My Thailand Adventure

by Doug McNeely

July, 2001.

I’m sitting on a 747 somewhere between Bangkok and Tokyo, on my way home to Miami.I’m trying to put my thoughts together about my incredible adventure in Thailand.  The only thing I have to write on are the margins from a Bangkok Post newspaper.  Some of the flight attendants and passengers are giving me some very curious glances as I do this.

I’ve been to Thailand many times and actually lived there for a while.  I have always found the Far East an exotic place, but Thailand just has a special attraction for me that I cannot explain.  Over the years I have made many friends in my favorite place, PatongBeach.  These friends always help me feel very powerful when I’m there and sometimes jokingly refer to me as "King".

Traveling from Miami, USA to Patong Beach, Thailand takes a lot of patience.  Usually it will take from 35 to 40 hours of plane flights and layovers to get there.  The International flights have much better food, better entertainment, and service than our USA domestic flights, so it really is not as bad as it sounds.

Whenever I go to Thailand I contact my number one friends, Pia and Mike.  They run the BlackRoseBar, which by the way was voted the #1 Bar in PatongBeach.  They arrange transportation and lodging which eliminates a big hassle upon arrival.

I’ve been traveling for two days and finally arrive at PhuketAirport, which is about a 40-minute drive to PatongBeach.  I know my friend Yat would be picking me up, but I was very happy to see my lady friend Ta was there with him as well.  We stuff the luggage in the car and head for the Yorkshire Inn in PatongBeach.

We check in to the Hotel and the room I was supposed to have was not available.  Some honeymooners decided they wanted a longer honeymoon and my room was not available.  I was put in a very lovely room on the 3rd floor.  This hotel does not have an elevator.  I was dreading going up and down the stairs with my arthritic knees, however a good hot shower and shave after two days of traveling seemed more important than arguing.  A few hours later, my #1 friends Pia and Mike came by. Pia decided the location of my room was unacceptable.  The next thing I know, I am being moved to a ground floor, street side room in the new section of the hotel with a bigger bed and bath.  Sometimesit’s good to be king!

I was surprised and delighted to bump into my friend Michael at the hotel as I was changing rooms.  Michael is from Australia and it was a coincidence that he came to PatongBeach to holiday at the same time I did.  We have drank many Singha beers and seen many sunrises during the many all nighters in PatongBeach.

My next 11 days in Thailand were fast and furious.  Usually I start the day around 4 or 5 in the afternoon and end the day by going back to the hotel between 6 and 8 in the morning.  This way I get maximum nightlife and I’m sleeping or doing indoor activities during the hottest part of the day.

The first night out was July 8th.  I went to my bar, the Black Rose. It was like homecoming seeing so many friends and lovely ladies.  Not only was Ta there, but a lovely lady I met last year named Em.  Michael from Australia, Mike living in Thailand from the UK, Mike Myers from the USA, Pia and myself sat around most of the night drinking and catching up on a year of news and enjoying each other's company.  The more I drank the better I felt and jet lag was being postponed.  We closed the BlackRoseBar and headed for Soi Sunset (Sunset Street) and the Tai Pan Bar.  This bar is run by two fellows from the UK, Bob and Darin.  This bar really jumps until about 4am.  Once again it was like homecoming seeing Bob, Darin, Too, the bartender, and a lovely lady friend named Ning.  We had been drinking Singha beer all night and suddenly a bottle of Black Label appeared compliments of the owners.  Wow!  Whiskey on beer – I definitely had a warm fuzzy feeling. It’s good to be king!  The next thing I remember I am at a Karaoke club with Tan and Em having a wonderful time listening to them sing Thai songs to videos. I vaguely remember getting back to the hotel at about 8am.

The next day July9th started late.  We did not get up until 6:00pm. Once again a friendly night at the BlackRoseBar with many friends, many drinks, and many lovely ladies to serve those drinks.  Afterwards we went back to the Tai Pan Bar.  Ta and Em wanted to sing Karaoke.  Bob, the owner of the bar wanted to go and said we could ride in his new BMW if he could go.  No problem, we fit 7 people in his car and had a high-speed tour of PatongBeach.  With many ladies screaming in fear or maybe it was delight.  We went to a different Karaoke club from the day before.  A very friendly place, and once again I was given the Royal Treatment.  Bob left without telling anyone so the owner of the club had her husband take us to the hotel.  We got in the car and the girls decide they are hungry and have him drive us to an all night Thai restaurant.  I did not believe the waited for us to eat and when we were finished he drove us to the hotel.  I look at my watch and it is 10 am.

Finally my body says you need to slow down.  Unfortunately when you are in PatongBeach it is hard to miss all the nighttime action.  I lie back down and sleep until 10pm.  When I wake up I decide I will go to KohSamui, an island about 200 miles from Patong Beech in the Gulf of Thailand.  I think I will spend a few relaxing days to rest my body and soul.  The travel agency is across the street from the hotel. I’m surprised to find out they are open from 9am to 2am.  The next thing I know I’ve got lane tickets for Ta, Em, and myself, with hotel reservations and ground transportation when we arrive.  Our flight leaves at 11 am tomorrow so I want to see if Yat can take us to the airport and I plan on going back to the hotel early because I will have to get up around 9am. Yat is also the bartender at the Black Rose Bar.I tell Ta and Em we will go for a quick drink, not stay long, and make it a short night.  Well we had good intentions but we were having so much fun we lost track of the time.  We got back to the hotel at 6am and everybody was afraid to go to sleep and maybe miss the flight.  We stayed up all night and waited for Yat to pick us up.  When he did, we were the quietest people you have ever seen riding to the airport.

