Wednesday, November 27, 2019
Tuesday, November 26, 2019
Fourth Report, Final Report, Thailand Trip, November 2019
This is the final Report of four separate reports of my recent trip to Pattaya Thailand. The reports are in reverse order starting with my latest one at my blog site: binghamevent.blogspot.com.
19 November Tuesday. Played golf today with the group the Golf Club on Soi Metro. I had played once before with this group years ago. We played on the golf course Pattana which is a very long, nice course. I do not think I have scored well there. It has lots of water obstacles and is a long course. What was fun I played with Herbert from Holland and Richard from Los Angeles. I had talked to them on the way to the course and on the course. Herbert is a medical doctor from New Zealand and Herbert was an inhalist, medical specialist from California. I did not play well the first nine holes and seemed the trip has worn me out and I did not have the strength initially. It could have also been that I had not drank enough water even though the it seemed slightly cooler today for Thailand’s standards. This club, with a new owner did not have us start driving to the golf course until 10AM which in my view is too late in the day for Thailand standards considering the high temperature.
Bridge Wednesday (20th) was fun playing with Glen (London Cabby). I have played bridge over the years with Glen and he has developed into a fine bridge player. In April of this year I had left him my bridge notes and I do not know whether this has helped his game, but he is much improved.
Thursday (21) I played with a golf group that I had avoided playing with for years even though they were playing at some desirable courses. It is called he Growling Swan. One of its founders named Peter who is not a nice person who I wanted to avoid, is no longer there and moved to northern Thailand and may not even be playing golf. The group I played with was composed of people from Australia, Canada, and Ireland (all very pleasant to be with) (Colm, Colin, Steve). I rely on caddies over here to see where my ball goes and this caddy (a young person, 20s) could not see where the ball went, even when it was in the middle of the fairway. I shot a 37 (tied for second) using the Stable ford system and also made the longest put (winning 200 baht; approximate 7 dollars). It was a fun day. Their busiest days are on Monday, Wednesday and Fridays where up to 40 golfers will show up to play golf. We played on the golf course called the Eastern Star which over the years I have dreams about because of the challenging fairways where substantial water hazards are simultaneously on both sides of the fairway.
Friday, 22 November. Played bridge my last day with the Pattaya bridge group. My partner is Ivar Lima from Norway. We only disagreed once on the bidding. I have played bridge a total of 5 times on this trip to Thailand.
Beer is inexpensive over here. The charge a lot for hard liquor. I ate at the Mexican Restaurant and had a Margarita. The Margarita made the meal expensive for Thailand standards.
I have been told that approximately a year and a half ago, the dart boards were required to be removed from all the bars because of possible gambling. They have subsequently been brought back. A few years ago, the police arrested the entire group of bridge players that I play bridge with for gambling. Fortunately, I was not playing at the time of the arrests. This charge was subsequently dropped and the Thai Police captain responsible was later demoted. A government program was started afterwards indicating that they were positive to bridge players. Major bridge tournaments take place in Thailand and there was concern that there would be a loss of money for them not taking place.
Other information is that factories have moved from Thailand to Vietnam because of the poor rate exchange with western currencies. This has left a high rate of unemployment among Thai people.
One of the primary forms of entertainment for westerners over here is to go to bars and drink beer. The open-air bars exhibit this in mass. After golf Thursday, I had a cup of tea. Not a regular.
Golf groups and golf courses is a major activity over here. There are 22 golf courses in a fairly easy drive from where I am staying in Pattaya. It is fun to have a caddy and see these beautiful courses which are well maintained. Caddy are mandated on all courses. Many of the of the courses are designed by major designers such as Robert Trent Jones Jr. and Pete and Perry Dye.
On Saturday I went to the movies here and saw the movie Gemini Man. When going to movies here, it is a requirement to stand while a pro King video is shown. I always comply with this matter of respect in this country. The movie was entertaining. The previews shown ahead of the movie advertised many products (not movies) and were tiring to watch.
