Thailand in October

A lot has happened since my last post. My travel companion decided it was not the right time for her to go to Thailand, and my father had a stroke.

I'm going to Thailand in October! Also I will be helping a company I'm involved with search for talent to run our Bangkok branch--Uber Technologies, Inc.

We'll see how much trouble I get into.

I got my new passport and my plane tickets, and my friend Amanda will join me in late October, so there will definitely be some awesome stuff to post about!

Thailand in 2014 Announced

I'm going back to Thailand in 2014. It's going to be legen... (wait for it) dary.

Who's coming with me?

I've prepared a sample budget. The goal is $3,000 for a comfortable vacation in Thailand doing some awesome volunteer work and staying in some awesome places... riding elephants and playing with monkeys.

I think we can get away with going for as low as $2,000, and perhaps hustle cash while we are there, maybe have some credit cards just in case, but I think a safer number is $3,000 for the long trip in which, this time, we plan on visiting many countries instead of just Thailand, and thus will be spending a lot of time outside of the US.

I have one travel companion already geared up to go. I think it will be fun to go as a group again, so I'm lighting the beacon and will be sending this blog out to my friends.

So... I didn't get married.

Quick update, I didn't get married, and it's been a few years since I've been to Thailand. More updates soon.

7 Days Later

On the Song Tewl in Chiang Mai going to our Guest House

The Day I Proposed, in a flower garden.

Elephant riding on the 23rd!

Geared up for the Jungle Flight

Ice Skating at Esplanade

Family Picture!

So I haven't updated in a week... Here's the scoop:

I proposed to my girlfriend in Chiang Mai on 23rd December. It was pretty awesome. We rode elephants and hiked to a waterfall the next day, and on Christmas day, we flew around the jungle on zip lines. After the Jungle Flight, we went to a 3 hour day spa trip. After that... I found us a nice little restaurant in the sticks of Chiang Mai that served a Christmas Buffet! Turkey, ham and roast beef with all the fixins!!!

Yesterday we got back from Chiang Mai and went ice skating with my kid brother and sister and cousin, then went to dinner at my Aunt's house. After the dinner, we took family pictures and I broke Kelly's pink toe--and I haven't heard the end of it yet.

Went to the hospital today about 11:30 am, got out about 12:30 pm. Checking in, blood pressure, x-rays, and a few doctor consults later, we were out... and the damage: 1,400 baht. Good news is that it's not broken, but she says it feels like it.

We're getting ready for our trip to Koh Samui Tuesday morning. Look out world, here comes Eddie and Kelly!

Food Poisoning

Looking straight down from our balcony.

Looking out our hotel room window

Drinks at the outdoor hotel bar called the "Octogon" shaped like.. yup you guessed it, a Dodecohedron. Just kidding, it was an octogon.

On the beach, lounging with booze.

Getting ready for parasailing!

I got some food poisoning in Pattaya I think. So I've been sick, and now sick again. Sucks. The last day in Pattaya was real shitty for me because Kelly and I decided to go Scuba diving... unfortunately for me it was on a boat and I get really terrible motion sickness.

Being on a boat for about 7 hours was pretty rough. I did go scuba diving once though, then yacked all over myself in the waters of Thailand's gulf. That was enough to make me swim to shore and sit on the beach for a bit. After that, I went on board the boat and just sat in one place for the next 4 hours till we got to shore.

Anyway, Jomtien beach and Pattaya were pretty spectacular as far as the sights go. I did enjoy parasailing and this sweet restaurant on the beach.

Doctor's visit today cost me $20 bucks. My godfather is the chief of emergency medicine (Dr. G, I call him) at the hospital I went to last time. He prescribed Dramaine, more antibiotics, some other medication, and plenty of rest, so that's what I'm doing today. Price tag, 20 bucks. Yup. American Healthcare, blow me. Oh, also they wheeled me out in a wheel chair because they didn't want me to walk. Every time I tried to walk on my own, a nurse came to wheel me. Classy.

Jomtien Beach

Kelly and I made grilled chicken salad and garlic broccoli for my family.

Thai Fanta in Khaosan Road.

Crazy Thai/Asian ads.

