Our First 10 days in the "Land of Smiles".

Thursday, February 25, 2010
It was a sunny day in Southern California. Our friend, Terry, picked us up at home. We loaded our bags in the car. We are only carrying one large bag each along with a back pack, Daeng’s big purse and my CPAP machine bag.

The 45 minute trip to the airport was without event. Traffic was light and Terry had her car bearing fixed so we did not have to listen to the noise that worried us so much the last time she gave us a ride.

It took us about 45 minutes in line at China Airlines ticket counter. Everything went smooth once we reached the ticket agent as we had E-Checked in before we left the house.

Now, going through security was a little different. I was carrying a CPAP machine, sometimes referred to as a sleeping machine. It is a machine that puts a small amount of air pressure on your breathing passages.

That keeps them open so you don’t snore and sleep well. I think CPAP stands for Controlled Positive Air Pressure.

The agent wanted to open the bag and test for explosives. I ask him to please re-glove as the things he was going to handle went on my face. He was very nice and said he understood.

He handled everything very carefully during his testing. The testing amounted to whipping down the machine with a cloth pad and then putting the pad in a machine to analyze it. After that, he started to put everything in a bin to have it x-rayed, again.

The bin was a bin that a man had just taken his shoes out of it. I baulked here and explained that putting my face mask and CPAP machine in a bin that someone had just taken their shoes out of was not acceptable.

He proceeds to tell me that he had to do it to let me pass but would give me some alcohol to wipe off things after. I could tell at that point I had no choice so I said okay.

After everything was approved, I thanked him for working to keep us all safe but stated there should be a more sanitary way to follow their procedures.

We put everything back together and proceeded to gate 103 for the wait before boarding. It was about 50 minutes as the boarding was late by over a half hour.

We are in the air now after a nice take-off. Refreshments are being served although it is a little bumpy.

I'll tell you more a little later in trip.

We are now on our second leg of the journey.

Well, on the last flight, I watched three movies, took a little nap, had two meals on the plane and landed in Taipei. Since our plane was a hour late, by the time we made the walk and changed terminals on the little electric shuttle we got right on our plane to Bangkok.

We watched another movie, eat another meal and we’ll land in Bangkok at about 1:00 in the morning. It is now Friday, February 27th. We lost a whole day when we crossed the International Date Line.

When we land we will process through immigrations, get our two checked bags and take a taxi to Modelink Guest House on Soi 4 in the Sukhamvit area of Bangkok.

We'll write more when we get settled in Bangkok.

Monday, March 01, 2010 4:20 AM
Wow, we’ve been sleeping forever. We arrived okay at Bangkok airport, breezed through customs and got our bags. Daeng called Modelink Guest House to be told that they are full.

I called another number for the guess house as sometimes a farang (non-Thai tourist) will get special treatment as they figure we will spend more money than a Thai traveler. I got the same answer which I was glad to get as it told me that they are on the up-n-up. They have always been straight with us.

We did not have a back up plan so we called Nana Hotel and were told they have standard rooms. We took a metered taxi (350 TB with airport fee and tip) to Nana Hotel.

We’ll, just like they have done to us in the past, when we arrived, we were told they only have the better room for 400 TB more, 1690 TB or about $51 USD.

It’s not so much the money as the principal or the deal. Nana Hotel is in the center of one of the tourist areas of Bangkok. It has okay rooms, a sparkly swimming pool and a killer buffet breakfast for two included. Each breakfast is 200 TB or $6 USD for non-guests.

After we checked in we walked across Sukhamvit to Soi 5 and had a bowl of soup, then came back to hotel for some rest.

Daeng got up about 9:00 AM after resting about 4 hours. She told me she was going shopping at one of the largest shopping areas in Thailand. She knows I don’t like to shop so she let me sleep more.

She came back around 1:30 PM with a big bag of clothes she had bought for family members in Mae Sai. She also told me she had arranged a room at Modelink in the back on the second floor.

We packed up, checked out and walked the 400 meters up the street to the guest house. Business has been good so they had raised the room rent to 800 TB ($24 USD) a night. I love success stories and have watched this family owned guest house start up about four years ago.

We both went back to bed. Jet lag is a bitch sometimes. I slept thru until Sunday night, waking only to eat, use the rest room and have Daeng tell me she was going shopping, again.

My dear friend Michael called me from Wasco, California to tell me that Charlotte was in the hospital. He also ask me to see if I could find some “Siang’s Saffron Oil for his sister.

I woke about 11:00 PM Sunday night and could not go back to sleep. I showered, through on some clothes and walked down to the 7-11 about 200 meters down the street.

I got a cup of coffee and went across the street to the Internet cafe to read and answer some emails.

