Memories

[Carmine6]

Walking through the airport, thinking thank god they have signs in English as well as Thai.

Forgot about that. One of the most common questions I am asked at home is "do you have to know Thai to get around?" Or "How much English do they speak?"

[longstebe]

I also remember looking at the police,thinking how stern they look.

Oh, I remember my first bar too.Asking my friend "is this ok".The reply I got from my best mate was"up to you".

[JetsetBkk]

I also remember looking at the police,thinking how stern they look.

Oh, I remember my first bar too.Asking my friend "is this ok".The reply I got from my best mate was"up to you".

I remember asking: "Have they done something wrong? Why do they have to pay a fine?"

[seoguru]

two girls asked me if i need a taxi, never see such friendly and helpful people, later that evening we went out and dance and drink with those 2 girls

really good memories, wonderful, i'll be back in few month, i miss los

[sassienie]

Memories, What you remember when you stepped off the plane?

I`m feeling horny, where`s the nearest bar.

[longstebe]

Memories, What you remember when you stepped off the plane?

I`m feeling horny, where`s the nearest bar.

Hats of to you sass.I remember being knackered.When we arrived in Pattaya about 10am our room wasn't ready."lets go for a drink".Once sat in the bar the energy levels began to arise!!!!

[Lickey]

Decemer 2004, i came here to meet my internet chat G/F , she told me its cold in Issan now, bring some warm clothes, When i got off the plane in BBK at Don Muang, and went outside for a ciggi, I was wearing a polo neck+lumerjack shirt and a casual leather jacket, the heat hit me like a cricket bat, i was bowled over!!,

The first 10 days i meet her, she rubbed me down with a cold towel every morning, 5 years on, and she always asks me if i want this, mmmm, special issan lady,

Cheers, Lickey.

[roamer]

1974.....and what a fool I was not to get there earlier....

[junki3korean]

Came and done it young......15

I got to say though has changed my life forever........still dont know if its a negative or a positive?!?!?!? :D:D

[Spee]

My initial thought was "We're not in Kansas anymore."

Actually just kidding as I had been associating with many Thai and Lao people in another country before then and had been exposed to some of the culture.

But going to Soi Cowboy for the first time and then to my fiancee's moo bahn for the first time the next day were both eye-openers.

Many happy returns. Can't wait for the next trip.

[johna]

The heat, walking across the runway to the arrivals hall, the airport bar would accept foreign currency.

no traffic on Sukhumvit Road in the middle of the day, and every shop in BKK shut down for Chinese new year.

[lopburi3]

Deplaned from Pan Am round the would flight after spending a week in Frankfurt to a make shift tin arrival terminal. Processed through and got an Air Force Sargent "black" plate taxi into the city (there was no taxi service at airport in those days - off-duty personal drove officers cars illegally acting as taxis). He took me to the Nana Hotel (which was not a bad hotel in 1969 - but definitely co-ed) and life began.

[longstebe]

1974.....and what a fool I was not to get there earlier....

Feel exactly the same.And I came 26yrs later.Count yourself lucky.

Lopburi shown his age also.

I also remember renting bikes (110cc) out on beach road (typical newbie).I think this was the defining moment when I knew we were gonna have a ball.Both of us only had little experience with dirt bikes.We both had to kickstart them.Jumping down on the kickstart like it was a 500cc dirt bike.The Thai guy,was laughing his nuts off at us.Then my mate started his with full gas in 1st gear.Luckily enough the shop had its shutters down.What a laugh.

[flightcrew1]

One of my first flights was Bangkok circa early 80's!! It was the smell of jasmine at the airport that I remember and the crowds waiting to get through immigration, though we just waltzed through. I Remember we had a 3 day layover and we stayed at the old Intercontinental at Siam (Now Paragon). I was a junior crew member at the time and was excited as the senior crew had been talking about drinking, and dancing and whoring non stop. We arrived at the hotel about 11p and quickly changed out of uniforms and met in the lobby for an exciting tuk tuk ride to Silom Soi 4. Rome Club was the hot spot for just about everybody at the time. Danced and drank half the night, went to see a cabaret show at Harry's Bar which was Soi 2. Ended up at 6am at the Montien Hotel coffee shop which was a popular place to eat at the time. Slept by the pool the rest of day and repeated the same for the next 2 nights. I really would have hated to be a passenger on that flight back to London that next day as all the crew was hung over and pretty much rough to say the least.

