Amazing Thailand, 2002
by Doug McNeely

July 4
Leave Miami.  Everything on schedule.  Great flight!  Arrive at LAX and meet Garen Hagobian and walk to upper level restaurant in International Terminal for drinks and to wait for the Thai Airways  ticket counter to open.  Shortly the counter opens and we go for seat selection.  We are next in line waiting for an agent when we hear several loud bangs.  At first I thought it might be a carpenter hammering.  Then I hear more random bangs and realize it is gunfire.  Everyone realizes this at the same time and hits the ground - we all start to work our way closer to the ticket counter for protection.   Then people decide it might be safer to go behind the counter and a mass of people start climbing through the small openings where you place your bags for check-in.  It seems like an eternity as most of us are squatting on the floor wondering what has happened.  Mike Myers however is standing, snapping pictures with his camera.

Lots of police security and swat arrive and evacuate the international terminal.  Bags, passports, etc. are everywhere.  Once outside we find out a man just walked into the airport and began shooting people at the Israel El Al ticket counter.  Israeli security killed the shooter but not before he had killed 2 people and wounded 4.  It was quite confusing outside the terminal with about 10,000 people wanting to know what happened, will the airport open, was their flight cancelled, where to go to meet arrivals, etc.  Garen knows of a restaurant that is not in the terminal.  We walk there and watch CNN live on tv for several hours.  Finally after about five hours they re-open the terminal and I am pleased to find out our flight has not been cancelled.  The airport became a complete grid-lock of people at the security areas and we finally cleared all the check points to walk to our boarding gate.  We take off at 8:00 pm, about six hours behind schedule.

We are flying Thai airways the rest of the trip.  We have a 12:30 hour flight to Narita.  This changed to Osaka because of curfew.  Being inside an airplane that long can seem like forever.  We were shown three movies and served two meals with all the water and juices you want during the entire flight.  During the first meal service I belted down three glasses of wine and finished the meal with two glasses of cognac.  I got a very warm fuzzy feeling.  Shortly thereafter the wild events at LAX airport drifted  away as I was actually able to fall asleep for a while.  Because we crossed the International date line we arrived at Osaka just before midnight on July 5th.

July 6th
Our 747 is being fueled and cleaned which allows us to deplane and stretch our legs - some of us who have done this before know this is an excellent time to flex and stretch to improve circulation and work the kinks out of our bodies.  We re-board  one hour later and begin the 6:30 hour flight to Bangkok.  Our meal is served almost immediately and we celebrate by drinking a couple of Thailand's finest beer called Singha.  This beer has almost a 7% alcohol content which is much higher than our American beers.  We watch two boring movies and touch down at Bangkok's Don Muang Airport around 5:00am.  We clear immigration and customs.  We have about 6 hours to kill before our flight to Phuket.  We end up at the food court where the only thing open is Burger King - they inform us the only food they have is fish and chicken.  I order a fish sandwich and Mike tries the chicken and we kill an hour or so at the Burger King.  We begin the long walk to the Domestic Terminal.  Mike sees an internet café and wants to stop to see if there is any more news about  the shooting in LA.  We find out that the perpetrator who scared the hell out of us was a 41 year old Egyptian that had been living in the USA for over 10 years.  We get to the domestic terminal and check in.  We walk outside and find a quiet and peaceful area all the way at the end.  This is a VIP area for parking and entering the departure area without being seen going into the terminal.  Finally it is time to get to the gate and take the short 1:25 flight to Phuket.  Our good friend Mike is waiting for us at arrival.  It is very good to see him and he drives us to our hotel, the Yorkshire Inn.  Check-in goes smoothly and once in my room I have a great hot shower and quickly fall asleep for a few hours.  That evening I meet Mike Myers and we have a couple of beers at the hotel restaurant.  To my surprise two of my lady friends show up at the hotel.  They are Jay and Ta.  Today is Ta's birthday, so the owner of the hotel is planning a party for her.  I'm asked to join in but I have made plans to go to the Black Rose Bar a little later.

I arrive at the bar around 9:30 and meet my very good friend Pia.  The bar is packed with customers and many beautiful ladies.  We spend the evening talking and catching  up on a year's worth of news.  I meet a lovely lady named Pla.  We go to one of the largest bars in Patong Beach, Tai-Pan.  The owner, Bob, finds us a great table and I'm amazed how much bigger the bar is than last year.  Jet lag is starting to take over.  From there we go to a Karioke club.  I'm not very good company and doze off many times.  Back to the hotel for much needed rest.