I read most of the 97 emails in about two hour. I was hungry so I walked across Sukhamvit to Soi 5 and had an American Breakfast at “Food Land”. An American Breakfast is two eggs, bacon or ham, toast, juice and coffee or tea.

Just as I was ordering the food, Daeng called me to see where I was. She could not sleep anymore either. She met me just about the time I was finishing my coffee.

She had a bowl of wonton soup and we walked back to our room. It’s now about 5:00 AM.

Our plan today is to take a taxi to the beautiful city of Pattaya Beach. We will stay there for a week or two and then head north to Mae Sai on the Myanmar (Burma) Border.

The taxi driver we usually use hurt his back so we have to find another reasonably priced taxi driver to make the trip today. Normal price is around 1500 TB plus the tolls of around 90 TB. Our driver usually charges us 1200 TB.

We'll write more from Pattaya

Tuesday, March 2, 2010
Yesterday morning Daeng when down to the area across the street from Nana Hotel and talked to a man named “Moo”. He agreed to set up a car and driver to take us to Pattaya Beach for 1100 THB ($33 USD) including the highway tolls. That is a great deal.

The driver picked us up at about 9:30 AM and we arrived at the Honey Lodge Hotel at around 11:30 AM. The lady at the desk had a big smile when we arrived. I had called to be sure we had a room before we left but I don’t think she knew it was us.

She checked us in without even showing my passport and gave us a nice room on the quiet side of the hotel on the second floor. She didn’t even ask for a deposit on the room.

This is an old hotel but clean with good bed, refrigerator, English TV, hot water, western style bathroom, air conditioning and a fresh water swimming pool.

The hotel is 200 feet from the beach and right in the entertainment area named Walking Street. The name comes because at night they close the street to vehicle traffic. All the above, in this great spot at the beach, for 600 THB ($18 USD) a night.

Our room was being made up so we dropped off our bags, put our passports and valuables in a safe deposit box and took a walk. We walked us Beach Road about a half a mile to the Bangkok Bank.

I am here in Thailand as a guest with a one year renewable retirement visa. In order to renew it I have to fill out a form each year at the immigrations office along with a letter from the bank stating I have at least 800,000 Thai Baht in a Thai bank account for at least three months.

We walked into the bank, updated our bank books and they wrote the letter for us. They charged 100 THB for the letter and we went on our way.

My visa expires on Friday so we’ll take a little bus to the next beach area, Jomtien Beach, and file for renewal. It is an easy trip for the cost of 20 THB each.

I am told this immigration office is very friendly as there are many expats living in this area. The renewal with multiple entrees will be 3900 THB for the year.
We walked to the chicken soup shop we like and had a bowl of chicken soup. Then we hopped on what is called a Baht Bus back to the hotel.

A Baht Bus is a small pick-up truck with a body in the back that folks can ride on. They travel in a circle here in Pattaya between Beach Road and Second Road for 10 THB a ride.

We showered when we got back to the hotel as it is around 95 degrees during the day. Then we took a little nap.

I woke up around 11:30 PM a little hungry. I got dressed and went around the corner for a chicken Kabob. I then stopped at the Internet Café across the street and answered most of my emails.

My hip was a little sore so I got an hour massage which did make it feel better. An hour Thai massage here in Pattaya is 200 THB ($6 USD). An oil massage is 300 THB plus tip, of course.

This is a 24 hour town.

They even serve beer at McDonald's

I went back to our room around 5:00 AM and Daeng woke up as I came in. We hung out eating pineapple and having coffee. I also got my laptop to work WiFi on Starbuck's wireless network, next door from our hotel room.

At about 7:30 AM we walked up to the market area and had breakfast at this little place we like to eat at. It’s a nice friendly Thai family place with great food.

We bought two large, cut up pineapple on our way back for 20 THB. If you mind still can’t do the money conversion that is 60 cents for two large pineapple. We pay $3.00 USD each when they are on sale in California.

Nap time, again.

Well, I watched Television for a while and then the TV watched me. Daeng went out and got chicken soup for lunch.

We hung out in the room until around 5:00 PM. Then we got dressed and walked to the corner. Daeng went across Second Road up to the Temple Massage and I hopped on a Baht Bus to go to a meeting.

It was a meeting of English speaking folks helping each other stay away from the addictive vices here in this adult fun city.

After the meeting I jumped back on a Baht Bus to return to the hotel area. The Baht Bus stopped at the Dolphin Circle where they come back down Beach Road. The driver asks where I was going and I told him “Walking Street”. He told me to get on another bus but to pay him. I said: “No.” He shrugged his shoulders and said go.

