Bangrock

Had a bad time with this one recently: https://www.thaifriendly.com/Whatabout2night Shoulda trusted my gut when I spied the tittoos, but gave her the benefit of the doubt and had her over late night a few nights back. She took about a 30 second shower and then came out and immediately turned the lights off. Huge red flag - they pretty much never do this unless they have something to hide. I turned them back and - lo and behold - the balloon knot was boogered up beyond belief. I promptly called it quits, but she refused to leave the room. Said it's "not that easy" and insisted i pay her 1500 for her "time"! She had come about half a kilometer down soi bukhao and was there all of 10 minutes with no actual work done. I eventually got her downstairs and said I'd pay for her taxi, but she wasn't having it. Tried to block me going back up, but I out manuevered her. This didn't stop her from flooding me with texts and calls and harassing the desk into calling me. I stood firm. Until I got another call from the desk saying the "police" were there. Turns out it was just her bar security. I ultimately relented and gave her her 500b "bar fine" just to end it. It was well after 2am before she came over, but I guess her bar might still have been open. Whatever. Sometimes you pay them to leave rather than come. Say what you will, but I don't take kindly to those sorts of scams and shenanigans. Anyone trying to sell damaged goods surreptitiously like that doesn't deserve a reward. Fair warning.

Took the link in from BKK last night. Was going to taxi down to Patts, but even the 'legit' metered taxis were being silly and quoting me 1700b instead of the meter. I actually went upstairs looking for the 'corrupt' private taxis, but I guess they've been run off to make a monopoly for the legit corruption. The counters inside were asking 2500b and up. Had I had my sim card act together, maybe I woulda just booked one thus, but alas. Anyways, thought about getting off at Makkasan, but one look at the traffic and I rethought the mere two more stops to Phaya Thai. I travel light - carry-on only - so I don't mind the stairs. But there's an elevator anyway if you've got more booty. Was checked in from the airport in about 30 minutes.

Yes, but is there a train from the airport to Patts?

Be more wary of the supermarkets! Most of my poisoning bouts were there or McDs...

Thought this was gonna be about ice in beer for some reason. In which case, I'm for it, after being against it historically. People can change. As for icey beer or any other use, no issues with water here either in living and visiting there for a decade.

So ice it quoted you twice... You can alternately take the Link to Paya Thai BTS and Skytrain to Nana. Worth getting off at Makkasan if you feel like gambling on traffic, though. But what I wanna know is what is this talk of a train from BKK to Patts?

I agree that this is where I'll likely be getting off the iPhone train. Gone way past being proprietary and annoying to full-on Orwellian. Never go full Orwellian.

Think that's the Tavern on soi 4, LordJim. NEver ate there a lot, but it's alright, I guess. I usually hit BusStop across the street just 'cause the feel is better. 130b for burger and fries. Not huge, but it's good. Could easily eat two though, haha. Jools. 55. Yeah. Lived on soi 4 for years and never saw the point of going in there.

Hooters. ...for those days you wanna mortgage a meal... Seriously. Fuck them. Don't care how good their bar food is.

Answering my own question, have been hitting Bronx Pizza more than I should...

On the opposite end of the spectrum, was looking for a quick bite and passed one of those ubiquitous burger stalls on soi Diana. Hmmmmm. 95b for a burger and fries... not bad even if it is pretty crappy. Then the chef says "Oh that's for small burger, big burger 220b!" Talk about taking the piss. I was like, "for that money, I can go get a real one somewhere." Dunno what they're thinking, asking that much for that crap. That said - where's the best English Brekkie in town? Bilabong on Soi LK Metro used to have a great one. Found another just across from there, but looking for better. And not the ones with any of that hot dog sausage... And where's the best pizza, and Mexican, and... Bean meaning to start a thread on this.

Excellent. Thanks.

Just wondering if anyone has any info on good deals there for a romantic getaway. Flying in the ggf and want to take her to a nice beach - one that I haven't been to yet...

Only been to Angeles and Manila, HotnHorny pretty much nailed it. Not really a contest in the mongering department. That said, I'm still curious about Cebu. Seems like the beaches are the place to be in PI, as the cities leave much to be desired. And as such, Angeles is pretty much a City in name only. They call it the PI Pattaya, but think more like the PI Soi Cowboy. Maybe I missed something. Maybe my "networking"skills weren't up to snuff. But in Thailand you don't need them!

Just wondering what anyone's train experiences might be in taking, for example, the overnight route from BKK to PKT. I like the idea of overnighting it and am curious to see the country from the train perspective. It actually only goes to Surat Thani, where you connect with a bus, but I'm cool with that. I know there are routes that go to Vientienne and Chiang Mai, but that the trains are slightly different. Any anecdotes welcome, however. Will be banging a gong in Patong in about a week.