Which Place In Thailand Holds The Best Memories For You?

[Goshawk]

Don Muang - getting off the plane and sniffing the air...

ditto... exiting the arrivals hall for the very first time 8yrs ago - "wow.. this is different"

[smokie36]

Don Muang - getting off the plane and sniffing the air...

ditto... exiting the arrivals hall for the very first time 8yrs ago - "wow.. this is different"

The little bar outside....that was a good spot.

[Rooo]

Don Muang - getting off the plane and sniffing the air...

ditto... exiting the arrivals hall for the very first time 8yrs ago - "wow.. this is different"

The little bar outside....that was a good spot.

Yup, different feel when you got here. Loved that little bar outside.

[Ulysses G.]

Don Muang - getting off the plane and sniffing the air...

That is one of my favorites too. Another is Patong beach 20 something years ago. It was one of the prettiest beaches that I have ever seen, not too built up, but plenty to do and the people were so friendly. I fell in love with the place and knew that I had to live here some day.

[cardholder]

Bulldog bar Soi 6, girl with tongue stud and 3 lions tattooed on her ankle.

My first shag in Thailand.

[richard_smith237]

Oh no......an impossible task......my best memory of Thailand.......can we make it my best 100 memories of Thailand??? Even that would be a struggle. The country is outstanding.

Some of you will have seen this before, I've had to edit this story to fit this topic..........the background is that I didn't want to come to Thailand because of all the bad press......this encounter on my first day was a blessing, so it was the beginning of my love affair with Thailand........here goes.................

....................................................................................................................

My first trip to Thailand was Feb 2008, I had done a business deal and I was taken on holiday to Pattaya as a bonus. I was reluctant to go as I had heard all the usual nonsense about Thailand, but being Scottish I couldn't see the holiday go to waste.

I duly turned up at the hotel opposite Wonderful Bar 2 and you can imagine I was blown away with my first sight of Pattaya. The first afternoon there was live entertainment in the bar, so I wandered across and sat down on one of the stools. There was an older English guy doing his turn, and he had a good voice.

Once he finished he came to over my way and mentioned I had blagged his seat, I skipped up one and he sat with me. He asked me if it was my first time in Thailand, he must have smelled the newness off me. I said it was and to cut a long story short he launched into this story. If he is reading this, I hope he knows the impression he made on me.

" I was 59 and living in London when I lost my wife, I couldn't handle it, I loved that woman so much. For 18 months I was like a zombie, going to work, coming home, drinking by myself every night and just wanting it all to end, I was so miserable. My daughter kept pleading with me to get on with my life, but my life died with my wife. One day my daughter came into the house with my best friend, they had bought me a holiday to Thailand to try and get me out of my shell. I refused to go, no way I could contemplate going on holiday, it would be a betrayal of the memory of my wife, how could I enjoy myself?

My daughter burst into tears, and I relented, I was a miserable sod but now I was hurting my kids too. The day came for me to fly to Thailand and never was there a more reluctant tourist than me, all the way over I didn't want to be going on holiday, I was betraying my wife. I got to Pattaya and I was miserable, angry with myself for agreeing to come and the first day I was a nightmare, by day two I was starting to relax a little bit, and by day three I was starting to enjoy myself.

By the time the two weeks were over I went home and my daughter was ecstatic, she could see happiness in me, as she had already lost her Mum, and she felt she lost her Dad that day too. It was all I could do but get to work, save up and get back out again.

He went on to say.............The first girlfriend you get in Thailand is always the hardest to get rid of, you end up entrapped and unsure and that was a nightmare for me. Eventually it all ended, and I took up with another lady that didn't work out either, and it went on until I met my lady here.

I retired from my job, moved over here and got married, my best pal did the same thing and two other friends have moved here too. We all stay in the same villa, we get up at about 10.00am and go for a swim, the wives make brunch, we sit and eat together, and we all take off in different directions for the afternoon. Today I'm here because I love a sing song, my wife here is a sweetheart ( I would say she was about 54, and the gent I was talking to would be about 67 at the time ), and she looks after me so well.

He went on to say..........

" I would give all this up right now for my wife, I loved that woman so much, I would give up everything to be with her again........I thought my life was over when my wife died, but Thailand has given me a second chance at life............"

I hope that gentleman is still going strong and still loving life in Pattaya, and I bet you there are many men reading this and recognizing a bit of themselves in it........I think that was one of the best phrases I have ever heard in my life.

" Thailand has given me a second chance at life "

seriously, was a larger croc o' <deleted> ever wrote?

i remember the first time you shared it, and suspect i had the same reaction.