It is a 40-minute flight to KohSamui. I’m sure we slept 35 minutes of this flight.  The airport at KohSamui is one runway and the terminal is an open sided thatch roof structure, jungleish but charming.  I was very pleased to see the driver holding up a sign with my name on it.  While others had to hassle for transportation, we stepped into a lovely air-conditioned van that took us directly to our hotel.  The hotel rooms were actually individual bungalows with outside sundecks.  We woke up about 9pm and were starving.  We had a great Thai dinner of fish, vegetables, rice and soup.  It was very spicy but oh so good.  After dinner we took a tuk-tuk taxi to the Reggaie Pub.  We were disappointed because the band was off that night.  Ta and Em got some Bob Malley souvenir shirts, so it wasn’t a total waste.  We took another tuk-tuk back to the main road.  We got out and walked a few blocks and I heard a live band trying to play Santana.  We walked in and it was quite a complex.  A Philipino band was outside doing the best they could.  There was a large indoor club with a live band playing Thai rock & roll.  There was another indoor club that resembled a USA Rave club with blasting techno music.  We sat down outside to listen to the Philipino band.  They were not the greatest, yet some of the tourists thought they were fantastic.  30 minutes later they play a 10-minute marathon of Stairway to Heaven that is absolutely awful.  When they finish the tourists stand up and applaud.  Ta and Em ask me why people are standing up and clapping and cheering.  I can’t resist a little humor and tell them the song was so bad that hey were applauding because it was over.  Ta and Em had never been to a Rave club before and wanted to check it out.  Wow!  Talk about chest pounding music and decibels damaging the ears.  Ta and I made earplugs out of our napkins awhile Em was very happy having her ears blown away.  This was a great place to people watch.  We left early and were back to the hotel around 4am.

That afternoon we hired a van and driver to take us sightseeing. KohSamui is a mountainous island and they say that y have over 1 million coconut trees on it.  That afternoon we visited several temples, saw a great animal and monkey show, went to grandfather and grandmother Rock which are natural rock formations.  They deal with the lower anatomy that I cannot go into detail about, and finally some beautiful cliffs and mountains.

I’m finally starting to recover and my energy is starting to return.  We take a nap after sight seeing and go out around 10pm. Em wanted to get some more Bob Marley T-shirts also Ta and I waited for her outside where the Philipino band was still trying to play Stairway to Heaven.  My bodyguard Ta was really knocking down the Singha beers.  She really started having a good time.  I decided to join her and quickly we were feeling no pain. Em came back with the t-shirts and was surprised to see us actually enjoying the Philipino band.  She suggested we go into the club with the Thai Rock and Roll band.  No problem!  We went in and had a fantastic time.  There is something very sexy when you have two Thai ladies singing and dancing their hearts out to you.  Yes, it’s good to be king!  We close the club and watch the sunrise from the sun deck at the bungalow.  We fly back that afternoon and once again Yat is there to drive us to the hotel.

It is now July 14th and I have actually had a day of no drink and plenty of rest.  Wow!  I feel like a new man and I’m ready to party once again. That evening I’m at the Black Rose Bar.A friend of mine from Sweden whose name is Anders, shows up at the bar with his new Thai wife Jay.  They were married a few days before in northern Thailand where Jay’s family lives.  Anders used to rent a room from me when I was living in Thailand.  I remember Jay when she could not speak English.  Now it is like talking to my daughter, she speaks English so well.  We have so much fun joking together.  We all go out again and once again see the sun rise.

Tonight is Jay’s birthday party!  The party will be at the Black Rose Bar.  You haven’t lived until you go to a Thai birthday party.  Great food, lots of drink, many presents, many friends, and great love – her party is a smashing success.  Afterwards a large group of us go to a place called The Galazy, which has a live Thai Rock Band. Pha,Khak, Jay, Andres and myself dance until daylight. Pha,Khak and myself walk like snakes back to the hotel.  Once again a room service breakfast.

I realize that I have just 2 more days before my holiday ends. I’m kind of bummed out.  Today my knees are killing me. That’s what I get for trying to act like John Travolta.Pia sends a car to take Pha and me to see her new 1 month old baby whose name is Nathan and to have a light dinner on the sunroof of her beautiful new house. I’m so happy to see her and Mike becoming so successful.  I remember when I first met her; she was living in a 1-room bungalow, without radio or TV.

That night at the BlackRoseBar, my policeman friend, Wat, stops by.  He was a great help when I was living in Thailand and always stops by when I’m in PatongBeach. Pha is firmly convinced that I must be Mafia because of all the people that come to see me when I’m at the Black Rose, and the number of free drinks I get at the other bars and clubs.  When the bar closed, we went to one of my old hangouts when I was living here. It’s called the Saloon Bar.  A few of the band members are still there and it was good seeing them. Pha’s friend was there. I’m sorry I forgot her name but we drank and danced the night away and had a great time.

The final night has arrived. I’m a little sad but I’m actually ready to head for home.  I spend the evening saying good-bye to many friends.

We leave the Black Rose and go to a Karaoke club that Pia and Mike enjoy.  They cannot stay long because of the baby.  I say good-bye and am sad because I know I will not see them until my next holiday. Pha and Em want to go to a different Karaoke club.  We get a tuk-tuk and go.  The sun is rising and I can’t wait to get back to the hotel.

That afternoon Yat picks us up and we are going to the airport.  I feel the holiday has ended. I’ve been blessed to experience another incredible adventure in Thailand!