend, I took over running his sidewalk bar down in Pattaya. He even let me stay in a small apartment he owned but didn't live in for a modest rent. I was back! I was up to my ears in pussy, had a few baht coming in and something to do with my time. I was glad to just have something to do. Now over forty years old, I figured I had it made. I couldn't afford to go out to dinner in nice restaurants often or even take vacations. But, that didn't matter. I was on vacation. A vacation of the lifetime. When I was 48, my father passed away. I flew home to be with my mother during this time. I spent six months there. I made sure she was settled and then sped back to Thailand despite her pleas for me to stay. The addiction to Thailand surpassed my family obligations or conscience. By the time I got back my Aussie friend had sold his bar and I was out of work. He let me stay on in his apartment while he returned to Australia. He said he was finished with the fantasy and wanted to get something going for himself back home before he was too old. He was 40 at the time. He said he could always come for vacation. I never said it to his face, but I was thinking what a fool. Give up all of this? Not me. I went back to my daily routine of doing nothing. I got bored a lot but just being amidst the action was enough to keep me there. Then the bomb dropped. The US markets crashed again and this time I was virtually wiped out. My principal was reduced to $45,000. I was no longer making enough interest off my investments to buy toothpaste. The party was over. I returned to the States and moved in with my mother. I figured I could buff up my resume and easily get a job with an investment firm. Hell, I was a rising star in my thirties. I had value! Not to be. While I was off living a fantasy life my former peers were rising up the ladder. The younger generations were moving up as well. I was a dinosaur. I sent out over 2000 resumes and got three interviews and no job offers. This went on for over a year. I was over 50 with a great void in my career. I tried to BS that I was over in Thailand all those years researching investments, etc. Dah. I was fooling no one. I finally had to bite the bullet and take the job I have now. No retirement program, no medical plan, etc. I'm going no where and although I may go back to Thailand for a two week vacation (I only get two weeks a year) I doubt I will. My boss, a 25 year old punk, says I can only take one week at a time. Do I regret my life? YES. Had I stayed with banking I'd be retired now with enough money to live in Thailand like a king for the rest of my life. Now I'll die in Farangland as a broke schmock. No one wants to listen to my stories. No one understands or cares. Even my former colleagues look down on me as a loser. Maybe I am, but then again, I rolled the dice and they came up snake eyes. Did I lose? Maybe, but it was a grand ride while it lasted.

Stayed at them also. Flipper was my favorite. Both the one on Soi 7 and 8 are great, I like the Soi7 one best. It comes down to two things.... 1. If you bring girls back from downtown late at night I'd recommend a hotel near 2nd street like Flipper, so there is less contact with the soi7/8 crowd/crying tilacs who you spent time with in the past. 2. If you value getting to town fastest, and don't care about the walk of shame, I'd stay at the Flipper close to Eastinny.

Thanks Ben, We all will miss Om... Glad that their parents could be shown how much she was loved. Thank you for the pictures.

Beginning May 1, 2005 Thai Air (TG) will begin nonstop service, about 16 hours- on the NYC-Bangkok route. Don't know the departure/arrival times or costs but if you are interested there may be good fares as is usually the case on new routings.

try www.justfares.com sometimes they have good deals.

Several years ago staying at Eastinny the guy behind the desk me issues bringing 3 girls up for 'coffee'.. So now I've been staying at Flipper.. Recommend the one on Soi 7, because then coming home from downtown off the baht bus it's not a walk with your girl from walking street by all of the beer bar girlfriends you had the night before.. Also it's close to good breakfast at several pubs like the pig & whistle...

First trip to Pattaya I stayed on Soi 8 at Eastinny, but now I try and stay at one of the Flippers on Soi 7 and 8. I recommend the Flippers, try their website they usually have good deals. And it is a great location with all the beer bars and a short baht bus trip to walking st.

shouldn't be a problem in beer bars many you can get to without big probs.. Here are a couple of sites of people to contact on travel/wheelchairing Thailand.. http://www.wheelchairtours.com/ http://www.disabilitytravel.com/independen...le-thailand.htm I hope that they help man..