We've moved around Bangkok so much now, always meeting at the IT Mall. So many malls in BKK, we're sick of them, so we decided to head out of the city.

We went back to Calypzo a few nights ago, and made our way to Pattaya yesterday. We're staying in Jomtien Beach which is a little quiet beach next to the main town. It's humid here, but not too bad... especially when you have a nice cold Fanta.

We've traveled so much the past week and as our first full week comes to a close, we're happy to have made it this far without killing each other. We've been sick, hot, sticky, and uncomfortable, but we've also had fun, great massages, and shopping experiences.

Next week we're going to Cheng Mai. That's going to be a great time!

Today: waterskis?

Hotel Hopping

Much like we did the last time I was here, we are hotel hopping in different areas. Last night we stayed at Park Hotel in Sukhumvit Road, Soi 7. It was a dive from the 70s or 80s that looked nice from the outside, but turned out to be a shit hole.

Today we're at another hostel like hotel, but it's 1/3 the price. I've also stayed here before, so I feel pretty comfortable here. It's called the Four Sons Inn off Khaosan Road. It's super cheap and close to a bunch of cool things to see and do.

I'm still kind of sick and trying to recover because it feels shitty to be sick on my vacation. Kelly and my brother want to go out and do everything, while I'm feeling like a bump on a log.

Hopefully it'll clear up soon.

Sick

I'm sick again in Thailand. It's been a good trip so far. Lots of stuff to do, see, buy. Hung out with my little brothers and sister and family. All is well in Bangkok!

Thailand in 2009

Well, our trip is coming up in a few weeks and we're trying to figure out what we've gotta pack and what we need to buy. This is always the tedious part of the trip!

Leaving December 10 and returning January 5th, 2010.

The Return of Eddie Phanichkul

My girlfriend Kelly and I are planning a trip to Thailand for December 2009. We bought the tickets yesterday for an amazing $833 each on EVA, a small Asian airline. The travel duration is about 2 days though. Hopefully, it won't smell like fish sauce on the plane.

Photos...

The Final Post by Eddie Phanichkul

It's been about a month since we first landed in Thailand. It's been a few weeks since we've been home. The stories from day-to-day Thailand will not go unpublished. I decided to start work on a new book called "Two Weeks In Bangkok." Who knows if I'll finish this one, but it'll add to my collection of lengthy essays and novels I may or may not publish one day.

After being in Cheing Mai for a few days, we returned to Bangkok on a sleeping car, which was more comfortable than the first trip, however, we got the top bunk, which was bright and noisy. We spent about a day in Bangkok doing random things, and resting at my Dad's place, then we were on a bush to Koh Samui--except not really.

The bus ride wasn't that comfortable. There were french people having sex behind us, and for some reason, there was a stop in the middle of the night at a half waypoint. This stop had poor bathrooms and hundreds of tourists. We made it to the port at Surat Thani about 6 AM, however, there would be no ferry until 8 AM, and something we weren't aware of.

As we boarded the ferry, we got to observe some foreigners. French, Australian, Japanese. Just a few of the flavors aboard the boat. It was something refreshing, yet disheartening to learn that Koh Samui was more of a tourist island.

I got sick. Sea sick. I decided to go out for a breather and ended up on top of the boat with some French and British gents. We all had our shirts off and the sun light to our backs. It was a warm with light humidity and all I could think about was getting to the island to sit in the sand and watch the ocean.

Our accommodations were pretty nice. We spent the first day relaxing and had dinner at our hotel. I rented a scooter. The next day we took our scooters to see the Monkey Theater were we got to play with baby monkeys and feed snakes and squirrels. This south Thai woman was hitting on me, which made me feel special. I hardly get hit on, but in Thailand, it happened a few times.



We took a ferry to Koh Phangan later for the New Year festivities. On our own for the better part of the afternoon, I called Mary and Jen to see if they wanted to hang out. They were tired so they went back to their hotel rooms to freshen up before the night’s party started. We ended up at both ends of the beach, then ultimately somewhere in the middle. We were only three, but I decided to remedy that situation. I turned around and found some British folk. I decided to befriend them and invite them to join our party, however, it worked the other way around—we ended up joining their party and subsequent adventures.



