Bangkok Reports

[RacShack]

Even in Bangkok it may not be easy getting a metered taxi leaving tourist areas like Nana, Cowboy, or even Patpong, Walk a couple blocks then catch a taxi. If Sukhumvit is jammed try a side street heading towards your location away from Sukhumvit.

Yes there is always a trade off of the quick convenient taxi or tuk tuk vs. waiting in the heat for your Grab car. Taxis also know that if you are with a girl you're likely not going to want to look like a cheap ass negotiating over 100 baht more. Try catching one of those taxis on South Pattaya Road leaving Walking Street. Total scams especially when the baht bus is right around the corner.

Welcome back b. B, time for some useful information again! I do same for taxi tip when their honest, any input on apps that give you price upfront on app, grab, Uber, bolt, is their a similar one to indriver like in Colombia & where you can offer a price?

[Banana Boi]

I use Bolt when possible.

What's your average wait time for a Bolt car in Bangkok? In Pattaya?

Are Grab cars more readily available than Bolt?

[Banana Boi]

A taxi from Soi Cowboy back to my hotel near Khao San Road. Was quoted 400 baht. I kept asking others but couldn't find a better price than 200 baht.

Even in Bangkok it may not be easy getting a metered taxi leaving tourist areas like Nana, Cowboy, or even Patpong, Walk a couple blocks then catch a taxi. If Sukhumvit is jammed try a side street heading towards your location away from Sukhumvit.

Yes there is always a trade off of the quick convenient taxi or tuk tuk vs. waiting in the heat for your Grab car. Taxis also know that if you are with a girl you're likely not going to want to look like a cheap ass negotiating over 100 baht more. Try catching one of those taxis on South Pattaya Road leaving Walking Street. Pattaya taxis wait in line for an hour to get their ride so they want to make the most baht they can. They'd rather sit an hour for a 200-400 baht sucker instead of driving around waiting for people to wave them down for a ride. Same for Pattaya motorbikes. Pro tip - walk to the taxi at the end of the line who just dropped someone off and you will get a cheaper rate. Have your Thai girl negotiate for you. If she's hot it may lower the rate.

[BionicMan]

We used to have a Haven in Bangkok for new folks / first timers. The Livingstone's lodge (it's long gone now) but this was a great place to meet other mongers and ISG folks.

They had a small bar and the owner, the Infamous "Giotto" was always there to help you solve / guide you with any issue. I miss the Lodge. Especially the Roulade Sausage.

As long as it was the roulade, LOL.

Wondering what happened to the whole bunch, including Guido and his later German restaurant (where sausage was served) in Patpong.

[Explorer8939]

Have a 2 week trip booked for late Nov / early Dec, splitting time between BKK and Pattaya. I've submitted the required docs to the Thailand Pass system for exemption from quarantine, and received an automated email saying the result of the registration will be sent within 7 working days. Well it's been more than 7 business days now with no reply, has anyone else on the board gotten a response?

They are processing based on earliest flight date.

[Member #4733]

I took a taxi near Lumphini park. I wanted to go to my hotel near Khao San Road. He turned on the meter immediately. I saw Dusit! As I had been there the day before I recognized it. Arrived in about one hour. Cost was appr 100 baht. A taxi from Khao San Road to Soi Cowboy. I was quoted 200. Couldn't find one taxi that wanted to turn on the meter. I settled for 100 baht. The guy drove me straight and quickly to Soi Cowboy. No detours. A taxi from Soi Cowboy back to my hotel near Khao San Road. Was quoted 400 baht. I kept asking others but couldn't find a better price than 200 baht. Ok. I never had a ride like that before or after. Wow. 140 km / HR through Bangkok at night. No other cars, no danger. I had learnt my lesson.

Those three were on my first trip to Thailand. From then on I negotiate. It is quicker and more transparent. If someone wants to use the meter and give me a tour around Bangkok I simply decline. Fixed price and everybody is happy. Just learn to negotiate first. Even better than this. The hotel ordered a taxi for me. Straight to my planned point of arrival for little money. Of course you can do a detour around Bangkok and than tip him double or more. No problem. Taxi metres are a scam. In Russia it is worse than in Bangkok but in Bangkok too it remains a scam.

Then the last time I was there, I tried GRAB. First time I saw a lot of taxis passing by before my Grab taxi finally came. Not bad but not much cheaper. I tried it once again. Firts he couldn't find me. Then a kind of ambulance (small type) arrived. I was shocked. But well, I had been waiting 20 minutes, so I got in. I saw a lot of Bangkok. Went to the wrong hotel. I complained. Well, we will drive you to the right hotel but you got to pay extra. Why?? I declined. He drove me anyway but I will not forget about that. He broke all rules but just drove too fast to cause a serious accident. Never again.

[Aster14]

Have a 2 week trip booked for late Nov / early Dec, splitting time between BKK and Pattaya. I've submitted the required docs to the Thailand Pass system for exemption from quarantine, and received an automated email saying the result of the registration will be sent within 7 working days. Well it's been more than 7 business days now with no reply, has anyone else on the board gotten a response?

[Member #4753]

IIRC, my first bar after I checked in the Nana Hotel on my first trip was a small place in the upstairs right corner of Nanaplaza, can't recall the name. Perfect for when I took my first stroll through the GoGos with Stickman.

