Giotto's Lodge in Bangkok

[QUOTE=Yin Yang]Don't worry, G. If you inspect the rooms upstairs more often, they'll soon look like this. Not sure if playing pool has the same effect though ...
YY[/QUOTE]Yin Yang,

Thanks for the picture, clearly my legs :) !


Giotto

Just had a very special room request: Babysitter needed for some nights, in which father wants to "relax".

Yes.

Somebody volunteers?


Giotto

[QUOTE=Giotto]Just had a very special room request: Babysitter needed for some nights, in which father wants to "relax".

Yes.

Somebody volunteers?


Giotto[/QUOTE]Okay, I'll 'out' myself on this one. I'll be staying a few nights with my 2 y.o. (Wildcat cannot come due to her own travel and work arrangements). I PMd Giotto asking about a reliable babysitter for a few hours each evening. He came up with an excellent solution (which does NOT require volunteers, thanks very much. ;) Looking forward to the visit.

[QUOTE=Piper1]Okay, I'll 'out' myself on this one. I'll be staying a few nights with my 2 y.o. (Wildcat cannot come due to her own travel and work arrangements). I PMd Giotto asking about a reliable babysitter for a few hours each evening. He came up with an excellent solution (which does NOT require volunteers, thanks very much. ;) Looking forward to the visit.[/QUOTE]Pipeman,

Bestard!

This is not what I intended. We call delete all this reports :) ... but may be it is fun for others.

I will find a babysitter...for sure. I know one woman out there who has a kid. Another woman has no kid, and she has time to take care of your 2 y.o. .

And then I am free! Can go out! Freedom!!!


Giotto

A nice babysitter for the 2 year old is what is needed, Giotto, but don't forget that the Daddy will need a Bad Babysitter too !

[QUOTE=Giotto]Pipeman,

Bestard!

This is not what I intended. We call delete all this reports :) ... but may be it is fun for others.

I will find a babysitter...for sure. I know one woman out there who has a kid. Another woman has no kid, and she has time to take care of your 2 y.o. .

And then I am free! Can go out! Freedom!!!

Giotto[/QUOTE]

[QUOTE=Giotto]Mick Licker,

Discount? Discount, what is that :) ???

Serious now: If the girl is OK with that you talk to the Mamasan and make a deal. We do not give any discounts on the income sources of our girls - they have to decide.

Giotto[/QUOTE]
Wasn't a good idea to let slip when my next trip to Thailand is coming.

Could be a sticky situation one day if two forum members both want to barfine Miss J for days on end.

Obviously she will decide what she wants.

Pool Party

I just got back to the states and I’m now simi recovered from the jet lag. So over the next couple days you should see more of my reports and adventures.

I believe my last report I left off at the pool party 5/26/07. So let me tell you about it. It was a blast. My friends and I started the evening by meeting our new friend and his girl for dinner. He and his Girl ‘T’ already had a number of dishes laid out for the sampling. They have great food at Livingstones! I’m not one for salads, but those spicy salads are awesome! Shortly after we were finishing up dinner, our host took the stage to start the fashion show. The girls from the Sports Bar had dressed in Swim wear for the evening and paraded around the pool side two at a time as our host called them down. Now I can’t remember exactly which order what happened, perhaps PIT can shed some light on this, but I was introduced to a very cute girl ‘W’. She had such a beautiful smile, it melted my heart. She could light up all of Bangkok with that smile. There was a language barrier but with the help of PIT’s girl, we were able to squeak by. She was very shy. If memory serves, my larger friend was content with himself and my other buddy, Big Vig was with the same girl from the night before. To be quite frank, I could care less what they were doing, as my attention was on ‘W’ and ‘T’s friends.

PIT, our new found friend, went out to the street at some point to bring back some desert. He had come back with I believe was three bags of something. Turns out it was some Ants, fried grasshoppers and some very, very large beetles. I’ve always been one to try anything at least once so I was game. The girls seemed amused with our expressions as we tried each of the bugs. I think I liked the Grasshoppers the most. The Gin and Tonics certainly helped them go down;.) but in hindsight I should have ordered a Grasshopper to go with the Grasshoppers. All in all, I like bugs now.

