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 The stories from day-to-day Thailand will not go unpublished.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.

Leaving LAX

No one can ruin your game like your mother. Im at LAX and try for an upgrade--free upgrade. With my other standing next to me telling me I didn't need one and that "it's too expensive", I was unable to convince the girl at the counter to do anything for me. I was too busy thinking about my mom and how annoying she---and she was annoying the hell out of me. This is why I don't take my mom to work with me. So I will try again at the counter at the gate, this time with no distraction.

I'l be in Thailand soon. I also borrowed my mom's camera. That was nice of her. I'll miss everyone.

Message for Morgan and Brad: Bring jacket for Chiang Mai! It might be a bit cooler there than in Bangkok!

Bye for now.

Sang Som

The girls introduced me to a Thai whiskey called Sang Som. It's killer. I woke up with a wicked hang over this morning.

I've now been invited to KPMG's corporate winter formal which we are not sure if I'm going to attend yet.

Just remember, Sang Som is a killer. I only had like a shot of it. They drink it like mad in Thailand.

Chiang Mai Restaurant

Sheryl recommended this restaurant, Raan Ta nam ,in the Chiang Mai area which is akin to a bed and breakfast here. It looks elegant and lovely.

Ran Ta nam website

Thailand is fast approaching...

Thailand is coming (or rather, I'm going). We're all pretty much ready to go. We have our passports and plane tickets. What's left is to wrap up business and work-related things here states-side. I know Lindsay is working six days a week. I've been doing marketing like crazy to ensure the company will have enough exposure in the 2 1/2 weeks that I'm gone. I'm not sure what Brad is doing.

We are getting some help from Sheryl and her friend, who's supposed to be finding out about tickets and travel stuff to the New Years Eve party.

I've been learning Thai.

Life is getting hectic and I can't wait to go. I even have my USB charger ready for my iPod.

This is going to be awesome.

My Passport Has Arrived

...earlier than expected, I might add.

Monkeys and Giant Fish

So I talked with my family for hours about the things to do in Thailand. I even asked about going into other countries such as Burma and China or Vietnam and Cambodia. It seems that going to Vietnam and Cambodia will be very dangerous since we don't know anyone there, nor do we speak the language. China and Burma shouldn't be too bad, however.

In Chiang Rai, northern of Chiang Mai, my uncle owns a house he says we can utilize for our stay in the north country. Apparently near by is a temple where you can feed monkeys that come down to see you in the 100s. The same temple has a huge fish pond with giant fish. Close by is the opium museum created by the queen's mother which catalogs the history of the drug trade.

In Chiang Mai we'll see the long-neck villiage--a villiage of people with rings on their necks. That should be cool.

Perhaps my itinerary is going to be loosely based on:

December 19. fly into Bangkok
20-21. adjust to jet lag and pick Morgan and Brad up from the airport.
22-23. leave for Chiang Rai by plane or train.
24-26. spend time traveling across borders and lookig for monkeys and elephants
27-28. river raft down to Chiang Mai
29-30. spend time in Chiang Mai
31-2. travel to Pattaya beach
January 2-3. spend time in Bangkok.
4. fly home.

That's my tentative itinerary without consulting Morgan or Brad. I'll have to see what they'd like to do as well. I'm just stoked about seeing monkeys that travel on busses.

Side story: My mom told me about monkey's last night. She talked about how she was 7 years old and living in a small villiage in Thailand. The monkeys would ride a train or bus from the countryside and travel to her house. Apparently this is a common occurance and the monkeys are pretty smart. There are quite a number of monkeys that have learned to ride the busses and trains--and I guess it's all kosher. So hopefully, when we're in Thailand, there will be monkeys riding trains with us.

I'm pretty excited about this trip.

Dangers in Thailand

There are no known indigenous terrorist or rebel groups directly hostile to the U.S. in Thailand. Visitors should exercise caution if traveling near border areas with Burma, Malaysia and Cambodia, due to banditry, drug smuggling and separatist violence. Persons with known transnational terrorist associations transit through and visit Thailand with relative ease through legal and illegal means. These travel routes include not only the Burmese and Cambodian borders, but also the Malaysian border. Soft target vulnerabilities exist throughout the country; a situation that could easily be exploited by transnational terrorist elements if they begin operations here.

The far south of Thailand continues to experience daily incidents of criminally and politically motivated violence directed against Thai authorities by armed local separatist/ extremist groups. These groups have targeted Thai government interests, including government schools, courts and local security forces. Although there is no information indicating that these groups have targeted westerners, American citizens have been victims of this indiscriminate violence, as was the case in April 2005, when two Americans were injured by an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) that detonated at the Hat Yai International Airport in southern Thailand. For this reason, the State Department urges all American citizens to defer non-emergency travel to Thailand's southernmost four provinces including Songkhla, Yala, Pattani, and Narathiwat.