Thanks, Hey, where was Lobo in the team pics, he 'played' on the Euro side hunh? Looks like great fun man, one of these years I'll join you...

try www.justfares.com They sell tickets on PAL cheaper than PAL does (they prebuy blocks) many Phillipinos use them and I've usually found cheap tickets with them. One thing to look out for on PAL is the carry on limit, something like 15 lbs or so, and they weigh every bag, only one allowed. Rationale being if they weren't so strict there'd be huge amounts of carry ons with the philipinos. Also, food is the worst I've had on an airline, and the rush to get off of the plane upon landing in manilla is nuts, reminded me of traveling with Dominicans to Santo Domingo actually... Phillipinos are great people as are Dominicans, it's just that they are eager to get out of the airport and on with family and friends..

Don't know about the ferry, you might ask at this forum here... http://www.huahinafterdark.com/news/ The BARS!

BigD - What I do every year for FF miles (get 12-15k free a year) is get one of those mileage cards like visa which gives you 12-15k miles for enrolling. After your first purchase, and usually 3 months (read the rules of the card), I cancel the card. Usually one has to pay $50 for the membership.. Do this every year, reenrolling to try and get the free 15k miles.. Then after 4 years one has a free ticket to the LOS at the cost of $200.... Cheers, Shane

Hmmmm... Never had this happen. I've had to email a credit card # to a hotel before, but never at Eastinny... When last I stayed at Eastinny (2 yrs ago) this was not the practice.

No problem getting a taxi, even at this late hour...taxis know when the planes arrive and are waiting for customers, they love Pattaya fares to... I've arrived about 1am in BKK before, and walked outside to catch a taxi to Pattaya, at that time of night you'll be in Pattaya by 230 am, fast trip... I emailed my hotel in advance and told them to expect me around 3am, and they told me that they'd have someone at the desk waiting with the key (Flipper House).. I arrived at this time in the morning, put my things away quickly, showered, changed clothes, and went down to the beer bars of Soi7, they were all still open and I found a sweetie fast enough, grabbed her for the night and it all worked out well.. One thing to keep in mind though, if you have valuables/lots of cash and you have no in room safe the front desk lock boxes are usually unavailable except from 8am-7pm in most hotels... I used the ATM at the BKK airport before leaving for Pattaya so I had enough cash for the night and hid my cc's, bank card, passport in the room until the next day when I put it in the lock box.

I've gotten good deals before with www.justfares.com

Pass this link onto your friend.. It is from a fella in Cebu PI who is in a wheelchair and he can answer questions in AC/the PI if you have them I'd suspect.. It's a really cool site also.. http://cebuonwheels.tripod.com/

One year Xmastime I showed up in Pattaya on Soi 8 w/o a room...wandered up and down to all of the hotels and none had rooms.. So I hungout and drank at a bar and ended up spending my first nite with a bar girl in one of those small travel agencies on the floor, drew the shades and had great sex on the furniture.....LOL.. She worked days there in the travel agency, and slept there at night as well. The next morning she also arranged me a hotel to stay at.... Great Service.. Went back looking for her, but one of you damn Hansum men took her away.. still crying... Go anyways!!! Never know what will happen man!

This guy is a jerk..

Hi Ken, I've been enjoying your and Lat's site for months now.. Thank you.. Cheers, Shane

Hotel VimeanThmei is at a good location and the resturant connected to it is great.. Should run $15/nite.. It is about a block away from the hippie bar 'Angor What'. Not much of a scene in SR, but there are a few MPs and take out places. If you do P4P expect $20-30 LT. Also the hotel will pick you up at the airport and has a car w/ driver that I rented for $20/day from 9am-5pm.. You'll have to negotiate for these rates. The temples are awesome. I was there last December.

Foodland is near Flipper Lodge on Soi 7.. They have an ATM machine. Also there is one at the intersection of beach rd and central rd.. This is within a block of Flipper Lodge on soi 7 and within 3 blocks of Flipper house on Soi 8.

I like the Flipper House and Flipper Lodge myself, down on Soi 7/8

If you look it resets the symbols for the multiples whenever you restart, giving the same simples for the possible multiples.....tricky..

I don't use cc in LOS.. The hotels put a 3-7% extra charge on it and so do the gold dealers.. Bring TC (Thomas Cooke or AMEX) bring the highest denomination bill ($500 for AMEX) because there is a cashing fee for eqch check, bring severak ATM bank cards and keep them in safe seperate locations have your limit of daily withdrawal known and how much of a charge for overseas withdrawals you have, and bring high denomination bills (costs more to change the lower denomination bills). Avoid US $100 bills from 1996, year of the superbill... just the year on the bill will make many moneychangers refuse it.. Write down all your info on your cards etc, email addresses and phone #'s.. I usually write it down and email myself this info onto a free email server account.. Have fun!