Your First Day In Thailand

[GarryP]

Pretty much 30 years to the day. The flight was mind numbingly boring and alcohol free so there was nothing to do to pass the time apart from read and try to sleep. My first impression, like most others who have never been to the tropics before, was the oppressive humidity. It was like walking into a wall and I really did have to stop at the bottom of the stairs to try to sort myself out.

I had no idea where I was going to stay and knew nothing of the reputation of the city (I had never heard of Patpong or Soi Cowboy, let alone Pattaya). I hooked up with an Aussie couple and a corpulent young fellow from Wales named Vernon. We shared a clapped out taxi into town and as it was late afternoon asked the driver to take us to a decent but not too expensive hotel. He claimed everywhere was full but knew of a place that was just right for us. So off we headed to the Dorchester. I thought you couldn't go wrong with a hotel of that name, but was worried it would be very pricey, only to be met with a sleazy run down hotel-come flophouse in Sapan Kwai. There were only two rooms available so I ended up sharing a bed on my first night in Bangkok with Welsh Vernon as I was too wiped out to go looking for another hotel. That is sort of the story of my life. If I went to the Sahara to enjoy the desert experience, it would probably rain.

Edited October 22, 2012 by GarryP

[transam]

I first came cos my pal lived here, he told me to come for a holiday, and he new a nice lady l might like to meet . My pals wife ( ) wasn't very happy that l was to perhaps meet this lady cos she had plans for lassoing me for her sister .

Any hoooooooooooo, arrived at Ubon Airport expecting hugs and kisses etc to find nobody there. , Traveled for near a day and nobody there . So tried the pay phone, lost all my change in it. . Got some more change and tried again which worked.

''<deleted> are you'', ''Why, where are you''. ''At the airport'', ''Bangkok'' ''No, Ubon'', ''Oh, be there soon as''.

Turns out his wife really ''wasn't'' happy about me not wanting to meet her sister and disappeared in the truck to mess up my happy arrival. He was embarrassed, l found out the story some months later.

Edited October 22, 2012 by transam

[Ricardo]

One thing I do remember, coming in to land at Don Muang some 26 years ago, flying over rice-paddies rather than moo-bans !

The exotic green/brown/golden-roofs of wats, rising shining in the early-morning light, above the 6-lane road from the airport to town.

No Sky-train and far-fewer tower-blocks or elevated-highways, in those days.

The 4-lane road to Pattaya, with salt-pans & primitive fabric-sailed windmill-pumps along the way, and rice-fields with water-buffalo instead of industrial-estates & power-stations.

Happy days !

Edited October 22, 2012 by Ricardo

[mogoso]

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.

Koh Samui has been raped by greed. My wife though is still awesome.

You got together in lovely Wolverhampton? I cannot remember Wolverhampton being lovely. I do recall streets of brick row homes. My great aunt and uncle lived in one. We sent my mom to visit them in the 80's and she had the Mayors robes and necklace with maybe the city seal on it in a picture. But I cannot remember it as lovely. However I was in my early 20's and it was 1972 so I might have missed a lot.

As for Samui, I haven't been since 1999 and just don't have the desire to go. I'd rather my memories stay good and I'm sure a visit would punture that bubble

[theslime]

Nearly 22years ago, what a night. Airport taxi to Nana, up the stairs to the Nana Guest House, given a bag of green vegetable stuff, out with the duty free Rum on the first floor, looking down into the car park, with the most beautiful girl I,d seen, for a long time. Directly opposite the Girls were showing their Tits, Music blaring and a line of people at the Chemist. The Coloured lights,smells and streams of people walking past Lucky Lukes. Salad days.

[jocko]

Great topic and funny experiences i have to say the old Thailand seems to have been better but i think it's still a great place for good fun .

Keep it going

[xen]

Good thread, Smokie. Some very interesting stories.

I arrived in Thailand in 1969 by road. I'd exited Malaysia at Padang Besar and had to negotiate by foot a no-man's land of several kilometres. Fortunately, a Thai military vehicle picked me up on the way and took me to the border control post at Sadao - just a shed in those days. I spent the night at a temple in Hadyai, and next day took an overnight train to Bangkok.

Arriving in Bangkok in the early morning I was terribly impressed by the temples I saw as the train approached the city. This was the real East, I thought. I stayed at the Thai Song Greet Hotel, a backpacker place near Hualampong station, for a couple of nights, then at a boarding house in Lang Suan Soi 7, a lovely, quiet (and rather dark) tree-lined residential street. Walking home in the evenings I still remember the powerful fragrance of jasmine. After a couple of weeks there I went to Vientiane where I spent most of the next six years.