Seriously, was there ever a post made which identifies to everyone reading what an a-hole someone can be ?

Passing comment on someone opening up and telling their story is rather dirty in my view. This is a positive thread, please don't tar it with your own scepticism and bitterness, keep that for the fellow on the barstool next to you....

[edwinclapham]

Don Muang - getting off the plane and sniffing the air...

ditto... exiting the arrivals hall for the very first time 8yrs ago - "wow.. this is different"

The little bar outside....that was a good spot.

Loved that wee bar as well

[edwinclapham]

Koh Samet for me! Lost my virginity to a German version of a Mrs Robinson there.

[aneliane]

Pai

[barefoot1988]

got to be chiangmai airport.

its a strange feeling. it was the first place i touch down in thailand. i could still remember how excited i was in the airport with a slight touch of confusion. probably more than anything else, including my first sexual intercourse

and then i went out for a smoke. and my first experience of my crotch by the weather

[skybluestu]

Ko Lanta. My first visit was in my early twenties about 14yrs ago and Ko Lanta was the reason I came back every year for the following 6yrs. I'd spent about six weeks on Phuket and Ko Samui and wasn't impressed at all, but I heard about an unspoilt island which had hardly been affected by tourism so off I went. Back then there was very few hotels, mainly small bungalow resorts owned by local muslim families dotted along the beaches, no decent roads and no electricity connection from the mainland and it was perfect!

I stayed in a simple wooden bungalow just a few steps from the beach for 50baht a night, days were spent chilling on the beach, swimmimg and going out fishing with one of the locals and evenings were just as chilled, usually cooking fish on a beach bar-b-q and drinking until the early hours while listening to Hotel California over and over again! I went back every Dec for about two months, the first year I didn't was the year of the Tsunami. I know it has changed a lot since then but Ko Lanta will always be a special place for me.

Edited May 28, 2012 by skybluestu

[samsiam]

Watching the sun rise and sun set on Long Beach, Krabi when I was alone. I think I found true inner peace at that moment.

Before or after tsunami ??

You can find inner peace anywhere....much simpler locations......'Grasshopper' for example.

.

Edited May 28, 2012 by samsiam

[taninthai]

Watching the sun rise and sun set on Long Beach, Krabi when I was alone. I think I found true inner peace at that moment.

Lol I met my now wife on that beach and have been living there for last 5 years it's still a beautiful place today and has not changed alot in the last 20 years , it will be a sad day when we eventually leave this place

[wamberal]

The old Lee Gardens Hotel in Wireless Road. I stayed there with a bunch of work colleagues for a few weeks, it was a wonderful place to stay in those days.

Another thing I miss is the old 100 baht buffet lunches in all the five star hotels (except the Oriental, can't remember how much the buffet in Lord Jim's cost, maybe 400 baht).

I miss the Country and Western Bar on the corner of Soi 19, great spot, a really good and decent management, lots of the girls married farang. The Australian Embassy used to recommend the place (unofficially) as a safe and sensible bar for bachelors to go to. And it was.

I also miss Cleopatra's. I hasten to add that my bar and sauna days are long gone, but I would love to be able to visit some of these quality places again.

[edwinclapham]

Bei Otto Restuarant in Bangkok.. getting oblivious with my old Dad on Apple Shnappes and catching a train to Nong Khai afterwards...

Loose tongues leave a life time of memories.

[chrisinth]

Being honest, it would have to initially be Pattaya in the late 80's. At that time, I had been to many, many incredible places in the world, but nothing touched Pattaya for the party atmosphere it then had. I was one of the hundreds of thousands of people arriving in Thailand for the first time thinking that Pattaya was Thailand. Wonderful memories, and before the anti-Pattaya brigade have a go, while it was still "red-light" in those days, it really was a different place to what it has evolved to now. No regrets to anything that went on there!

Not sure what happened with me, but after visiting (and living) there for 11 years things changed, maybe just getting old or growing up! Sitting in one of the Go-Go's with a group of mates, and telling this gorgeous girl to stop pestering me because we were talking about football or something else inane; that was the "What just happened there?" moment for me. Looking around seeing naked girls on the poles, punters drooling around the stage, and us arguing about football! All things become the norm. after time.

Went to Phitsanulok for a break from the hectic Pattaya, and never looked back, been here ever since! So being greedy, Phits would be the second (or possibly first) best place I've had the privilege to call home in this "amazing" country.

Growing old is a given, growing up is optional!

[samsiam]

my bedroom...

Perhaps a few of your ladies will drop by and elaborate?

