Bangkok Reports

Guys,

Tonight we had a M79 grenade launcher attack on the skytrain station in Silom/Saladaeng. 5 grenades exploded, 1 person died, 10 are seriously injured, 75 injured all together.

On a government press conference it was talked about 3 dead people, but this is not confirmed up to now.

To understand what's going on here in Bangkok / Thailand is very difficult. The government will try to prove that the red shirts fired the grenades, but this is questionable. On the other hand we read in the politics thread that the multi-color shirts are all ex-yellow shirts (PAD), and that is simplified, too.

I don't want to discuss the political aspect of this crisis right now, all others out there understand this much better than I do. I only know - TIT - this is Thailand, and to really understand all underlying factors of this conflict you might need to be Thai. Otherwise you could come to the conclusion that everybody (and I mean everybody) is obviously suffering a lack of brain capacity and intelligence in this conflict.

Nevertheless, if you are here in Bangkok:

- check out where the red shirts are - every day
- don't go close to those areas (close = 1 km )
- don't think that tourists will not be hurt - if you mix up with them, and fight starts, you will be hurt
- don't be a "demonstration" tourist - it's a normal demonstration, not many people at all (approx. 15000), and if you need to go to a demonstration do that in your home countries
- think about that you are a foreigner, and that you should not get involved into the interior issues of another country.

[b]If you are not in Bangkok - it is not necessarily a good time to come here right now. There are other places in Thailand (Pattaya, Phuket, Samui ...), there are other countries in this world![/b]

I don't think all this will last much longer, and I hope that the red shirts will send a signal to the government that they are willing to negotiate again. Otherwise - after what happened today we will see military action to resolve the demonstration.

The option that all this ends in a horrible blood bath - is still there. Please - keep this in mind!


Giotto

stopped by soi 7 bier garten later than usual, just after 6pm. two motives:[list][*]the secondary one, wanted to see what the [i]staff[/i] was like at that hour. not impressed. a few i'd consider walking out the door with, but, for me anyway, better selection early afternoon. didn't want to wait around to see what the evening shift looked like, as

[*]my primary motivation was to bat in the big leagues tonight. two possibilities, a-listers, that it was time to step up to the plate for.[list][*]tilac, soi cowboy. stunner. however, i also know my only chance with her would be to go "indian" (that's american indian there, boy), as in write her number on my forehead and wear a war bonnet of 1000 baht bill [i]feathers[/i]... then, she might give me a glace. otherwise, i'm "clutter". the truth hurts, but i'm a big boy, i can take it. service, even if possible, [u]perfunctory[/u], i'm thinking.

it's just that there are some that you have to do, reality, and some that will stay fantasy. just not worth the bucks, baht, dirham, ringgits, whatever, for her experience. but the reality ones... i still can tell the difference between the two, so, it's:

[*]patpong, king's camelot. another stunner, marred, for me, by some large tattoos. but the face and legit rack, beauty itself. the tats? crime against nature as far as i'm concerned, but it's her body... on a slow night, i know i have a shot (maybe even 2 if i increase the ante a bit).[/list][/list]patpong it is. bail out of bg7 and make it to patpong just after 7pm.

first thing i notice is it's not crowded. granted early, but the crowds are just not there. plenty of room to walk on the sidewalk.

next thing i notice are the soldiers. no biggie, been to plenty of places where that's the norm, uniforms on the street, carrying automatic weapons.

third thing i notice is the concertina wire on the sidewalk. but it's not really serious, 1 roll? serious, it's at least 2 wide, 1 on top. this is just theater. won't stop anybody...

proceed down to patpong 1, into camelot. yikes, what a mistake. 2 girls dancing, well, 1 dancing, 1 barely shuffling her feet. 2 others sitting across the way. i'm the only customer. the girl i'm looking for is nowhere to be seen. sure, it's early, but one can always hope. the alternate target, a little spinner, who knows how to market herself, is also not there.

i get nothing from anyone. the one girl who is trying to flag me is, well, would be pleasing for those who like "chunky". i'm not one of those.

sure, i can stick around, see who shows. or i can ask. but i'm thinking, "this place is so bad, i'm beginning to feel the [i]gravitational[/i] pull of the rose (bar), and that's not good. but that's how bad camelot was. command decision. miss tats will have to live in my fantasy world; in reality, it's 8pm and time to cut my losses and move up to cowboy to get a leisurely st in. no, not with the stunner, but to the alternate target: a real sweetie, cute, who gives me a lot of attention.

