2006 Bangkok Reports

[QUOTE=Freeler]Retired,

I should have made it clearer that I meant travel in Thailand. Expats are not the ones to point you to hotels or give info on transportation. Most have a cave of their own and only venture out with their own 'iron buffalo'. Hence...

Regards,
Freeler[/QUOTE]

Good point. About half the expats I know have cars and the rest don't. I don't have a car, but my GF does. However, we seldom use it because of the traffic and it's usually cheaper and easier to take public transportation. What might be more correct is to state that we expats don't arrange our own transportation. I let the "little lady" take care of everything as do most of the other expats who have Thai wives or GFs.

[QUOTE=Khunk]I had a Thai woman call me "naja". Is this a term of endearment or a bad thing. I tried to Google it and can't seem to find out anything. Not sure if it's a slang. I figure that you all here would know.

Thanks[/QUOTE]
Khunk,

"na ja" is simply the "sweet" form of "na ka" (women) / "na krap" (men), which is used at the end of a sentence and - as OTH already pointed out - means "yes or no ?" or "ok ?".

BTW, it's also often used by katoeys :D

[QUOTE=The Traveler]Khunk,

"na ja" is simply the "sweet" form of "na ka" (women) / "na krap" (men), which is used at the end of a sentence and - as OTH already pointed out - means "yes or no ?" or "ok ?".
BTW, it's also often used by katoeys :D[/QUOTE]

'na' is an urging word meaning sort of 'O.K.' semi-questioning or 'I hope that is O.K. with you' or 'go on'.
'ja' has no meaning in English and is just a sentence terminator to make the sentence more polite and less forceful.
'ja' can be used by males or females, but I suggest that you don't use it without understanding clearly when it is appropriate.
It is quite informal and used when speaking to someone very familiar or to someone of lower social station, e.g. children.
Never use it with someone important, as wouldn't be appropriate.
I would not use it speaking to a monk, or anyone I don't know well unless was a child.
Khrap (or Khap) is the safe polite word for men to add to end of the sentence.

Katoeys sometimes like to use ambiguous words that are not particularly female or male, like 'ja' or 'ha'. Others are confident enough to use female words like 'Kha'.

When I first started speaking Thai, I got into trouble sometimes by copying what Thais said without fully understanding the context and meaning subtleties. I meet many Farangs who speak Thai in a very vulgar ugly way or sometimes just low class way because they have copied the style of bar girls.
.

Arrival was good. If it wasn't for the moving sidewalks I would have died, man we covered some distance getting to Immigations. The first hall was closed, that threw a few people off, I had alread read of multiple immigation halls and found the next one just a few hundred meters down the walk way. Immigations was swift, finding our baggage carousel was a hassle, the number wasn't advertised on the plane. The information boards in the baggare clain area are spread out, it took a minute to find one. My baggage arrived fine.

On the arrival level there were no taxis, just a bunch of blood sucking limo touts wanting 900 to 1200 Bt to town, lol lol no way. No Directions to public Taxi's, thank goodness I had read about how to find them. I went down one level and all the cabs in BKK were there. I went to the far left which seemed to be the quicker station, the one to the far right looked to have a few hundred people waiting. I had to wait about 20 minutes to get a metered cab to town.

I went to Suk soi 33, it was 200 bt on the meter + 50bt airport fee + 65bt for expresswa fees (close to this amount). I tipped the guy 50 bt.

Airport ratings

Arrival gate to immigations, thank goodness for the moving sidewalks. -A

Immigations A

Bakggage claim B (the information boards are spread out)

Taxis D+, no directions to the stands and very long lines.

Departed a few days later. Drop off was good, I liked the fact they had baggage dollies at the outside traffic islands. A

Check in at BKK air was quick and professional A

Departure tax B ( it's a frigging tax )

Departure immigrations was fairly fast -A

The departure area has a ton of shops but NO seating. I walked for ever to get to my gate and saw one set of 4 sets. Other than that you had to sit in a bar or resturants. D

Only the Thai Air lounges are wll marked and directions were lacking. I was looking for the Bangkok Air Business traveler lounge which wasn't marked at all. D Email sent to Bangkok Air.

