little_me

People seem to misunderstand that the high end hotels cater to the customer regardless of how classless their taste. Customer is there for the service. Its the lower end establishments that are more worried about damage to their properties or disturbances that try and limit this behavior, customer's going to come back because of price, not the service... I got a deal on priceline.com back when that was a thing. Enjoyed the stay, was still kinda mid range-ish price... Last day I was there I went down to the lobby and found police setting up metal detectors on the front doors, and wandering through the maze walked past one of the ballrooms with the door open, full of brown shirts, must have been over 100 uniformed officers all sitting around... Someone important must have been checking in... Reminds me of rumors / photos, etc. after the 2004 tsunami when Bill Clinton and Sr. Bush were visiting they stayed at the JW Marriott, wonder what kinda shit show security had with girls coming back there (especially if they were there for Clinton, he seems to show up in Bangkok kinda often, remember hearing about him on the set of the hangover movie, I think on Soi 7/1?).

It's a big building to walk around outside to get to the BTS, you can go through inside but it's a maze. Nice grounds, pool, etc. right on the river, can take the ferry up if you want to do the tourist gig around the palace, wat po, etc. Room wasn't too impressive, nice enough.

I'm pretty sure Majestic Grande turned itself into Double Tree Hilton Ploenchit. And it's been over 10 years now, but I remember the elevators were slow, not enough cars for the traffic.

Intercontinental was pretty nice. Elevators were fast, rooms were well suited, everything on point for a hotel in that price range. Breakfast was excellent. Pool is on the roof, small, round, not something to swim laps in. Location is right next to Chit Lom BTS and has has inside walkway to the Greysorn mall and some other huge mall across the street from that. It was a bit of a walk from Nana, but skyrtain is right in front. Starbucks across the street was (2019) open 24 hours. (and I had a top tiered IHG rewards membership that got me breakfast free, room upgraded, room was free on points, etc...) My stay at the JW Marriot was over a decade ago. Hallway smelled like smoke. Room was OK, had door for adjoining rooms (only had one room) and a lot of sound came through that door. Didn't try and food there. Pool was great, large and regular size that you could swim in without dodging kids. Location was very close to Nana plaza, but on the far side of it from Nana BTS, so really any daytime commutes (anywhere other than a nearby bar) was less convenient, but still not bad. Used to regularly be on priceline for cheap... (but it's been 10 years since I've used that).

Using the Thai citizen/ locals line for immigration at the airport. I'm not sure it's always an option or if they have hard rules about this. Apparently the only big difference is speaking Thai, and as long as she can answer all the questions for you, their all good with it. (Almost never had anyone speak to me in English anyways.)

I would expect less privacy from an airbnb... Sure, at a hotel, you are typically walking past the front desk every time you come and go... But they just don't care about you. If you're being discrete, they aren't going to notice. People come and go, new people check in others check out. How could they possible keep track? And the higher class hotels that higher better staff that might be more observant... They also have higher standards of discretion and customer privacy. Any apartment or condo being rented out on airbnb is probably going to be in a building of people that live there. They are far more likely to wonder who this new guy is and who he's with. Any on site security is used to the same people day in and day out and know them all, except you and that girl you just showed up with. I'm sure there's all kinda good reasons to pick airbnb, I can't see this being one of them.

I had mine several years ago, in the US. While the operation itself wasn't painful, there was some recovery time and soreness. At least a week. Probably two. And there was like 2-3 days spent not moving, putting bags of frozen pees (instead of ice) on my nuts. Ten days after I had a trip for work, domestic flight across the US. By the time I parked the car, took the shuttle to the terminal, checked in and dropped my bag, passed security and arrived at the gate ready to die... Not really pain, just a dull soreness and discomfort zapping all energy. Arrive at my hotel later that night found my nuts were purple. Five days later (about 15 total after), by the end of that week the flight home wasn't a problem, was pretty much all good by then. In one of the Nana plaza hotel's ST rooms with a Thai girl who barely speaks English and probably didn't complete much more than 8th grade. Probably pretty new, seemingly genuinely excited to get stuffed, quick change to BF, into the room, no shower and just pants off and start hitting it... And AFTER I finish she's now worried and I'm trying to explain... Ya, that always seems to go over really well... I'm certainly still glad I did. But there's no way I'd get one in Bangkok unless I lived there or was able to stay for a pretty extended period.