Sunday, 24 November 2019: Played my last time at golf this trip. Play with Colin’s Group. We drove to Green Valley and had a nice round of golf with Merel from Oregon, Sapra from Japan. I shot 36 using the stableford system. I did well on the front nine with a 20 and then the heat starts to have a serious impact on me. Merel appears to have a serious sugar diabetic problem and was very heavy which he explained that his medication caused. He was pretty demanding on a caddy regarding instruction his play of golf and club selection and she all at once got sick and left the course. A replacement was found which who was a substantial assistant for him considering his limited ability to be mobile. We were really crowded in the van to get to the course with very close contact.
Back at the hotel, I had a shock where I had made a mistake in booking the room and was due to check out today. That is a problem because I do not leave the country until tomorrow by plane. I paid the hotel staff for an additional day at a higher rate than I would have received from Agoda my favorite hotel booking agent. I paid for my mistake.
Rushing around the golf course, I had a minor injury to my right knee, and I need to be more careful her because of the uneven floors which are a frequent feature of construction here. I usually am; but, not today.
Walking around Pattaya, Thailand is not for the faint of heart. The traffic is almost unregulated, and a person has to be very aware of their surroundings to avoid being hit by a motorcycle or car. I have been in cars who have been in accidents over the years and it is best to step forward and offer “cash”.
Monday, November 25, 2019: my last day in Thailand. One would ask why I come to Thailand. For entertainment, golf with caddy, guaranteed bridge game, this is the place. Also, very nice rooms at good prices. For me it is deeper. This is my 24th trip to Thailand. The first one was in 1967 for a R&R from Vietnam. I spent two years in Vietnam. The first year was as an Infantry officer Battalion Advisor to a two Vietnamese Battalions. While assigned to the first one I was shot and after two months in the hospital, returned to another Vietnamese combat battalion. I developed strong relations with soldiers in the Vietnamese Army. Coming to Thailand, I am in a similar environment (jungle, heat) with entertainment. I am older now and these thoughts are not as strong. I have been back to Vietnam twice after the war. Vietnam is not a good vacation spot.
Regarding my past vocations (31 year U.S.Army (much of that in reserve and active duty assignments), (27 years in California prisons), (20 years teaching 100 college classes as adjunct faculty for a University, two colleges), I needed a break on occasion which would get my “head” in a total different culture. Thailand has always done that for me. I after a trip here, I am ready to get back into the reality of American culture.
Monday, November 18, 2019
This post is out of order. Please see third report before this one. Gary
To top off the day, my golf clubs were delivered
to my room. After a careful inventory,
all items are present. Wonderfu
Thailand Trip, second report
Today is Thursday and it has
been busy. Overate the wonderful
breakfast that is part of the stay at my hotel. I diet at home and this morning
I easily ate more than three times what I would eat in the mornings at home. And, it was very good. I then was busy going to the locations to
sign up to play golf with the two groups I have been playing with over here
lately: Traveller’s Rest Sports Bar and
Colin’s Golf Bar. I met with both
coordinators and got the times of when we leave each place to play golf.
I chatted with Colin and he reported some the
local information. The tourist trade has
taken a real hit here and particular the golf groups. The Thai Baht exchange rate to western
currencies is at an all time high. We cannot
buy much baht for a dollar, pound, etc. Collin did reveal that he is doing very
well renting his rooms to Thais and a person came in and wanted a room while I
was there. She wanted it for a month and
the best he could offer was two days.
She took it. Colin also mentioned that it is common now for the airlines
to misplace golf clubs when transporting them.
They are kept separate from the regular luggage and sometimes the
airlines misplace them. Which happened
to me.
I have been chattier than normal and had
extended conversations with Peter at the Traveller’s Rest. Peter is a Canadian who sold his energy
company because of pressure by environmental groups. I also Chatted with a person from Belgian on
the Baht bus on the way to the Central Festival Shopping Center to visit their Boots
pharmacy (favored by expats).
I also went to LTC John
Emerson’s golf group at the Golf Center.
John has sold his share of the bar and is now avoiding bars because his
drinking of alcohol was getting out of hand. I would stop by to talk to him over
the years based on our mutual Army background. I had an extended talk with the last remaining
partner of the original group of five who owned this golf bar.
Waiting for the Shopping
Center to open. It opened and hour later
then what is used to on my previous trips which reflects the reduced tourist’s
volume related to the currency rate change. I had two conversations waiting for
the center to open. One was with a
French person who was very nice to talk to with his only limited English
ability. I also talked with a person
from Bangalore India who stopped talking to me after I told him Indian beggars
grabbing me on my two months visit there 19 years ago.