July 7
Sleep all day, do not get up until 7:00pm.  Meet Pla at bar.  Meet new friend named Bells - we all go to Tai-Pan have a good time.  Pla leaves, Bells and I go to an illegal bar for Karioke.  While there police raid the club.  My passport is at the hotel and Bell's does not have ID with her.  We run out and walk long way back to hotel.  We walk like snakes and finish our drinks.

July 8
Sleep most of day.  Go to beach in afternoon.  Very beautiful - that night meet up with Pla and Bells.  Have to get up early tomorrow have tickets for boat trip to Phi Phi Island.  Minibus will pick Bells and me up at 7:30am.  We just hang out at bar all evening.

July 9
7:30 comes so early!  Very tired but we make it on mini-bus for ride to marina and boat trip.  The waves are very big today.  Many people got sea sick on the two hour boat trip.  I am amazed at how beautiful Phi Phi Island is, tall cliffs, many coconut trees, beautiful lagoons and white sandy beaches.  We have three hours to walk around the island before we return.  We are so tired that we get on board the boat an hour early so we can rest.  Once again the return trip is very rough with many people getting sick.  Finally I got back to Patong Beach.  I am so tired I collapse on the bed as soon as get into my room.  I sleep until almost midnight.  Pla, Bells and I get something to eat and get to bed early for a change.

July 10
Sleep long time today - meet up with Bell and Pla and have good time drinking at bar all night.  Pla drives us around Patong Beach in her car, showing us many landmarks and romantic views of the beach.

July 11
Wake up early today.  Bells and I go for breakfast.  We have argument about taxi , she gets angry and takes her things and goes to her place.  I meet Pia and her husband Mike later in the afternoon.  They bring their lovely 1 year old baby boy (Nathan) for me to see.  I brought some stuffed animal toys from  America for him.  I'm happy he seems to like them.  That night Pla introduces me to a nice lady named Bee - Pla drives us to a club called The Safari that is a little bit out of Patong Beach.  We have a great time there.  They have a live Thai band playing that is very good.  I get back to the hotel just before sunrise.

July 12
We are lazy today.  Bee and I watch movies on tv all day and order room service when we are hungry.  Tonight at the bar my friend Peter shows up.  He is from Holland but lives in Thailand now.  Tomorrow he will bring is wife and daughter for me to see.  Pla, Bee and I play bar games most of the night.  I never knew dominos could be so much fun.  I'm sure it must have something to do with two lovely ladies joking and having a good time as well.  We go to the Tai-Pan bar and drink sing and dance until the early morning.  On the way back to the hotel we all decide we are very hungry.  We buy bar-b-que from a street vendor and take back to the hotel - oh!  It tastes so good!

July 13
We wake up early today.  Bee goes to school two days a week to learn English.  Today she will take her class.  This is first time I have spent any real time alone.  I have a hamburger and fries for brunch and just hang out in the open air hotel restaurant for a few hours.  I must be a little bored.  I actually read the May issue of Car Action magazine from cover to cover.  I have a fantastic time at the bar tonight.  I meet a new lady named Pim.  She is so beautiful that I call her Miss Thailand.  When the bar closes almost the entire staff takes me to an underground karaoke club - we have so much fun singing and drinking until the sun rises.  I will get very little sleep because Pim and I will fly to Bangkok at 2:30 this afternoon.

