Your First Day In Thailand

[smokie36]

Was just thinking about my first trip.

I landed at the old airport at Don Muang and had no idea where I was headed really so wandered through to the domestic terminal and outside for a smoke.

Enjoyed a quick beer at the pub outside where I met a couple who had just arrived from Samui....they seemed happy with the place so I went inside and booked a flight down there.

After the longest songthaew ride ever I ended up at a cheap resort in South Chaweng.....dumped my bag and headed straight out on to the beach...early afternoon.

Absolutely blown away I was by the quality of the beach and water...well after I stopped hopping from foot to foot due to the hot sand!

Enjoyed a swim and a quick half hour drying off before heading off to check the bars out.

Wandered the length of Chaweng before settling in one of the outside bars across the street late evening.

Cue many beers and Sangsoms....falling off the bull they had outside a few times and a 4am wander home....

On the way home a ladyboy hopped off her bike and tried to accost me as well....lucky I had enough wits about me to fend off the attention...

Anyhow the bar owner at that place is still a good mate of mine a decade later... ....so go on...tell me about your first day in Thailand....

[WilliaminBKK]

It was 1987 I flew CP from Vancouver with a stop in Hong Kong and didn't think I could continue the remainder of the trip, it was so bloody long, now I bounce back and forth across the globe and think nothing of it. DMK was huge for me but seemed to work. I was to meet a colleague in the arrivals area. As I stepped out looking for this new Thai business friend I started to laugh like a mad man what if he was holding a sign with my name in Thai. I must have looked like such an idiot giggling looking at this sea of black hair.

I arrived at my hotel and was in shock that there were live orchid plants in the room- live imagine I still have the stupid pictures, I ventured out at the wee hours of the morning, found a bar and asked if it was always this hot in Bangkok, roars of people laughing at me I made my way back to my hotel.

I cranked the air con up and woke up the next morning with aches and pains all over and the worst "summer cold" of my life.

Next day all I wanted were Thai silk ties and ended up buying enough to last me a life time, of course the fashion changed the next month.

Went to the Grand Palace and was in shock when I saw people praying, I stopped and would stare watching them I was simply amazed that young and old would pray so hard and they looked so peaceful, I was used to the old Anglicans who would barely lower their head in Church.

It was 25 years ago and I still recall the feeling, lots has changed but I still have that first trip memory, sort of funny that business colleague now lives in Canada-go figure.

[smokie36]

It was 1987 I flew CP from Vancouver with a stop in Hong Kong and didn't think I could continue the remainder of the trip, it was so bloody long, now I bounce back and forth across the globe and think nothing of it. DMK was huge for me but seemed to work. I was to meet a colleague in the arrivals area. As I stepped out looking for this new Thai business friend I started to laugh like a mad man what if he was holding a sign with my name in Thai. I must have looked like such an idiot giggling looking at this sea of black hair.

I arrived at my hotel and was in shock that there were live orchid plants in the room- live imagine I still have the stupid pictures, I ventured out at the wee hours of the morning, found a bar and asked if it was always this hot in Bangkok, roars of people laughing at me I made my way back to my hotel.

I cranked the air con up and woke up the next morning with aches and pains all over and the worst "summer cold" of my life.

Next day all I wanted were Thai silk ties and ended up buying enough to last me a life time, of course the fashion changed the next month.

Went to the Grand Palace and was in shock when I saw people praying, I stopped and would stare watching them I was simply amazed that young and old would pray so hard and they looked so peaceful, I was used to the old Anglicans who would barely lower their head in Church.

It was 25 years ago and I still recall the feeling, lots has changed but I still have that first trip memory, sort of funny that business colleague now lives in Canada-go figure.

You mentioning the praying reminded me of the church by Trafalgar Square in London...I think they are Chinese doing Tai Chi or a variation...but very quiet and relaxing just to sit on a park bench and observe....