cut over to patpong 2, move towards silom. hear a small "crump", followed by a wave of people running towards me. i'm thinking "bar fight", looking around to what they are running to. it's then that i spot the squad of soldiers running against the crowd, towards silom. hmmm, that's my direction. 2 more waves of people sweep over me as i make my way towards silom, all running in the opposite direction. this is not good.

you know it's a bad sign when the street vendors are packing up as fast as possible... just dumping their merchandise into the containers as fast as they can. soldiers are beginning to form up. damn. i figure i'll make it to the skytrain and exit the area mach quick. get to the bottom of the skytrain stairs, sala daeng, large crowd coming down. a westerner, coming down, gives me the bad news, "skytrain's closed." a news photographer comes up, asking me, "is that where the explosion happened?", pointing up silom, the way i've come. "i don't know", and he moves off. i watch which way he goes; i head the opposite. it's been decades since i've heard a "blooper", and i don't want to hear 1 again. likewise, i used to know the blast radius of an m26, but it's something i've forgotten and i don't want to need to calculate now... that's all past history, and i want it to stay that way.

crap, crap, crap. i ask about the subway; the westerner doesn't know. i cross the street, head up towards the subway station. the street is clear, as in clear shot... soldiers behind me, not quite forming lines, but assembling in squads. a humvee maneuvering in front. in front of that, empty road... the sidewalks are another story; crowded. i make it to 1 block away from the subway. street is empty in front, but the sidewalk is packed. only way to get through there is to take the street, and that's just a bit too exposed for me. i don't want to be the only one in no-man's land that part of the street has become.

i exit, literally, stage right - small soi, heading away from the crowds. less people, less enticing target. tall buildings either side should provide shelter unless 1 drops right in. it's a long soi, with few cross soi's. finally find one headed towards rama, where i figure i can grab a taxi and move elsewhere.

using small soi, dead-ends at an apt?, office? no problem; the security guard smiles as i make my way through the parking garage, into the front lobby, then out to rama. it looks like the "return of songkran"; i'm pouring sweat, my shirt drenched. not nerves; i'm moving fast, and it's hot... cross the street; no need to panic, i use the pedestrian overpass (he escaped the bombs only to be run over by a bus), and jump in a taxi. "bts, soi asoke." not that i want to go to the skytrain, but close enough to cowboy.

and here is my next problem. fmtt. i broke into my st hotel stash of 3 100 notes to pay for the taxi to the skytrain to make the run down to soi 7, the bg7 bar bill, and the camelot bar bill. i do a quick assessment: 5 20's, the next smallest is a 500. ok, if we hit traffic, the driver's going to have a big payday; i won't expect him to make change for the 500. but i'm not getting out 1/2 way to nowhere either. it's the cowboy, regardless of what it costs.

no worries; it's 55 baht when we hit the traffic backup at the sukhumvit/soi asoke intersection. i give him 60 and bail out of the taxi, walking up to cowboy.

make it to tilac. don't see either miss stunner or miss cutie. well, that fits the evening, for sure. cutie hadn't been there tuesday either; i'm thinking maybe she's taken the "late songkran" and gone home. then, i see her up on stage, she sees me, and i get the big smile. i don't speak that much thai, she not that much english, but hand signals are universal - she'll be over after her dance shift is done, and i'll buy her a lady drink.

she comes over, and life seems better. good thing she's been dancing; we're both sweating. the bad news is, due to the delay getting there, it's 9:30, and too late for my cinderella liberty to make the st pull worthwhile. with her, i want a leisurely st. postponed till tomorrow.

she goes off to the toilet, and a "strange" thing happens. now every other bg has kept clear; it's clear i've got a lady. and she is class; the 2nd time i was there, she came over, sat down, and said if i wanted another lady, no problem, she'd move on. no, she's fine, but i appreciated the choice. now, it's a done deal as soon as i walk in. this is the thailand of a decade ago i remember. no immediate request for a lady drink, some flirting, fun...

so, cutie's off, and here comes stunner. now tonight, she's noticed me noticing her dancing - she does put on a show, so she comes over, sits down, says hi, she's seen me before. damn, i am in her visible spectrum after all. but this is the 1st time she's said anything... but for me, wrong time. for an all-star to go baseline on a bench player... bush league. and i know what's coming... it's not more than 60 seconds before the "i want lady drink" appears... i point out i've already got one, and sudden the temperature drops by 10 degrees as she moves on, without even a goodbye (boohoo). business must be slow.

cutie returns, and the temperature goes up by 30 degrees. she doesn't quite have the looks of the a-lister, but damn, she trumps her completely on attitude. she's fun, and the [i]weather[/i] reports are favorable for a steamy tomorrow.

will just have to see...

given the time constraints, and the ops area (certainly was not going to sol), headed down to [url=http://isgprohibitedwords.info?CodeWord=CodeWord900][CodeWord900][/url]. walked; if i had realized the distance/heat combination, would have taken the skytrain 1 stop.

arrived there; let's just say the late [i]shift[/i] was grim. so grim, i walked past, couldn't bring myself to make a choice. started to head back to the skytrain and home, but then figured, why not?

started the evening thinking i'd be batting in the majors; now, it was the batting cage. reversed, took off my glasses, and picked the most eager one, not on any other attribute except her eagerness. practice finished, headed home.

will see what the starting lineup is tomorrow.