As the night went on, we drank, joked around and had a great time. My large companion tried in vain to take pictures of the evening, but kept producing blurry or dark pictures. I’m glad PIT was there to take a couple good ones. Thanks PIT! I think we were the last table to leave. ‘T’ left with 2 or 3 of her friends around 1-2am to go clubbing, my buddies decided to go out I think to Soi Cowboy, PIT was going to pass out or just chill, so as I retired to my room with ‘W’ to relax. I sit here now at work as I write this and can’t help thinking of that smile of hers. What an evening to remember.

Thank you Livingstones!

[size=-2][b][u]EDITOR'S NOTE[/u]:[/b] [blue]I certainly hope that the author or somebody else will post a link to this report in the Reports of Distinction thread. Please [url=http://www.internationalsexguide.info/forum/announcement-reportsofdistinction.php?]Click Here[/url] for more information.[/blue][/size]

[QUOTE=Pittsdaulga]Pool Party

I just got back to the states and I’m now simi recovered from the jet lag. So over the next couple days you should see more of my reports and adventures.
...
Thank you Livingstones!
[/QUOTE]Pittsdaulga,

Yes, the last Swimming Pool Party was OK. It is not always like that, it depends a lot on the reactions and mood of the customers. But when the right group of people is here we really have fun.

We had a meeting with the girls on Saturday, before the Maids Party. 45 girls ... getting more and more. Don't know how they find us, but obviously the word of mouth is spreading around that our bar is fun and has customers.

Bangkok is very quiet in the moment. The waether is normal for the season now, sunny during the day, and some showers in the night. And it is really hot.

Thanks for all your reports, also those in the Bangkok thread. It feels good that you really enjoyed your stay here at Livingstone's.


Giotto

[QUOTE=Excess]A nice babysitter for the 2 year old is what is needed, Giotto, but don't forget that the Daddy will need a Bad Babysitter too ![/QUOTE]Excess,

I will take care of that. I can be a professional babysitter - sometimes :) !


Giotto

Talking about credit cards -
I've just booked in to Livingstone's arriving June 19 - and I gave my eLink credit card - which is issued specifically for internet purchases which does NOT have a physical card issued. And even so, I sent 2 e-mails, breaking up the card info into 2 separate ones.
The reason why I did this is that I've only used my credit card twice in Thailand - and BOTH times, I had my credit card "compromised." I.e. they cloned my card. Although my credit card company ate all the losses, it was still VERY inconvenient as I had to actually do all the paperwork and rigamarole. Direct debits for monthly charges were especially onerous with my phone even being suspended for a while for non-payment!
Anyway, the questions are
1. What have you guys' experience been with credit cards in Thailand?
2. What safeguards have Livingstone's put in to protect credit cards?
And BTW - for all those guys with their Corporate Credit cards and worries about how charges appear - my-oh-my - I was envious as I had no shoes - till I met somebody with no feet! How I wish I could make corporate charges!!

SE Asia Joe

[QUOTE=SE Asia Joe]Talking about credit cards -

I've just booked in to Livingstone's arriving June 19 - and I gave my eLink credit card - which is issued specifically for internet purchases which does NOT have a physical card issued. And even so, I sent 2 e-mails, breaking up the card info into 2 separate ones.

The reason why I did this is that I've only used my credit card twice in Thailand - and BOTH times, I had my credit card "compromised." I.e. they cloned my card.

Although my credit card company ate all the losses, it was still VERY inconvenient as I had to actually do all the paperwork and rigamarole. Direct debits for monthly charges were especially onerous with my phone even being suspended for a while for non-payment!

