STLFlyer78

Always great writing and photos (obviously) - great TR's.

My one and only TG kit from first was purple, on a 40K United redemption from BKK-SYD.

JVPhoto

St. Regis & Bangkok



Another fabulous stay at St. Regis. Perfect for me that it is connected to the BTS and only a few minutes and 1-2 stops away to Siam, Sala Daeng, Chong Nonsi, Ploehn Chit.
I've been upgraded once here to a 1BR suite, this time like the others it was a "view" upgrade overlooking the golf course/race track.






Breakfast at Viu on the 12th floor doesn't change much day to day. In fact what I noticed was only the Thai/Indian curry dish changed. This is my 3rd favorite behind Le Meridien Silom (1st), The W (2nd). By the 2nd morning the staff new that I'd be taking 2 iced Americanos.





I wanted Pepper Lunch, my friend wanted pizza and somehow at Asoke Terminal 21 (funny airport/destination themed mall) we ended up at Dak Glabi for a type of Korean BBQ. The dish was fine but sadly the delicious looking octopus on the menu seemed more like gelatinous gummy works.



It's a bit of a trek to the On Nut BTS and then another 10 min walk from there but Muscle Factory is probably the best lifting gym in SE Asia. Also only 200 baht instead of the 700-1000 that Virgin or FitnessFirst want to charge.


I don't need extra rice and beans, just put them in the burrito! I was going to wait until I got back to eat but there's a new little strip mall with a Sunrise Tacos and Tom Tom Coffee before On Nut. In an age of social media apps for cruising I actually got cruised in the mall bathroom...old school!




I joined my friend to a birthday dinner of one of their friends at Arno's Butchery & Eatery (there's also a burger place nearby).




The owner is a big French guy, I'm assuming Arno, who bounces from table to table. You order in the butcher shop and then they bring it to your table. My friend made the mistake of wanting to sit outside...good job dude, just where I want to eat with a sizzling plate and 400g of meat. Most of the cuts have an 800-1000g min so it is good to share. My steak, a spinach beet salad and the shard bottles of wine put me out 2,000 baht. I didn't take part in all the scalloped potatoes and pasta and all of those sides, but I'm not one to cause a "Well I only ate this!" scene.





No matter how much I plan and how many pairs I pack I always end up needing to go to Uniqlo to buy a few extra pairs of underwear. I stopped by The Mandarin Oriental bakery in Siam Paragon for a coffee. Nice spot for some deserts or salads as well.



Normally I get my salad fix at Farm Factory in Silom Complex but this time I tried Dressed in the food area of Paragon which was just as good.




Seeing friends and going out to have a little fun was the purpose of the trip.Thankfully DJ Station seems less of a fire trap now with bigger doors and more balconies overlooking the courtyard.




My friend has been in Asia since 2007 so I am skeptical that his palette has changed when he said La Monita was the best Mexican food in Bangkok.


Better than Sunrise Tacos sure...but c'mon.

UA_Flyer

Great photos and excellent report so far!

Madone59

As always, great photos ^ Thanks for posting.

JVPhoto

Thai Royal Silk BKK-CNX

Traffic in the mornings in Bangkok I've never really had an issue with but would still give myself lots of time even for the domestic flights. This time I decided to throw caution to the wind and leave at 10:30 (normally I would at 10) for the airport. Still put me there at 11am for the 1:10 flight. I like zero stress/worries going to the airport.

Knowing that I wouldn't have much to eat in the domestic lounge I stopped by the food court and ended up with some pretty tasteless food.


The lounge was pretty full on the inside part so I went to the "patio" area to wait for the flight. They had some Hainan chicken rice out which I think is the first time I've noticed hot food that wasn't dumplings or the little breaded puffs.


Grabbed a coffee on my way to the gate and figured it would probably end up boarding 20-30 min late as would be the case. Right as I walked into the gate area and started to make my way to the front and off to the side the GAs held up the sign for J/Gold pax which was 7 min before listed boarding time. So I was able to walk into the plane like I was walking onto a yacht. Yes my scarf was apricot.



2-2-2 A330. I would hate to fly in this plane for more than an hour.

J was about 85% full and I had an open seat next to me.



Been taking this flight for 3 years and nothing has changed for better or worse. Makes for a decent ferry service.

gaobest

I don't understand the apricot scarf joke. Also what was your beverage in the bkk lounge?

