Songkran 2012 Bangkok Otto Bar

This April was the Thai New Year's celebration called Songkran. The most obvious celebration of Songkran is the throwing of water throughout the city. This is accompanied by putting white paste on the face. The acts of throwing water in the past were subtle, however throughout the years the act has progressed into an all out water fight among participates. This year I spent the new year playing on Sukhumvit Road in Bangkok. The celebration is celebrated throughout the Kingdom and even more in Isan.

Bangkok Pattaya busts...

So down in Pattaya the police have been doing there usual round of going in to clubs and locking the doors then subjecting everyone to a drug test. In any western country this would be a big invasion of privacy buy when in Thailand you have to be careful that you stay away from drugs. Even if you take do drugs which is not my thing but to each there own you cannot be sure to get away with it after the fact because you could be spot tested. This is a very hot topic here but it has been going on for  a while. One would have to suspect that if you in a club that gets raided that the owner might have forgot to pay his tea bill......

Into the new year....

We entered the new year in Bangkok via Insomnia Nightclub on Sukhumvit Soi 12. The club is a well known after hours club that caters to travelers and locals alike. The club actually stayed ope until 10 am in the morning with the very determined to stay till close. When the lights came on people poured out into the streets and were welcome by the intense glow of the morning sun. 

I will mention this that traffic was the highest I have seen all year however still very low compared to years in the past for high season. The final week of the year is usually the busiest time of the year. This year was determined to be different with the tragic flooding around the city and the general unstable situation in Bangkok I am afraid people decided to go elsewhere for there holiday travels. Next major holiday will be the Songkran holiday that falls on a weekend this year so it should demand a good turn out.

Free Train rides over New Years!

There will be free train rides provided by the State Railway of Thailand during the new years holiday! The governor of the Railway said there will be up to 20 free non air conditioned trains as well as 6 air conditioned trains serving Bangkok to Chiang Mai, Ubon and Surat Thani. I personally would not mind a nice train ride with the weather being so cool it might be a good time to get away. The governor said usually there are up to 100,000 passangers a day but with the long weekend holiday they are expecting more then 120,000. One thing he did add was the security will be more lax to avoid delays...... is this something you really want to decrease during a holiday season?

Travel Bargains and such after the floods....

This week I was wondering what kind of travel deals are going around in Bangkok. Since this is high season and there has not been much tourists due to the flooding one would think that there should be some really good deals to be had. With a quick search for the flights to the surrounding region and there are deals. Flights to Cambodia and Myanmar are very low as well as longer haul flights to China, Macao and Singapore. I do think it is funny however the one airline that has seemed not to lower there prices is Thai Airways. Thai Airways is one of the best airlines out of Thailand but they have seemed to drop the ball on this front.  

Bangkok second airport no more water....

So the last of the water has drained from Don Muang Airport the former international airport in Bangkok. The airport has been flooded for over 4 weeks now. The officials at the airport say it will take at least two months to get the airport functioning again. Most carriers have moved out there working planes long ago. However, out of commission planes laid on the tarmac with water completely over the landing gear. I really like travelling through Don Muang because it is really quite and there are very few lines compared to Suvarnabhumi Airport.

747 past it's prime.....

Watching American Sports in Bangkok

Some people living abroad find it very difficult to watch American sports. There are a few obstacles that will obstruct you. The first and most severe is the time difference, most major cities in the states are ten to thirteen hours behind. This alone is enough for most to people to follow up when they get up in the morning. The other major obstacle is there are not many channels that actually show American sports. The major channel that does show NFL and NHL games is ASN. Recently True Move has dropped ASN so it is leaving sports fans in a real wedge. The best solution I have found is Sportscorner located on Sukhumvit Soi 20. The bar has a slingbox linked up to a westcoast cable out let and can show just about any sporting even you would like to see. Even better if you don't want to stay up till the we hours of the night you can stop by after 3pm and the games can be replayed for you!

Location