Thailand Ho! My Travels in Thailand, Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam

A full panoramic shot of my view from the 30th floor of the Eastin Hotel Bangkok. Click to enlarge.

The Eastin Hotel Bangkok is located on New Pechaburi Road which apparently is just off of Petchaburi Road. This is probably the hotel’s greatest detracting feature; not only is the hotel not very close to any of Bangkok’s major attractions nor the BTS Skytrain, but it’s actually built next to the intersection of two of Bangkok’s biggest highways. Being from Canada and having traveled quite a bit, I’ve seen some fairly major freeway intersections before, but nothing prepared me for the scene from the hotel’s north side as loop upon loop of freeway entangle and disentangle right next door to the Eastin. This also means you have a large work camp near by, a train line next door and a lack of attractive landscape. On the plus side, there are quite a few shops and plenty of taxis in the area. I didn’t find many good restaurants nearby either, but you can walk to Putanam Market/Mall.

No, none of those are the actual hotel. I wish I had a pic of it for you with it’s cheap 70s looking ROYAL ASIA LODGE glowing halogen red vertically down the side of it. Instead here’s the view from the north side of the hotel on the 8th floor.The Royal Asia Lodge Hotel is located on Sukhumvit Soi 8, about 400 meters down Soi 8 from Sukhumvit Road. This isn’t a short distance! You’ll have to walk back or hop on one of the motorcycle taxis (if your heart can take it) if you’re coming from town, but the hotel normally provides a golf cart or tuk tuk ride from the hotel entrance to the main strip (Sukhumvit Road). Soi 8, however, is rather well located between some of the better Soi strips, and is close to the Nana BTS Skytrain station. It’s not too far to walk to Soi Cowboy and Nana Entertainment complex (if that’s what you’re looking for). About 400m to the right as you come out of Soi 8 you’ll find a pub called the Black Swan. Good place including free wifi Internet access.

I’ve gotta find a hotel with Internet access in my room for the next week or two while I plan out the next couple months’ travels. I’m starting to feel like I’m chasing my tail (good assessment Andy).

I went down Sukhumvit Soi 4, where Woraburi Hotel is among other serviced apartments but met with mostly disappointment. The Woraburi Hotel was okay, but their basic room doesn’t really compare to their upgraded one, and from what I’ve seen online there’s better. I’m checking out a place on Soi 20 called Bally’s Studio Suites which looks alright, as well as the Eastin Hotel (a pun on the Westin Hotel?) which is quite well priced, supposedly offers wifi (both supposedly do, but crossed fingers again) and is on New Petchburi Road. Now I’m not exactly sure where “New” Petchburi Road is, as Petchburi road is obvious enough but no sign of the New version of the road on any map…

I passed by the Nana Entertainment Plaza on Soi 4 but didn’t go in. Indeed it looks kinda sketchy, so much so that I didn’t even look closely, instead keeping my eyes…

I made it. Slowly (18 hours or so) but surely (no problems with immigration or anything!).

Me in the Royal Park Lodge hotel… exciting ain’t it? Yeah, right. I feel a bubble of culture shock looming up from the depths of my stomach… Or perhaps that’s just the hotel coffee.I’m currently in the hotel lobby where they DO NOT in fact have wireless, although there are plenty of wifi signals in the area that I’m picking up from my window they’re all encrypted or, perhaps worse, my computer is just not successfully connecting to them (same problem I was having in San Francisco sometimes). Bangkok seems like it has taken to wifi quite well, the only problem being that whoever owns those connections is smart enough to encrypt them. Damn.

The hotel, the Royal Asia Lodge, is okay at best. The bathroom looks like it could use a serious makeover and the ceiling is kinda claustrophobic. The window is tiny but adequate. Air conditioning works however, which may be my saviour. I’ve aclimated to North American weather and temperatures already I suppose, cuz it’s DAMN HUMID here.…

Gahd I can’t believe it but I’ve managed to get myself sick on the second day of my real voyage. This is ridiculous. My chest feels like about 200lbs and I had some good-ass diarrhea last night. The bloating is mostly gone today (although I’ve had to cut down the cigarettes as they seem to agitate my intestines), but we’ve had to cancel plans for going to Emily’s friend’s BBQ this afternoon because of my cough and congestion. Luckily my nose isn’t runny though, which is suprising and nice. This afternoon we find ourselves hanging out at this really cool cafe called Cafe La Onda on 16th St in the Mission district. They’re playing Franz Ferdinand, offer great coffees, teas and pastries, and have the coolest furniture (all older stuff, makes it feel like home) along with free Internet! If I could find a place like this in Thailand I’ll be set!

I’m really curious about the wifi/Internet cafe scene in Bangkok and the rest of Thailand. I’m hoping some entrepreneurial expat has setup something similar (preferably with free wifi if you have a beverage type deal).

But back to being sick. I’d love to know…