bob_ny

Great thanks simon. How do you scope them out? Any telltale signs that they provide additional services?

Does anyone know of a barbershop in Bangkok that gives a haircut along with blowjob? I remember friends talking about these wonderful services provided in Japan and I think Korea too. Do any of the barbers in Bangkok have extras on tap?

That should be fine. I used to purchase and transport lots of booze even before the invention of bubble wrap without any problems. We used to roll the bottles up in our t-shirts.

Thanks simago and willow. Looks like I'll just be buying local and be free of duty free or duty-free free.

Thx lev I've got no extreme desire for high end brands. I think my booze needs can be met with any drinkable brand. But if there was a 30-50% savings for a premium brand over in country purchase I would consider for any shock and awe it might provide. But really, shock and awe is easily obtained with beau coup baht.

On my next trip I'm thinking about picking up a bottle of spirits for my hotel room play dates. I'm wondering if it's worth it and if there is even any savings over just drinking the locally purchased variety at 7/11 or food mart. Anyone have any experience with this lately?

I'm a jaded New Yorker so for me nothing will compare so I never bothered to try it in Thailand. Going to Thailand to eat pizza is like going to NYC and getting dominos. WTF? When I'm in Thailand I like to eat the most authentic thai food I can find. I have also had Indian food and once I has Mexican in that all street where cheap Charlie's is, and I was sorry I did.

Thanks. I'll report back and give an update before the end of the year.

Thanks. I'll report back and give an update before the end of the year.

Where was this second dentist located?

I'm checking into some of the tourist locations that I haven't ventured to in Thailand and was wondering if there are any board members who have visited this park. It looks beautiful and looks like there are a number of things to take in while there. It also appears to be a possible day trip from Bangkok. I posted this in PA and thought, since this is closer to Bangkok, maybe someone on this list would be able to help. Here's what I'd like to know: I see there's a mini van that goes there from Victory monument, so getting there looks like it'll cost only a few hundred baht if I wanted to go that way. (I'm assuming the cost will be less than 500 Baht. If anyone's been on the mini van from Victory and knows the cost that would be helpful). If I went with the mini van, would I be able to get around the park to see the falls, and some of the other sights easily? I noticed there are carts pulled by oxen that we can ride, but is that the transport that's available all throughout the park? Or would be only be able to hike? I'm assuming if they have a min van from Victory, then they probably have a min van back to Victory. Makes sense, but TIT. Is that correct? Some of the prices I've seen online from tour operators seem really steep, at 7-10,000 baht for a day trip. Has anyone been on a full tour where they pick you up from your hotel and take you to a number of tourists sights along the way as well as guide you through the park at a lower price than what I've seen online? And would you recommend the operator you used? Anything else about the adventure will be appreciated so don't be shy.

On soi 7/1, it's a small soi that also has Dr. Bj's on it. As you're walking down the soi from Sukhumvit, it's on the left side of the street. It says on the sign "Tarntip Massage and Spa - traditional massage - No Sex" The girls sit outside tarntip usually dressed in uniforms. All the other massage shops on that street offer extra's except Tarntip. The extras that Tarntip offers are aroma therapy oils for their oil massage. And the price is very reasonable. I think the Thai massage costs 250 or 300 baht. Oil is 400 Baht. I usually get the Thai massage. It's been my go to massage place now for years. It used to be located across the street right next door to the Eden Club when I first went there, and now it's in a much larger location right across the street. The store it used to be located in has LadyBoys sitting out front of it offering massage now. At least that's the way it was last Fall.

If they did it for me, they can do it for you. Your job, as in any negotiation, is to find out how to get them to want to do that.

How close to grand president is construction of holiday inn and the federal site? I would be bummed if I stayed at grand president and had to endure constant construction noise.

The Att store unlocked my iPhone for me. I just told them I was traveling internationally and wanted to purchase a foreign SIM card and they did it for me no charge. And it was about 8 months after I had switched to them and purchased the phone. YMMV

Royal president and grand president are both owned by the same company. I stayed at the Royal president and as far as access to the area, I found it pretty far up the soi, but still manageable. I prefer to stay on soi 11. There is a shortcut to soi 11 if you cut through the alley next to the hotel. Then it's a quick walk to the middle of soi 11 without having to walk back down to suk. There's also a free tuk tuk ride that the hotel supplies during the day, I think it's from 7 am until 8 pm. They'll take you to the Asoke station or Nana station of the skytrain. Nana is soi 2 And Soi Cowboy is around soi 23, so it's close to both, probably a bit closer to SC, and Thermae's right down the block.

I'm not familiar with the hotel, but it's right on one of the sleeziest streets in the area :P It's always a good idea to email the hotel and/or call them and get their assurances they are guest friendly. Usually works for me.

some folks I know stayed there last fall and here's what happened: Sometimes security asked for joiner fee and sometimes they didn't. appeared that management does not charge joiner fee, so you could probably challenge this and get it reduced or eliminated, but usually mgt is not around when you're coming back to your room in the wee hours of the morning. Email them and ask them what you should do if their security demands a joiner fee. Will they refund your money during the day when management arrives or not? I stayed at the Ambassador in 2006 or 2009 and they charged joiner fee and wrote it down in a log when you brought someone in along with the price they collected. I didn't stay there this fall but people I met from there mentioned that when they booked for 2 they weren't charged.