I hopped on another Baht Bus and got off at “Mr. Kabab’s” and had a chicken Kabob. "Mr. Kabab" had broken his left leg in a motor bike accident but was still working and saying: "Hello Kabob".

I think it is an other reminder or message to me to be careful of motor bikes!

Note: Kabob can be spelled a couple differant ways.

After, I called Daeng to see if she was back in the room I joined her. Nightly, night.

We got up in the morning and took a Baht bus to breakfast at the market area. We had a good breakfast then bought two pineapple and some vegetables in market.

Here is a coin operated, gasoline vending machine.

We walked back to hotel and made arrangements to try their new wireless Internet service for my notebook. It is 200 THB for two weeks.

I logged in and it works well although slower than my broadband in California. Sometimes I lose the connection between the DNS, whatever that means. Remember, I’m a plumber born before broadcast television.

We hung out in our room until noon and then went over to the movie theater by Second Road and Soi 13. We bought tickets for our seats to see the Australian made movie “Daybreakers”. It was in English without subtitles but Daeng is getting pretty good at understanding English.

Popcorn and a soda and we went into the theater. The two thing that are a little different here from theaters in California are you get tickets for the exact seats in the theater and the biggest popcorn here is the size of the smallest size in America.

We had no idea of that the movie was about when we bought the tickets and were surprised to find out it was a vampire movie. I love vampire movies and this was the best one I have seen.

If you love blood, lots of action and bad guys getting killed this movie is a must see. It is not for the squeamish, stomached folks.

After the movie we walked down to the beach to get a little sun. We have not been into the ocean yet as Daeng did not wear socks in her new tennis shoes when she went on her big shopping trip in Bangkok. She got some big blisters in her toes but they are almost healed.

We got back to our room around 6:30 PM and went to bed. We are almost over jet-lag. That has taken a week, exactly. Yes, we have been in Thailand exactly one week tomorrow morning.

Friday, March 5, 2010 6:15 AM
Today, we are going to have some breakfast at the market area and take a Baht Bus a few kilometers to the immigrations office on Soi 5 in Jomtien Beach. My yearly visa expires today. It should be fun trip.

Friday evening, March 5, 2010

We’ll things did not go well at immigrations today. We arrived and filled out all the paperwork, got a number and took a seat. Our number was 608. We watched the numbers and they climbed to 613 on the lighted board without our number showing up.

I asked the information person and he said to go to the #6 desk and show my number. When we did that the lady said we needed to get another number.

We went back to the information desk and told the gentleman she said we need a new number. He shrugged his shoulders and gave us a new number. We took a seat again and waited.

About a half an hour later our number came up and we went to desk number six, again. The lady started processing all our papers. I ask if she could do multiple entry Visa also and do I need another for. She said she was too busy today could only do renewal of my present Visa and I would have to come back on Wednesday.

I paid her the 1900 THB ($57 USD) and after doing about half of the paperwork she looked at the address in Mae Sai (Northern Thailand) and she said she could not do the renewal here. I explained we were on a holiday and my visa expired today.

She said we had to go back to Mae Sai to renew as that is where we lived. I asked what we could do and she said I could see the man in one of the front desk and ask for a seven (7) day extension. She gave us back the 1900 THB and told us to go on!

My personal feelings are she just saw a way to not do the work as “she was so busy today!”

Telling us we have to go to Mae Sai immigrations to do this is like saying we have to go from San Diego to San Francisco or from Washington, D. C. to New York City to do it. We will also have to pay another 1900 THB there to renew my Visa.

I will admit that is a small price to pay to live in paradise.

We spoke to the man at the information desk; he shrugged his shoulders again and took us in front of the other folks to desk number 2. That man stamped all our papers and passport with a seven day extension and changed us 1900 THB. He told us to wait until another lady could record everything.

We waited about a half hour and they called my name. I picked up my Passport and we left. I have to renew my Visa again within seven more days.

Daeng and talked about it. We both agreed that the way it happened was not right but we have no choice. I think that is part of the “Serenity Prayer”.

We stopped at an Internet Café on the way back and bought tickets to fly from Bangkok to Mae Sai mid-day on March 10th. The tickets were 4200 THB ($126 USD) which included two bags, up to 20 kilograms each, for 800 THB ($24 USD).

I just thought that this picture of Jack &

Daeng would lighten up things a little.

We also arranged for a taxi to take us from our hotel to the Bangkok airport on Wednesday morning. A cost of 800 THB plus 70 THB in highway tolls is a very good value. In the past it has been a private car and not a taxi.

A private car is much nicer for us as most Taxi's are really beat up and the private car drivers are usually more carful in their driving.

When we got back to our room in hotel I took a shower and a nap as I was emotionally drained. I slept until 2:00 AM the next morning.

