My first trip to Thailand. Part 1, Arrival in Bangkok and general information
This is the first report of my currently on-going trip to Thailand. First, about me. I am 60, recently divorced, retired and have looked forward to a trip like this for about two years. In preparation, I made friends with several woman via OK Cupid. One I have been chatting with for over 18 months, and we have become close. For brevity, when I will refer to her as my GF. I have also chatted and become friends with 3 others, but only one other knows I am actually in Thailand and I am not certain if I will actually try to meet her. Long story there, which I won't bore you with. Long stories on all of the women, actually, but they are all personal and and I will only discuss when needed.
Anyway, the plan was to see the GF and spend 5 to 6 days with her in Bangkok before starting any mongering. After that, I would spend 4 to 6 days in Phuket, then proceed to Pattaya for maybe a 5 to 7 days, then return to Bangkok for the remaining days. Somewhere in there, I might attempt to see one or two of the other girls I befriended, though sex would probably not be on the table with either.
Mongering goals for the time beyond the GF are to be with one attractive woman a day, which is about all my system can handle. It would be nice to have a 3-way at one point, and maybe even see two women a day, though I doubt my system could fully respond. Even so, it would still be fun.
At the current time of posting, I have been in Thailand for 9 days. I spent 6 days with the GF (she is a regular, older woman, a real sweet heart and not involved in the P4P business, and I now understand how these Thai woman have a way of stealing your heart). Though I engaged in no mongering in Bangkok, I am putting my first post here to establish my journey. My second report will be on the Phuket board, then I will switch to the Pattaya board when appropriate, etc. I will try to not only report on what I did, but discuss things that I had concerns about before the trip, so as to aid other newbies. Comments and questions are welcomed.
Bangkok. The flight from LAX to BKK on Eva Airlines was, relatively, very nice. I flew Elite class, which means I got a little more seat and leg room, and better meals, in exchange for a doubling of the price. I really don't know if it was worth the extra cost, but for such a long flight, I don't regret spending the extra. Eva had the lowest rates pretty much, and the only one with intermediate Elite class seating, and I highly recommend the airline.
One concern I had about the long trip was jet lag. I am from the east coast, and while I had spent a few days in LA, I was still more on Eastern Time than Pacific Time. Well, the flight left at about 12:30 AM and we were in darkness for practically then entire way to Taipei. I dozed a bit off and on, but don't think I got more than an hour or two of solid sleep, but I was feeling fine in Taipei and for the several-hour layover, and continued fine for the 3. 5 hour continuation up to BKK. In fact, I hardly noticed any jet lag at all, which was surprising. I had thought after landing in BKK, I would be physically spent and would need to go nap for a while, but I was ready to see parts of the city, and went to bed at a normal time! So, for me going over, jet lag was not an issue at all. I do think it will be an issue when I return, but we will see.
Anyway, getting through customs in BKK was a breeze. You just follow the heard and and pretty much get waved through. Picked up my luggage and followed the crowd down the escalator down to the ground level. My first activity was to convert some greenbacks to Thai Bhats. By using cash, I avoided ATM fees by withdrawing cash. By getting fresh, crisp $100 bills in the US, the exchange went easy. Speaking of money, only a few places in Thailand seem to accept credit cards, and many of those that do will add an extra 3 to 5 percent to cover their fees. Also, if you use Capital One credit cards, they do not charge an added fee for use. Had I used my Chase credit card, they would have added a 3% fee on all foreign transactions. Not cool.
Getting wifi at the airport was a bit of a pain as you have to sign in and register, but I got it all working. My GF had just flown in from up north to meet me, so after some difficulties, we met up. It was nice to have her for my first visit to Thailand, as she ensured that getting around the city was easy and I didn't have to worry about getting ripped off or, worse, lost in this huge, congested city. Without her, I would have been hesitant about getting out and about, but with her, I visited the Palace, several what is and water markets, etc. She really made the visit enjoyable.
She helped me to learn how to (sort of) navigate the MTS sky train, and using tuk tuks, motor bikes and the bus. Still confusing, but it left me better prepared to be on my on.
With a sad heart, we departed on day 6. Her to go back home to her real world, and me to Phuket to mark the official start of my mongering vacation, and Day 1 of that will soon be posted on the Phuket Report page. Sorry for any grammatical or spelling errors, but I am about to depart on a tour and I wanted to get this posted. Later guys.