Unbiased and Sometimes Random Info on Thailand

Gusto is a local Thai-Chinese family run cafe located at the foot of River Heaven Condominium development.  It has a nice flare, adorned with Mac and Apple magazines and books and even a large plasma television on the wall.   The beans are fresh and from the North of Thailand giving a medium to full strength flavor with only a short finish.  The service is very personable and they serve not only fresh brewed coffee and espresso but a range of favorite Thai snacks as well.   If you’re traveling ever in this part of Bangkok which is situated near Rama 3 road stop on by for a fresh cup of joe and a nice atmosphere be it inside or al fresco in the slight breeze!

UPDATE: This quaint little mojo stop has closed down.  Apparently their location nestled away only next to a large condominium complex wasn’t enough visibility for clientele.

With its spacious, foliage adorned grounds and slightly worn-down classrooms, there is nothing obviously off kilter about the Kampang Secondary School. The school is located in the north eastern part of Thailand known as Isaan that is typically populated by generations of traditional Thai rice farmers.  Every morning at 8am they all gather outside to sing the national anthem and watch the flag being raised. They then are allowed time to use the bathroom before heading off to their home room classes. Kampang is proud of its restrooms. Clean, and surrounded by blossoming tropical plants.  They have even won national awards for their pristine lavatories.

But there is something different about them too. Between the girls’ toilet and the boys’, there is one sign hanging with a half-man, half-woman figure in blue and red. This is the transsexual toilet, and outside, in front of the mirrors, some decidedly girly-looking teenage boys primp their hair and apply make-up.

‘Uncomfortable’

The headmaster, Sitisak Sumontha, estimates that in any given year between 10% and 20% of his boys consider themselves to be transgendered or ladyboys – boys who believe that they were born into bodies of men and were meant to be girls.

“They used to be teased every time they used the boys’ toilets,” he said, “so they started using the girls’ toilets instead. But that made the girls feel uneasy. It made these boys unhappy, and started to affect their school work.”

So the school offered to build the ladyboys their own bathroom, and they welcomed it. Triwate Phamanee is a lanky 13-year-old who is adamant that he will one day change his gender.  “We’re not boys,” he told me, “so we don’t want to use the boys’ toilet – we want them to know we are transsexuals.” Vichai Saengsakul, 15, agrees. “People need to know that being a ladyboy is not a joke,” he says, “it’s the way we want to live our lives. That’s why we’re grateful for what the school has done.”

Story Credit to BBC.com

This is just a quick post to note that a friend recently received his first non-immigration O (marriage visa) to stay in Thailand for 90 days.   This was done in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia at the Royal Thai Consulate.  The require documents for this were:

• Passport
• Application forma
• Copy of wife’s Thai ID card
• Copy of wife’s Thai house book
• Letter from wife (Thai citizen) asking that a Non Imm O visa be issued
• Copy of marriage certificate
• (Optional, but supplied to the consulate nonetheless) Copy of children’s birth certificates

His wife signed all documents related to her.  He arrived at about 10:00am and there was about a 45 minute wait to submit.  They require 1 business day to process things and the pickup time commences at 2:30pm the following business day.  Take care to note both Thai and Malaysian holidays as well as weekends.

This visa was a single entry non immigrant “O” visa food for 90 days as he did not have the required 18 months until expiration on his passport.  It’s been said that for the 1 year multiple entry, non immigrant 0 visas you’re required to show at least 400,000 baht in a Thai bank account or a minimum of 40,000 baht monthly income.  I’ve heard recent reports that applicants aren’t being called out on this but to be safe I’d recommend you have this proof.

Getting a Thai visa in the region is typically a great deal more difficult than attaining one in your mother country before you come to Thailand.  Often times honorary consulates will require nothing but a form and a letter for Imm B’s.  As I get updated reports in getting visas in the southeast Asian region I’ll post here on the Thailand Travel Depot blog!

I just heard quite a story from my very good friend and business traveller.  He made a reservation at the Evason Hideaway Resort in Hua Hin (Operated by Six Senses).  Him and his wife were in a car accident en route to the resort and she as hospitalized with a broken femur.  Yes, that’s a shocking and bitter end to their holiday in Thailand, but it gets more interesting.

My buddy then called Evason Hideaways Six Senses reservation center and told them what had happened and that they’d need to cancel their reservation.

They refused saying it was a full-prepayment reservation and that they wouldn’t refund his money.  So he’s in the hospital dealing with this, now livid that he has to pay for a very expensive vacation that he cannot attend due to a car accident.  When he asks to speak to the GM, Alan Thomas he doesn’t even get condolences about his wife in the hospital or their ordeal as a whole.  Not only does he parrot that they will not get a refund, he started quoting Shakespeare!  I asked my friend what would cause a General Manager of a supposed top flite resort like Evason Hideaway to start quoting Shakespeare on the phone to a distraught long time hotel guest when he’s trying to rid himself of any further grief, he had no idea.