Saturday, March 6, 2010

I woke up at about 2:00 AM. I had been sleeping for about 14 hours as I was drained by the immigrations experience. I now understand why folks get bad feeling about visiting immigrations.

My past experiences with Thailand immigrations have always been very positive. The immigrations office in Mae Sai, Chiang Rai has always been very helpful in all our dealing.

I had a cup of coffee and checked my emails using my new notebook and the wireless internet system here in the hotel. The system is a little slow but does work okay.

I had an email from Air Asia telling me that the Chase Visa card I had used was declined and to please log into their site again with another card or call by telephone during normal business hours.

When I had called the bank about three weeks ago to let them know I would be traveling in Asia I did not feel good about the other person on the telephone even though she told me she would note the file and everything would work okay.

I like this Visa card as they do not charge a fee to exchange money in the country you use it to United States Dollars. Most ATM cards and credit cards charge three (3%) percent of the transaction.

I called the number for Chase Bank that is on the back of the card and after being transferred to four different departments I was disconnected.

I called again and asked the lady I was talking to on this call if she would “Please Help Me?” I explained everything to her and she said she would help me and put me on hold. Well, nineteen minutes later, on hold, I ran out of prepaid phone time and was disconnected by the phone system.

Because I am using a wireless Internet connection for my notebook, I got dressed and walked across the street to us the Internet Café.

I logged into AirAsia.com and use another credit card to pay for the plane trip on Wednesday. This credit card will charge me about $4.00 additional to make the transaction.

I also emailed Chase Bank, through their secure site, asking what happened.

I went back to the room and Daeng was awake. I felt pretty good physically this morning so I asked her if she wanted to go for a brisk walk to exercise this morning. She said: “Good!”

At 68 years old, my body is holding up pretty good except I’m over weight, about 265 pounds and my knees and hips hurt a little, sometimes. I did have my right knee operated on last year and that knee is doing well.

We took a nice long walk down Beach Road, up around Soi 5 and back Second Road, through the Temple to the market area for breakfast. I figure we walked about three miles.

We had a big breakfast at the market area. We bought four small, cut up pineapples and some instant 3 in 1 coffee packets and headed back to room.

We showered and hung out watching television until about 1:00 PM. I had seen a restaurant named “Gooses Fish & Chips” advertized on television. I told Daeng I would like to try it. We dressed again and hopped on a Baht Bus getting off between Soi 7 and Soi 8 on Second Road.

We had lunch of typical English fish and chips for me and a seafood salad for Daeng. The food was good and at a fair price of 370 THB ($11 USD).

I talked to the owner regarding his television exposure. He said it was working very good and was going to continue it for at least another month. His restaurant is only about six months old.

We took a Baht Bus back to hotel. I changed my shirt and went to a meeting with about 30 English speaking folks that that live here in Pattaya and try to help each other in their lives.

It was only an hour meeting and I walked to “Mr. Kabab” and had a chicken and beef Kabob.

We turned in early as we had done a lot of walking today.

Sunday, March 7, 2010

We got up early, about 5:30 AM, had coffee and got dresses in our swim suits. We walked to the 100 kilometers to the beach. About 20 large double outboard speed boats were backed up to the beach at this high tide being fueled.

The fueling was all being done with 4-5 gallon containers being carried from pick-up trucks to the boats by hand.

We walked a little farther down the beach to swim. The water was very clean and the sun was just coming up. We had a nice swim!

We walked back to the hotel and showered off at the pool. We then took a swim in the sparkly, fresh water pool at our hotel. It was different swimming in the ocean and then in the fresh water pool.

We then dressed in our room after another shower. We should be really clean now.

We walked up to the market area and ate in a different restaurant as our usual eating spot is closed on Sunday.

The rest of the day we just hung out loving each other's companionship.

Life is GOOD.

Monday, March 8, 2010
We have been in Thailand now for 10 days as of 1:00 AM this morning. We are back in the swing of things here in the "Land of Smiles".

We took a long walk south of our hotel this morning. It was nice to see the street cleaning crews scrubing the 'Walking Street" area by hand using soap, brushes and water trucks.

We walked about 3 miles in a circle up to the market area and had breakfast at our favorite eating spot.

We bought four pineapples, cut up, for 40 THB and back to the room, shower and a little rest. We plan on going to the movies this afternoon to see the movie "Book of Eli".

We did take a picture of this little kid kissing the ice cream charactor on "Walking Street". Pattaya is trying to make this Adult Town into a family town, too.

We will write more when we get to Mae Sai, Thailand, at the Myanmar (Burma) border later in the week.
Love to ALL,
Plumber & Little Thai Girl