They're speechless.

[samsiam]

my bedroom...

Flying solo as normal.....we know already

people on good behavior bonds should watch what they say......I'll report you to the people that you report nasty people to around here.

You are never alone as long as you have a mirror.

[brit1984]

my bedroom...

Perhaps a few of your ladies will drop by and elaborate?

They're speechless.

Good on you for being so open-minded when choosing your partners; I think speech-impaired is the proper term though

Sent from iPhone; please forgive any typos or violations of forum rules

[samsiam]

my bedroom...

Perhaps a few of your ladies will drop by and elaborate?

They're speechless.

Good on you for being so open-minded when choosing your partners; I think speech-impaired is the proper term though

Sent from iPhone; please forgive any typos or violations of forum rules

Yes...she was that...at times.

[thaibeachlovers]

Hoolywood Royale. Spent many nights there till the sun came up, and would then go over to Took Lai Dee for a cheap breakfast.

Sadly, has had a name change, and is no longer such a great place as it used to be- quite boring the last time I went.

[Bangkokhatter]

Mine was Pattaya also. My friend had been coming to Thailand for holidays since the 90's and always kept on at me to join him, but I was always in relationships.

Anyway he finally decides to get married and so I have to come for the wedding. Current G/F ditched (not serious) and we're off to Pattaya for the stag do.

I have been to a few places of ill-repute during my navy days but nothing compared to driving up 2nd road and then turning down Soi 2 to the Sabai Lodge what an eye opener had a fantastic 2 weeks and it took me a while to get Pattaya out of me system.

Friend and his wife are still going strong 7 years later

[edwinclapham]

Oh no......an impossible task......my best memory of Thailand.......can we make it my best 100 memories of Thailand??? Even that would be a struggle. The country is outstanding.

Some of you will have seen this before, I've had to edit this story to fit this topic..........the background is that I didn't want to come to Thailand because of all the bad press......this encounter on my first day was a blessing, so it was the beginning of my love affair with Thailand........here goes.................

....................................................................................................................

My first trip to Thailand was Feb 2008, I had done a business deal and I was taken on holiday to Pattaya as a bonus. I was reluctant to go as I had heard all the usual nonsense about Thailand, but being Scottish I couldn't see the holiday go to waste.

I duly turned up at the hotel opposite Wonderful Bar 2 and you can imagine I was blown away with my first sight of Pattaya. The first afternoon there was live entertainment in the bar, so I wandered across and sat down on one of the stools. There was an older English guy doing his turn, and he had a good voice.

Once he finished he came to over my way and mentioned I had blagged his seat, I skipped up one and he sat with me. He asked me if it was my first time in Thailand, he must have smelled the newness off me. I said it was and to cut a long story short he launched into this story. If he is reading this, I hope he knows the impression he made on me.

" I was 59 and living in London when I lost my wife, I couldn't handle it, I loved that woman so much. For 18 months I was like a zombie, going to work, coming home, drinking by myself every night and just wanting it all to end, I was so miserable. My daughter kept pleading with me to get on with my life, but my life died with my wife. One day my daughter came into the house with my best friend, they had bought me a holiday to Thailand to try and get me out of my shell. I refused to go, no way I could contemplate going on holiday, it would be a betrayal of the memory of my wife, how could I enjoy myself?

My daughter burst into tears, and I relented, I was a miserable sod but now I was hurting my kids too. The day came for me to fly to Thailand and never was there a more reluctant tourist than me, all the way over I didn't want to be going on holiday, I was betraying my wife. I got to Pattaya and I was miserable, angry with myself for agreeing to come and the first day I was a nightmare, by day two I was starting to relax a little bit, and by day three I was starting to enjoy myself.

By the time the two weeks were over I went home and my daughter was ecstatic, she could see happiness in me, as she had already lost her Mum, and she felt she lost her Dad that day too. It was all I could do but get to work, save up and get back out again.

He went on to say.............The first girlfriend you get in Thailand is always the hardest to get rid of, you end up entrapped and unsure and that was a nightmare for me. Eventually it all ended, and I took up with another lady that didn't work out either, and it went on until I met my lady here.

I retired from my job, moved over here and got married, my best pal did the same thing and two other friends have moved here too. We all stay in the same villa, we get up at about 10.00am and go for a swim, the wives make brunch, we sit and eat together, and we all take off in different directions for the afternoon. Today I'm here because I love a sing song, my wife here is a sweetheart ( I would say she was about 54, and the gent I was talking to would be about 67 at the time ), and she looks after me so well.

He went on to say..........