Edited October 20, 2012 by smokie36

[GooEng]

seems timely as it it was 20 yrs ago to the day i arrived in thailand for the first time.

had been working in china and after demobilising the ship in singapore was intending going to india to travel the subcontinent on an enfield bullet but was persuaded at the last minute that a week on samui was a good idea and then bkk was a good place to get a flight to india.

we flew to penang then trained it from butterworth to hatyai where we stopped overnight before continuing on by train to surat.

all i remember was going out for a meal at a thai place and ordering thai beef salad.

i'd had an severly toned down version of this thai classic in hong kong in the recent past and it seemed like a good bet.

two mouthfulls later and i was in such pain i was certain that the staff had played a trick on me - no way could anyone eat something THAT spicy! beer seemd to make th pain worse!

the bloke i was with was an old thailand hand and smiling wryly poured what he told be was the best way to calm chilli-mouth - mekong whisky.

don't remember anything else about that night.......

i do remember beinbg confused as we checked out of the hotel the following and the bell boy enthusiastically thrusting a photo album with pictures of women in bathing costumes in it - why on earth was he doing that??

the old thai hand explained in the tuk-tuk to the railway station.....

[hookedondhamma]

Upon landing, I was taken directly to NongKhai. Lol, the rest is something else. I just remember the humid whether in the airport, and the kindness of the people who were watching over me. They treated me like family and I just met them. I'll remember that for the remainder of my life ... if I don't get memory loss.

[Gweiloman]

Don't remember my first trip but definitely remember the good experiences of the first few times I visited.

First hotel I remember staying in was the Regent (today's Four Seasons). Upon checking in at the reception, I was immediately escorted to my room with one of the guest relations officers (the check in is done IN the comfort of the room, not standing at the reception counter). Even before check in was completed, a housekeeper would arrive with a pot of hot green tea and a fruit basket.

Remember also going to a Thai restaurant, at the door, as you enter, two lovely Thai lasses would wai you. You would immediately feel like a valued guest.

Night life was exotic, erotic, not sleazy like it is nowadays. I remember one evening, when I have had a bit to drink, and I had a BG on my knee with my then GF (eventually my wife and eventually my ex wife) standing in front of me, telling her to get lost. Me? I just had a big grin on my face.

Remember going next door to the Grand Hyatt and the pub/disco/bar (can't remember now - was it called JJ's? - or is that one in Hkg) and the girls were always smiling and not pushy.

Remember going to Poseidon (Charlie the papasan). Remember complaining to him that the last girl he brought me the previous time I was there was not exactly a beauty. He then proceeded to bring me one of the most beautifully stunning girls I've even seen in my life. I looked at all my friends and without exception, everyone's jaw was touching the ground. .

Yup, the good old days, before the influx of the criminals, losers and scum that we see so much of nowadays.

[gazmat]

The first time I came to Thailand was to visit a Thai girl I'd met at work in the UK who'd been on an international placement for 6 months. We'd got together in lovely Wolverhampton and said a sad goodbye at Birmingham International 5 months later.

6 months after that I went out to see her in home country. I arrived at Don Muang and there she was, Suddenly this place I only really knew of from 'The Beach' novel and 'The Man With The Golden Gun' was real. We went to her apartment in Victory Monument and had an exhausting catching up session, then headed out for dinner and drinks on top of the Banyan Tree hotel. Then she took me to Patpong. Then we had some street food and caught up some more. And a bit more catching up after that. Two hours sleep and we were off to Koh Samui, then Ayutthaya, then Chiang Rai and then Krabi.

Best holiday of my life, the best woman I ever met and the best thing of all is that, we ended up getting married and moving to Bangkok.

I now think the billboards are eyesores, Patpong is a shithole and Koh Samui has been raped by greed. My wife though is still awesome.

[endure]

Eventful

[richard_smith237]

A Convoluted Entry…

I’d arranged to meet the cousin of a friend I’d shared houses with in Uni, he took me out and showed me around. We’d been out to a great club, then to a place with one more than three floors before heading back to my hotel and watching the second half of England vs Italy in the Euros… I was 22 very happy, very pished up, feeling very lucky to be heading into a job…

With a hangover I still remember 15 years later I walked through Changi airport clutching onto my life, which at that time of morning was an uneaten bacon McMuffin… I couldn’t concentrate on my gate destination and eat at the same time, the cold McMuffin was enjoyed on the flight…

I landed in Hat Yai along with two other guys and was taken to our company house to sleep off the remainder of a colossal hangover.