I find it quite shocking that the GM of Evason Hideaway in Hua Hin not only didn’t offer any type of sympathy for their situation but he stood by his ‘we cannot cancel this reservation’ stance.  I’d expect a truly nice resort to have some humanity and understanding about the situation.  They were on the way to their resort when the accident occured!  Had they been going to a real resort that had real management in another city, perhaps it would never have happened.

Either way I find Mr Alan Thomas’s actions not only grossly inhumane but absolutely not even within the realm of how an executive in the hospitality should treat someone, anyone.   Let’s not even get into the fact that this guy, my friend, has been going to Evason for over 7 years, multiple times a year!

I was at Evason Hideaway a few months ago and ran into enough problems that I should have warned Dr. Friend not to go back there.  There was hair in my food, 2 times.  I figured it was mine at first then realized it was long, woman hair and my wife had been nowhere around the food.  Oddly, it was in my salad both times.

Also, I found the edges of the pools rotting, some tiles missing giving a tattered look while swimming.   All of the wood on the outside of the pool villa suites were rotting and needed treatment or replacing sorely.  The golf cart to pick us up would sometimes take over an hour to arrive if it ever came at all.  And we’re not saying in some $100/night room, this is a pool villa suite!  I can’t even imagine the awful things that happen to their standard guests staying in the hotel-building!

I’ll never go back to Evason again.  Not only from the experience I had last time, but also due to the treatement by Alan Thomas and their management as a whole.  That’s just not hospitable and when I’m on vacation, I want someone to treat me and my family well.  That’s all.

I just wanted to make a quick post here for a personal driver and tour guide that I’ve known and used for years when traveling to Phnom Penh, Cambodia.  His name is Neak Yorn.

He started as a motorbike taxi driver, but would accommodate an unmarked private car at my request as I simply can’t take driving around sweating on a motorbike all day.  I require air conditioned car service, he made it happen.

He’s had some rough medical problems and friends of mine have helped him out with that of which he is very grateful for.  He’s good people and has never lead me wrong.  He’s YOUR man in PNH!  I hear he drives a tuk-tuk now, but as I mentioned, you name it and he’ll make your transportation happen.

You can hit him up direct by email neakyorn at hotmail dot com!

Locations

Bangkok, Central Silom
Pattaya, Central Pattaya

What We Liked

I always drink the same kind of coffee.  Iced Americano, no sugar.  This is not only healthy (15 calories) but it allows you to taste every bit of the beans it was made with.  My Italian friend recommended Segafredo Zanetti as the closest to authentic Italian coffee he’s had in Thailand.  It’s a mild taste to me, yet still gripping and slightly complex (now I sound like I’m making wine notes!  I don’t pretend to be a connoisseur, I’m just sayin’!).

Also, this place makes the coffee the fastest I’ve ever seen in the world.  I haven’t taken notice as to how they make it so fast, but it’s always ready at least 3 minutes before I expect it, and it’s not pre-made.  Amazingly fast.

What We Didn’t Like

The coffee bean is not rich enough for me.  I prefer it to be stronger.  That’s just my preference.

What Could Be Improved

A selection of different bean types would be nice, but not even Starbucks offers such things.  It would be nice if coffee  cafes could adapt to this.

Summary

I wouldn’t go out of my way to get Segafredo Zanetti coffee.  But when I’m in a mall that has Segafredo Zanetti, I’d choose it over other places such as Coffee World.  The only coffee franchise I wouldn’t choose it over, and I say this somewhat ashamedly, is Starbucks.  Something about their Kenyan beans that rocks!

Link to the official post on Segafredo Zanetti’s site regarding their Thai franchises is here.

X2 Kui Buri

52 Moo 13,
Ao Noi Sub-district,
Muang District,
Prachuap Khiri Khan 77210
Thailand

When

We visited this hotel in November 2008.  X2 Kui Buri is still very new hotel by the reviews I’d read before choosing this particular resort, but by November 2008 I’d have to say it’s matured rather nicely although it’s not quite up to the highest standards set by other Hua Hin resorts such as Evason Hideaway.

What We Liked

We liked the very minimalistic design that was consistent throughout the resort.  From the check-in counter, to the walkway leading to our villas and throughout the resort.  It gave a clean, sterile, almost too-sterile feeling but it worked.  The staff were courteous although not the quickest to snap to attention and satisfy some needs such as delivering our cocktails to our villa and such.  But they were very accommodating and professional, humble and apologetic when we asked them to make the drinks stronger which I found refreshing after all.

The all villas/suites have their own semi-private plunge pools, but the large general pool was also nicely situated, which little caches where you could privately have ‘moments’ with your loved one.  I don’t mean sexual, but just kind of some cool places to chill out, sit, and not have to have the whole world staring at you.

We enjoyed the close proximity to Kui Buri (I believe that’s the name) downtown beach area.   It’s about 10 minutes on a motorbike which you can rent from X2 (they’re cheap and fully automatic!  Foreigner proof!).  This strip has a road that you can drive along the beach and see a beautiful mountain scape, clear blue water, restaurants and just laid back, non-touristy Thai culture.  There’s even an area by one of the hills/mountains near the end of the strip where a large troupe of monkeys live and play.  You can buy bananas and fruits to feed them.  They’re climbing all over the place, they’ll hop up on your vehicle and hang out.  Great fun and an amazing experience.

