| |
BullandBear
|
Just got back from bangkok, and feel obligated to contribute something in this forum.
Stay at Davis Hotel, was a great hotel, and good place to stay on a holiday trip with your gf as it has good facilities with little crowd and far away from all the P4P action. ( See my comment "davis hotel" )
Basically, my gf like bangkok a lot & travel there often, so we agree to meet there for her birthday. I am particular with food & make a list of the top 3 restaurants with different categories (Chinese/Thai/Italian...) with info from the forum here. To my surprise she have been to most of all these restaurants before. So for food stuff, I left it to her to decide for the next 6 days.
One day Aututhya trip, 6.30am-4.30pm, with a river cruise lunch buffet on the way back along the river, The best part is the river cruise, sitting in front, where u lay back in the sun with the wind in the face, a cigarette in hand.
Spend sat night at disco in silom, called "Speed". A good mixed of foreigners & local, Music is great, but damn packed on the ground floor. Dun think there is any gals for sale here.
Walk around Patpong for one night. Saw the lousy Go-Go bars with no one inside. Good place to bring your gf to see the sex scene in bangkok. 5555
Went to Lumpini to watch the Thai boxing match & night bazaar after that.
Wanted to go Bann Khun Luang for dinner, Hotel staff try to call the number I got for reservation, but no one pick up. Damn, it must be a good restaurant not to pick up phone. They couldn't find the restaurant name on their computer screen, & mistakenly they booked another restaurant called "Mambo" on the other side of the river. Imagine my frustration when I was sitting at my table, looking across the river, I see Bann Khun Luang. : ( In fairness, food & atmosphere in "Mambo" is not bad, & we were the only foreigners there, with live band playing & singing.
Spend one afternoon at the rooftop pool. Nice environment. 3 Jacuzzi, 2 steams bath was damn good for a hotel with only 9 floors of guests. Me & my gf did a Jacuzzi, steam bath combination together. It's like we own the place.
Spend one afternoon in the Weekend Market, big place with a lot of stuffs to look at.
Shop at Emporium, Gaysion, etc..
TTM & foot massage will take up 2 hours each day, especially good after a long day outside. King & I Spa and Massage at Korean town is great, since u dun get to choose the gals, I would think it's a decent place. Another massage place she bought me to, is in Thanyi. Most of the clients are Japanese, so even if there is any suggestions of hanky panky in the next curtain, your gf wouldn't know about it unless she understand Japanese.
Btw, I remember seeing somewhere in the forum about Japanese pushing up the price in Bangkok. Well................ They are damn right!
You should see the way my gf pays for stuff. For Taxis, she pays by the hundred baht, until she got a scolding from me. No wonder, I see 50% of the cars in the road are taxis drivers jamming up the whole traffic in Bangkok waiting for suckers to grossly overpaid them.
Bull&Bear
|
Thai Girls : Meet Sexy Thai Girls
Posted on: 9:09 pm on July 18, 2004
|
|
|
|
Abrak
|
Quote: from BullandBear on 9:09 am on July 19, 2004
You should see the way my gf pays for stuff. For Taxis, she pays by the hundred baht, until she got a scolding from me. No wonder, I see 50% of the cars in the road are taxis drivers jamming up the whole traffic in Bangkok waiting for suckers to grossly overpaid them.
Bull&Bear
B&B,
Actually being a taxi driver is a very tough way to make a living in Bangkok (just ask Krypto).
Taxi meter rates have not changed since 1992 since when the baht has depreciated from Bt25 to Bt40, taxi rentals for the drivers have risen by 50% and the cost of fuel has doubled.
90% of taxi drivers rent their taxis on a daily basis at Bt800/day (including insurance)
Fuel works out around Bt500 a day.
Total cost Bt1300/day.
A taxi makes about Bt200/hour with reasonable traffic and a passenger (but if it is stuck stationary in traffic with a passenger for one hour, it would receive just Bt80). Obviously if the taxi cant find a passenger it receives zip.
You do the maths. Many taxi drivers dont even break even and most barely make a pittance. This is one of the reasons so many taxi drivers try to rip off tourists at the airport - if honest drivers cant make a living, you end up with crooks driving the taxis.