Anyway, the questions are

1. What have you guys' experience been with credit cards in Thailand?

2. What safeguards have Livingstone's put in to protect credit cards?

And BTW - for all those guys with their Corporate Credit cards and worries about how charges appear - my-oh-my - I was envious as I had no shoes - till I met somebody with no feet! How I wish I could make corporate charges!!

SE Asia Joe[/QUOTE]On this trip to Thailand I had my card cloned. Whatever that is. Since I live in Nigeria, I put my credit card company on high alert. If they see anything out of the ordinary, it gets blocked. So when they saw purchases made in China, it got blocked. If you can avoid, don't use direct debit. When paying the bill this gives you the chance of checking and complaining.

What surprised me the most, I have two cards. On this trip I used one for the Hotels and the other for pruchases (I used this to pay in gogo bars and other shady places). The card that got cloned was the one used in the Hotels (all 4* or above)!

I do wonder.

I did not use email to give my credit card info; I phoned it in since Giotto vouched for the receptionists at that time. Livingstone's was the only place at which I used credit card in Thailand. So I can't speak for credit card usage in Thailand in general, but I think of Thailand as being like the Philippines in that they are generally not safe places for credit card usage. One exception in my mind is that you can usually trust the better hotels.

When living in Thailand I used credit cards extensively for all sorts of things (including supermarkets, restuarants etc). I think I would've probably avoided using them in those dodgy Sukhumvit suit shops, Khao San travel agents etc (easier to go the the ATM and get cash).

That being said, I did have one fraudulant transaction during that time, some stuff in another SE Asian country to which I've never been.

I've had more hassles with fraud in Europe frankly - a card only used in the UK and France has had fraudulant transactions on it about once a year over the last 5 years - often in countries I have never been to. The banks are good about it and invariably credit my account as soon as I report it, then go forward and investigate it. I've never been contacted again after reporting it, so I can only assume their investigations were successful. I don't know if people do, but I've never falsely reported anything either, so I wonder if they have a batch of stuff reported that came from the same vendor and know I am telling the truth.

The bigger problem I find is having your card blocked on suspicion of fraud. I managed to get mine blocked about 5 times in a year once and had to ring them to sort it out - no easy task in some countries when you need money urgently and don't have a phone. As a matter of routine, if I have been out of Europe for more than 2 months, I cancel all my cards and have them reissued... this is to stop the bank putting a hold on them for suspected fraud rather than trying to avoid fraud itself.

[QUOTE=Finrod]I did not use email to give my credit card info; I phoned it in since Giotto vouched for the receptionists at that time. Livingstone's was the only place at which I used credit card in Thailand. So I can't speak for credit card usage in Thailand in general, but I think of Thailand as being like the Philippines in that they are generally not safe places for credit card usage. One exception in my mind is that you can usually trust the better hotels.[/QUOTE]

All,

I'm pretty tired so here's some quick tips.

1.) Call you Bank or Card Co and tell them when and where you are going so they won't block you by mistake.

2.) Get the numbers of your banks/CC Co and hours so you can keep in touch if needed.

3.) Just use cash from ATMs as much as you can. The only time I used my debit card was at Livingstones. (BTW Giotto, thanks for not popping up a bunch of pre-auths on the card)

4.) When using your card at ATMs make sure people are not too close. Watch out for camera phones as well. They'll take a pic of the card number and try to remember your PIN.

5.) If you are useing a debit card, ask you bank for a plain ATM card as well. Keep this hidden in case you loose your card or it becomes compromised. Have it linked to a Savings or another checking and quickly move your remaining funds to the back up account.

That's all I can think of off the top of my head. G'Night.

Pitts

I second everything Pitts and Blunderer just said.

That's exactly what I do.

And I too have had more problems in the US than elsewhere, so I don't think it's just a SE Asia problem. I just canceled a credit card [b]three days ago[/b] for fraud, and was irritated to have to do so because that's [b]three times[/b] in three years (all US problems).

You definitely want to tell them where you're going though, or they'll block you for sure.

And I try to use ATMs as much as possible.