[QUOTE=El Frances]Any review of Nana Liquid? (the new Nana disco in Nana hotel). I'm wondering if it's worth planning to go there next saturday or to do shopping before...[/QUOTE]And Nana Review

Lots of girls after 2am (not much before 11pm), it is an after hours disco now and stays opens till 5am.

Prices are reasonable with cocktail/mixed drinks at 200B and coke at 70B, a JW red is 1750 and mixers are reasonable price. The place has been remodeled so nice and new.

Lots of ladyboys in front of Nana Plaza, so if you're drunk after exiting a go go bar in Nana "buyer beware", unless u're into that LBs.

Spanky is the biggest rip off in Nana, over priced drinks and not that many good looking girls.

Rainbow bars are the best for Quantity and sometimes quality, but most girls there use Yaba and other drugs so they are fucat#d in the head, so don't expect many of them to have good attitudes.

Smaller bars on the 2nd floor like Fantasy is good, at least for me. The girls are more down to earth, and no smoking on the inside. (which is a plus for non-smokers)

A side note on go go bars: If asked for lady drink it is better and cheaper to give them 100B tip. Most BGs I've talked to, says that this is the better route for them because they only received 50B while you are charged 120B+ for a lady drink. The house will end up making money on the Bar fine.

Seems like a pretty solid example of why it's a better idea to sometimes allow some "politics" in this thread -- such as what's going on in Bangkok at the moment, so that members here don't stupidly walk into battle scenes the way Bravo just did last night.

If he'd arrived half an hour later on Skytrain, he might have been one of the casualties. 5 blasts total, one up on skytrain and 4 others down at street level.

2 foreigners were seriously injured by bomb blasts last night, and around 100 people total. Conflicting reports on deaths but at least 1 died. These weren't people involved in the protest but innocent bystanders, like people who happened to be up on the skytrain platform when a grenade hit it.

And on another note: one has to admire Bravo's sense of focus. Runs for his life from a bombing to Tilac to go find his stunner from the night before. (then again, maybe he was in a state of shock)

I get on a plane tomorrow for Bangkok. I've often used the Sala Daeng BTS stop for my trips to Patpong, but I guess I'll cross that off the itinerary for this trip. There's a few bars there that I like to stop at on my visits to Bangkok. I'm almost tempted to come in the back way off Surawong side but I guess that would be stupid. It sounds like the potential for fun is way down in Patpong anyway. So I guess it's all Soi Cowboy, Nana and 2 or 3 glorious nights in Pattaya this trip. Thanks again for the reports.

Giotto your updates are much appreciated. Apparently a large number of us, including myself, have tickets to come to BKK in the near future.

The events of today are especially troubling. The scumbags using bombs at Sala Dang know the area is frequented by tourists. Today's events are a definite turn for the worse.

[QUOTE=Wendella]If he'd arrived half an hour later on Skytrain[/quote]Or left Camelot 5 minutes earlier...
[QUOTE=Wendella]And on another note: one has to admire Bravo's sense of focus. Runs for his life from a bombing to Tilac to go find his stunner from the night before. (then again, maybe he was in a state of shock)[/QUOTE]No, just very aware of the limited free time I have... :) And the reality of the situation, and its localization.

As the old cliche goes, "If a bullet has your name on it, that's all she wrote. It's those marked 'to whom it may concern' that you have to worry about".

[QUOTE=Pablo]I get on a plane tomorrow for Bangkok. I've often used the Sala Daeng BTS stop for my trips to Patpong, but I guess I'll cross that off the itinerary for this trip. There's a few bars there that I like to stop at on my visits to Bangkok. I'm almost tempted to come in the back way off Surawong side but I guess that would be stupid. It sounds like the potential for fun is way down in Patpong anyway. So I guess it's all Soi Cowboy, Nana and 2 or 3 glorious nights in Pattaya this trip. Thanks again for the reports.[/QUOTE]I was STUPID; didn't realize that the red lines had extended to the edge of Lupini Park. But even if I had, wouldn't have thought that much about it as it would be a quick dash to Patpong. Error in judgment.
[list][*]Patpong. I'd give Patpong a total miss for the moment. Just not worth going there, and I'd say that even without the avoidance [i]incentive[/i] of bombs going off. It looks tired, worn out, and there just aren't the numbers of attractive girls in the bars that I happened to look in, anyway.