Earlier, I stopped by
Kronberg Bar on the way to the shopping center which used to be a golf mecca
and I noticed that the golf sign up sheet was very limited indicating reduced
participation.
From the shopping center I
took a baht bus to my first golf groups location called the Sugar Shack and had
a cup of coffee. My first trip here was
in November 1991. I was adopted by a
person from Sweden who had me play golf with the Sugar Shack group. They are still operational with new
owners.
I checked out the Cinplex
theatre on second road and got the schedule for current English-speaking movies
(Midway, Gemini Man). I also bought a small
lamp for the room to read by and a small umbrella. It did have a major down pour of rain this
afternoon which I managed to avoid. To
end the afternoon, I went to my favorite Subway restaurant and had my favorite
vegetarian sandwich, followed up with a massage at my favorite massage
parlor.
Thailand 3rd
Report November 17, 2019
Friday, 15 November, I went
and played bridge at the local bridge center here. I had brought two wood turned gifts for two
of the coordinators for the bridge group and it seemed that these were warmly
received. I was able to play bridge with
John one of the coordinators. He is an
Australian who retired as a Major in the Australian Army and regrets that he
chose family over career and left the Army without achieving his career Army
goals. He did have rich careers
afterwards in civilian occupations. The competition
was keen as usual and though we did not place well, it was fun. I had brought a
portable fan, and this was not necessary because the air-conditioning has
improved.
The bridge group has a new
system for keeping track of the scores.
They use items at each table similar to iPhone which the scores are
recorded on and are posted to the system via the internet. This system is very modern and
expensive. Each phone like device cost
over 2,000 dollars and was a gift from one of the people who visits here and
plays bridge. The gift was from Avon
Wilsmore who is also the author of the book titled: Under the Table, The Case Against the Blue
Team. Dave, one of the primary coordinators
for the group gave me a copy of the book.
The book is about the world champion Italian bridge team who were proven
to be cheating and were sanctioned not to compete internationally in bridge
tournaments for a number of years. I look forward to reading the book.
After bridge I tried to go to
a favorite Italian restaurant which I try to visit on each one of my trips
here. Very good food. I could not find it in its usual location,
and it is evidently closed. I will miss
it. I did find a terrific Mexican
restaurant nearby and was treated to excellent Mexican vegetarian food.
The local laundry lost one my
shirts and I was able to retrieve yesterday.
It is a nice shirt and I am glad to get it back.
Saturday, I played golf with
the Travelers Rest Golf Group. The group
transported me along with four vans of golfers to the Pattavia Golf
Course. The course is very nice, and my
caddy was very efficient and pleasant.
The caddy’s here hold umbrellas over our heads to protect from the sun,
heat, mark golf balls on the green, clean golf balls, drive the cart, point out
the break for golf balls on the green, find golf balls when hit. They are a fun asset to play golf with which
is part of the fun to visit here. I
played with three people, two from China and one from Canada. I had an extensive talk with Mr. Chang who was
a past executive with Fortis Bank and ICBC bank who bought out Fortis. They were a good group to play with. I was suffering from Time zone change (14
hours difference here from the U.S.A.) and really broke down from the heat and
only was able to get 31 using the stable ford system of scoring. The heat of the day over here is
oppressive. When I used to walk the
courses over here (those days long gone), after three holes, the front of my
shirt would be totally wet with perspiration. Pattavia golf course greens are
obscene regarding how slick they are, and I had great difficulty putting. I ended up walking 11,670 steps even with
using the cart on the course. After
golfing over here, we take showers at their club houses. Otherwise no one would able to stand being
near us. A necessity and part of the
Thailand golf experience. The golf day
lasted too long and we did not get back until close to 6PM. We were stuck in significant traffic on the
way back to the golf meeting place.
Sunday, I played golf with Colin’s
Golf Bar Group. We played Greenwood golf
course which was very good. I had another good caddy and played well over all
with 37 on the stableford system. The
mistake I made was asking to play from the green tee box area because of my age
and also play that at my home course. An obese fellow golfer named Gordon from New
Zealand harassed me throughout the round regarding my use of this tee box and I
will avoid using it in the future. I
don’t like being harassed and am capable of playing from the white tees. On
this golf day there were no Americans present.