That's on soi 7/1 off sukhumvit for Bangkok Beat. It's close to the Avenue on the right. It's a couple of blocks down from soi 11

Rowyco, You are right! I never felt unsafe in Bangkok at times of the morning that I would not be so forward as to speak to "strangers" in the streets of the big city. I did feel a bit out of my comfort zone once during the day while I was walking around the city as I wandered to an area that had no farangs and I noticed that I was under the scrutiny of the local eyes. It was at that moment when my world seemed to become inner focused a motorcycle taxi pulled up next to me on the sidewalk and asked if I'd like a ride. I hopped on and was quickly brought back to tourist area. I don't think I was in any danger at that time, but it was absolutely not in an area that was as tourist friendly as what I'd become accustomed to. And at the time I felt that the moto taxi noticed I was out of my depths... just an energy thing I guess.

Willow, what "other tourist locations" are you referring to? It's reassuring that neither side wants to disrupt tourism, but as long as demonstrations are taking place, there is more likelihood for random acts of violence happening. And that's been my major concern. I was there in November, and I think that was when the big demonstrations recently started. As soon as I got to BKK, the newspapers were writing about the bill for amnesty that the Prime Minister was looking to get passed. I think that's what got this new round of demonstrations ignited. From my ill informed view, it seems like a less than stellar move for a politician to make that didn't have a consensus approval rating from the population! But what do I know! I'm an outsider with very little knowledge of how Thai politics works. While there, it was pretty easy to avoid the demonstrations. I was in touch with some of the Government, and was told by them what spots to avoid, day to day. There were only a couple of days that we were told to stay close to the tourist areas. It wasn't so much, dangerous, as it was difficult to get around because traffic was stopped.

Thanks Kimao. Some valid points made. Seems like the protesters will continue on until they get their way, unless the gov't or the military take some aggressive action to quell the demonstrations. I think it would be a terrible turn of events if the army or police initiated shooting the population again in their attempts to bring things back to business as usual. I'm just watching to see how things play out. I'd like to make a business trip to Thailand sometime in 2014 and it would probably be best to do it when there's less mayhem. I don't see myself coming before May or June and I could certainly put it off until late summer early fall. Hopefully things will sorted out by then. Stay safe.

I got my iPhone unlocked before I left the States. I called my carrier and they sent me to Apple that sent me a link and then I think I had to do some magic to make it take effect. By magic, I mean I had to follow the instructions they gave me and then check back to see if it was unlocked. I certainly wouldn't wait until the last minute to get this done. A friend of mine told me recently that the same carrier wouldn't unlock her phone for her because she was close to the expiration of her contract. I don't know if that's the reason, but you may have to negotiate with them to get it unlocked, or find a store that will do it for a fee. As soon as I got off the plane at the airport, I went up to one of the phone company desks and purchased a sim card with a month of unlimited data useage. It cost about 500 baht. There was a limit on the phone calls, which I doubt I would've used up during my 3 week stay except that I got a couple of phone numbers from friends I met and didn't realize the phone #'s they gave me were for U.S. phones. So I ran out of calling minutes a couple of days before I left and just bought a top up card for 90 baht at the 7/11. I probably should've bought the 60 baht card, but they were out of them and I didn't want to go shopping around and just wanted to use my phone right away. As far as the unlimited data is concerned, I think there is a limit on the speed of the internet. I think you've got access to the fastest speed for a limited amount of data, and when you reach that limit your data speed slows down considerably. I didn't have a problem with it because I used wifi whenever possible. I got as many wifi codes as possible wherever I frequented. Also, the sim card for an iPhone is a different size than most other phones, and the girl at the counter needed to cut the sim card down in size with a scissor. I've read where sometimes these places don't have scissors or paper clips. You'll need a paper clip to open your sim card holder on an iPhone.

Wow, pretty cool documentary. It's quite a different perspective on living from how we understand life in the West. For me that's what makes the culture so fascinating. In the West we try to make life as easy and as pain free as possible. In Thailand, they accept that life is all about suffering. That quote about how Thais refer to death with joy as that person's suffering is over. In the West, we do a lot of really stupid things for money. We sacrifice our time mostly doing meaningless tasks instead of pursuing our dreams for money so we can survive with as little pain as possible. We are under the illusion that we can avoid pain, and in Thailand they accept it as part of life. There's a quick picture of a beggar on Suk that pulls himself along on the ground with a pan in front of himself. He's got one long "leg" and one short "leg". He's been there for years. I heard there are trucks that take the beggars to their locations each morning and pick them up each evening. I've seen the same babies sitting in the laps of mothers and then grandmothers all day long. It's as if they take shifts begging. I wouldn't be surprised to learn that they pay rent for their space on their little patch of sidewalk where they beg.

There's a legit massage place that I frequent on soi 7/1. No LB's there that I know if, but directly across the street was a massage place that had their girls sitting out front, and a few of them definitely looked like LB. And the girls from the MP place that I went to laughed and pointed to them and told me they were ladyboys so I guess that would confirm it. The place with the LB is right next to Eden's and a couple of doors down from Dr. BJ's on the right side heading into the soi. I'm sure they aren't the only place that has LB's working. As I walked along Suk, I think I saw plenty of LB's sitting in front of the MP along the main street. Even along the tunnel next to the Ambassador Hotel, soi 11, where there's quite a few small MPs, I'm pretty sure they've got LB's working out of them too. Any non-legit MP you come across, you can just ask for a LB and they'll quickly tell you if they can oblige, and maybe they can direct you to where you can get one. Of course this will be after they've given up trying to convince you that they'll treat you better! Good luck.