July 14
I get up at 10:30 to buy tickets for Bangkok.  I've had only a couple hours of sleep - I'm very happy to go because Pim is from Bangkok and knows all the best places to go.  I hope I can get some rest at the airport and on the plane.  We arrive in Bangkok at 4:00 in the afternoon.  No rest, for me at airport or on the flight, but I'm wide awake with anticipation for a great time.  I have no idea of where I am going as we get into the taxi.  Pim tells me we will be going to her former neighborhood area where she knows many people, good restaurants, and night clubs  From the taxi I look out and we are going deeper into the inner city and I see less and less foreigners.  Finally I feel like I must be the only round eye person within miles.  This is great.  I feel like I am truly exploring new areas, cultures, and life at its fullest.  After almost one hour we arrive at our hotel.  I am happily surprised to find we have a bed, television, refrigerator, and a very clean bathroom.  The daily rate is so cheap they tell me 750 baht (about $9), cash only, no credit cards.  I am so tired I want to rest a short time before going out.  I turn on the tv and find out it is only Thai tv channels with one channel that shows continuous xxx rated Asian movies.  Since I don't speak Thai I settled for the soft oohs and ahh's with the lousy music from the xxx channel - no translation is needed for that channel.  Pim and I quickly fall asleep.  A few hours later Pim wakes me up.  She is going to take me to a very nice Thai restaurant.  I am amazed, the streets are clogged with car, motorbikes and people, as we take a taxi to the restaurant.    On arrival I immediately realized not too many people come to this restaurant in a taxi.  This is big news.  Pim and I are seated at the largest table.  The service and hospitality is excellent.  The news has spread that Pim has returned to her old neighborhood in a big taxi with a foreign round eye.  She must be a very rich lady now.  All evening people come by to say hello to her and stare at me.  The Thai food at the restaurant is very good and very spicy.  It also was so cheap I am embarrassed and leave a very big tip.  A big deal is made when we ask to have a taxi called to pick us up.  When the taxi shows up about 50 people are standing outside to say good bye and wish us good luck - I must say I was very flattered but also very humbled as this once in a lifetime  experience.  Pim is on cloud 9 as we head for a nightclub.  When we arrive, once again a big deal is made out of arriving in a taxi - we are given the best table in the house.  We drink, dance, and have a marvelous time all night long as more and more of Pim's friends show up to say hello.  I watch the sun rise as we ride back to the hotel!  Life is good.  We have had a very romantic day; some times it's good to be king!

July 15
Pim is so kind - she treats me to breakfast in bed at 2:00 in the afternoon - a man could get used to this real quick.  Later we go to a giant shopping center - so many things and every thing is so cheap.  I buy a lot of clothes and have a great time.  Pim's cousin comes to the hotel and insists we have dinner with more of Pim's family at a special Thai seafood restaurant.  This time the taxi stays far away from the restaurant entrance and we are able to enter quietly.  The restaurant is built on a beautiful lake and extended out over the water.  The lake has giant catfish in it.  We are given hamburger rolls to feed them.  This is quite a sight to see as 50 pound catfish thrash around trying to get the bread.  A large thunderstorm builds up and we are given the vip treatment as they move us into a large room with giant windows over looking the water.  This room also has a complete karaoke system.  Needless to say Pim's relatives had a great time, eating singing, and dancing talking and most of all joking!  We finish a fabulous dinner and head for a full blown Thai rock and roll club.  Somehow we fit 7 people inside a Nissan king cab pickup truck - you cannot be modest or shy traveling this way.  You haven't experienced life until you are introduced to this type of music and bands - usually they have four to six guitar players, at least two drummers, 2 keyboards, players, a conga drummer many tambourines and shakers and almost anything you can beat on to make noise.  (I mean music).  The best thing of all is they don't take breaks.  They just keep rotating so they never have to stop.  I like this club the lighting is dark so I don't stand out so much not being Thai!  Everyone is having a fantastic time and the band is really , really good with a great mix of Thai and Western rock and roll.  We close the club just before the sun rises.  Pim and I take a taxi back to the hotel as here relatives pile into the pickup truck singing.

July 16
Pim and I will go back to Patong Beach today.  We have 4:30 afternoon flight.  Once again I am treated to a romantic breakfast in bed which means she wants to go shopping.  Men, it is the same all over the world.  If a lady is being especially nice, she wants something from you.  We go shoping and I spend way too much on a special gift for her.

Pim wants to have lunch with her cousin before we leave Bangkok.  Sure, no problem.  The taxi is winding around beautiful landscaped fields and gardens.  I'm thinking "Nice Neighborhood".  The taxi stops and we walk into this very large building.  To my amazement I realize I am in the mess hall of the Royal Thai Airforce.  It seems like every head in the building turned at the same time to look at this round eye farang in the middle of their sanctuary.  I don't know what to do at first.  Fear takes over and self preservation tells me to straighten and widen my shoulders and make myself as tall as possible.  Pim's cousin is drop dead beautiful and runs over and kisses me on the cheek which really freaks me out.  She leads us to a table and I can feel every eyeball in the place is on me and the two loveliest ladies in the place.  Fortunately, once we sat down the men went back to eating and talking and would only look over occasionally.
 