Sorry to be a bit picky here - but you remember the "powerful fragrance of jasmine"?

I've been trying v hard to plant fragrant plants around my patio, but really can't understand why its so difficult!

The smell of jasmine is indeed v powerful at night in other countries, but in my experience - not here unless you're v close and, even then, it doesn't last long.

But indeed, jasmine is v fragrant in Greece or Turkey.

Edit - I've planted jasmine on one side of my patio. I rarely catch the drift of its fragrance when it flowers.

Unless it was something else? Frangipani? Magnolia? I'm not sure of the differences. But I think it was Jasmine (ต้นมะลิ). There was an awful lot of it from memory. Maybe the sheer volume of trees was enough to have the effect.

Getting a bit off topic here but it was probably Biblical Jasmine or Jasmine sambuc . It is the white flowers in garlands and is often presented to Buddha. Smells wonderful.

[Thaddeus]

April 2000.

Arrived as a party of six, we were workmates who were planning to leave the company we worked for and set up on our own, we had all qualified for the trip in a sales incentive competition (I was in Tech Support, but there was a special prize)

Our leader had been to Thailand more than a few times, and had everything planned out for us, days on the beach drawing up business plans and at night his guided tour of interesting places.

Landed at the old airport mid-morning, then a Limo straight to The Island View hotel in Patts, quick shower and change and down the very uneven steps of the cliff to the beach, I remember we all had chicken and chips and a Bloody Mary first.

Then a massage from a lady who looked like she could have been my Granny, started out relaxing but then became an experiment in torture, with me shouting "Don't touch the feet, don't touch the feet" every ten minutes.

A few more Bloody Marys then back up the cliff steps, another shower needed and out for the night.

The hotel tuk-tuk dropped us off at the 2nd Road entrance to Soi Diamond, my first impression was What The <deleted>........ but within a few hours I was on the stage in Carousel sitting on the wooden horse.

A few days later, Songhran started.

We did get some business plans drawn up, on the return flight

[Cobalt60]

2005 was my first time, start of negotiations and planning for a work project that I thought would take a few months to kick off. We actually started 4 years later. Big learning curve and still learning now.

Same as most others the heat, humidity and smells hit me, but the one thing that really sticks in my mind was the concrete pillars with rebar sticking out and other concrete supports along the road outside the old airport. I asked when it would all be finished to be told that it was abandoned because someone high up had said that the elevated road would make Bangkok look ugly. Every time I go past now, I think how beautiful those abandoned supports look

[MiG16]

Im in a similar situation as Samran, except my memory is even more hazy as my first exposure to Thailand was in a local hospital room - guessing I was doing either of three things

1. crying

2. screaming

3. smiling

or combinations of the above all at once

ok., on a more serious note - memory of trips into Bangkok perhaps

we travelled either by car, or by overnight train in those days. planes were too unaffordable, and as kids we loved the overnight train. with late nights stops at different stations, and each place with their own specialty food items. eg. you only buy 'khao krapao' at one station, and coffee (or ovaltine for us kids) with 'pa thong koh' at another station, and 'joke' at yet another station. different vendors walking on to the train to sell their items - again local specialties at different parts of the journey. was a lot of fun

then there was also the food ordered from the train's own kitchen.

Western food in Bangkok was still a rare item, and recall Narai hotel being one of the few places that served pizza. was known to be the best at the time (but could be due to lack of other options). cakes/bakery items were still limited, and I recall getting birthday cakes from UFM was a very special treat. MBK was very new, with most of the space still empty, and recall one shop had recently opened on the ground floor, selling a number of japanese products (similar to Hello Kitty type stuff, but in those days what took my fancy and was the craze was Snoopy the dog )

(typical Thai experience of something ....revolves around food but look I threw in a Hello Kitty. and please dont try to work out my age!!)

[Sing_Sling]

First day in Thailand?

Maternity ward, born in BKK six months after my parents were transferred there. Does that make me the 'oldest' or 'youngest' TV member?

Our house was a large bungalow off Sukhumvit soi 13, I believe . . . backing onto a klong which I fell into when I was two or three and blamed my older brother who copped a few with the belt from father when he got home from work.

Edited October 22, 2012 by Sing_Sling

[Chicog]

I asked when it would all be finished to be told that it was abandoned because someone high up had said that the elevated road would make Bangkok look ugly.

More like someone high up purloined the project finances!

[Tywais]

Western food in Bangkok was still a rare item, and recall Narai hotel being one of the few places that served pizza.