One thing I found quite popular with many of the Thai ladies I've know is the hot pot style of restaurant / dining (or Korean BBQ). Similar to MK or those mall conveyor belt bars I can't remember the names of now... (shabushi?) While you might want something more upscale the same style probably scales.... I actually get annoyed with the general idea personally (going to a restaurant and having to cook your owned damned food!!!) but find a lot of these ladies seem to enjoy the opportunity to cook for you. And all you're really doing is throwing a bunch of stuff in a pot of broth set on a burner at the table (at least the ones that don't have a full on charcoal BBQ stuck through a hole in the middle of the table to bump your knees on). Their expectations of service from the restaurants are often far different than ours.

ticket office in the train station, specifically avoiding the 100+ scammers standing right outside (in the train station) trying to sell you a tour... MTR from Asoke to Bang Sue is quicker and easier than wandering around travel agent offices. Or, admit it's 2022 and fly... and that "special tourist train"... Does NOT have AIR CONDITIONING!!! (I think it only goes South). Thai rail might be reasonably safe and on time... But speedy with modern convenience they are not... I'm going to just guess 8 hours Bangkok to Chang Mai? Domestic air travel within in Thailand is cheap.

Close to Sukhumvit Rd. between Soi 4 and Soi 22. The skytrain (BTS) follows Sukhumvit and the fastest way to get around Bangkok is transit. (traffic is horrible.) Check google maps for how close anything is to one of the BTS stations in this area (Nana, Asoke Phrom Phong). This area is maybe not so much "touristy" but very traveler friendly, where most of the nightlife catering to foreigners is, and full of hotels and restaurants (starbucks on every corner). (not "touristy", cause there's really no cultural sites....) The area is commonly referred to as lower sukhumvit and is easy to shop for hotels on Agode or expedia.... There are major high end western brands (Sheraton, W, JW Marriott) and lower prices western brands (including a bunch of french brands I'm not to familiar with) and a whole bunch of smaller more independent locally owned buildings in this area (some very good deals)... 100's of hotels... Always check recent reviews, most or these places have ups and downs, remodel every couple years, change names, etc.

Interesting, I knew hotels were required to do this, I didn't realize landlords and such also. Or I suppose even an overnight stay at a friends house? And I find this amusing: The Bangkok Post spoke to several Thai landlords but none wanted to discuss the matter out of concern they might be fined by the Immigration Bureau (IB).

I am vaguely aware of some law that hotels need to register foreign guests.... Every time you check into a hotel, they ask for your passport and take down the information of all registered guests, apparently have to send it somewhere. I remember the owner at a small hotel up in an Isaan village explaining to me when asking for my passport... But, I can't really imagine this is closely enforced, if only because of the number of tourists. Although, I'm not sure why whoever's renting the airbnb would be unable to send this in to be compliant...

I've never been scammed by a taxi from the airport, I think they have licenses checked and extra scrutiny required to do pick ups there. And it's my understanding the airport link rail doesn't run all night. I might be wrong. I know last time in town (3 years ago, and ever other time before that) BTS and MRT was closed at (or before) midnight.

https://devilsdenthailand.com/vip-bus.html No first hand experience from me with the transportation option. I did have a nice time at their location several years ago...

Formerly known as Majestic Grande? http://www.majesticgrande.com/ I remember the elevators requiring way to much patients... The rooms were very nice, and a good location.

What a kind caring guy... I might have just given the taxi 1k baht to deal with it and left. (but, honestly, as near as that situation I was ever in she ran to the loo and got sick from bouncing on me cowgirl style, and I walked her back to the bar I found her hoping someone there would care.)

My stay at the Landmark was better than 10 years ago... But the best thing about it (other than location) was the quality of the food. They included a free breakfast with my room, and it was the best breakfast I've had at any hotel before.

If the get to the corner, make sure there is time left to cross. And there is a traffic police lookout station on the far corner for police officer to sit inside and have a full view of all traffic on the intersection while they nap. But really, the most dangerous issue I've encountered at that intersection is an 8 year old girl trying to lift my wallet. Last trip (3 years ago) there was a continual group of children hanging around the corner pan handling, etc, generally harassing tourists while waiting for the light. (on the Cowboy side, in front of the Citi bank)

Are you aware the lobby isn't on ground floor? Ride the elevator up to, I think the 7th floor? Really, not an issue when I was there (over 10 years ago) and didn't have any issue bringing girls back. Even had a girl that I met at a massage parlor that agreed to meet me at my hotel after she got off work show up at my door after giving her my room number. Just, kinda different... If you're gonna stay there, don't be surprised when you're ushered in the elevator before checking in. (actually having to wait for an elevator twice every time I came / left was irritating, but they were quick).