Bt100 for a 20 minute taxi ride is hardly 'grossly overpaying' - seems pretty good value to me.
|
Thai Girls : Meet Sexy Thai Girls
Posted on: 11:02 pm on July 19, 2004
|
|
jack attack
|
Abrak,
Just one comment, exchange rates have no direct effect on local salary/wages per se. I agree, taxi driving is not easy and I don't think a few people giving BT 100 drives up prices or expectations.
I do get pissed off having to constantly tell drivers to turn on the meter to go to the airport. Typically they want BT 200 plus tolls. The funny thing is, from Sukhumvit the meter is usually around BT 180 and I tell them to keep the change out of BT 200. One guy got screwed as I went to the airport and got stuck on the entrance ramp waiting for either a politician or royal to pass by. We were stuck for 30 minutes which if the meter were on, he would have done better. I missed the plane too!
|
Bangkok Girls : Meet Sexy Bangkok Girls
Posted on: 11:36 pm on July 19, 2004
|
|
BullandBear
|
Hmmm.... Didn't know that taxis daily rental is so high. The funny thing is how they survive with so many empty taxis on the street. I do notice that 50% of the taffic on the road are taxis, & I can get a cab almost instantly anywhere in bangkok. This to me is definitly oversupply of cabs.
I agree that half of the cab drivers are very nice people, which I glady let them keep the change. But there are those half that will try their very best to cheat your money. It's actually not the money that is impt, it is the frustration of being struck in the traffic jam & waste of time.
There is one instance when the cab driver purposely join the traffic jam until I told him off that he was driving towards the wrong direction.
My advise to newbie in bangkok, know where u are at all time & know the general direction to where u r going. if in doubt, ask why they driving this direction, even if they dun completely understand what u saying, at least they will think twice before cheating u.
|
Thai Women : Meet Matured Thai Women
Posted on: 12:28 am on July 20, 2004
|
|
Abrak
|
Quote: from jack attack on 11:36 am on July 20, 2004
Abrak,
Just one comment, exchange rates have no direct effect on local salary/wages per se.
My point about exchange rates is this - their revenues are fixed in baht while their major costs - car rental and fuel (in particular) - have risen sharply because of the baht devaluation.
Hence a very nasty squeeze on their baht salaries.
|
Bangkok Women : Meet Beautiful Thai Girls
Posted on: 12:38 am on July 20, 2004
|
|
koolbreez
|
The taxi driver I use is buying his own cab, both him and his brother are going this route. Still the green/yellow, but they are buying instead of renting. His monthly payment is bt12500 for the car, not including insurance, which he has. He covers all repairs, licenses, everything, and tries to make a living for him, and his wife who works as a sales clerk making bt10000 a month. For him, everything has gone up except the meter rate. He has a good stand, so does about bt1500 a day. Not alot left over at the end of the month. He is looking forward to the end of the 3 yr loan when the bt12500 for the car will be going in his pocket. Then him and his wife can have kids, and maybe buy a house. He explained his plans to me on a trip to the Cambodia border.
When I use any of the cabs, or tuktuk's, I always round up to the even bt100 if they get me where I want to go without any BS.
|
Bangkok Girls : Meet Attractive Thai Girls
Posted on: 10:04 am on July 20, 2004
|
|
madfrog
|
Talking about taxi drivers I had one last time that has tapered with the meter, meter was going approx 3 time too fast... So at next traffic light me and my assistant waited for the green to appear and suddenly escaped running one in each direction 
I m sorry for them if their wages are too low but I cant stand dishonnest peoples
Madfrog
|
Thai Girls : Meet Active Thai Girls
Posted on: 4:05 pm on July 20, 2004
|
|
|
|
YusefWateef
|
Quote:
TTM & foot massage will take up 2 hours each day, especially good after a long day outside. King & I Spa and Massage at Korean town is great, since u dun get to choose the gals, I would think it's a decent place.
Actually, you can choose the girl you want at "The King & I". I go there quite a bit and I just ask for the girls I like by number. Clearly, this only works if you have been there often enough to have a favourite. This is an excellent place for Traditional Thai Massages. I always get a private room for myself and whomever else is with me. They are only and additional 50 Baht per hour!
|
Bangkok Girls : Meet Attractive Thai Girls
Posted on: 12:28 am on July 23, 2004
|
|
| |
|
