RhinoTusk

"The Rose of the North", the hub of northern Thailand, 5th largest city in the kingdom. It had been over a decade since I was here, brought a girl from Nana Plaza and we did an elephant camp, river rafting, visited an orchid farm. I rented a car and we drove up the mountain to Wat Phrathat Doi Suthep, then visited the nearby Bhuping Royal Palace and the ultra-touristy hilltribe village. I went alone this trip, staying at the Raming Lodge on Loi Kroh, just a block outside the moat in the southeast section of the city. A deluxe room included airport pick-up and in-room wifi. The hotel had a pool that I could lay around in The hotel was a 10 minute walk to the night bazaar and I thought it had a nice mongering sound to it. There were several beer bars along Loi Kroh with friendly ladies. Halfway to the night bazaar is the Chaing Mai Entertainment Complex (CMEC), a cluster of about 30 bars surrounding a boxing ring. Not exactly a hotbed for stunners but girls were only asking 1500 LT. GO GO Bars Adjacent the beer bar complex is Star XiX You climb the stairs and pay 150 baht for a drink coupon before entering. They do it this way after losing so many potential customers that entered the bar and left without buying a drink. Get the picture? Slightly better is Spotlight, on Kotcasarn, facing the moat. Three girls on stage wearing bikinis, Chevas Regal 140 baht. The best of the lot was Foxy Lady, across the street from the Dusit D2 hotel. Long Island Iced Tea: 240 baht, more conventional drinks about half. LIVE MUSIC North Gate Jazz Co-op A tiny, hole-in-the-wall bar with (sometimes) great music, but can be hit-and-miss other times. Jack and Coke, 180 baht. Highly recommended. The Brasserie Rhythm and Blues The sign out front said live music at 7 PM, but didn't start until 9. Boy Blues Bar Not a gay hangout but a rooftop blues bar in the Kalare Night Bazaar. Just follow the music when you hear Willie Dixon's Hoochie Choochie Man. Jack Daniels & Coke 130 baht. Singha Beer 80 baht. Rasta Cafe The band was partial to Red Hot Chilli Peppers. I was twice the age of anyone else in the bar but I was having a flashback. Long Island Iced Tea, 250 baht. Sax They no longer feature live music upstairs (maybe during high season), but I enjoyed the ambiance of this place. Margaritas 75 baht during happy hour. Discos There's Bubbles, adjacent the PornPing Tower hotel. Didn't have the opportunity to check it out Backpacker Bars A set of bars around Zoe in Yellow, near the 3 Kings Monument on Ratwithi. They were setting up for their 6 year anniversary party. EATS Khao Soi The local dish. Noodles in yellow curry, topped with crispy noodles, add a chicken leg and you've got a tasty lunch for 40 baht. La Terrasse In an ally off Loi Kroh, just a few blocks from Raming Lodge, this place is fantastic. I ordered the plate du jour, duck breast with mango in red vinegar sauce flamed in Grand Marnier (420 baht) with a half liter of red (590 baht) and creme brulee for desert (150 baht). A truly outstanding meal for 1160, considering most of the cost was for the wine, and they presented the check with a fine chocolate truffle, and without government tax or service charge added. La Fourchette Across the street from Wat Chedi Luang, casual setting. I ordered the plate du jour, duck confit in triple cherry sauce. The waitress said it takes 8 hours to prepare the sauce, and I can believe it. Miguels Cafe Fresh Mex, chicken burrito for 170 baht. I like my burritos a bit larger but the price was very reasonable. Service was also very good, after I finished my strawberry margaritas the waitress asked if I'd like another pitcher. El Diablo's Burritos Burritos were larger than Miguel's, and complimentary chips and salsa, but margaritas were much more expensive, 150 baht vs just 90 baht, although I believe they used better tequila. I was surprised to see so many Mexican restaurants. I'm sure they also had some fine Italian restaurants but I didn't have the opportunity to try any. Next: Attractions

Looks interesting, I've been meaning to try it out.