We catch our flight back to Phuket and Patong Beach - Pim has had a wonderful holiday showing her family she is doing well.  I've had an incredible grass roots view of typical Thai ways and culture which I will cherish forever - on the way to the hotel in the taxi Pim makes a simple statement when we enter Patong Beach.  That seems very profound to me.  She says "Patong Beach is a Thai city for Farangs (foreigners)".  After being in the inner city of Bangkok with her I see what she means - where she took me nothing was written in English, hardly anyone spoke my language and credit cards did not exist.  This made me feel very vulnerable.  In Patong the signs are in English, almost everyone speaks English and I use a credit card almost every day.  We fall asleep at 8:00pm.

July 17
Pim wakes up at 4:00 am, she's hungry and wants barbeque.  I throw on some shorts and a t-shirt and we walk to get barbeque.  We get chicken, beef, and pork.  We take back to the hotel and pig out eating on the bed.  We watch and laugh at an old Jerry Lewis movie in English with Thai subtitles.  I doze off and wake up at 10:30 am.  Pim needs to got o her condo to change clothes, do laundry, and clean up her place.  I hang out at the hotel most of the day reflecting on the events of the past few days.  I make arrangements with Mike Myers to have dinner at his favorite seafood restaurant.  Mike, Pim, and myself enjoy a seafood dinner fit for a king - from there Pim and I go to the Black Rose Bar.  Pon who is a policeman in Patong Beach comes by and invites me to visit his Karioke Bar.  He guarantees that place will not be raided and we can drink and sing as long as we want.  Later we fill two tuk tuk taxis and head for his place.  Michael from Australia is in one and I am in the other.  A tuk tuk full of beautiful Thai ladies who have had a lot to drink can be more fun than a barrel of monkeys!  We arrive and Pon is sitting outside with his police uniform on. and his Police truck is parked directly in front.  We get a police escort into the club and freak out a lot of the people inside who think it was a raid.  Then Pon tells the hostess to bring a bottle of Black Label whiskey for our table.  It really is good to know the right people in Thailand - we have a great time drinking and singing until sunrise.  Somehow Australian Michael and I are asked to sing hotel California to end the day and make fools of ourselves in front of the lovely ladies.  To the delight of everyone we both sound like frogs and our lady friends are very amused and mimic our futile attempt to sing a song.  Pim and I both get on the same motorbike taxi and roar off into the sunrise for some much needed rest.

July 18
I was a little sad today - this will be my last complete day in Patong Beach before heading back to America. Pim and I enjoy a 2:00pm brunch at the hotel.  Pim wants to look extra special tonight and heads for the Beauty Salon to have her hair and nails done.  I catch a little more sleep while she is gone.  We had out for the night at about 9:30.  Pim looks like Miss Thailand tonight - she is gorgeous.  I spend most of the evening saying good bye to my friends as they come by the Black Rose Bar.  Pim and I check out another underground Karioke club.  Many of the Black Rose bar staff follow us.  I exchange good byes phone numbers and emails with many of the staff.  Pim and I get a bunch of bar-b-que and take it back to the hotel.  We stay up way past daybreak getting to know each other much better.

July 19
This chapter of my amazing adventures with Thailand is getting close to the end.  We begin our return to America with a 9:30 pm flight to Bangkok tonight.  Pim and I hang out at the hotel all day drinking beer and nibbling at food.  Yat will pick Mike Myers and myself up at 7:00pm to take us to the airport.  Somehow we fit Mike, Pim and me plus our luggage into a very small car and head for the airport.  Halfway there things become very quiet as the reality of returning to America begins to sink in.  Pim and I give each other a big hug and kiss and promise to stay in contact forever.

July 20
The rest is very dull and somewhat boring.  We go from plane to plane with layovers in different airports as we work our way half way around the world back to Miami.  I have already started to think about returning to this exotic, mystic and intriguing place called Thailand.

Sawadee!

Photographs:

My Photos
Black Rose Bar Photos
Photos of Pia

 

(click here to get to Black Rose Bar webpage)