The King of Thailand died yesterday.  As an American I’ve never been keen on the monarchy concept.  But by all accounts, Bhumibol Adulyadej was revered by the Thai people and he seemed to have a genuine concern for the well-being of his citizens.

I’m wearing black today in respect for the mourning of the Thai people.
The King is dead! Long live the King!

Things seem pretty much business as usual here in Bangkok, with one notable exception. Last night I walked over to see what was happening at Nana Plaza.  It was dark. That’s huge!  Got back to my Soi and all seemed normal.  Until the police showed up.  In brown shirts. Whereupon they ordered all the bars to close down immediately.  That certainly put a damper on my usual routine.  Not sure how long this restriction on alcohol consumption is going to last, I’ve heard rumors of 30 days.  I’m supposed to compete in a dart tournament tonight, we’ll see if that is still happening.

Last night’s dining extravaganza:

I don’t always travel to Thailand, but when I do I eat Mexican food.

I guess it is apparent that I’m taking a bit of a holiday from the low-carb lifestyle as well.  I’ll get back on the program when I return home on Sunday.  At least I’m maintaining my walking rhythm.

In other news, I foolishly failed to pack a sufficient quantity of vaping juice to get me through the week.  I realized this on Tuesday.  Went online to see if there were any retailers in the area only to discover that not only does no one sell vape supplies, they are illegal to even possess.  Well, I had heard that on the street and now I’m glad they didn’t search my carry on bag when I arrived at customs.  I brought 10 vaping pens and 90 ML of oil with me.  I’ve since lost one of my pens and consumed 80 ML of juice.

Anyway, I was trying to decide what to do.  Cut back on consumption, go full on and deal with nicotine withdrawal symptoms when I’d exhausted my supply of oil, or heaven forbid, buy a pack of cigarettes.  As I contemplated these options while walking the streets of Bangkok yesterday afternoon I happened upon a street vendor selling vaping supplies.  It was a bit of kismet because I normally don’t even look at the crap being sold on the street.

I’m a little worried about the quality of the ingredients, but it is a load off my mind knowing I’ll be able to feed my addiction.

Now it’s time to head out and burn some of those carbs I’ve been consuming.  See you on the other side!

UPDATE:  I guess it’s official.  No nightlife for 30 days.

So, I can cross Walking Street in Pattaya off my bucket list.

I came. I saw. I drank. I left.

Walking Street is a bar district on speed.  I sampled just a few of them.  More of the same really, just more of it.  How many gals can you watch dancing in a bikini (or less) before it gets old.  My tolerance seems to be approximately one beer.

Oh my!

Actually, this is low season.  And a Tuesday night.  The ratio of bargirls to customers was probably 5-1 in the joints I visited.  Even the street was relatively empty.  I’ve been reading online that the bars are really struggling.  The Chinese are visiting by the busload, but they are just looky-loos, didn’t see any of them partaking of the nightlife–just photographs from the street.

As regular readers know, I much prefer sitting at a street side table with a cold beer and watching the people go by.  I was pretty surprised to see western men with their American-sized gals checking out the night life.  I can only imagine what was going through their heads (him: I could have this instead of that!, her: oh these poor exploited women, these bars must be closed forever!).  Ah, but who knows?

Which reminds me of the time I was sitting at a bar and these two largish women were talking in what sounded like a Scottish accent.  Being friendly, I asked “are you ladies from Scotland?”.  I got a dirty look and a snide “no, Wales”.  I politely responded, “sorry, are you whales from Scotland?.  Bada bing!

There was something on walking street to cater to every demographic.  Russian bars, Indian nightclubs, and of course the infamous “ladyboy” clubs.  Being both open minded and curious, I ventured into one called Katoeys are Us.  I sat down and ordered up a beer. I got big smiles and waves from all the dancers on stage.  There was one “gal” across the room who challenged me to a stare fight.  Or so it seemed.  I lost so called her over for a drink.  She was quite lovely actually and had a beautiful smile to compliment her overly large and obviously fake breasts.  Given our lack of a common language and my nervousness as she started rubbing my thigh, that’s as far as the conversation went.  I downed my beer and headed back out to the relative safety of Walking Street.