Waiting gate area. Fairly nice but the windows which make up 99% of the exterior are filty and stained. Someone forgot window cleaning is an essential part of up keep and maintenance D

We had to ride a shuttle busses to out plane. The Business class bus was nice a cumfy for those of us who had seats, 4 people had to stand for about 20 minutes D

Flight departure was deplayed almost 45 minutes, not weather related as it was clear D

Only one hotlel close to the new airport and it's expensive D

What more can I say C is the best I can do. Oh if you disagee, fine, you have the rights to your opinion just as I have mine and mine are not going to change.

Shamas O'Dognasty
Gourmet Catering &
Septic Tank Cleaning

Nice report about airport Shamas.
Im wondering, is the old trick of catching a taxi from departures still possible or have they stamped it out? I stay not far from the new airport when I hit BKK and seen as a taxi to my destination will not cost a great deal more than the base rate, it seems silly to pay an extra 50bht when the total cost will barely reach 100bht.
Im sure Ive read that its not possible, but has anyone confirmed it yet?

I will be arriving at the airport at 1am and will be at the JW Marriott Hotel on Sukhumvit around 2am. Where's a good spot close the there to find a woman for the night after a long flight from LA?

Thanks Guys.

[QUOTE=SidTheSexist]Nice report about airport Shamas.
Im wondering, is the old trick of catching a taxi from departures still possible or have they stamped it out?<...>
Im sure Ive read that its not possible, but has anyone confirmed it yet?[/QUOTE]

Works fine for me. On the 4-5 arrivals I've had Suvarnabhumi, I've always gone upstairs to Departures to catch a taxi home. Heck, I don't even know where the taxi queue is.

Cheers,
-Y

Great report Shamas, you can clean my tanks anytime.

Khunk,

Walk around Sukhumvit, you'll probably meet some nice girls. Smile and see what happens.

If you are to tired, go straight to the Nana parking Space (good place) or go to the Siam Hotel, parking place.

[QUOTE=Khunk]I will be arriving at the airport at 1am and will be at the JW Marriott Hotel on Sukhumvit around 2am. Where's a good spot close the there to find a woman for the night after a long flight from LA?

Thanks Guys.[/QUOTE]
Here are a few places, nana hotel parking lot on soi 4, along soi 3 to grace hotel . and along sukumvit from soi3 to soi 13 or so. watch out, a lot of lady boys and various characters. don't tell them you just arrived, as they will over charge you. long time with decent girl should be 1500bht or so.

[QUOTE=Lee66]Here are a few places, nana hotel parking lot on soi 4, along soi 3 to grace hotel . and along sukumvit from soi3 to soi 13 or so. watch out, a lot of lady boys and various characters. don't tell them you just arrived, as they will over charge you. long time with decent girl should be 1500bht or so.[/QUOTE]
Another data point: While a bit further afoot, one can always wander down to the next BTS station, Asoke (Soi 23, about a 10min walk), and visit the sidewalk bars at that intersection with Sukhumviit. Most of those bars are open till sunrise. I've had good luck with some FLs there, but certainly one must experience the Nana Hotel parking lot at least once. :)

Cheers,
-Y

[QUOTE=SidTheSexist]Nice report about airport Shamas.
Im wondering, is the old trick of catching a taxi from departures still possible or have they stamped it out? I stay not far from the new airport when I hit BKK and seen as a taxi to my destination will not cost a great deal more than the base rate, it seems silly to pay an extra 50bht when the total cost will barely reach 100bht.
Im sure Ive read that its not possible, but has anyone confirmed it yet?[/QUOTE]

On my last trip I was in and out of the airport 3 times and used the regular queue downstairs twice and the departures level once. Both times downstairs went without a hitch, but with the extra 50 baht they made sure the driver knew where to go.

On the one departure level try, the driver tried to negotiate a set price of 500 baht to Soi 33. It should only be a bit above 200. I made him turn the meter back on. I probably should have not gotten in to the cab but he had the damn meter on until I was in the back seat when he turned it off and announced his robbery. But in the end he lived by the meter and there were no further problems. I had to remind him that I was not a tourist and knew how things worked. Luckily he spoke enough english to understand that I was serious and wasn't going to play his game.

For the first time visitor I would suggest using the arrival level official cabs. You won't have to worry about cab drivers trying to take advantage of you. The 50 baht fee should guarantee everything stays honest. I never had any sort of wait there, always just walked up and into a cab.