Four Floors, no whores, a flight and nap later and I was in Thailand… my body had arrived earlier than my mind and it was time to call my coordinator..

“Hi Tom, its Rich…”

“Hi, Rich…Ho…. GET THE F£$K OFF MY CAR”

“What ??”

“Sorry Rich, Not you.. GET THAT GOD DAMNED F$%KING ELEPHANT OFF MY CAR”….

And there I was, through a simple phone call immersed in the idiosyncrasies of Thailand that no longer surprise me….

I spent the evening wowed, shocked and amazed by the stories of guys who are perhaps still there telling the same tales…

I remember the smell of the toilets, that rancid stench of bleach, the shreak of fake excitement in the girls when we walked into a bar, the first time I heard ‘I rike you, you hansom’…

I remember most the bite I took into the remainder of my takeaway burger at 4am, a taste I’ll never forget as 1000’s of tiny ants crawled up my nose, into my mouth, up my arm…

My first major memory of Thailand… Ants !!!!... I’ve no idea why that is stored in the ‘good memories’ box…

[DrTuner]

First day ? Well, I arrived in the evening, so the first day would be waking up with a huge hangover, jetlag, a small brown thing I'd picked up somewhere along the line sleeping on the bed and walking to the minibar where a yellow bottle called "Mekong" piqued my interest. Excellent arrival. The day proceeded fine with my newfound friend I later found out was named after a river or some such.

[Rinrada]

Very vague but was an engineer on a Bankline ship way back in 1970 (first trip) and we docked at probably Klong Toey.

Can only remember the local gin joints of which one may have been the famous Mozzi Bar.

From then we did the same in Singas,Hong Kong,Manila,Port Moresby,Lae,Keelung,Madang,

Raubaul,Honiara,Saigon/Hanoi and loads of others...just a blurred haze then but got the idea and never really looked back.

[endure]

Very vague but was an engineer on a Bankline ship way back in 1970 (first trip) and we docked at probably Klong Toey.

You a merchant man then? I did 10 years as a Sparkie with BP/Sea Containers/Fyffes and P&O.

[xen]

My initial impressions of Thailand were landing at Don Muang and they opened the doors of the Thai International plane and it was the blast of heat and humidity even though it was about 11.00 pm at night . Then we descended the stairs to get on the bus to take us to the terminal and the bus ride seemed to take a forever the plane had landed so far from the terminal, or it felt that way. All the way to the terminal there were soldiers with 12 gauge shotties and M16s. This was a new world to me i had stepped into. Fell in Love with Thailand once the shock wore off. I stayed at the old Mandarin Hotel in Rama 4 . It was a classy Hotel then but all of Thailand ,plus myself have grown and changed so much since then.

[Songhua]

Late eighties. Arrived at Don Muang and was greeted by a driver wirh one of those name placards. My workplace had arranged to put me up at the Montien in Surawongse right at the end of PatPong until my permanent accom was settled. Bad mistake boss. Like another poster, I immediately discovered that Mekhong and girls DO mix, and I was three hours late for work the next morning.

[BookMan]

Excellent topic smokie!

Exited the customs area late afternoon to be greeted by my then GF and her friend. First time we had met in person and I remember thinking how very small she was in person. Took my first wild taxi ride with no seat belts, the sound of the road filtered by non stop chattering in Thai. I think I closed my eyes more than once during that journey. Tried checking into my hotel in Sukhumvit,only to find I had the wrong hotel.

It was steamy hot, the heat lasting all night. Spent a couple of hours that night wandering wide eyed around the streets of lower Suk. Ahhhh, the smells and sights of that first time. I soon realised my GFs lack of interest in walking anywhere, which compared with my interest in walking everywhere

[rattler]

Arrived at Don Muang to no taxi pick up as arranged by hotel, so got off to a good start with the normal Thai service I have now come to expect.

Everything else was pretty good though inc my wife who i met for the first time the next day....................7 years ago now!