I arrived in Bangkok on TDY from Utapao just a couple of months after the Narai was built and opened and thought it was very impressive considering the lack of tall buildings then and having a revolving restaurant which I've never seen before. Unlike you though, I couldn't afford to eat there.

[Rinrada]

all classified as

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.

Hi Endure....Yes....actually the "Lecky."....but we all classified ..Engineers.

Did my time with Upper Clyde Shipyards ..usual stuff Dredgers,Subs,Frigates,RN/MN landing craft (incl Sir Galahad)and eventually finished up on the QE2 .In fact one of my last jobs on it was to install the first non military wave guide/Sat Nav radar system allowing it to traverse the Atlantic by Telstar......the future was then..

Following that and at 20 years old signed on with the Andrew Weir Shipping Line and started travelling....as said...Thailand-Vietnam-Philippines-Taiwan-The Islands-Auz....etc.etc...

We could have a sub section...old sea dogs..

R

[craigt3365]

Thanks for the invite, David. I'll jump in here.

I was with a high tech company in the US, living in Manhattan. Had just gone through 9/11 (watched the towers fall, lost a few acquaintances) when they got caught "cooking the books". Went from some 6,000 employees down to 500 or so in just a few months. Struggling to deal with 9/11, and now this, I decided to take a 3-6 month trip and get away from it all. Being employee number 125, the fall was hard to take. Not to mention losing a few mill in stock options.

I pretty much tossed a dart at a map of Asia and picked Thailand. Got a one way ticket and arrived in Bangkok in mid 2002.

Being a greenhorn, I ended up with a Mercedes taxi from Don Muang to my hotel (Dynasty Suites near Nana). How can you beat door to door in a Benz for $15! Bottled water included. Checked into my room, opened up the curtains and there was...Nana Plaza! I'd never seen anything like that in my life. So, at 1am, jet lagged, went down to check it out. Ended up at a go-go with only 2 guys there. One invited me over and we became best friends. Still are. These guys took me under their wings and introduced me to Bangkok. What a fantastic city.

3 months turned into 6, turned into a year, turned into 2. Explored a huge part of Asia (and S. America) and went back to the US with a bride in hand. Some great memories hanging out on Khao San Road, playing pool at the beer bars with my new friend, and traveling around.

I now call Thailand home and love it here. Warts and all.

[bonobo]

I arrived at the airport in the morning in 1982. I was met by a young Marine who drove me to JUSMAG. I had a few meetings, got an in-country brief, had lunch, then got in a a van for a trip to the Cambodian border. On the highway, I saw an elephant in the back of what looked like a heavy-duty pick-up truck. That was the most Thai thing I saw all day.

I arrived at the Thai Army camp on the border, got out, was introduced to some Thai counterparts, then pretty much went into a tent, got on a cot, and went to sleep.

My first day in Thailand was not very exciting or exotic. For the next two weeks, it was jungle, refugees, and military training. I never really saw any of Thailand until I got back to BKK and then rented a motorcycle for a trip north to Chiang Rai.

[MiG16]

Unlike you though, I couldn't afford to eat there.

All on a teacher's salary

[bina]

a long story of course:

my first time in a foreign country (not counting the sinai, israel, and a week in paris/berlin 30 years ago); just finalized my divorce after living separate for a year from israeli husband, was a mia noi to a issan thai worker that worked for me, so decided that i wanted some 'time for myself'- decided to 'volunteer' for a few weeks teaching english and then travel then back to kibbutz so...

joined some group thingy (some swedish guy with some company in nongkhai) thru the 'net, and made plans that my 'man' S. would have his folks pick me up in nongkhai, and then take me to this volunteer place. i booked a lfight thru a travel agent, paid out of my nose, got a thru flight from el al (i was afraid to fly anything else, meaning going thru jordan...); the plan was that S.'s family would meet me...

although i already knew bannork thai ways, from our workers, i wasnt quite prepared for the un organizedness of it all... i had to call S in israel and have him call family to find where they were (on banork time)... this with me calling Nai, mia noi (thai woman in israel) of a thai worker who was the pu yai of our thai labour group on kibbutz. Nai spoke passable hebrew and understood my thai, while S. went into a panic , with me in the middle of an airport not knowing what i should do, w/o plan B, and very little travel money...

finally the entire family plus pu yai's family arrived, i got picked up, lit a cigarette (noblesse), and immediately got horrified glances. put hte ciggie out. got on the back of a pickup truck filled with all the family, and proceeded to some dinky muu baan out of nongkhai. it was horrifying sitting in the back of a pickup while driving on the wrong side of a very country road, filled with buffaloes and little old ladies in pha sin walking along the side.