The next stop was to the Mountain Top Bar, at the north end of the beach. They had some mysterious “happy shake” that cost about $14 dollars. Fabled to have mushrooms in it, the effects were quite mild and the taste was of Coke and backwash. I didn’t have much of it at all. The gang though had a few.

I then met some more Australians and some girls from New York. The high light of my life to find some intellectual women on my trip, however, they seemed to be pretty busy experiencing everything there was to experience about Thailand, so about an hour later, we parted ways.

The girls were writing a book and keeping a travel blog:
http://www.lostgirlsworld.com

We lost the Brits, but found Mary’s group of people. We wandered around some more and I got lost, but found the British for the 2007 countdown.



The next day I took a flight back to Bangkok while Morgan and Brad stayed in town for another day to take the ferry/bus back. I must say, the plane was the best 100 bucks I’ve ever spent. I got back to Bangkok in about an hour.

The next day was my little brother’s birthday party and I helped the kids make some piñatas. I went out later that night and got a tattoo.

My days in Thailand came to an end and I quickly realized I would miss the place, but not too soon. There wasn’t anything for me in Thailand except for family, and growing up in the United States, life held more prospects than family, though my counter-part, and family friend, on one of my last nights there all there was seemed to be family.

I got back to Los Angeles and spent a few days with my new friends, who’ve become a sort of second family.

I lost my job. And now I’m trying to figure out my next adventure.

Photos will follow this post.

Just a few more hours...

This post never made it. It was started in Chiang Mai, but ended up finished in Koh Samui. Today is actually Sunday, December 31st, 2006. 8:15 in Koh Samui, Thailand.

So Chiang Mai was awesome because we got to ride elephants. The train ride wasn't so awesome. The first train was cold--about 30-40 degrees Fahrenheit.

The second train right wasn't so bad, but the food was terrible.

Now we're in Koh Samui after a long long bus and ferry ride. I got sick so I climbed ontop of the ferry, then kicked off 40 minutes later. But we made it. Slightly humid here, but nice. We're on a remote part of the island with few resorts. Last night we went to a bar and drank with a bunch of billegerant 30-40 year old Germans. Lots of Germans here strangely.

I'm going to try and find monkeys today, then go to Koh Pangan, which is about a 10-20 minute ferry ride across the seas.

Not much else to report, except I have a ton of photos I'll probably eventually post.

Carl died while I was gone. Life feels a little empty today.

Merry Christmas

So there are so many people singing Christmas songs here and blasting them in the malls. It's kind of annoying. Even thousands of miles away from home I can't escape Christmas music. Last night we got swindled by a taxi. I asked him to take us to the Muay Thai boxing--kickboxing--and he took us to an arena across town. He didn't use his meter because he said it'd be 120 baht. I said, fine, take us there--however, he did not. We paid him just the same and I can only hope that he uses the money to get his teeth fixed. He had the nerve to try and ask us for more money to take us to the right place. What an a-hole.

So the day wasn't a total loss. I found a bunch of things to buy and buying I did. My Xmas shopping is pretty much done. We also went to the night bazaar here where they have live music. I've come to the conclusion that the only songs Thai people know are Eric Clapton's "Wonderful Tonight" and Bob Dylan's/Guns N Roses' "Knocking on Heaven's Door." Somehow, Thai people think that these are the songs American's listen to the most, so they play it the most. It's slightly amusing to me since the first day I was here I went to Karaoke and they asked me to sing these exact same songs--to which I now regret for trashing my voice and making me sick.

We're starting to get bored of Bangkok and I am regretting putting my faith into so many of the people here. I wanted to spend more time in the country or the beaches, but that hasn't happened.

Here are some photos.

The Skytrain:


A view of Bangkok from the sky train.


Brad playing Drum Master!


The Night Bazaar at Silom


Xmas in Thailand on Khaosan Road

Morgan's detailed accounts...

I post up blog blurbs from our trip, while Morgan actually writes an epic...

You can read her accounts of our days here:

http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/doomcookie/

Getting better, and getting lost...