Now I'm based out of here, but still feel excited everytime I come back home, though the days of all nights at Silom soi 2 and 4 are long gone!

[KhunDave]

Stepping through the sliding doors into the taxi rank at DMK. The wall of humidity. The roar of the traffic on Vibhavadi Rangsit. Feeling like I'd arrived on another planet.

[gpdjohn]

1975 Utapao. Fresh out of the embassy in Saigon. 3 days waiting for a MAC flight to Guam.

Quick stop, nothing different except nobody had a rifle or a grenade.

2003 Chiang Mai

From the minute I stepped off the plane, I knew this was the place I had been searching for.

The smell of insence, jasmine and exhaust. 4 more yrs until I could enjoy it full time.

2007- Here to stay. Love it. Everyday I thank Buddha for allowing me to live long enough to retire here.

[longstebe]

it is not good memery for me.

Tell us more.

[dcfc2007]

i remember stepping off the pland and thinking 'holy <deleted> its roasting.' i remember passing thru immigration and all the officials were very pleasent and smiling unlike anywhere i had ever been. on the bus from bangkok to pattaya i was stunned i was only 15 at the time, all the rice fields and the 3 people on 1 moped. i remeber getting out of the bus in pattaya and the first thing i noticed was everything really it was just an onslaught on the senses. i had been travelling for nearly two days and i was dying to get out of my sweaty clothes i was waiting about for my mates to get their suitcases and once they had all got theirs i noticed there was no suitcase left. my taxi driver rang his company and went back to bkk to get it and came back that nite and he was going to do it for free.

[daveh]

My first thought was, "Wow, it's a long way from the plane to immigration". That was at Don Muang, it's sad they didn't fix it at the new airport.

[dbrenn]

What was is it like for you the first time ever you stepped foot in LOS?

I'd never been to an asian country before.My older brother(by 3yrs)and his best mate came out here in 1999. I came out the following year with his best mate.

The heat hit me first.Wow,sweat straight away.All these asian faces looking at us both.I must have looked like a scared little boy(I think I was).Taxi Limo to Pattaya(typical I know).Then came the traffic,"what the hel_l is going on,were gonna die". Stopped on the way for some water and the toilet.I had to shout my mate to ask what the hel_l was going on but at the same time laughing my arse off.No bog roll.What a great holiday it ended up being.More to follow of course.......

You must have some good stories!!!!!

The distinctive smell of the place, the friendly and polite people, the heat.

[Christo69]

The taxi brought me to the Miami Hotel in Bangkok. The hotel was a dump but back in 1997 there were still many slums that were passed from the airport so I was happy.

The bellhop asked if I wanted a lady to take me on a tour of Bangkok and then sleep with me.

[dsprtliving]

I arrived around midnight and remember thinking how dingy the inside of the airport (Don Muang) looked considering it was the capital city's only one at the time. Then of course collecting the baggage and walking through the sliding doors to be hit by a blast of sauna type air in the middle of the night and taking in my first nose full of the air here. That smell that's neither overly pleasant, yet not unpleasant and can't quite think of a word to describe it accurately. In retrospect though, I've learned that the smell is addictive!

[Old Croc]

1976 - not a plane, but a ship.

Couldn't believe we managed to miss all the fishermen standing on posts, casting nets at the river mouth. (perhaps we didn't!) Sailing up the river to Bangkok I was fascinated by the sight of temples, palaces and the miriad river traffic.

When we docked, the smells, the crowds, the traffic and the black grime on my forehead after a few minutes outside were my most vivid memories.

Doing the tourist thing, I recall an exhibition where a mongoose was pitted against a cobra in a glass cage.

The distraught of the owners was palpable when, obviously against plan, the cobra won and killed their mongoose.

[EvilDrSomkid]

August 2004. Landed at DM and was also quite surprised at seeing a golf course adjacent to the runway.

