little_me

Cell towers have always had an ability to measure a distance to a phone based on response time on the signal. Measure that distance from multiple towers, you get a location. There are issues with its accuracy (signals going through walls, etc.) But it will still get the general area. Not sure what special SIM the will be issuing... They can already do this with any SIM assuming the towers are close enough together.

I remember back at Don Mueang, when leaving the country, you had to pay 500 Baht, in cash, after checking in and before clearing immigrations. Never had to do this at Suvarnabhumi, kinda makes me wonder... (and I always wondered, why leaving? and what happened if you didn't have the 500 Baht?)

All doctors always demanded taking the full course of any anti biotic any time they are used. Not just the one time "shock", but the follow up once a day for a week or whatever. Otherwise, you don't kill the bug, you just make it resistant to the anti biotic, and then you're pretty rightly fucked, and likely will pass it to others and fuck all of us over. Still fun, but not as much. Same as fucking a vagina. Same as fucking in the ass. All about risk vs. reward. My understanding if that Herpes can be transmitted via a blowjob, and anti biotics won't help with that. Apparently it's kinda rare for that to happen, but it can.

If you're ever in the area, check out some of the jewellery shops around Chinatown. Going out of your way to see them probably isn't worth it. But you'll see an amazing amount of gold on display in some of these shops. Most of the shopping malls mentioned are somewhat interesting and decent places to get something to eat, but not really a must see on a trip around the world. The area full of cell phones in MBK is a bit unique, having never seen anything like that in the US. But the rest of the malls are mostly like shopping mall all over the world. Take one of the ferries / water taxis up the river from under the Saphan Thaksin MRT to see Wat Po and the Grand Palace. Not a long walk around the area, quick and easy way to get there and get out without getting stuck in traffic. Stop across the river to see Wat Arun maybe? (I've never been there) or find a boat to take you on a canal tour. In one short day (maybe a long one) you'll be able to collect a week's worth of tourist photos to show Mom when you get back. Also check out a floating market somewhere.

I stayed at the Majestic Grande once, a long time back, when it was still pretty new. It was nice, very nice room, small but very nicely styled. Pool wasn't large but OK. Never used the fitness rooms. Don't remember breakfast, must have been alright. But the elevators were an annoyance. While they were modern and should've been fast enough, there were too few for the number of guests, they were always full, and stopping all the time. And, the hotel had a large number of Arabs, which always seems to make slow elevators worse when you have to share with people who can't understand pushing a down arrow to go down and an up arrow to go up (and not @#!$* BOTH, JUST BECAUSE YOUR IMPATIENT AND STUPID!!!!). Not as big an issue if you keeping "monger hours" and miss the breakfast rush. Haven't stayed at the 4 points in Bangkok before. Walked by, and it looked like a nice enough place last time I was there, centrally located, clean lobby. If it compared to other 4 points I've stayed in Ohio and Illinois, I'd pass, but being a Bangkok I'd expect the to have stepped up a bit nicer than there typical low budget US styling to compete with similar priced local spots...

I got sick eating something at a restaurant in MBK once. And I was chatting with a guy that claimed it took him 3-4 trips to realize he was getting sick every time he stopped in to get a chef's salad at Gulliver's. Never more than a mild rush to the toilet (kinda similar to what I get after yoghurt, berries and coffee for breakfast) from a food cart or Thai restaurant, but the food from the Japanese restaurant in MBK left me sitting on the toilet for an entire day. The street carts selling Thai food is pretty traditional food that they've been making for generations without dying from it. The western food they make, there's really no long standing tradition in Thailand as to how it should be prepared. And, I would assume much of the western food handling protocol isn't something the entire staff's been schooled in (i.e. not using the same knife or cutting board for chicken and lettuce). And, there's a lot of Western food we eat that relies on things been well cleaned (i.e. lettuce, of any "leafy green" vegetable whether used in a salad or a cheeseburger) and probably should be avoided unless you're willing to drink the water it was cleaned in straight outa the tap.

A guy on one of these board gave me a good excuse to never eat bugs in Bangkok.... He mentioned the idea of how they collected all these bugs in the first place, which probably involved a can of bug spray. So, that's my second excuse. First is, they just don't look like something I want to eat. And, my wife's from Isaan, she won't eat them, and doesn't want me to either (but everyone else in her family will eat them).

