A Week in Phuket
Feb 21, 2001 | 9:53 pm
#1
Original Poster
Original Member
Join Date: May 1998
Location: Kirkland, WA
Posts: 6,932
A Week in Phuket
Long journey
It was raining in Los Angeles so I booked a round-trip award ticket on Cathay Pacific to Thailand to visit my brother Mike and rendezvous with Kokonutz, who had a day to spend in Phuket. I tried to get a coach ticket on United and upgrade with two of my six unused systemwide upgrades that expire March 31, but when I called the 1K line a recording said, Please hold while we continue to suck, so I instead called the regular members American AAdvantage line where nice agents promptly helped me. The two long segments were available in First Class and the connections from Hong Kong to Bangkok were on two-class planes in Business. I had a long connection in Hong Kong en route but I kept calling back every day, always talking to a nice agent and rarely being put on hold, and finally the desired connection opened up the day before the trip. I cashed in 135,000 miles plus $89 in taxes and expedite fees and I was all set to go.
Hunnybear drove me to the airport in the dirty white Pontiac convertible and dropped me at the Tom Bradley International Terminal where I proceeded to the Cathay Pacific First-Class checkin counter. As I remembered from last year, the LAX ground ops were the least impressive part of the Cathay Pacific First-Class treatment. A passive agent checked me in and tried to give me an invitation to the Business Class lounge in Hong Kong. I insisted on the First Class lounge since I was on a First Class ticket flying in and she checked with the supervisor who said OK. She handed me the boarding passes and casually told me the flight was an hour and a half late. I asked why I hadnt been called and she said they tried to call most of the First Class passengers. Apparently my phone number hadnt made it through to Cathay Pacifics records.
I was left to find my own way through the maze and on my third try I found the Qantas lounge Cathay Pacific was using as their First Class waiting area. It was unimpressive, with no carrels, no free local calls, and unappetizing finger sandwiches as snacks. There was an assortment of cheap Australian wines and ordinary liquor. I played with my computer while I waited and we finally boarded around 12:20.
Once on board the cabin crew was excellent. They brought a glass of Krug and a scallop terrine. I played games on the in-flight entertainment system while we sat on the ground another 90 minutes trying to determine if we could fly with a small dent in the fuselage caused by a collision with the Jetway. They brought more champagne. Upper management from Hong Kong finally signed off on our airworthiness and we were underway three hours late, which meant I was going to miss my connection in Hong Kong that had taken weeks of calling back every day to secure.
I changed into my sleep suit and watched the main feature, Meet the Parents, an entertaining if unremarkable movie with Ben Stiller trying to get along with fiances dad Robert deNiro. I wasnt too hungry but I had an order of yummy Sevruga caviar with chilled vodka. After the feature I reclined the Betsy seat to full bedness and slept like a baby for six hours or so.
When I woke up It was already Feb. 21 since we had crossed the International Date Line according to the airshow. I got some yummy dim sum and watched a personal video, High Fidelity with John Cusack, a little neurotic romance with good performances by the supporting cast. When it was over it was time for me to break the world record at Hangman on the in-flight entertainment system, held for more than a year by seat 48E. It took over an hour but I finally set the new high score. Imagine my disappointment when I restarted the game and saw my achievement had disappeared, replaced once again by the old achievement of seat 48E.
It was time to eat so I ordered some breakfast off the a la carte menu. Everything was good except the coffee, which was instant. I fired up Monkeyboy and practiced my video poker and before I knew it we were landing in Hong Kong.
The ground staff at Honkers was incredibly organized. Signs on the wall indicated where to meet for the various missed connections. I went with a group of 10 or so who had missed the connection to Bangkok. The red-suited agent told us we had been booked on a China Airlines flight leaving in a little over an hour. I followed the group but when we arrived at the transit counter I discreetly mentioned that I would prefer not to fly China Airlines, memories of the recent upside-down landing still fresh in my mind, and requested the next flight on Thai or Cathay Pacific. They put me on standby for the 12:45 Thai flight and escorted my to Wings, the wonderful First Class lounge, where I got a private cabana and showered and lounged by the babbling brook reading the paper in my bathrobe and drinking a can of Perrier from the private complimentary minibar.