The panhandlers around Central Station were a real pain in the ass. Many were drug addicts so if you gave them money they would ask for more. I learned to say "Ich verstehe nicht" and crossed my fingers they understood as little German as I do. I recall being in Amsterdam in 2001 and I gave a gilder to a panhandler. He was a large man, about 6 ft 4 in, mixed race with a thick British accent. When I reached into my pocket for coins, I happened to have a five gilder coin that he really hassled me about. NO WAY I was giving him 5 gilders, but he really gave me a lot of grief. Less than a year later I saw his picture on the front page of the newspaper. It was Richard Reid, the shoe bomber. I never would have remembered him if he didn't harass me so much about the five gilder coin.

I remember a middle eastern tourist taking a photo of one of the Brazilian women and she went after him.

Nice to see the Old Sailor Bar again The Grasshopper, from the mid-1990s Central Station De Wallen

They're not coming as long as Aeroflot is flying over the Ukraine.

She tucked that loosely fitting shirt into her jeans, makes her look soft in the middle, she should have left it out.

Number 4 was really cute.

No, I upsized to full frame from Photo AV. Fotofile wanted 10,000 baht more for the same camera. Here's a monitor lizard I found in Lumpini Park today. I don't think you'll get this shot with a cell phone.

I just bought this camera at MBK and was trying it out. Nice girl.

Thanks for the comments. Don't know the names of the live music places except Radio City and have never ventured into any of the upstairs bars. I had a thirst for some Crown Royal whiskey one afternoon so went into the Crown Royal bar, but they don't stock it. Go figure. Here's an interesting article describing the history of Patpong since the 1940s http://www.theage.com.au/news/business/the-banana-plantation-turned-sex-zone/2005/09/20/1126982060480.html A Stickman article from last year http://www.stickmanbangkok.com/StickmanWeeklyColumn2013/Timeless-Patpong.htm The Patpong Wikipedia page http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patpong

I visit The Pong about every 3 months and, while I feel embarrassed to admit it, I always seem to have a good time. The Star of Light is world famous, of course. There's been enough jizz generated there to flood a small city. Otherwise very quiet in the afternoon until the workers show up to build the night market. I live so close to Nana Plaza and Soi Cowboy that I never come to Patpong to bar fine. I come to Patpong for one reason only: Prices have always been lower and I can order Long Island Iced Teas all night and get really wasted. In fact, I haven't bar fined from The Pong since '03, this cutie from Kiss (not to be confused with Kiss on Soi Cowboy). Last night I took a walk down Soi Thaniya, until a tout informed me this was for "members only" and, while I could take pictures of the street, I wasn't allowed to take any picture of the girls. I always drink in the same 5 bars on Patpong: Kings Castle I & II, Club Electric Blue, Pink Panther, and Bada Bing. I tried the Black Pagoda once after stickman raved about it, before I realized they were an advertiser. I don't know what's going on in the other bars. I've been going to Kings Castle I & II for over 20 years, see my Bangkok Trip Report from 1992: http://www.pattayatalk.com/forums/topic/62014-bangkok-trip-report-21-years-ago-w-photos/ The bars are adjacent, they might do well to knock the wall down and consolidate, but they haven't invested in the property since I've been a customer. Looks just the same as 20 years ago, except a Jack & Coke goes for 130 now (still better than paying 180 at Baccara). They used to be prepay on drinks but now the customer signs each receipt, perhaps sending a message that it's going to be difficult to pad your bill. As usual, there were some very attractive girls there. Next stop was Pink Panther. I love it when bars price all their cocktails the same, so a Long Island Iced Tea is 180 baht, same as a Singapore Sling. Since this is Patpong I would expect that it be diluted, but it tastes like rocket fuel anyway, can't even taste the tea. Went down so well that I ordered another. I used to 'sober up' with an Irish Coffee here, but it's no longer on the menu. All the girls dress as coyotes but they seem to have three classes of girls. Some girls bar fine at the usual 600 baht while others bar fine much higher, and some girls can't be bar fined at all. Make sure you know the class of girl before investing 180 baht in a lady drink. At 11 PM they have Thai boxing, I always make sure I'm out of the bar by then. By this time the night market was in full swing and the music bars had their bands playing marginally better than Country Road. Took a break for dinner at Le Bochon. Lobster Bisque, Lamb Shank in a while bean sauce, and Creme Brulee, with a glass of red. No Thai food on the menu, not an appropriate place to bring a bar girl for dinner, but a Star of Light girl under the table would be delightful. Lust of Bangkok? I never saw this place before, the night market really obstructs visibility in the street. Next up was Club Electric Blue, and yet another Long Island Iced Tea. Last stop Bada Bing, and another Long Island for 200 baht. I don't know how you feel after 18 shots of booze but I can hardly remember getting home, think I took a tuk tuk. Found these shots in my camera this morning, so glad I didn't leave it in the bar.

