First-Timer to the Land of Smiles Part 1
Happy New Year to all Stickman readers.
I have been dreaming of visiting Thailand from the time I first discovered this site. It was in the year 2012 that I somehow stumbled upon this website. So it’s been a long wait of around 12 years to put my foot in the Land of Smiles. Thanks to Stickman for putting forward such a beautiful site. I have read almost every Stickman Reader’s Submission to most Stickman Weekly columns.
I wasn’t sure if I should be doing my first trip in the month of December, as it is the peak season and the prices would be high compared to other months of the year. I was also thinking it might be very, very crowded to visit in this month. So I booked my tickets at the very last moment, to be precise I was travelling on the 30th December and booked my tickets on the 27th December that’s only 3 days in advance. This was also my 1st international trip so I had to do some research of all the documents which are required for my trip. After booking my tickets it was time for visa, that was not difficult at all.
Now that the Thai Government has made visa free for all Indians for 30 days visit, from November 2023 to May 2024. I had one less document to worry about also saving me 2000 to 2200 baht in the process. Next comes the hotel booking. As per my research I had read that a tourist needs to have hotel reservations for all the days they would be staying in Thailand. So I searched on booking.com for the most affordable hostel and booked my entire stay with them. Next was to get 10,000 Thai Baht or equivalent US Dollars. So I visited a Travel Agent who deals in exchanging money and got the required amount of currency in US Dollars and also got a Forex Card. When I booked my air tickets I didn’t get the option of including Travel Insurance. So I had to book Travel Insurance separately it didn’t cost me much but it would definitely cover the costs, in case of any medical emergencies arriving while I am abroad.
At my local airport while checking in my baggage the airline staff asked me how much money I was carrying and what was the purpose of my visit. I told that I am carrying US Dollars which are equivalent to 10000 Thai Baht and my purpose of visit was Tourism. Then I remembered that I had no Thai Baht so I thought of getting a few Thai Baht from the Currency exchange counter at the airport, this was a bad decision as the fees which they charge is too high and there is a minimum of 3000 Thai Baht which you need to buy. At the Indian immigration counter there was a huge line of holiday goers but the line was moving swiftly as they had many counters. The immigration officer checked my passport and ticket and asked me which country I was travelling. I told him I was travelling to Thailand and he stamped my passport and gave me a green signal to go ahead. Now I breathed a sigh of relief that I am clear to board my 1st International flight.
Once I reached DMK Airport Bangkok I thought it would be a very difficult procedure in the immigration office and they would ask me a lot of questions as it was my 1st time to travel out of India. But I was wrong, there was hardly any queue at the Thai Immigration Counter and they didn’t ask me even one single question. They just saw my passport and my boarding pass and took a picture of me and I was all clear to enter Thailand. After collecting my baggage I bought a Thai SIM card which would enable me to use internet on my phone. That procedure too was an easy one.
The hostel which I had booked had sent me directions on how to reach from both the airports. So I followed the exact procedure and got the bus to Khao San Road. My first impression of Thailand was that it was a very clean city. The traffic flows in a very disciplined manner. After alighting the bus I had to walk for about 10 minutes to reach my hostel. I soaked in the fresh early morning air of Khao San Road it was amazing.
The check in at the Hostel was very smooth too, as I was coming by early morning flight I booked one day in advance so that I don’t have to wait till 2 pm for check in. While I was doing the check in procedure, there was one more Indian person who too was doing the check in, he had travelled in the same flight and also same bus from the airport to Road. We both were allotted bed in the same 8 bedded mixed dormitory. There were already few people staying in the dormitory. We could use the hostels lockers to keep our valuable items however I had not carried a lock. So I went to 7-11 to purchase the lock with 2 other mates from my hostel. Those 2 also had arrived on the same day from different States of India. After returning from 7-11 the first thing I did was to take shower and get dressed up to go and eat breakfast. I also wanted to put my clothes in the laundry. So I along with the Indian boy whom I met while checking in went out of the hostel to get some breakfast. As we were searching where to eat breakfast we were approached by one white man. He was very friendly and asked us where we were from. After speaking with him for a while we sensed that he was very drunk and we made our excuses and left. After leaving him we went to a restaurant to have breakfast which was very nearby to our hostel.
My new Indian friend told me that he wasn’t hungry and he would only have some juice to give me company. He was not too happy with the hostel he had booked. He said that he wanted to change his hostel. He had just booked the hostel for 1 night so I told him to adjust here for the night and search for another place for tomorrow. While we were having our breakfast I saw that the same white man who met us a while back was standing and speaking to some people who too were guests of the restaurant, who were having breakfast. I told my friend about this and in a while I think he saw us and he came to our table for a chat. This time he was carrying one bottle of water in his one hand and one bottle of alcohol in his another hand. We didn’t invite him to our table, he came on his own and sat next to my friend. As soon as he sat he opened the alcohol bottle and had some alcohol directly from the bottle without pouring it in the glass and mixing it with water. After consuming the alcohol he immediately started crying at this point I asked him why he was crying to that he only replied 3 words “WAR”.
My friend called the restaurant staff immediately and told him that this person was crying. The staff asked him very politely that how can he help him but he was very rude to him, so the staff went and called the owner. The owner lady came and asked the super drunk white man to leave her place but he started abusing her and started to call her “Bitch”. Now the owner lady was annoyed and she dialled the number for the cops and asked help from her staff to evict this unruly farang from her restaurant. I told my Indian friend that let’s pay the bill and leave from the restaurant or there would be cops all over our table and we don’t want to be questioned by the cops on our first day to Thailand. Before we could pay the bill the white man left the restaurant and cops didn’t arrive at the restaurant till we were there.
I had quit drinking alcohol and smoking almost a decade ago. But when I landed in Thailand I had thought that I am on a solo trip to Thailand and if all is well I might just have few beers on this solo trip. But I should thank the white man that he met me, because he opened my eyes and after looking at his condition I said to myself I don’t want to start drinking again and just enjoy my holiday without alcohol. After leaving the restaurant I told my Indian friend that I am going to Sukhumvit Road and maybe I will take a massage over there.
I took a local bus to reach Sukhumvit and it was very crowded. After I got down from the bus I started walking to explore the place. I had watched far too many videos about this place on YouTube so it was like a familiar place to me. I saw the Nana Plaza, Nana Hotel, Morning Night Bar, Stumble Inn, Hooters, all this I had only seen in the videos now I was seeing it in reality. After sometime I started walking towards the other side of the road. I entered one soi there I was greeted by a few ladyboys. This was my first encounter with a ladyboy I was not sure if I should take their offer for massage so I made my excuses and left them. Just when I walked a little bit further I met the most beautiful women I have seen in Thailand. Her name is Aey. She stopped me and told me that she will give me massage. I was in awe of her beauty and she was very soft spoken too. She had a lovely smile and she made me feel more comfortable. She was not pushy at all. I asked her for the cost of massage than she explained to me properly on what all type of services she offered. I wasn’t aware what was the going cost, she wanted X amount of baht all-inclusive full service. Which included shower, massage, blowjob and boom boom. I told her how much I can pay her. She agreed and I was on my way to getting laid for the very first time in the Land of Smiles.
To be continued…
Kay – Ardent Stickman Reader
Readers can contact me on kaybangkok71@gmail.com