Clean and pretty, I returned to the main lounge and fired up Monkeyboy to see if Hunnybear was on line at home. She was and we had a nice AIM conversation while I checked email and let Mike and Kokonutz know I was going to be late. The waiter asked if I would like something else to drink so I pointed to the can of Perrier, smiled, and said, One more? He asked if it would be OK to bring it in a bottle instead of a can and I said, Shu-wah.
At 12:05 I was confirmed on the Thai flight and I followed my escort about a mile to the gate. The flight was a three-class 747 so I requested an upgrade to First Class given that I had purchased a First Class ticket but it was not possible because the catering. I did get moved to a row with an empty seat next to me in upstairs Business Class though. There had actually been a flight at 11:25 directly to Phuket but Cathay wouldnt put me on it without my paying about $900 for a one-way ticket.
As good as Cathay Pacific service was, there was something about Thai hospitality that made all others pale in comparison. As soon as I set foot on board, all the smiling Thais greeted and pampered me, even in Business Class. There was plenty of room between rows but the footrests were Thai-sized and fairly useless even to short-legged me. I watched the airshow on personal video and then caught a couple Warner Brothers cartoons, thinking of Jeffrey. Lunch was a nice salmon appetizer followed by a choice of seafood stir-fry or pork filet. I had the excellent seafood with glasses of three different wines. A large cheese plate followed and then an additional dessert, which as a rule I dont eat but it was just a light piece of coconut chiffon cake. Just before landing, in typical nonsensical Thai fashion, they handed out a gift to all the Business Class passengers: a deck of playing cards.
We landed right on schedule in Bangkok. As always I giggled as I watched the golfers play on the course between the two runways, wondering if they ever crashed their carts into 747s as they ignored the traffic signals where the course crossed the taxiways. We docked at a Jetway gate. Since I was upstairs I wasnt the first one off the plane and had to wait in a moderate immigration line, passport stamped by the only Thais who dont smile. My bag appeared quickly and I walked briskly to the domestic terminal to buy my ticket to Phuket.
Every time I land at Bangkok they have a new poster up proclaiming something or other. This time they were excited about the country being ISO 9002 compliant. Want a taxi? Youll be happy to know that the taxis are all ISO 9002 compliant.
I had about an hour till the next flight so I had a couple glasses of iced tea in the VIP lounge and fired up Monkeyboy on the one phone line in there. Mike and Kokonutz had got my message so I was ready to meet them upon arrival in Phuket. The VIP lounge was abuzz with the sound of cell phones ringing. Apparently there had been another price breakthrough and now everyone in Thailand had a cell phone.
The flight to Phuket was on time and I took seat 12B on the Airbus 330. My seat opponent was a young Frenchman reading a guidebook on Thailand the whole trip. I snoozed and before I knew it we were landing in paradise.
Having now accumulated an impressive number of First Class and Royal Executive Class tags, my bag was the first one off the plane. I grabbed a private car to Patong Beach for 480 baht ($11) and breathed while the driver raced oncoming buses passing in the opposing lane during the 45-minute drive. He pulled up at Sand Inn, my home away from home, 1100 baht ($26)/night, where they had my room key ready for me and handed me my welcome drink, an Orange Crush. (Welcome drink! they explained.) I headed up to my usual room, checked email, and waited for Mike to show up at the appointed time, 7:30. It had been just about 28 hours since I had begun my journey.
Mike showed up right on time and we headed over to the Holiday Inn Resort to meet up with Kokonutz, who was sitting at the bar with Uncle1K. I snuck up behind him and said, Sawasdee-krup! and he did a double take before he realized it was I. We moved to a table and I ordered a Long Island Iced Tea, which arrived more like a Coke with a splash of Long Island. We caught up and talked about where we wanted to go for dinner. All of a sudden we head an enormously loud bell ring. A Thai bartender was hammering a large bell at the end of the bar. When we all turned to look at him, he explained, Happy hour finished.