MatthewLAX

Looks like seltzer water.

JVPhoto

It's the lyrics from Carly Simon "You're So Vain":

"You walked into the party, like you were walking onto a yacht.
Your hat strategically dipped below one eye, your scarf it was apricot.
You had one eye in the mirror as, you watched yourself go by."


That's just a Schwepp's canned soda water. In F they serve Perrier in the can which I like.

CappuccinoAddict

I love your writing style and sense of humor! Makes for a great read.

I agree with you on the TG A330, last week I flew it for nearly 4 hours BKK-TPE and the seat became quite uncomfortable. Service was also shoddy, the FAs had no idea which wines were which and one FA presented me the wrong bottle twice when I asked for the Pinot Noir before I pointed out on the cart which bottle it was. Also, in typical UA fashion, there was port on the cart used to serve cheese but none was offered and it was whizzed by so quickly I couldn't even ask for any!

JVPhoto

I think the worst flight for me was OZ A330 J ICN-BKK. Just seemed miserable. I came off of F JFK-ICN so I was rested and fresh.
Ive never actually flown TG in a short/medium haul. It's always been the domestic J flights or J/F to North Asia, Australia, CDG. It's really hard to judge service on the domestic flights as in the 1h flight time it's pretty standard procedure and fairly well oiled to make everything get done in that time.

Explorer789

After being spoiled in F, I'm sure any J will really feel like a step down, especially with those smaller seats in 2-2-2 layout. Always important to have managed expectations for any regional flight on an Asian carrier. Long hauls in J tend to be better.

JVPhoto

Le Meridien & Chiang Mai



The beauty of CNX is that it is a lot like Monterey. It's right in town, ease of access and what not. While waiting for my bag I bought my 160b taxi voucher and made my way to the exit doors only to be held up by a German man who be insisted he be let in because his wife is right over there. 3 Thai people blocking and stopping him trying to explain that once you exit you can only enter back through the security screening. At CNX you go through a scanner at the curb to get to the ticket counters etc and then you also go through the more "thorough" one to get to the gates.

I've only stayed in a hotel here once which was my first trip and I was at Siripanna because I thought the Rice Farmer package looked fun. There's other places I would like to stay such as 137 Pillars House or Anatara but with a bit of romanticism I feel it is wasted money to sit there alone. Maybe if I come back with someone, even if it is platonic.

"Sir we upgraded you..."
Thinking this meant just the view or the typical SPG fluff I walked into the room and was beaming.




Probably my favorite bathtub. A 14-18" deep big square, two of us fit fine.



Aside from the 1BR suite at St. Regis or one the W Westwood I would put this up there with one of my favorite rooms. Comforting and soothing, had subtle Asian accents without beating you over the head.


Breakfast was meh. Since I was up early at like 6:45/7 I would go down to have a small bite to ward off the wake up hunger because there were other places in CM I would prefer to eat at.


First order of business once my scooter got dropped off was to see my ex-cons for a massage and get the spicy crispy basil chicken leg at Jok Sompet. The best 290b you'll spend in an afternoon.



At the time some "water fun" was starting. Mostly it was a few Gawky Seymour farang tourists who would half ... try and squirt you with a water pistol.

I got my little bit of gift shopping out of the way just walking across from Le Meridien to the Night Bazaar area and get some food as well from any of the random night stalls.


Normally I never came to this area when I was staying here longer because I didn't really have the need for it, it was always so crowded and I tried to stay away from Loi Kroh so I didn't have any of the bar girls try and job on the back of my scooter.



I still had things to do like going to the gym and meeting up with a friend or two so I tried to get all of that done in the morning so that on the WAY to do those things I would stay dry and then around 12:30/1 on the way back to the hotel didn't mind if I got soaked because I would be going out anyways to have some fun.

Cafe 1254372 on Nimman 17 is a must visit on any trip.


Luckily for me my visit was wedged in between Mr. Chiang Mai & Mr. Thailand body building competitions so most of the guys I know from GoGym were in decent shape and wanted to shoot.




I wish I had more photos but sadly this is it. I didn't dare take my small point and shoot out and I tried to keep my phone in my bag. In fact after the first day I didn't even take it out with me because while the water proof bag worked fine once I put money that got a little wet from just holding it the bag turned into a steam pocket and caused the home button to not work for the next day as well as issues with charging.