Then the enormous lines at Immigration. There was a planeload of Eastern European touros who had not filled out their immi cards and ALL did it right at the desk. I was fuming.

Then running through the tunnels to the domestic terminal, no aircon, so sweating like a pig, to buy thickets for Samui for next day. We could only get on the 6AM flight.

Spent the night at KSR getting seriously pissed with my mate. We did not get the agreed wakeup call at 4AM, but I groggly woke up at 5 and we packed our stuff in 1 minute, ran down to reception to check out, jump into a taxi, tell hum to haul ass to the domestic terminal.

On the way there, I remembered one of the few words I had learned from the LP: YUT! The guy finally stopped, I leaned out the door, spewed out the can of Coke I had just drunk and told him to GO! My mate just stared at me and asked, what did you say to the taxidriver? You already speak Thai? Glad I bothered to learn some.

Still kicking myself about that. I lost my favorite sunnies in that taxi

Got to the check in desk at 5:50, begged the cute stewardesses: Can we please get the flight? No problem sir, we wait youuuu. Sweet.

I am never drinking a caipirinha from some VW bus cocktail bar again.

I was dehydrated for a week after that on KPN. One of the best vacations ever. By the 3rd day I had a serious case of Jasmine fever. It never went away...

[thaimate]

I WAS overcome by the heat ,but loved every minute and every girl i slept with ,met a guy and he told me that you shouldnt believe anything a bar girl tells you and under no circumstances fall in love with one ,20 years later one i met is still a terrific friend ,she is married and has kids but when i was ill many years ago looked after me.

i came back 6 weeks later and rented a room ,since those halcion days ive had a buisness here got married ,lived back in England with the wife and son ,we have now sold the buisness and live here in Pattaya permanantly.

as a lover Thailand has never let me down and i love her now as much as the day i arrived.

[Patsycat]

The heat and the the smell.

And how beautiful and quaint Samui Airport was..

and how i had to change out of my jeans and sweatshirt into more appropriate summer clothes before I even left the airport. This was in March.

[JetsetBkk]

I WAS overcome by the heat ,but loved every minute and every girl i slept with ,met a guy and he told me that you shouldnt believe anything a bar girl tells you and under no circumstances fall in love with one ,20 years later one i met is still a terrific friend ,she is married and has kids but when i was ill many years ago looked after me.

i came back 6 weeks later and rented a room ,since those halcion days ive had a buisness here got married ,lived back in England with the wife and son ,we have now sold the buisness and live here in Pattaya permanantly.

as a lover Thailand has never let me down and i love her now as much as the day i arrived.

Nice!

[snuggzzz]

Memories............. I booked flight to Thailand on impulse, being single again and having been straight down the middle of the US (fabulous), I decided to go East.

Upon my arrival at BKK as I got off the plane at Don Muang I was enveloped in a cloying heat, not dissimilar to Sauna. In my total ignorance having collected my case, I went to a cash machine to wonder how many pounds to a Baht or is it how many Bahts to a Pound...?? I was offered 10k or 20k, I didn't know it's worth at all.

I look back on that experience, plus a couple of scams which cost me, but not tooo much, I settled soundly in Thailand, truly, it can be a land of Smiles..!!!

[chavy]

For me also the heat & smell, hard to describe though. 2 days near the airport then straight up country to start my new job. Then, the look on the faces of the locals, I was convinced I'd 'grown' another head !!

[sangfroid]

Remember being picked up at Don Muang by my new boss and my two friends who were already here. We took a taxi to where I would be living and on the way he pointed out the girls working the street on Petchuburi Rd., as I had arrived after midnight. Those days (2003) there were just hundreds of girls on the street there in front of that one hotel, can't remember the name now, think at least near some place called Mona Lisa. Now, the police cleaned it up and that sight is now a thing of the past. Probably happily for some, but it's a little piece of Bangkok history you can't see anymore.

They are still there,but instead of the front(or the coffee shop) they congregate around the back,alongside the railway tracks.

Oh, and its the Siam Hotel.

It was the Siam Hotel. It was torn down for redevelopment over a year ago. There are still reduced numbers of girls plying their trade, as seasider says, in the road by the railway track