The gang left dinner in my hands. Since Koko had only one night in Phuket I suggested we go to my favorite, the Old Fisherman at Novotel. We took a tuk-tuk there for 40 baht ($1) and got a great table on the rail at this outdoor restaurant with a spectacular view of Patong Bay. As always the seafood was wonderful and the Long Island was made much better here. I had the lobster with chanterelle mushrooms. We all passed on dessert and paid the bill, 3625 baht ($86) for the four of us in one of the priciest restaurants in Phuket.
We took a taxi back, always more expensive since you must be rich if youre leaving from the Novotel. It cost 100 baht ($2.50) to get back to Bang La Road, where we caught the show at the Rock Hard. We ran into Nung, my favorite bartender, and headed upstairs to relax and have a couple drinks. I had a Black-So-Da (Johnny Walker Black Label and soda) while Mike had a Mar-Ga-Ri-Ta and the boys had beers. The U.S. Navy was in town, as they frequently are, and the place was pretty crowded.
I faded fast so we made plans for tomorrow and I returned to Sand Inn and crashed.
------------------
I hope you enjoy my Lion Tales. For photos, past travelogues, subscriptions, and more, see www.liontales.com
It was raining in Los Angeles so I booked a round-trip award ticket on Cathay Pacific to Thailand to visit my brother Mike and rendezvous with Kokonutz, who had a day to spend in Phuket. I tried to get a coach ticket on United and upgrade with two of my six unused systemwide upgrades that expire March 31, but when I called the 1K line a recording said, Please hold while we continue to suck, so I instead called the regular members American AAdvantage line where nice agents promptly helped me. The two long segments were available in First Class and the connections from Hong Kong to Bangkok were on two-class planes in Business. I had a long connection in Hong Kong en route but I kept calling back every day, always talking to a nice agent and rarely being put on hold, and finally the desired connection opened up the day before the trip. I cashed in 135,000 miles plus $89 in taxes and expedite fees and I was all set to go.
Hunnybear drove me to the airport in the dirty white Pontiac convertible and dropped me at the Tom Bradley International Terminal where I proceeded to the Cathay Pacific First-Class checkin counter. As I remembered from last year, the LAX ground ops were the least impressive part of the Cathay Pacific First-Class treatment. A passive agent checked me in and tried to give me an invitation to the Business Class lounge in Hong Kong. I insisted on the First Class lounge since I was on a First Class ticket flying in and she checked with the supervisor who said OK. She handed me the boarding passes and casually told me the flight was an hour and a half late. I asked why I hadnt been called and she said they tried to call most of the First Class passengers. Apparently my phone number hadnt made it through to Cathay Pacifics records.
I was left to find my own way through the maze and on my third try I found the Qantas lounge Cathay Pacific was using as their First Class waiting area. It was unimpressive, with no carrels, no free local calls, and unappetizing finger sandwiches as snacks. There was an assortment of cheap Australian wines and ordinary liquor. I played with my computer while I waited and we finally boarded around 12:20.
Once on board the cabin crew was excellent. They brought a glass of Krug and a scallop terrine. I played games on the in-flight entertainment system while we sat on the ground another 90 minutes trying to determine if we could fly with a small dent in the fuselage caused by a collision with the Jetway. They brought more champagne. Upper management from Hong Kong finally signed off on our airworthiness and we were underway three hours late, which meant I was going to miss my connection in Hong Kong that had taken weeks of calling back every day to secure.
I changed into my sleep suit and watched the main feature, Meet the Parents, an entertaining if unremarkable movie with Ben Stiller trying to get along with fiances dad Robert deNiro. I wasnt too hungry but I had an order of yummy Sevruga caviar with chilled vodka. After the feature I reclined the Betsy seat to full bedness and slept like a baby for six hours or so.