In my haste to escape I realized that I had failed to empty my bladder.  I *almost* made it to another bar’s restroom, but did experience some leakage before I could relieve myself.  I was embarrassed by a fairly obvious wet spot on my blue jeans so I began to make my way home.  I took the Beach Road route figuring it would be less crowded and dark enough to hide my shame.  Was surprised at the number of free lance prostitutes I encountered there.  Some were quite attractive but I’m even less interested in street hookers than I am of the gals who ply their trade from the go-go bars.  I quickly crossed the road and discreetly sat at an outside table at Hooters where I enjoyed watching them ply their trade over a beer and chicken wings.

Yesterday I took a nice long walk (24,000 steps) and worked up a good sweat.  Decided to stick close to home for my nighttime activities.  So many bars, so little time!

“Fcuk Inn. Liquor in the front. Poker in the rear”.
Gotta give ’em props on the creativity, but I never actually went inside to partake of either.

I did have a couple of beers at a street side bar and enjoyed watching the katoey’s in a bar across the road work hard at trying to entice passerby to come inside for a unique experience.

Good luck with that!

I had heard that you really couldn’t tell the difference. Taller than normal, lots of makeup, fake tits are all tell-tale signs. Still, many are quite attractive and I have no issues with folks who go for that kind of thing. Me? I’m a lesbian trapped in a man’s body. I only like women.

In my wanderings, I came across another creatively named bar:

I’m no Donald Trump but I grabbed a beer here anyway…

Turns out the name of the bar was intended to be ironic. Or so it appeared. 
Actually, I quite enjoyed chatting with Gee. She was kind enough to let me use some mosquito repellent for my legs, I reciprocated with a drink for her. It was nice to have a decent conversation in English, although we confined ourselves to topics like travel and the relative merits of vaping versus smoking. Definitely a girl with something extra!

Today I’m heading back to Bangkok to finish out my holiday in Thailand.  Later I’ll post my impressions and observations of Pattaya overall.  The community, not the bars.  Promise!

Well, I’m not the world’s most physical guy, but when she held me tight she nearly broke my spine, oh my Lola.

Well I’m not dumb but I can’t understand why she walked like a woman but talked like a man, oh my Lola.

Did some more walking around yesterday.  The mission: Find an ATM that has an English interface and replenish my dwindling supply of Thai baht.  Third try was magic.

Had a couple of brews and a nice massage.  Took a nap and headed out to Soi Cowboy to see the sights.  Oh boy.

Soi Cowboy street scene. I won’t be going back I expect.

I’m not a fan of the “go-go” bar scene in general.  Watching young women “dance” in bikinis is just plain ass boring.  I had a beer in a bar called Dollhouse and was shocked and a little disgusted when the girls removed the bikinis and danced totally nude.  I’m sorry, but leaving nothing to the imagination is just not sexy in my opinion.  One beer and I was out of there.

Back on the street I found a nice beer bar and had a very pleasant conversation with my waitress.  First Thai I’ve met that could speak reasonably good English.  I rewarded her with a couple of lady drinks which made her night.

I started walking back to my neck of the woods.  Felt sorry for a couple of the beggars I saw on the street.  A young mother and her filthy child and a young girl of maybe 12 laying on the sidewalk with a cup in front of them and eyes that begged in a way words could never convey.  I handed out 100 baht notes like candy but it didn’t make me feel much better.

I passed by Nana Plaza and popped into Hooters for more beer and people watching.

The view from Hooters. Much cheaper than partaking in the debauchery taking place across the street.

A beer and some chicken tenders and I was out of there.  Well, they screwed up my tab but we eventually got that sorted out.  Finished the night with the best massage I’ve had thus far.  Over tipped the masseuse, bet hey, it’s only money and it made her night.

At breakfast this morning the TV was blaring CNN “news” about the debate.  I asked the manager to turn it off and he graciously did so.  Then we had a very nice  non-political chat.  He’s originally from Romania and is also a fan of the low-carb lifestyle.  Heh, we are even Facebook friends now!  Anyway, he gave me some pointers on where to stay in Pattaya which was much appreciated.  I’ll be heading down there in an hour or so.

Well, at least in Pattaya I can look at the ocean instead of the dancing girls.

Life is grand.

Bangkok to be precise.

I had it in my head for some reason that my flight was scheduled to depart at 1800.  Had a busy morning at work, and then we had a staff cookout to welcome the wonderful fall weather to Korea.