When it starts to look like this, you know you've had enough Otherwise, lively this month on Walking Street

You can see more of Koh Sichang in this thread http://www.pattayatalk.com/forums/topic/61704-fong/page-4

Koh Sichang fills up with Thais from Bangkok on weekends but is empty during the week. There's no nightlife to speak of. I never bothered to make the trip to Koh Samet, but don't think either can compare with Koh Chang. Here are a few shots from Koh Sichang

* There's not a lot close by. * Lady Thai shy * My lens wasn't wide enough to capture the entire room, but I lifted these images off their website. I believe it's called 'Deluxe Pavilion'. The also have 2 villas that rent for around 30,000/day, including butler service:

I wanted to check this place out, lighthouse motif, remotely located on the point of Buddha Hill. Grounds were nicely landscaped, three small pools and a private man-made beach. I received a complimentary upgrade to the deluxe room, 65 square meters, with a view of Koh Larn. I particularly enjoyed the super-sized tub, comfortably accommodating two people. I brought along a companion from Walking Street to bathe me, a small waterfall filled the tub, and a separate walk-in shower was also included. The room was non smoking, but an adjacent circular balcony was attached to relax with a smoke or to be smoked. The property features a 24 hour fitness center and a 24 hour business center where you can borrow free movies to play on your rooms DVD player. I booked at a promotional rate so breakfast and internet access were not included. Breakfast buffet was 660++ served in their seaside restaurant, or served in your room for a few hundred baht more, and internet access was available for an additional 450++/day. As a Cheap Charlie, I saved my complimentary fruit plate to use for breakfast: two apples, an orange, and some rambutan. For internet, I topped up my sim and used 3G. The Sheraton was indeed a great escape after spending several nights on Walking Street. There was hardly anyone there, staff outnumbered the guests, and it was nice just to veg-out around the pool or beach for a short while, a love nest with that special someone. However, unlike the Hilton, you can't just go next door for some cheap eats. 24 hour room service is available if you fancy a 400 baht plate of Pad Thai. The hotel runs a free shuttle service to Central Festival between noon and 10 PM, the taxi mafia will try to screw you coming back late. I would estimate it's about a 30-40 minute walk to WS, either coming down the hill or using the alternate route past the Bali Hai Pier. I'd stay there again if it wasn't so damn expensive.

Now at Central Festival. Miss Pattaya Auto Show was won by #19

Yeah, I only played one year, and that was 9 friggin years ago.

The worst beer I ever had was Billy Beer, a 6-pack cost 99 cents. Living in Thailand, the only thing I truly miss is Pabst Blue Ribbon beer.

70 baht on Walking Street, in front of Casanovy. Any good?

I moved out last year. The security staff were useless but I've heard they take IDs now. There's a locked gate on Beach Road but anyone can walk in off the street from Second Road. Elevators are in the middle of the building and you have to walk past some massage shops, never made me feel uncomfortable.

This is what's currently left of the Bed Supperclub The old St. Regis is also coming down. Don't know what's going in that prime spot next to Q Bar. The Federal Hotel has been reduced to a gravel pit. And it was a very quiet night on Soi 11 last night without the VW bus bars, due to the Buddhist holiday. Wouldn't know it was a Saturday night.

Rent an accomodation with a newer tv, then you just need a serial cable.

I hope so, I got out of there quickly. Their henchmen looked ready to come after me for taking that shot. But Crazy House was worthwhile and I bar fined a nice looker from there (albeit for a 1000 baht bar fine).