I’d like to point out the most memorable part of our trip to X2 Kui Buri that we’ll always remember.  My wife and I walked to the beach at about 12:00am and all of the lights were pretty much out at this time.  The guard who was watching over us, took it upon himself to go get us a beach-wind-proof candle and light it for us so we could sit on the beach lounge chairs and have our romantic time together.  He didn’t have to do that, he’s just the security guard.  It was a beautiful touch and just this one gesture made our opinion of X2 go up a few notches.

Being so isolated can be good sometimes, and we were pretty much ready for this more laid back, private vacation on the road less traveled (Hua Hin downtown is very touristy, hustly and bustly(sic)).

What Could Be Improved

The plunge pools outside of the villas.  While they are sparsely enclosed by thin shrubbery, they are not 100% private.  If you want to skinny dip or have some private time with your love one, you won’t find it outside your ‘private pool villa’.  Traditionally a ‘private pool villa’ in Thailand includes complete privacy.  Sunbathe in the buff if you will, swim free and in the skinny.  But this is just not possible at X2 Kui Buri.  I spoke with the management and they said they are working on enclosing the villa pools to become fully private soon.  Time will tell and when/if we go back I’ll update this post.

There are some safety concerns I noticed that would make an OSHA inspector in the USA have a massive stroke:

1. By the diner/restaurant, there’s a beautiful view (of which I might add, that the chef made a special table with candles right on the ledge of the view.  This was going above and beyond in response to my request for a ‘very special dinner’ for my wife and I. Thank you Chef!).  The alarming issue was that our char legs were within about a foot from going over a ledge with a 6 foot drop into the sand.  This was just at our special dinner.  When a special table isn’t front and center there, there’s just a deck/walkway that looks like it descends down into stairs so you can walk down to the beach when in fact it is a CLIFF with NO WARNING to anyone.  Heaven forbid it was dark, or you were tipsy or both for that matter!
2. The large community pool.  At night, there is no illumination, at least not at the late hour we were coming back from our private beach walk.  So unless you brought a flashlight, and completely sober, there’s a good risk of falling right into it.

About Our Room

The room was a nice, different design.  We liked it.  It had the minimalist feeling to it, but it worked.  A slight drawback was on the sides of the ceiling there are skylights, soft skylights, that are unavoidable and they let light into the room even when you don’t want it.

The only major disappointment in our villa was the lack of a bath tube.  Oh, how I love a hot bath.  I looked forward to the hot baths I would take and was disappointed when there were none.

Summary

X2 Kui Buri is a beautiful hotel, a new one that has almost reached full maturity in terms of service, facilities and location.  The location is ideal if you don’t mind driving 20 minutes or so past downtown Hua Hin in search of the road less travelled, a quiet, relaxing and very chic place to relax.  We’d definitely stay there again and the prices are always right.

These are the basic no-no’s while you’re in the Kingdom of Thailand.  Don’t take them lightly.

• Never talk bad about or disrespect the King or the Royal Family.  This also goes for objects that bear their seal or likeness such as money.  If you drop a baht note, do NOT step on it.  It’s like stepping on the King’s face.  If you don’t get beaten or even killed by the Thai mob that heard you say/do it, you’ll end up in prison on charges of Lese Majeste.   Suffice to say you won’t be winning any popularity contests while staying in ‘The Bangkok Hilton”.
• Never talk bad about or disrespect Buddha or the Buddhist religion.  Case in point;  A mentally disturbed Thai man started hacking up a famous Buddhist pagoda type statue called the Erawan one morning with a hammer.  A mob killed him within minutes.  Literally.  Don’t mess around with their religion or royals, period.
• Do not point at things with your feet.  Feet are the ‘lowest’ part of your body and using them to point at things is a sign of great disrespect.  Especially NEVER use it to point at a Buddha statue or image of the King or Royal Family member’s likeness.
• Do not touch Thai people on their head.  It is the highest part of your body and it’s to be treated with respect.  Hats go on your head, that’s about it.  NEVER touch something like a hat, with your foot.
• Do not get caught with drugs of any kind here, you’ll go to jail for a long time or end up on death row.  Seriously.
• Don’t be loud, obnoxious or lose your temper.  In Thailand it’s considered a weakness for someone to have to raise their voice or cause a scene to get their point across and you’ll be looked down upon.
• Do not get in a fight with a Thai person.  Not only will the police more than likely see it his way, but every Thai man within a 10 mile radius will come over to join in on your beating.  I’ve seen it happen a few times, thankfully not to me.

If you can heed these basic warnings you’ll be safe.  These are the big no-no’s.  Yes there’s tons of other things you should not do in Thai culture, but the big ones are covered here.  Thailand is a wonderful place where most people are smiling and happy to Westerners or farangs.  Just use some common sense and heed the above rules and you’ll get along just fine.  Explore Thailand, it truly is amazing!

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