It was a nice day for a little team building. And eating!

After lunch I had a brief meeting with my Deputy to discuss the “way ahead” during my absence and then I rushed off to Seoul Station to catch the airport railroad express train to Incheon.  On the way down the escalator to the platform I realized that in the rush of things I had forgotten to go by the credit union to grab some cash for my trip.  Damn, I hate when that happens!

Nothing to be done but go the ATM route.  I withdrew W500,000 then exchanged it for Thai Baht.  So I got screwed on the exchange by converting dollars from my bank account to Won (with the added expense of the ATM fee), and then again when I traded Won for Baht (dollars exchange at a higher rate).  And when my initial funds run dry I’ll be hitting ATMs here which is the worst possible way to obtain local currency.  Ah well, who says you can’t put a price on stupidity?

Arriving at Incheon I checked the flight information board and saw that my scheduled departure was 1830, exactly four hours from the moment I was standing there.  Except that the flight had been delayed until 1930.  I like to get to the airport with time to spare, but five hours is a bit much.  So I did my daily 15,000 steps by circumnavigating the terminal a few times, did some vaping in the smoking lounge, and got in the spirit of things by reading some tales from Thailand.

Good reading!

Boarded my flight a little after 1900.  It was my first time flying an Airbus 380, the world’s largest commercial airliner.  I was very pleased to discover that at least the way Asiana configures the cabin I had plenty of leg room.  The kind of leg room you pay extra for on a U.S. flag carrier.  And when the cabin door closed I was delighted to see that I was the only person sitting in my row of seats.  It was after 2130 before we were wheels up, and not long after that I was stretched out and soundly sleeping across three seats.  Quite comfortably in fact, and it made the flight go by like a dream.  Ahem.

We landed in Bangkok just before midnight local time (two hours earlier than Seoul).  The airport is modern and efficient and huge.  After a long hike I made it to immigration and got through the line in about 20 minutes with no issues.  Claimed my bag and went downstairs to catch a cab.

They have a pretty nice system in the cab queue.  All the cabs wait in numbered spaces in the parking area.  You get a ticket from a kiosk with the associated space number for your ride and then you just hook up with your cabbie.  I had a female driver who made me feel right at home by not speaking any English (and my Thai is non-existent at this point). I showed her the address of my hotel from my booking receipt and we were off.

It took about 40 minutes and two expressway tolls to reach my part of town (Nana). One thing I thought about during the ride is the feeling you get on your first visit to a new city.  I mean, it’s a little discomfiting to be completely clueless but also exciting to be experiencing something completely new and different.  That only happens once and I’m really embracing the moment.  Good stuff!

So my hotel is the iCheck Inn.  It is at the end of a narrow alley and my cabbie dropped me off on the main street.  I walked up the road hoping she had indeed left me at the right Soi (street), after after passing several beer bars and massage joints (and being enticed to come in by several lovely ladies) I made it to the entrance of my lodging.  It’s a 3 star venue, but is modern, clean and comfortable.  So far, so good.

By the time I completed check in (at the Check Inn, ha!) and got the room organized, it was after 2 a.m. (4 a.m. in Seoul).  That’s late for me in either country, but given my sound sleep on the flight I had enough energy to explore the neighborhood.  In my alley I found a place to enjoy a beer without being harassed by juicy girls.  I moved a bit further up the alley and had a beer at a bar featuring a live band.  Not my style of music (a Thai version of hip-hop) so it was one and out.  Walked a little up the main drag but everything was pretty much closed down for the night.  Except for the street walkers.  And I ignored their entreaties for company.

Returned to the room and had a very good morning’s sleep.  Up around 0900 and went downstairs for my free breakfast.

I’ve had better coffee, but never a better coffee mug. The breakfast was cooked to order, which I much prefer to buffet style.

Here’s my “alley” by day.

It’s a whole different look when the sun goes down.

And the entrance to my comfortable boutique hotel.

Time now to get on with the adventure.  I’m fixin’ to put on my walking shoes and explore the mean streets of Bangkok by day.  And reconnoiter where I might be spending the nighttime hours.  I’ve actually already hooked up on Facebook with the owner of a dart bar.  Back in the days before my time he played in the Seoul dart league.  Should be fun to meet up and share stories while chucking the arrows.

Stay tuned!