When I woke up It was already Feb. 21 since we had crossed the International Date Line according to the airshow. I got some yummy dim sum and watched a personal video, High Fidelity with John Cusack, a little neurotic romance with good performances by the supporting cast. When it was over it was time for me to break the world record at Hangman on the in-flight entertainment system, held for more than a year by seat 48E. It took over an hour but I finally set the new high score. Imagine my disappointment when I restarted the game and saw my achievement had disappeared, replaced once again by the old achievement of seat 48E.
It was time to eat so I ordered some breakfast off the a la carte menu. Everything was good except the coffee, which was instant. I fired up Monkeyboy and practiced my video poker and before I knew it we were landing in Hong Kong.
The ground staff at Honkers was incredibly organized. Signs on the wall indicated where to meet for the various missed connections. I went with a group of 10 or so who had missed the connection to Bangkok. The red-suited agent told us we had been booked on a China Airlines flight leaving in a little over an hour. I followed the group but when we arrived at the transit counter I discreetly mentioned that I would prefer not to fly China Airlines, memories of the recent upside-down landing still fresh in my mind, and requested the next flight on Thai or Cathay Pacific. They put me on standby for the 12:45 Thai flight and escorted my to Wings, the wonderful First Class lounge, where I got a private cabana and showered and lounged by the babbling brook reading the paper in my bathrobe and drinking a can of Perrier from the private complimentary minibar.
Clean and pretty, I returned to the main lounge and fired up Monkeyboy to see if Hunnybear was on line at home. She was and we had a nice AIM conversation while I checked email and let Mike and Kokonutz know I was going to be late. The waiter asked if I would like something else to drink so I pointed to the can of Perrier, smiled, and said, One more? He asked if it would be OK to bring it in a bottle instead of a can and I said, Shu-wah.
At 12:05 I was confirmed on the Thai flight and I followed my escort about a mile to the gate. The flight was a three-class 747 so I requested an upgrade to First Class given that I had purchased a First Class ticket but it was not possible because the catering. I did get moved to a row with an empty seat next to me in upstairs Business Class though. There had actually been a flight at 11:25 directly to Phuket but Cathay wouldnt put me on it without my paying about $900 for a one-way ticket.
As good as Cathay Pacific service was, there was something about Thai hospitality that made all others pale in comparison. As soon as I set foot on board, all the smiling Thais greeted and pampered me, even in Business Class. There was plenty of room between rows but the footrests were Thai-sized and fairly useless even to short-legged me. I watched the airshow on personal video and then caught a couple Warner Brothers cartoons, thinking of Jeffrey. Lunch was a nice salmon appetizer followed by a choice of seafood stir-fry or pork filet. I had the excellent seafood with glasses of three different wines. A large cheese plate followed and then an additional dessert, which as a rule I dont eat but it was just a light piece of coconut chiffon cake. Just before landing, in typical nonsensical Thai fashion, they handed out a gift to all the Business Class passengers: a deck of playing cards.
We landed right on schedule in Bangkok. As always I giggled as I watched the golfers play on the course between the two runways, wondering if they ever crashed their carts into 747s as they ignored the traffic signals where the course crossed the taxiways. We docked at a Jetway gate. Since I was upstairs I wasnt the first one off the plane and had to wait in a moderate immigration line, passport stamped by the only Thais who dont smile. My bag appeared quickly and I walked briskly to the domestic terminal to buy my ticket to Phuket.
Every time I land at Bangkok they have a new poster up proclaiming something or other. This time they were excited about the country being ISO 9002 compliant. Want a taxi? Youll be happy to know that the taxis are all ISO 9002 compliant.
I had about an hour till the next flight so I had a couple glasses of iced tea in the VIP lounge and fired up Monkeyboy on the one phone line in there. Mike and Kokonutz had got my message so I was ready to meet them upon arrival in Phuket. The VIP lounge was abuzz with the sound of cell phones ringing. Apparently there had been another price breakthrough and now everyone in Thailand had a cell phone.