while there, i visited the wife of the pu yai here. five years later, i found out (from his mia noi that still worked here) that she thought i was her husband's mia noi, but she treated me with lots of respect. i also was 'on the rag' and hadnt a clue (the guys hadnt clued me in to that aspect of thai bannork bathroom etiquette), and in my broken thai, i had ot explain to this woman that i had a 'woman's problem, blood'. she thought i ws miscarriaging, but then understood what i was asking. (to those that dont know, u dispose of your pad in the outside garbage dump that the dogs adn chickens dig thru. tampons are not used, nor found. that much i knew).

i met S.'s parents, (his wife and his own home were situated in buriram, she being a relative of dang kitikorn the singer), lots of fotos etc. then few days later, taken to nongkhai for the next part of my thai experience. after two weeks in ban chiang as an 'english teacher', i went to visit an other thai worker who had been on my kibbutz for almost 6 years, and was fond of my kids. he lived in a small mu baan near udon thani, so i spent last days in his house, then his family got a pickup truck adn we all went to nongkhai back for my flight to bangkok,then back to israel.

ive been to thailand three times in all, and only once did i spend an;y time in bangkok thanx to thaivisa member cominghomesoon having us (present and only thai hubby and i) in her house. the past two times were spent mostly in hubby's village (apart from marriage registration /consulate stuff) out in soeng sang korat, just hanging out and living, with a small amount of sight seeing mixed in. teh second time (hubby and i's wedding thingy) my eldest daughter came with, making it a supe special time, as she got to see thailand in a way that most young israeli kids after army dont get to see, living eating sleeping with my husband's family in very bannork set up.

third time was just a family visit, again, only hangng out with one sightsee trip for all the family.

next time only he will be going,

[Thaddeus]

This thread alone has restored my faith in normal people in unusual situations, and unusual people in normal situations.

Thanks Smokes.

[smokie36]

This thread alone has restored my faith in normal people in unusual situations, and unusual people in normal situations.

Thanks Smokes.

Cheers Taddy. Some wonderful replies on this thread so far.

Keep 'em coming folks!

[spacedcowboy]

1st time travelling alone, decided on Samui as my first port of call. I knew absolutely nothing about all of the negative aspects of Samui/Thailand which are quite often written here. Walked into Chaweng sat down at a roadside food place/stall the only foreigner among a mass of Thai's, they all did the "open jaw blank stare thing, (place goes quiet routine) If it had been a "Cowboy Western" the piano player would of stopped playing and beat a hasty retreat out of the swing doors.

Fault to myself I'm drawing a lot of stares, obviously they don't get many foreigners here, just about to reconsider my dining arrangements, and leave whilst I still could. When a group of Thai fellas make a point of engaging me in friendly conversation and pouring me some beer and generally being very hospitable introducing their wife's girlfriends etc, immediately liked Samui.

Still friends with these people now, see it ain't all bad.

Edited October 22, 2012 by spacedcowboy

[pigeonjake]

after i got divorced, shity affair all that was,

my mate who i had been to his weding in the uk to his thai wife, rang me and said get your ass over here,

so i was looking in the papers, saw a holiday in bkk, i thought sod it, so i booked it,

landed at muang, got a taxi to armari atriam, to my room unpacked showerd and down to the bar i think it was 3rd floor,there was a band on i can remember seeing the waitresess and thinking bloody hell there nice,

there was a kid at the bar from the uk too, a very shy kind of bloke, i said hello, he said he was waiting for his girlfreind who was coming from her village tomorow, and asked about me,

i just said first time here,

he said do you want me to take you into town,

i said sounds good to me and got him another beer,

down we went to a taxi, strait to nana plasa,

i couldnt believe my eyes,, i had died and gone to heaven, bloody hell,

we sat i a bar at the bottom a big orange one i think and i said to him, how does all this work then,

he said if you like a girl ask her to come to you, some will just come, if you dont like them dont be rude and just say your just looking,

so me being me, the first young beautiful lady that came and said hello,, that was it,

we ended up back at the hotel sex for most of the night, bloody great sex,

and again i thought christ im in heaven,

in the morning, gave her 20quid and couldnt stop smiling all day,

that was my first nite day in thailand,

did i say i was pissed as well,,,lol

jake

[planemad]

Yeah, why not? I had divorced in 2000 and come to work in the Middle East, so when I arrived in Bangkok, April 2001, the heat and the humidity was not a problem, in fact it was a little cooler than in Oman.