This would certainly ruin anyone's vacation and could easily turn into their worst nightmare, being attacked like that in a foreign country. And it could certainly happen to anyone at the most random of time. But, one of the reasons I believe this story got so much attention is that it just doesn't happen often at all. If attacks like this were occurring daily, or weekly, or even monthly, this would just be another on the list adding to the many reports that the media is tired of telling. The gun violence in most US cities has reached that point in areas, media doesn't bother reporting any more, in some the police can't be bothered to show up unless someone's dead. Certainly isn't making international news, sometimes even if tourists are involved. So, yes, this attack is scary, pretty sobering to consider it could happen to you. But, based on the amount of attention this one attack is getting, I'm have to assume it was a pretty rare incident.

I don't think they serve women in the lounge, so chance are I wouldn't be interested in staying long. Especially with the entertainment available nearby.

Breakfast, if you wake up before 10:00. Watch the bookings closely to see if it's included in the price or not, you can always pay extra for it if it's not. Quality varies widely, and a lot comes down to personal preference. If the price does include breakfast, make sure you select 2 people staying, in case you have an overnight guest that wants to join you for breakfast. (some hotels get grumpy about that, even if they are guest friendly they often want to charge extra for the breakfast and make up all kinda policies to do so. But even if you wake up before 10:00, she probably doesn't want to). Elevators. Majestic Grande as an example, 251 guest rooms, 2 elevators!!!! They get busy, and you'll wait. a lot of the older hotels are bad or worse due to elevators being slower, smaller and sometimes breaking. Location!!! if it's not near the skytrain, or new sukhumvit, not only far down the Soi is it, but how much traffic is on it. And where does that traffic come from and go to. Soi 11, there a older 'Suite' type place on the end, one of the president places I think... step out the front door and start walking down the street and you'll be passed repeatedly by empty taxis. Halfway down Soi 22, that place that used to be the "mercure" 4:00 PM, every taxi driving by will be full. Taxis go up Soi 11 and back down 13, or vice versa, always passing that hotel on the end empty. Soi 22, they are going to / from people's apartments further down, or cutting from Sukhumvit to / from that other large road by the Carre Four, always with a passenger... It's really hard to know this if you don't book the room and stay there.... But many of the Soi's are dead ends, and taxis don't go down them empty looking for passengers often. Washer and dryer are pretty killer. But, the only place I've found them was over $100 a night, and getting bulk laundry done isn't that expensive outside the hotel (ask for bulk / per pound, unless you want it pressed). Or, after you get done working off your morning stiffness, ask you're longtime associate if she can do you a favour? (don't be too surprised how easy it is to get a bar girl to offer laundry services as a bonus, just be careful about how much harder it's going to be to move on to another).

A friend once set me up with a room that was in the building as his apartment, apparently they had a few room the rented out nightly, hotel style, instead of monthly. Without knowing someone that live there, I'd have had no idea where to find something like that advertised. This was years before I ever heard of Airbnb. It was OK, cheap, for the price couldn't be beat. Clean and air conditioned. But they weren't cleaning (or changing sheets) every night, housekeeping like twice a week only. Tile floor, no shower stall, just a shower head on the bathroom wall (drain in the floor and all the walls were tiled) pretty typical of any Thai apartment and not exactly western standards. It was clean, safe, and the AC worked, and it was cheap. Location wasn't great, but wasn't that bad. The only issue I would've had if I was bringing girls back would be the housekeeping, getting clean sheet... (any of the girls would be used to the bathroom).

Once you start thinking about it, it will only get worse. I've never really had much of a problems, sometimes it would take a little coaxing to get it to snap to attention, but usually a nice rub and it's there. But one night, in a strip club back home, in the back corner, stripper pulls it out and first has issues getting a condom on. Once we get through that, she can't get it inside her. Now, I'm kinda limited to sitting in the chair, and she's kinda limited to sitting in my lap, or it'll be too obvious to the other couples in similar chairs surrounding us.... Challenging situation, but once she starts appoligizing for not being hot enough, all hope is lost (whe definitely was hot enough, not the hottest girl there, but I could also see the hottest girl there over her shoulder trying to act like she wasn't watching). Put it back in my pants and try and forget. It's not going to start responding under that kinda pressure.

I've known more people that've gotten sick from the Chef's salad at Gulliver's than any street food from a cart. But realizing the difficulty in washing leafy greens, I don't eat anything raw that doesn't have skin that peels off when in Thailand, regardless of where I go to eat. Read a little about food safety (I find it surprising how little most people in the USA understand about it) and you'll find that almost everything on those food carts is well cooked and pretty safe. Anything that relies on being washed to clean bacteria off it (fresh lettuce) stay away from.