The first day of Songkran there was a pool party at Le Meridien. I had been to just a random pool party here before and it was mildly entertaining but not my thing while traveling solo. Since it was at my hotel and free for me as a guest I decided to check it out. Mix of farang tourists and Thais trying to latch onto a farang. Plenty of eye-candy, sadly the bathtub would have to be broken in another time.



Instead it was just me with a little buzz, listening to NPR and treating myself to some sweets.


Apropros to the first day of Songkran was the 10 min down pour and winds that whipped up during the pool party to make room for some beautiful skies.





Rustic & Blue is another must do every week. Egg, avocado, bacon, croissant, wonderful vegetables. Nimman Soi 7 I want to say. They also have season farm dinner trips in the country side as well.


Before the party I mainly just hung out near the hotel with my pistol and latching onto two Thai families having fun in front of their motorbike and laundry shop. 2nd day I ventured towards the moat/Taepae Gate.



No hyperbole in the statement that I don't think I have ever had so much fun in my life. The little pistol was fine but I should have sprung and got one of the BIG super soakers. Once I got to the moat I invested in a bucket with a rope for 30b so I could fill it up in the moat. Standing along the moat with buckets full of water was side splitting, piss your pants fun. In fact after the coffee and waters I realized...it's just like being in the pool, go where you are. I'm already dripping with water that is from the moat, at least this is sterile.



After about 3 hours I made my way back to the hotel. As I was going down Loi Kroh I would stop and get a Sangsom shot from the bars which came with a look of disgust from the bartender. I used this as an in to stop and use some of their ice COLD water to fill up my bucket and throw into the back of songtaews or tuktuks. After my last shot I made my way back and saw a gaggle of gays outside a bar who I recognized from the pool party including the DJ. I gave them a big bath of freezing water. The DJ jumped up on my and starting grinding. Later I found out he thought I was some random straight guy (woohoo! I'm passing!) he was going to embarrass. Little did he know I'd hump and grind back.
Long story short that lead to another 4 hours of shots, water fun and me trading some jiggling of my junk to the lady bar next door to also use their ice water.

Fast forward to 11pm and it's 1400b of room service and both bathrobes being used. An amazing Songkran indeed!

A mild hang over and still needing to go to the gym I was going to eat at Blue Diamond which was closed so I stopped at Baan Bajinda for some coffee which was a nice spot. Luckily they also sold some coffee beans so I could bring back to my friend who owns a shop in Monterey because I want her to try Thai beans.





Khao Soi Mae Sae & Im Aim were both closed and places I wanted to eat after the gym. Set on khaoi soi I looked up a few and figured Khao Soi Nimman would be open given the location. It was, it hit the spot but certainly wasn't the best htat I've had.


The 3rd day of Songkran was decidedly less crazy. Sure the farang bars had lots of people having water fights out front. The moat was less busy but I still managed to get in a good 3.5h of some water fun before heading back to the hotel to relax & then make my way out for some last food. Green curry over vermicili was good. A backpacker came and sat next to me and ordered the dish on the print out before my plate. Once he got it I asked if he had it before, he said no...why? I said to have a bit of that dark thing first and I'd tell him. It's congealed pigs blood. I've had it a few times, I don't mind it but I wouldn't order it. The first was at a school after we did an English lesson they provided us lunch. We all dug in and it wasn't until after the staff came 10 min later and told us what it was that one of the South African guys went outside to puke.

gaobest

Thanks! Ever since the late 70s I thought that the word was Africa and not apricot. Probably because of the Nova Scotia and the other jet-setting spots :-)

gaobest

Glad Songkran went great and that you got to use both bathrobes. Assume this also included breaking in the big tub.
I've used GOOG search for farang and Songkran. Very excellent.
Enjoy the rest of your trip - as always the food looks great, even the blah breakfast food at the hotel. Which Monterey shop does your friend have? We go to Carmel every year. I make coffee at home but it would be fun if your friend starts to sell Thai coffee.

764toHI

Fantastic trip report! I was at the St. Regis a couple months ago - fantastic property but sounds like I'll need to try the other SPG properties in BKK next time around. Also, looks like Songkran is on the to-do list for next year!