I had been tempted to come to Thailand by many of my colleagues who already had Thai wives, girlfriends (or both). It sounded like a good idea and not too far to travel, just a 6 hour flight. I had also been introduced through the net, to a Thai lady who worked at Bangkok general hospital. Upon arrival, I gave her a ring and within 30 mins, I was picked up and heading back towards central BKK. Here my lady friend introduced me to her workmate who shared the same office and off to lunch. A big earthenware pot was placed on the table, full of red hot coals upon which a pot of hot water was placed into which everything (edible) seemed to go into, my intro to Suki, this was followed by a soup which I later discovered was a Tom Yam of some sort, the hot bitter taste rendered me quite speechless . Over lunch, I explained to the ladies (both of whom spoke excellent English), that I had pulled a muscle in my shoulder whilst playing golf the previous weekend. No problem, we have Thai massage in the hospital I was told. I was speechless once again, but for a different reason this time, after all, wasn't Thai massage just a front for other activities? Anyway, I was led into a hospital cubicle where I was told that I had been given a double appointment (1 hour) and the masseuse duly got to work! My God it hurt, this woman could push 6 inch nails through teak trees with only her thumbs. There was a clock in the room which I swear was going backwards.

The torture finally finished and I did not feel as if I was floating on air as some had told me, more like 3 rounds with Mike Tyson although at least my ears were not damaged.

First real impression of BKK was the huge hoardings by the side of the road, something I had imagined might have been more appropriate in maybe the American mid west.

In conclusion, I loved it, the food, the friends I subsequently made (and still have) and the whole multiculturalism of the place. Whilst I have learned much about Thailand from my friends and recognised that the country has many unpleasant features to it, I still love it, it is now home and where I am quite happy to end my days.......but not just yet!

Thanks Smokie for having the chance to share.

KS

Edited October 23, 2012 by planemad

[Sing_Sling]

Bangkok ca. 1963 at our house off Sukhumvit s.13

I'm the littlest one in the front, brother behind, grand-mother on a visit and my mother

Edited October 23, 2012 by Sing_Sling

[chrisinth]

I had just stepped off a direct flight from London-Hong Kong, where I was joining a patrol boat for the next 18 months (turned into just under 3 years) where I was met by two lads off the ship. They told me that the ship had “closed” for leave period that day and that they were going to Thailand the next day for 3 weeks, did I want to come? I didn’t really fancy 3 weeks by myself in Hong Kong (first time there as well), so I said sure, why not. This was September 1988.

The next morning I had my return flight ticket in my hands at 9 o’clock. The flight arrived in Bkk early evening and we decided we would spend the night in Bkk and travel to Pattaya the next day. I still have recollections of the pool party at 6 o’clock the next morning, 3 guys and 4 girls (95% sure they were all girls anyway!)

Then it was off to Pattaya! At this stage of my life, I had been in the forces for 14 years and travelled extensively during that time visiting dozens of countries (albeit never to South East Asia). The unwritten ethics were work hard, play hard which we certainly did, but nothing prepared me for Pattaya nightlife as it was then! For the next 3 weeks I took the pin out and became the proverbial social hand grenade, enjoying every single moment of this (to me anyway) unique spot on the face of the planet.

The above was the first time, and the way I always like to remember it. Now, after all these years I am living happily here and it is likely attributed to these first happy memories. It is slightly different now that I am trying to tell my adolescent kids how they should behave!

A lot of parents seem to forget what they once got up to.................

[Sing_Sling]

.

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

They were all Harvard men in those days....

For that you'd have to have been there in the early sixties

[chiangmaikelly]

.

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

They were all Harvard men in those days....

For that you'd have to have been there in the early sixties

John Thompson (man who singlehandedly saved the Thai silk industry) went to Princeton.

[Sing_Sling]

.

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

They were all Harvard men in those days....

For that you'd have to have been there in the early sixties

John Thompson (man who singlehandedly saved the Thai silk industry) went to Princeton.

I was referring to Ivy League, and the type, in general . . .

Speaking of Thompson, I was up in Cameron Highlands recently . . . didn't come across him

[tinfoilhat]

.

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

They were all Harvard men in those days....

For that you'd have to have been there in the early sixties

John Thompson (man who singlehandedly saved the Thai silk industry) went to Princeton.

so it must have been his brother jim at harvard

[Spaniel]

First arrived on 1 August 1967 when I was 23, from the USA. Arrived on Pan Am in the afternoon then proceded by taxi to companies office above the Bangkok Bank on Sukhumvit Soi 8. After checking in they took me across the street to the Manhattan Hotel where I spent my first night in Thailand. Next morning I was off by taxi to Korat to start work with Philco-Ford.