Funny thing is, I NEVER go there (well, except for the SOL). The only reason was that I had taken some "civilian" visitors there last month (and to BG7, Nana, Cowboy) for the sole reason that if you haven't been to Patpong, you haven't seen the naughty side of BKK, as FALSE as that statement is. But for all those who have only HEARD about BKK, Patpong is the place. If you don't go, once back home, you'll constantly hear "Well, if you DIDN'T go to Patpong, you REALLY didn't see the naughty side" from ALL those who have NEVER been here. Fact of life. While there, picked "a bar" to sample - Camelot was it. 2 attractive girls in there, 1 for looks, 1 for cute/personality. Had gone back with a more personal [i]visit[/i] in mind.

[*]Nana. Nana is safe, though dead, what I saw, anyway. G-Spot with 4 girls dancing - would not have believed it without seeing it with my own eyes. Voodoo basically devoid of customers/girls (which comes first?), again, without seeing myself, unbelievable. Rainbows have some possibilities, and I certainly didn't check out EVERY bar, but for me, not worth the walk.

Now Annies MP IS worth visiting the area for, and Morning-Night, or whatever the bar's name is that fronts Soi 4, between Suk and Nana, is worth a visit, just for its front rail vantage point.

[*]Soi 7, Bier Garten. I like, even with no a/c. Do miss the open walls, but do appreciate the higher roof. Good place to spend an afternoon, if nothing else, watching the passing [i]entertainment[/i].

[*]Soi Cowboy. Soi Cowboy is the place, for me, that typifies the "old" BKK bar scene. It just has a feel for "alive". Sitting outside, easy to see any number of attractive [i]demimondaines[/i] (intentional nod to Trink) passing by. I like Tilac; it has the feel of any of the "good" bars of last decade's Nana. And the sans-panties dancers represent great marketing - just leaves enough to that most fertile of sexual turn-ons, the imagination. Always enjoy seeing the various [i]styles[/i] of wearing the micro skirt - some pulled down as far as possible to obscure as much as possible, others pulled up high, lower cheeks and lips exposed...

[*]Oily MP's. Mango, Tulip, Sazanka (though not strictly an oily), etc., the "Soi Twenties" MP's, for lack of a better term. Fully functional and not in any current danger zone.[/list]
I'd just recommend being a bit more situationally aware than I was.


[QUOTE=Allover]Giotto your updates are much appreciated. ...

The events of today are especially troubling. The scumbags using bombs at Sala Dang know the area is frequented by tourists. [/QUOTE]The updates are indeed appreciated.

That foreigners were hurt was just the definition of collateral damage. That area is the FINANCIAL center, and I'm not talking about Patpong. It just happened to be the most recent fault line location of the 2 tectonic plates in play here - reds on 1 side, threatening to overrun and close down, the anti-reds/pro govt on the other, fed up with the chaos and loss of business. Plates got too close, rubbed together, and there was a quake. But this was a well defined area, IF I had been paying attention.

And like Goitto says, other places in Thailand aren't having the BKK problems.

[QUOTE=AndyBKK]And Nana Review

Lots of girls after 2am (not much before 11pm), it is an after hours disco now and stays opens till 5am.

Prices are reasonable with cocktail/mixed drinks at 200B and coke at 70B, a JW red is 1750 and mixers are reasonable price. The place has been remodeled so nice and new.

Lots of ladyboys in front of Nana Plaza, so if you're drunk after exiting a go go bar in Nana "buyer beware", unless u're into that LBs.

Spanky is the biggest rip off in Nana, over priced drinks and not that many good looking girls.

Rainbow bars are the best for Quantity and sometimes quality, but most girls there use Yaba and other drugs so they are fucat#d in the head, so don't expect many of them to have good attitudes.

Smaller bars on the 2nd floor like Fantasy is good, at least for me. The girls are more down to earth, and no smoking on the inside. (which is a plus for non-smokers)

A side note on go go bars: If asked for lady drink it is better and cheaper to give them 100B tip. Most BGs I've talked to, says that this is the better route for them because they only received 50B while you are charged 120B+ for a lady drink. The house will end up making money on the Bar fine.[/QUOTE]Excellent report and advice.

I really get pissed off by Lady Drinks on my travels from Tokyo to Warsaw.