" I would give all this up right now for my wife, I loved that woman so much, I would give up everything to be with her again........I thought my life was over when my wife died, but Thailand has given me a second chance at life............"

I hope that gentleman is still going strong and still loving life in Pattaya, and I bet you there are many men reading this and recognizing a bit of themselves in it........I think that was one of the best phrases I have ever heard in my life.

" Thailand has given me a second chance at life "

seriously, was a larger croc o' <deleted> ever wrote?

i remember the first time you shared it, and suspect i had the same reaction.

What a chronic shame when jealousy eats away at you that much, you have to resort to this level!

[David48]

Have to do it in this fashion because of the number of quotes involved ...

smoked36 ... asked the question 'Which place in Thailand holds the best memories for you?'

samsiam ... my bedroom...

smoked36 ...Perhaps a few of your ladies will drop by and elaborate?

samsiam ... They're speechless.

brit1984 ... Good on you for being so open-minded when choosing your partners; I think speech-impaired is the proper term though

samsiam ... Yes...she was that...at times.

Nice punch ... nice counter.

Edited May 29, 2012 by David48

[BobMarleyWannabe]

First trip with my wife to Thailand we went to Mae Hong Son and we spent part of one day hiking up to a waterfall two of the friendliest dogs from the resort followed us up and back, They seemed to be very protective as I went off trail while my wife walked ahead, one of the dogs stayed with me while the other went along with my wife. Best experience of all my time in Thailand was those days spent in Mae Hong Son.

[nocturn]

Watching the sun rise and sun set on Long Beach, Krabi when I was alone. I think I found true inner peace at that moment.

Please post pics

At that particular time, I didn't take pics. I just sat there in awe with my mouth open. It was breath taking. Also I don't think pictures will do it justice. It was more of an emotional thing for me as well as the beauty of what I was seeing. I just remember walking back to my bungalow with the biggest smile on my face and feeling so happy. </soppy>

And there I was thinking you were a hard Mancunian!

Its great that we all have such moments....more please!

well she was sitting there with her mouth open.

[kwonitoy]

Greenworld Golf Resort about 100kms north of Kanchaburi, 30km south of Tong Pa Phum,

I stayed there for 8 months during 1996/97 while working on the Yadana pipeline, with my new GF, later to be my wife.

It was on this job that I got the photo that's my avatar, A young elephant fell into the ditch in the night and when we came in the morning he was walking on top of the pipe trying to get out. He did eventually and ran off into the bush.

Monday to Friday the whole resort was vacant with just us and a bunch of bored staff, we had a room overlooking the River Kwai, and the mountain's in the distance and so quiet it was unbeleaveable. I'd wake up in the morning go to the office and do my thing and then come back for lunch, pick up the GF and then do a drive thru on the construction and back by sundown. And they paid me for this!!!

Friday evening the place would fill up for the weekend with golfers from Bangkok and sunday evening it was back to being our private resort.

We stayed so long the owner told the gf that it was ok for me to use in his private parking spot next to the front door during the week. So during the week it had a 4WD Izuzu, usually dripping mud, parked and on the weekend a very high end sports car

After we were married for some years we took a trip back and rented the same room we had stayed in for 8 months. A drive up to the mountains to Ban E Tong, and Three Pagoda Pass, on the border completed the trip down memory lane

I think we'll go back next year if it's still open with our new son and show him around

Ken

[thaibeachlovers]

Hoolywood Royale. Spent many nights there till the sun came up, and would then go over to Took Lai Dee for a cheap breakfast.

Sadly, has had a name change, and is no longer such a great place as it used to be- quite boring the last time I went.

Oops, should have been Hollywood Royale.

[smokie36]

Hoolywood Royale. Spent many nights there till the sun came up, and would then go over to Took Lai Dee for a cheap breakfast.

Sadly, has had a name change, and is no longer such a great place as it used to be- quite boring the last time I went.

Oops, should have been Hollywood Royale.

That's OK mate. We don't mind typos on this thread. Its the thought that counts.

[brit1984]

Hoolywood Royale. Spent many nights there till the sun came up, and would then go over to Took Lai Dee for a cheap breakfast.

Sadly, has had a name change, and is no longer such a great place as it used to be- quite boring the last time I went.

Oops, should have been Hollywood Royale.

That's OK mate. We don't mind typos on this thread. Its the thought that counts.

Typos should never be forgiven; they are as unforgivable as violations of forum rules

Edit: fixed a typo and addressed a violation of forum rules

Sent from iPhone; please forgive any typos or violations of forum rules

Edited May 29, 2012 by brit1984