The flight to Phuket was on time and I took seat 12B on the Airbus 330. My seat opponent was a young Frenchman reading a guidebook on Thailand the whole trip. I snoozed and before I knew it we were landing in paradise.
Having now accumulated an impressive number of First Class and Royal Executive Class tags, my bag was the first one off the plane. I grabbed a private car to Patong Beach for 480 baht ($11) and breathed while the driver raced oncoming buses passing in the opposing lane during the 45-minute drive. He pulled up at Sand Inn, my home away from home, 1100 baht ($26)/night, where they had my room key ready for me and handed me my welcome drink, an Orange Crush. (Welcome drink! they explained.) I headed up to my usual room, checked email, and waited for Mike to show up at the appointed time, 7:30. It had been just about 28 hours since I had begun my journey.
Mike showed up right on time and we headed over to the Holiday Inn Resort to meet up with Kokonutz, who was sitting at the bar with Uncle1K. I snuck up behind him and said, Sawasdee-krup! and he did a double take before he realized it was I. We moved to a table and I ordered a Long Island Iced Tea, which arrived more like a Coke with a splash of Long Island. We caught up and talked about where we wanted to go for dinner. All of a sudden we head an enormously loud bell ring. A Thai bartender was hammering a large bell at the end of the bar. When we all turned to look at him, he explained, Happy hour finished.
The gang left dinner in my hands. Since Koko had only one night in Phuket I suggested we go to my favorite, the Old Fisherman at Novotel. We took a tuk-tuk there for 40 baht ($1) and got a great table on the rail at this outdoor restaurant with a spectacular view of Patong Bay. As always the seafood was wonderful and the Long Island was made much better here. I had the lobster with chanterelle mushrooms. We all passed on dessert and paid the bill, 3625 baht ($86) for the four of us in one of the priciest restaurants in Phuket.
We took a taxi back, always more expensive since you must be rich if youre leaving from the Novotel. It cost 100 baht ($2.50) to get back to Bang La Road, where we caught the show at the Rock Hard. We ran into Nung, my favorite bartender, and headed upstairs to relax and have a couple drinks. I had a Black-So-Da (Johnny Walker Black Label and soda) while Mike had a Mar-Ga-Ri-Ta and the boys had beers. The U.S. Navy was in town, as they frequently are, and the place was pretty crowded.
I faded fast so we made plans for tomorrow and I returned to Sand Inn and crashed.
------------------
I hope you enjoy my Lion Tales. For photos, past travelogues, subscriptions, and more, see www.liontales.com
Feb 21, 2001 | 11:16 pm
#3
Join Date: Jun 2000
Location: CLT US Chairman's, AMEX Centurion, salesman, college dropout
Posts: 39
<< Please hold while we continue to suck, >>
Brilliant writing -- only exceeded by brilliant humor -- i have missed your travels and am glad to see you back on the road -- as a rule, i don't heap praise, but i can't help myself -- bravo!
Brilliant writing -- only exceeded by brilliant humor -- i have missed your travels and am glad to see you back on the road -- as a rule, i don't heap praise, but i can't help myself -- bravo!
Feb 22, 2001 | 3:53 am
#6
Original Poster
Original Member
Join Date: May 1998
Location: Kirkland, WA
Posts: 6,932
Thai Airways domestic flights have only one fare, so no advance purchase or round trip is required. Trips are priced by distance. BKK-HKT one way is 2300 baht ($55) with an 800-baht ($19) surcharge for Business Class, which I always buy.
Feb 22, 2001 | 5:38 am
#7
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: May 1998
Location: Digital Nomad Wandering the Earth - Currently in VIENNA, AUSTRIA!
Posts: 61,923
I don't believe a word of this tripe! You all do know that he makes all this stuff up, don't you?
(Posting during a 2 hour delay at HKT
)
(Posting during a 2 hour delay at HKT
)