So I am getting better. The sickness is almost gone as I've gone to a hospital now and got a shot in my ass. Life is getting better. We went to Wat Po yesterday to see the sites. We have some pictures, but haven't fully decided what to do with them. We have 4 cameras between the three of us and we're using all of them. Two are film, one is an underwater camera which is going to be awesome.

So we got to take the sky train last night and hung out with Sheryl and her friends. They are good people. All of them are halflings. Either part-Thai and part (insert nationality here). All of them speak perfect english and Thai. It's amazing to see half Lebonese, Japanese, and Americans speak Thai with perfect clarity. By the way, I've lost my voice a bit, so my bad Thai has become incomprehensable.

We went to a house party later last night. There was a gift exchange and I got rotten fish in a jar. I didn't take it with me.

Here some photos before time runs up at the Internet Cafe:

Buddah at Wat Po


Sheryl Shannada Pook K... something. Design geek extraordinare.


Morgan and sick eddie.


Eddie (lebenon Eddie), Brad Jennifer, Kate. Some of our travel companions to Koh Pangan.

Sick.. as a dog.

So I was very unfortunate and got really ill. It was probably because I was Karokeing on a sore throat. Today I got a shot in the ass from a Thai nurse. They gave me tons of medicine for the next few days. It hurts when I swallow (Let the jokes begin). I went out with Sheryl a few nights ago and we got hammered of endless amounts of Heiniken. She even sang. My uncle Vitchit got drunk and started playing the drums. In Thailand, there's a live band that accompanies your singing. Sadly, I have no photos from that night. The band kept asking me to play and sing with them too--I think it's because I can sing American songs. I sang some Eagles. Mother fuckin' Eagles. And then I did some Tracy Chapman and some other crazy songs. I think one was Imagine by John Lennon. I was so hammered, the next day I threw up a bunch of times and my sore throat got worse. Today is our first full day here with Brad and Morgan. I am happy to report I'm on the mend and I'll be posting more photos soon. Monday we leave for Chiang Mai.

Here are Brad and Morgan in the Internet cafe.

Around town...

I booked us a hotel for Friday night.

There are tons of these in Thailand


I gave my little brother Michael a thing of insta-snow. He was pretty psyched. Him and my sister Jennifer decided they'd have a snowball fight... except you can't really crunch the insta-snow into balls, so it was basically a snow flake fight. (from left to right: Michael, Jennifer, and neighborhood kid).


Internet is slow here. I will post again later.

In Bangkok!

I'm hanging out with my Dad at his office. I haven't taken any meaningful photos yet, but I have 3 to share with you all.

San Diego Bay the morning I left (as seen from my Mom's place)


Hong Kong International airport


Kitty, my Dad's dog


I'm planning on picking up Brad tomorrow about 7 PM and then Morgan at 11 PM. I'll have more later.

Coke for HK$22 gets me 30 mins of Internet

I have finally arrived in Hong Kong. The trip was pretty taxing. I got up to stretch every few hours and I got to watch Pirates of the Carribean. Twice. I also watched some of my iTunes downloads--mainly SeaLab 2021. The ride wasn't too bad. 2 full meals, 1 small snack, and 1 larger snack. Plus tons of drinks.

The Hong Kong airport features 24/7 Christmas music, so it's just as annoying as it is in America.

I was wandering around aimlessly because there was no gate number posted for my flight to Bangkok. Now there is, and it's all the way down the terminal and I'm lazy. I needed to stretch my legs so I decided to walk around and found no Internet terminal. Apparently I've been walking by it all night. You have to buy something at the adjacent restaurant, though. This is where I purchased a 22 dollar Coke. Hong Kong dollars. The exchange rate is HK$7.6 to the US Dollar. That's still over 2 bucks for a can of Coke.

I'll be in Thailand in about 4-5 hours and I can't wait to get there. I just need some sleep. I rarely slept on the plane. I think my advice is to sleep early so you can pretend like you're caught up when you get to your destination. As soon as I get to Bangkok, I'm going to pop a unisome, which I purchased for a ridiculous $9 from LAX, and go to bed.

I don't know what more to add. I took a few photos already. My iPod is my best friend.