Those were the days you could get a reasonably priced threesome with toys and good loooking girls at 3 pm anyday you wanted at Eden Club.

10+ years ago the Eden Club was amazing, so many doable girls. Last time I went in there about 2 years ago there was not even a maybe.

[PayForIt]

Some answers are scattered throughout the last month or two of posts in the various Thailand sections. Suggest you spend an hour reading them. You will get a flavor for what's happening, but more important is you will see that what's happening today may be very different from what will be happening when you arrive in late December or early January. The changes are maddening.

Also suggest looking at The Thaiger (daily YouTube updates) and Bangkok Post and others. Those sources include Thai news that targets tourists.

Some very helpful and really useful responses. Thanks guys. In the event I do get there I'll obviously report back.

[Nyezhov]

We used to have a Haven in Bangkok for new folks / first timers. The Livingstone's lodge (it's long gone now) but this was a great place to meet other mongers and ISG folks.

They had a small bar and the owner, the Infamous "Giotto" was always there to help you solve / guide you with any issue. I miss the Lodge. Especially the Roulade Sausage.

IIRC, my first bar after I checked in the Nana Hotel on my first trip was a small place in the upstairs right corner of Nanaplaza, can't recall the name. Perfect for when I took my first stroll through the GoGos with Stickman.

Those were the days you could get a reasonably priced threesome with toys and good loooking girls at 3 pm anyday you wanted at Eden Club.

[NicFrenchy]

Since the pandemic started I have not jumped into 1 taxi that did not turn on the meter straight away.

Alas, with the return of the crowds the BS not turn on the meter crap will probably start again.

Also, they don't lock the doors and open the window so that you can tell your destination first, for them to consider if they want to go there or not.

Covid or no Covid, screw these guys. GRAB car all the way for me.

[Member #4753]

Since the pandemic started I have not jumped into 1 taxi that did not turn on the meter straight away.

Alas, with the return of the crowds the BS not turn on the meter crap will probably start again.

[EihTooms]

Haha I see you know Mint.

Yes, I know Mint and have seen her there. Also other girls from the Rainbow bars, Spanky's, Billboard, Butterflies, Lollipop, Crazy House and Tilac have been showing up in those and other Soi Nana/Soi 4 beerbars marking time until their go-go bars re-open. More of them started returning to Bangkok from their provinces weeks ago on word that bars and restaurants were more freely serving on site and therefore drawing customers to the tourist areas.

On a related note, a big new beerbar just opened on Soi 8 in the old Via Vai Italian restaurant location across from Monsoon called Rumour's Soi 8. Bar, pool, girls.

I think Soi 8 is slowly turning into a mini Soi Nana/Soi 4 bar area. But just beerbars, no go-go bars. Yet. Lol

[EihTooms]

Yes he did. Soi Biergarten is the same as Soi 7. And he wrote about Hillary 2 already. Really, maybe it's time to give the American Politics a break and rejoin us in the Bangkok thread. It's messing with your mind. You are missing things. I will ask him for a new update, but he tells me that the alcohol thing are just busts waiting to happen.

Well, he couldn't have known anything about what was happening at Hillary 2 as late as November 4 if he was still too afraid to look at Soi Nana/Soi 4 by then. There would have been half a dozen or more beer bars open on Soi 4 that night.

Beergarden Soi 7 has been dead most nights but even that bar was filled with more girls last Friday and Saturday night than I have seen during most normal times. I just looked in and did not stay.

There must have been 200+ girls working in those Soi 7 bars on those two nights. Probability alone would suggest not all of them would be "yuck" or refuse to barfine and go with customers. Nights when those Soi 7 bars are packed with customers and, therefore, girls, you likely wouldn't see many girls hanging out in front of Thermae because that is where they went instead.

Other than the girls tending bar, most of those 200+ girls are freelancers who come and go, sit at any bar they want on any night. It is possible some of the girls checking their phones are arranging outcall with customers like your friend who might or might not encounter a "yuck" girl from among them when she shows up at his door for a safe and well-behaved 1,500 baht Short Time.

After a crazy hurricane force wind and rainstorm that hit hard and moved on and it being a Sunday, I saw only about 10% or fewer of the girls and customers compared with Friday and Saturday when I passed by last night. And, as expected, since there were so few customers in the Soi 7 bar collection, there were many more girls hanging out in front of Thermae than usual.

Again, presumably there will be only one more weekend without go-go bars being open (rumored to be as soon as November 16). And it could be other clubs and venues will follow. So what that bar collection will be like on popular nights after that happens is anybody's guess.

Really, you shouldn't let something someone posts in the American Politics forum rile you up into a frazzle about where there really were scores of sweet doable pussy available despite what your friend asked you to post for him.

[NicFrenchy]

Wow, so many responses to my novice question. Many good tips I appreciate it so much!

We used to have a Haven in Bangkok for new folks / first timers. The Livingstone's lodge (it's long gone now) but this was a great place to meet other mongers and ISG folks.

They had a small bar and the owner, the Infamous "Giotto" was always there to help you solve / guide you with any issue. I miss the Lodge. Especially the Roulade Sausage.