[lovelomsak]

First time for me was before I had a computer and could do little research. I got in a midnight,on the way in from the airport was amazed at the activity so late at night and the heat and humidity.Went straight to bed and got up at 7 and went out venturing about.I knew Patpong was the hot spot but was morning and went to find it anyways. I knew not to go in upstairs bars. But 2 women were sitting on a balcony upstairs and kept telling me they would give me a show just for me because they werenot even open yet.Well I took the bait and went upstairs. Suddenly people were scrambling around getting ice,finding the bottle opener etc. The 2 women were stalling on stage pretending to prepare for the show.I ordered a coke and saw 2 guys from the corner of my eye carry a sign out and stand at the top of the stairs. I knew I has made a mistake coming upstairs to this bar. So ask for my bill.The bill was over 1500 baht (for a coke) I hadnot been to a bank yet and only had about 1300 baht on me. So I placed this on the bar with the large notes on top and left.A minute after I left a woman from the bar started yelling at me from upstairs saying I stilled owed money I yelled back that is all I have and kept walking.I was lucky no thugs came down to settle the bill.

[Chittychangchang]

I was a skint backpacker on a 2 day stopover to oz.

3 years later i returned on my way back slightly more affluent, albiet not for long.

The friendlyness and the food stood out the most for me.

Got bored with the Koasan Road and explored, ended up in lamai for a few months living well and having fun, travelled all over Asia then met my wife of 10 years in Koh Chang on my return from a visa run to Cambodia. Got married after 3 weeks together, we just new it was eternal.

[NeverSure]

Keep this going. It's great.

Mine was totally different. I had a buddy who'd just returned to the US after living in Chiang Mai, and he helped me get hooked up with a flat at the Riverside Condos. All I had to do was get a taxi to there, sleep about 12 hours and wander out lost. Spent the day wandering around, sampling Thai food. Some was so hot I had to quit after one bite. Some was awesome.

I eventually got lost and had to catch a taxi to take me back to the Riverside.

Most of what I really remember is that the flight from the US was brutal, getting rested, and stepping out into a whole different world. It took me about a week just to get a bit oriented, pardon the pun. I found out the Thai girls are liars because a couple of them said I was hansum ma in a bar.

[kurnell]

In 1989 I entered Thailand on the overnight train via Malaysia and woke up daylight 1 hour out of Bangkok slumped in my chair with a stonking morning stiffy. I was wearing a thin pair of shorts and the outline was so clear you could count the veins.

[simple1]

First visit to Thailand was 1987 on a stopover from London to Sydney. Arrived late at night and next day went to the swimming pool to relax. Got talking with a UK expat executive on his way back to London from H.K. Invited me to dinner, with his wife and he very kindly bought dinner and shared some good wine. They wanted to visit a high class "bar" so I went along. Wife wasn't comfortable so they went back to the hotel and the driver was requested to pick me up later. Had a great experience and the next morning asked reception the location of the nearest beach, said "go to Pattaya"...

[chonabot]

Mine was 1987 or 1988 not sure - I was 22/23 and came here with 3 mates from Bristol

We stayed at the Royal Garden Plaza and I remember they were supposed to meet another 15 or 20 friends from Bristol.

After 2 or 3 laps of Pattaya in a baht bus and still no sign of the posse I decided enough was enough and told them I would see them later.

The bus stopped outside the Best Friend Boxing bar......the rest is history

[steve down under]

In 1989 I entered Thailand on the overnight train via Malaysia and woke up daylight 1 hour out of Bangkok slumped in my chair with a stonking morning stiffy. I was wearing a thin pair of shorts and the outline was so clear you could count the veins.

[meatballs]

Went to Pattaya and found my way to my WS hotel. Went to the first bar I saw and nervously found what I wanted(was my 1st time). Lost the big V that day.

[tinfoilhat]

it is touching that for so many here, their first night in Bangkok coincides with their first night with a hooker or meeting their online date.

My first day/night in Bangkok was the kings birthday 1996.

Met by friend at the airport and taken directly to the 1 bedroom apartment that was to be my home for the next 2 years.

My friends were in the same complex and threw a party that night for us.

I remember the techno banging for 12 or so hours and sitting on the balcony watching a truck full of pig carcasses on route to the Huay Kwang market and the sun rising over Wat Huay Kwang as the party continued.

The next night we ended up on Silom soi 4 at a club called Deeper until the wee hours.