Assuming you've never been there, what you'll discover when you are is that traffic is horrible. And actually crossing Sukhumvit, getting from one side to the other, safely, is done either at a skytrain station (going up through the station), using one of the somewhat regular (and pretty sketchy looking) overhead crosswalks, or actually on the street, following the crosswalk signals at Soi Nana and Soi Asoke ONLY(!!!). (even at Asoke, I still go through the skytrain and subway station to cross for safety reasons) Cars drive on the wrong side of the road (left, like the British). And that area is hugely congested with terrible traffic. Cars usually can't make U turns on Sukhumvit. So, if you are trying to get a taxi from Soi 7 or Thermae to Soi 4, if you walk out to the street and catch the car, it's going the wrong way. Sure, it can turn around, in some portions of sukhumvit at some times of the day the turn around route will take 30 minutes, or more. So, you 'll have to cross sukhumvit to find a car already headed toward Soi 4, in the direction you're going. And if it's between 9:00 PM and 2:00 AM, going 200 feet down Soi 4 from Sukhumvit past Nana Plaza can easily take 20 minutes, with all the other taxis on the road stopping to pick people up / drop them off. If the walk is too long for you, suggest you consider motorcycle taxi. In my dozen or so trips to Bangkok, I've found them to be heavily used by locals and fast and efficient for getting short distances like these. I have always avoided using them because I don't wanna die on one.

I'm not sure why many of you seem concerned about sneaking past the lobby. Unless you're bringing back someone too drunk to walk or a whole party of 3+ ladies, they won't care. Even in those cases, they might not care much either. There are probably over 100 hotels in that general area and most meet your general needs, and $150 a night is far more than what you'd need for a clean room with good air conditioning. My biggest complaint with the hotels I've stayed at is slow elevators (i.e. Majestic Grande on Soi 2 and Solitaire on Soi 11). Very few hotels would not be guest friendly. I did stay at the Landmark about 10+ years ago. It's apparently been remodeled since, was being remodeled when I stayed. Room was kinda old and tired looking at the time, but was discounted heavily, and since remodel probably cost twice as much. But was still clean with reliable air conditioning. It included free breakfast and the food was fantastic, best breakfast buffet I can remember. I've also been to the pub in the basement and remember it having very good food, although a bit pricey. And, I've never stayed there, but rumor has it the Sheraton Grande is very nice, if you can find a room in your budget, that'd be my first choice (I'm just too cheap). Supposed to be very nice, connected walkways to Asoke BTS station...

I've been asked where I was staying before, many years ago. After trying to pronounce the hotel name so that he could understand 3 times I started pulling out the paper I kept with the address and confirmation... And, the immigration guy decided he wasn't really that interested, and passed me through without looking. And one time had an issue with the electronic passport not being read correctly, and marched around between a few desks before they decided it wasn't an issue. That was probably 10 years ago, or more, electronic passports were pretty new and they were just trying to scan the goofy text with all the ">>>" lines and couldn't. I do usually take some cash, probably 5 US $100 bills, just in case whatever happens, easy to exchange, make sure they are new bills in good condition. But don't remember ever being asked about money from Thai immigration, I think maybe once entering Canada they asked me about it and I told them I had an ATM card... Mostly, they act like they don't speak English and do their best not to say anything to me. But when the line gets long, I follow my wife through the "Thai citizen" line (cause ya, she is, and they let me follow her), and they probably really don't speak English, and I dunno what they ask her.

Check out the pattaya addict's section. It's slow and small. Was there 5 years ago and seemed like there were a lot of large nice resorts, not a lot else. There's a beach, didn't look particularly fabulous, but seemed a lot cleaner than Pattaya. (That might just be cause I didn't walks past anything that was obviously a sewage outlet into the sea right at the end of the beach. ya, that large building between the beach and walking street in Pattaya, WTF else do you think that is?). I was there with others and not looking for bars or women, and really didn't notice much while we were around town. Nice enough place to kick back at a resort. I'm sure there is some adult entertainment going on somewhere in that town, but I doubt it'll be remarkable.

Just don't go to any Chinese or Japanese restaurants and you should be fine. Those and the tourist places are where you'd usually see them, but most Thai people don't seem to use them much prefer fork and spoon.

I bought some Cialis on my last trip, a pharmacy along second road in Pattaya. I guess it worked. Had a kinda weird dehydrated and dizzy feeling on my last day, probably overdosed... Rest of the time, well ya, I got an erection in a strip club... I think it was more than without, but maybe a sugar pill reflex? I wouldn't buy them on the street. Just seems like a bad idea. It wasn't particularly expensive in the pharmacy. And, I'd go to a pharmacy away from Nana or Cowboy. They are all over the place, not hard to find, more likely to screw you with something like this in a tourist area right next to Nana plaza.