But wouldn't it be cool if they built a walkway from the Nana station up to the corner and around it a bit, so that you can directly enter NEP on the 2nd or 3rd floor without going through the food cart / lady boy / tuk tuk circus between the NEP entrance and the sukhumvit intersection?

liquor bottles are generally pretty tough, drop an empty one sometime. I've seen them bounce off tile from 3-4 feet.

I've only ever seen the line for Thai citizens and foreigners. Not broken down between foreigners with visa vs. visa on arrival. Can't see why having the visa would make anything faster. If they offer visa on arrival to Indian citizens, shouldn't be an issue. Can't see why it would take longer than anyone else getting one. If they don't offer visa on arrival to Indian citizens, your UK work papers might include you in priveledges extended to UK citizens (many countries apparently treat a US permanent resident's "green card" similarly to a US citizen's passport, offering the same visa on arrival options). If not, the airlines should be aware of this and refuse to board you (otherwise, they've gotta fly you home for free if your rejected entry).

I was considering and walked up Soi 10 to check it out. I looks pretty darned nice from the lobby, and based on my expirience with Bangkok hotels, with a lobby that nice it's probably got pretty decent rooms. But it's WAY up Soi 10. Way way up there, further than I'd want to walk more than once a day. And I usually end up walking from the hotel to a BTS stop at least 2-3 times a day, and commonly home from Nana or Cowboy. If you're cool with getting a taxi up and down the street every time you go somewhere, it's likely a pretty solid choise.

Some of it was built in stages, and it's still be expanded on parts. In 2004 was the first time in a long time that I visited Bangkok, and the first time I saw it. I had been hearing about it for a while, and got a killer deal at the Shangrila hotel and stayed there, which was at the time at the end of the Silom line. That line now crosses the river and goes pretty far over the other wide (I used to wonder WTF they were thinking having the trains change direction on a bridge, if there wasn't a more economical place to put those tracks, now I understand the plan was to cross the bridge and keep going). Next trip there the MRT was open. On Many trips I remember going down the expressway to the airport watching them building the towers for the skytrain to link all the way out to the airport. But that was Don Mueang, and I don't think they ever made it and apparently gave up, starting over going out to Suvarnabhumi instead now (which is complete). The series of walkways under the tracks along Sukmuvit and Silom were also built gradually. in 2004 I at the Asoke station, I think you could go into Robinson directly from the platform, and on a couple other stations get to MBK and one or two other malls. Now that series of raised walkways and entrances to buildings on the second floor is creating a whole new level on that area of the city, quite literally, I find it quite facinating to explore every time I come visit and see how it's grown. I keep hoping they'd extend a walkways from the NANA station up to the Soi 4 intersection.

If you shop it hard and bargain with enough of them you might be able to get to Pattaya for 800. Going to/from Nana, for 800, you got screwed. But you only lost $15 US at the most, and got to where you were going...

Corner or Asoke and Sukhumvit, right outside the MRT. Around Soi 5 There's always a few right next to the Asoke BTS (odd Soi side). Nana hotel parking lot. The line up seems small than in years past, but still worth a quick peak. Dude looks like a lady!! Same Same.... These were all taken after 2:00 AM.

Some do. Other's have gotten it snipped. There was a thread here or on the Pattaya board from a guy swearing that doctors found a way they could get "wet" too as part of the operation. I'm pretty sure the boobs are always silicon.

Some are the most beautifull men you'll ever meet. I guess, it's really up for you to judge what you think they are, and whether or not your gay it you take one out...

There's got to be 20 hotels within a 5 minute walk, ranging from the JW Marriot and Landmark to a place that's available by the hour actually IN Nana plaza (they might have a nightly rate?). I've always liked the Majestic Grande (the tower, across the street from Annie's), but I think it's a bit over 1000 baht. The Rajah is the only one I've heard bad things about.

I've used several different sites and decided agoda.com was consistently about the best. I'll usually double check the hotel's site to verify, but remember that agoda charges upfront for the room and includes the tax in the quoted price. Some of the site (always for the hotels own site) quote the price with no tax, and you get hit with that at checkout. Also verify if the room you are booking includes breakfast (if you plan on eating before 10:00). And always book double occupancy!!! even if you are traveling alone, it not only gives you an argument against any joiner fee but buys her breakfast if included. And the prices are all based on double occupancy, but they aren't going to give you a discount being single. Plus, Agoda is advertising on this site, and others like it. That helps pay to keep these forums running.

Maybe some, but me, I absolutely not. No wifi at the hotel gives me an excuse to go up to bar and check my email, get a couple beers, I'll be back in a couple hours honey, why don't you take a nap....