[QUOTE=Shamas]What more can I say C is the best I can do. Oh if you disagee, fine, you have the rights to your opinion just as I have mine and mine are not going to change.[/QUOTE]

...just one mark above an "F". You're being kind, because you like Thai women...
Really. I travel alot and spend alot of my time in and out of airports, and I can't believe that this is an airport built in the 21st century. Considering all of the amazing new airports that have been built over the last 10-15 years especially the Asian ones like Hong Kong, Seoul, Osaka and Singapore, all the new technologies and designs available that can be used to enhance the customer's experience, and the time that they took to finish it, this one is just the worst of the lot.

I agree with most of your points;
* the excessive walking
* the boxes and garbage and informal seating and drinking and lounging areas for airport workers that you see alongside the airport roads as you ride the bus from your plane to the terminal
* the terrible signage or lack thereof ( I actually found one handwritten sign near a staircase pointing downwards that said "Taxis")
* the fact that all of the signs point to the limos charging 3 times more than the actual charge
* the lack of any place to sit near the gates
* the dirty windows
* poor lighting
* poor baggage indicators
* lack of smoking areas while waiting departure (This is Bangkok isn't it?)
* that stupid exit tax, which requires all departing passengers to go to the one manned booth, wait on a line which blocks the line of people waiting to hand in the ticket that they purchased, and then have to wait on line to hand the ticket at the one manned gate
* more excessive walking to find a coffee shop to sit in, because the business lounge is impossible to find and the one smoking area is downstairs from where you need to be
* lack of garbage cans and ashtrays outside the terminal
* and even the airport access roads which require multiple turns and red lights to get on the highway.
* I'm sure that I've missed or forgotten something

I was there 3 weeks ago for a short 30 hour visit, and the arrival and departure form the airport were the low points of my trip. The only rationalization that I can think of is that the city authorities wanted visitors to extend their authentic Bangkok experience to the airport so they not only placed a Buddhist statue right after passport control, they also made sure the same type of planned disorder and unclean environment continues at the airport.

I actually think that this is a downgrade from the old airport...

[QUOTE=Mick Licker]
When I first started speaking Thai, I got into trouble sometimes by copying what Thais said without fully understanding the context and meaning subtleties. I meet many Farangs who speak Thai in a very vulgar ugly way or sometimes just low class way because they have copied the style of bar girls.
.[/QUOTE]
Mick,

I have seen that many times. Many - if not most - farangs are very vulgar due to the fact, that they learned "Thai" from P4P girls. Many of those girls don't think about what they teach or believe it's fun to teach bad words and even intentionally teach crap.

I have witnessed a case where a farang wanted to know how to greet and thank at a restaurant and instead of telling him the girl taught him very bad words. I told the guy and explained the girl that her wrongdoing may cause trouble to the guy.

Additionally most farangs pronounce very very bad even though pronounciation is a very important part of Thai language. Even Andrew Biggs does not pronounce very well.

[QUOTE=Yi Ren]Another data point: While a bit further afoot, one can always wander down to the next BTS station, Asoke (Soi 23, about a 10min walk), and visit the sidewalk bars at that intersection with Sukhumviit. Most of those bars are open till sunrise. I've had good luck with some FLs there, but certainly one must experience the Nana Hotel parking lot at least once. :)

Cheers,
-Y[/QUOTE]I get a kick out your saying one must experience the Nana Hotel parking lot at least once. Is it really that bad?hahaha. I even love it too when people say that people coming to BKK, they should stay at the Nana Hotel at least one night, just to e xperience the hotel and its location. I am coming in March and I'm almost afraid of what the Nana's parking lot holds. I look forward to experiencing Nana Plaza but the parking lot is frightening me and I haven't even arrived in BKK yet...lol. Is it just a meat market where they tug and grab at you all the time as you walk through it? Also, with the freelancers, are they as notorious as some people make them out to be or are they ok for the most part? The LB’s won’t bother me either way, but I hate the thought of dealing with some freelancers that are outright nasty or obnoxious. I’m as laid back as they come and get along with anyone, so I suspect I will have a great experience either way. You people that post on this forum, I hope you do realize what a great service you do posting your advice and your experiences from your travels within Thailand. I can’t thank you all enough!

Nhscotsman