Shortly there after i went down to Koh Phangan for a month in the sun before starting work in mid january.

took me almost a month after that to meet a thai woman, my friends knew a surprising number of single expats living in the Kingdom and they kept me more than busy.

I remember the whole thing very fondly

[chaam]

First went to Thailand in 1982.I'd never been anywhere so hot.I was working on a site at Bang Pakong(just outside Chonburi)for EGAT. Company put us up in Pattaya,a place i'd never heard of before and was staying in a great little hotel on 2nd road called Country Lodge(sadly no longer there)I was 21 and thought i'd died and gone to heaven! Pattaya had plenty of bars back then and what is now known as Walking St used to just be called South Pattaya. I used to spend my days off at weekends on Jomtien Beach,frequented then mostly by Thai visitors and back then there was only one hotel/restaurant on the whole of the beach,used to be called Villa Navin and all you could see as you looked along the beach were the hills/mountains in the distance,superb it was.Lived there for a year.Best year ever! Fell in love with the place from day one,met my beautiful wife there and next year we celebrate our 30th wedding anniversary.Went back to Pattaya a few years ago just to see how things had changed.Couldn't believe it! It is called Pattaya City now i believe and i can see why,the place is unrecognisable from the place i used to live.It's definitely changed for the worse in my opinion.It didn't even feel like Thailand to me and Jomtien Beach,well,the mountain views have gone forever,i definitely saw the best of Pattaya.Won't be going back again.Give me Cha-am any day,where we plan to retire,reminds me of Pattaya back in 1982! Cheers.

[wayned]

First time was in 1968. Flew in a DC3 from Da Nang, Vietnam. We sat on our helmits so we did't get shot in the ass. Landed in Utapao and spent a "glorius" night in what is now Pattaya!

[F1fanatic]

Arriving for the first time, the first thing that hit me was the heat - wonderful!

Unfortunately, it was raining at the time and it barely stopped for the next week - not so wonderful... I actually spent the first week praying to go back home!

But then the sun came out and the last week was great - beautiful beach with virtually nobody else there, locals who were waving at us wherever we went (Cha-am MANY years ago - unused to Westerners), wonderful hotel/restaurant staff and beautiful scenery when we toured the area.

Then one of my brothers moved here to work, so we spent our main holiday here every year for many years.

But times have changed, and we have to live here to understand the reality behind the dream.

Don't get me wrong - I'd still FAR prefer to be here than back in the UK! But, its not the rosy dream I originally thought and planned for.

[HeavyDrinker]

I consider my first day as one of my luckiest in hindsight.

I was a youth of 19 and although I'd travelled independently around Europe a couple of times on my own, and been to Asia many times with the family, this was my first taste of Asia alone as an adult.

Not to bandy words I was looking forward to enjoying a lot of female company while in Bangkok, having been told about it by some pals in the UK who were regular visitors at that time.

I stayed at the Manohra hotel in Surawong road and was enjoying a few bracers in the bar before heading out when I met 3 Scotsmen who had been in Thailand for donkey's years working on the oil in Songkhla,

Within an hour they'd clued me up to the potential pitfalls an innocent could encounter while out and about in Thailand after dark - painting a very different picture from my pals - and possibly saved me a fortune on that trip in one sentence:

"What does a young buck like you want with the tarts from the bars!!! Get yesen to the islands of the south and chase yon backpacker lassies ya stupid English *@!*" (or something like that)

They so terrified me with their horror stories of the "lassies" that I was too sh*t scared to indulge so I followed their advice and went south where I filled me boots and had a memorable time.

[Tywais]

First time was in 1968. Flew in a DC3 from Da Nang, Vietnam. We sat on our helmits so we did't get shot in the ass. Landed in Utapao and spent a "glorius" night in what is now Pattaya!

You got the cheap seats. I arrived at Utapao in 1968 on a C130 from Saigon. Had already acclimated to the stifling heat and humidity in Vietnam and no AC in the C130 so wasn't as big a shock stepping out in Thailand as it was in Saigon. Took a week though before my new 'friends' showed me what was beyond the gates of Utapao. Spent that first outing in a shack for the night and only a moderate headache the next morning.