BKK, is no excetpion.

Just money going down the pockets of the venue owners.

A solid piece of advice, cash as a tip and upfront.

[QUOTE=Giotto]
- check out where the red shirts are - every day
- don't go close to those areas (close = 1 km )
- don't think that tourists will not be hurt - if you mix up with them, and fight starts, you will be hurt
- don't be a "demonstration" tourist - it's a normal demonstration, not many people at all (approx. 15000), and if you need to go to a demonstration do that in your home countries
- think about that you are a foreigner, and that you should not get involved into the interior issues of another country.

Giotto[/QUOTE]


Good advice often comes too late. Well I was lucky and nothing bad happend to me, but I walked down yesterday the full length of the roads from Chitlom station to the Money Changer behind Big C and than over Siam Square until MBK. I wear a yellow, green shirt and I agree that was quite stupid.

What I don't understand is why the Baht is still so strong, with all that politic instability. Normally a currency would loose alot of trust and would lose against other currencies, but in Thailand it seems this is not the fact.

[QUOTE=Jojosun]....

I really get pissed off by Lady Drinks on my travels from Tokyo to Warsaw.

....[/QUOTE]
We (they) are all in it for the money!

The bar runs an activity that requires funding
The girl spends some time with you (whether you take her or not later)
Even if I do not go in the typical go-go bars, I do not have a problem to be the first to ask the girl whether she wants a lady drink (as long as it is not outrageous as in some western night culbs where you have to buy a champagne bottle for 300€!)
According to my opinion sets the mood, the girls understands you respect and value her time, you are not a cheap charlie, and she will be more keen to be nice during that time, whatever can happen later.

[QUOTE=AndyBKK]A side note on go go bars: If asked for lady drink it is better and cheaper to give them 100B tip. Most BGs I've talked to, says that this is the better route for them because they only received 50B while you are charged 120B+ for a lady drink. The house will end up making money on the Bar fine.[/QUOTE]However, looking at it from the view of her employer (which I am NOT), he's losing 70 baht when she takes a direct tip. Which is why they all have lady drink quotas... If she's fine with it, great; I'd just worry that the boss might not be, and there could be repercussions later. But I'm just guessing...

[QUOTE=Bionicman]We (they) are all in it for the money!

The bar runs an activity that requires funding.

The girl spends some time with you (whether you take her or not later)
Even if I do not go in the typical go-go bars, I do not have a problem to be the first to ask the girl whether she wants a lady drink (as long as it is not outrageous as in some western night culbs where you have to buy a champagne bottle for 300€!)
According to my opinion sets the mood, the girls understands you respect and value her time, you are not a cheap charlie, and she will be more keen to be nice during that time, whatever can happen later.[/QUOTE]I agree with you on the Lady drink being an ice breaker, and could lead to a deal sealer for later.

But what pisses me off, is the habit of some girls in some clubs to hit you with quick rounds of lady drinks at expensive prices.

It is not a good idea to appear as a cheap Charlie, or Flash Harry when it comes to buying lady drinks.

A combination of a reasonable no of lady drinks and a reasonable tip, might strike the right balance.

Guys,

After a day of hope (since last night) and negotiations there is some bad news coming out, and also some rumours.

The PM has refused to accept the softened demands of the Red Shirts to dissolve the house within the next 30 days and arrange elections within 90 days.

There are rumours about a crack-down on Rajprasong Intersection within the next 48 hours.

A guest told me today that the presence of troups / police in the lower Sukhumvit area has increased, and there obviously road blocks / barbwire in the area around Sukhumvit Soi 7. I could not veryify that, and it's a bit strange because its quite far away from the demonstration.

As for the next days avoid:

- Rajpasong, from Ploenchit to MBK
- Pratunam / Panthip Plaza / Sri Ayuttayua
- Silom / Rama IV / Sathon
- Lumpini Park

If you see the roadblocks around Soi 7 skip Nana and go to Cowboy.

Soi 31 - House of the PM - the security is beefed up. No trouble up to now, but quite tense.

Soi 33 is quiet, some customers are here. Still - don't come here, it's too close to the house of the PM.


Giotto

[QUOTE=Giotto]
customers are here. Still - don't come here, it's too close to the house of the PM.
Giotto[/QUOTE]

Fair and balanced reporting by a honest innkeeper! Be safe....

I'm planning to be there in June. Up to now I wasn't worried about visiting BKK. But if there is action around the Nana area and Soi 7, I'm beginning to think about alternate plans. I have the Thai Air non stop from LAX-BKK using FF miles. I've wanted to fly that route for a few years. Darn it.