The bus going to and back from the course was filled with Irishmen,
English, and a Canadian. They chatter
constantly about what ever.
November the 18, Monday,
today is move to another hotel room day in the same hotel. Upgraded version. Also, another bridge day. I was moved to the nicest hotel room I have
ever stayed in. It is fantastic. See the
pictures. Formal living room with
TV. Large kitchen area. Terrific bathroom walk in shower with jacuzzi,
two balconies. It is called a Royal
Suite and it lives up to that name.
I played bridge on the 18th and
was assigned to play with Glen who in the past has not been the best bridge
partner. This year, there has been a radical
transformation. Even though we were not
at the top, he played very good bridge.
Any mistakes were on my part. The
bridge people speak mostly foreign, non-English languages. So, I am not able to
call the director about them because I do not know what they have said. Most of the countries are European which they
come from. This year there is no Asians in the group. There has been some in the past.
My big accomplishment yesterday
was arranging golf for today, and Thursday by going to the bar assembly places. So, for the rest of the week I will play golf
three times, bridge twice and then come home Monday.
Thursday, November 14, 2019
Hi
I am in Pattaya. I started this trip on Monday by driving to Antioch, taking the BART train at 5:25 PM to SFO. Took less then 2 hours. Long wait for my flight at 11PM with Cathy Pacific to Hong Kong and then to Pattaya. Very nice airport in Hong Kong. They changed the gates which were very far apart and involved lot of walking to get to the new gate. Too much. Surprised to see Christmas decorations in the airport In Hong Kong. Flights were good with nice movies to watch. Seat cramped as usual. Nothing new about that. Met nice Vietnamese person named ken who sat next to me flying to Hong Kong. He has a wife and 10-month-old child living in Vietnam. Ken works as a mechanic on Foreign cars in Sacramento. He came to U.S.A. when he was 20 and now is U.S.A. citizen.
At the airport in Bangkok, I experienced a crisis in the trip. My ATM card would not work. I had changed the pass code and forgot that I had done that. Fortunately, I always carry enough cash for an emergency like this. By the time I got to the luggage carousal I was able to get my large piece of luggage and my golf clubs were not there. A big part of the trip is playing golf and I was concerned that someone had taken my golf clubs from the airport as their own. This resulted again in my walking around the airport reception area talking with various staff members and eventually filing a missing luggage report. I ended up taking 16,000 steps yesterday. Too much walking. I met my taxi ride for Pattaya in the airport designated area. As usual, Tman taxi had a driver with my name on a sign in the waiting area. It was a very nice ride to Pattaya and took less than an hour and a half to make the trip. The highways continue to improve over here. This trip to Pattaya used to take many hours and included a rest stop break. I am staying at a nice hotel named the L.K. Royal Suites and includes a microwave which successfully popped some popcorn for me today.
I called the airport baggage lost and found and Cathy Pacific has located my golf clubs which will arrive late afternoon on Thursday to Bangkok and then transported to my hotel in Pattaya. Who knows where my golf clubs have been transported to in the world? I am greatly relieved that these clubs were not stolen. I have made many trips with my golf clubs around the world and this is the first time that they did not make the trip with me. I got a sim card for my travel phone that works in Thailand for less than 4 dollars.
I will have a down day Thursday and continue with my planned activities of playing bridge and golf. I will miss one day of golf which is probably best anyway considering my significant walking activity.
Thailand Trip, second report
Today is Thursday and it has been busy. Overate the wonderful breakfast that is part of the stay at my hotel. I diet at home and this morning I easily ate more than three times what I would eat in the mornings at home. And, it was very good. I then was busy going to the locations to sign up to play golf with the two groups I have been playing with over here lately: Traveller’s Rest Sports Bar and Colin’s Golf Bar. I met with both coordinators and got the times of when we leave each place to play golf.
I chatted with Colin and he reported some the local information. The tourist trade has taken a real hit here and particular the golf groups. The Thai Baht exchange rate to western currencies is at an all time high. We cannot buy much baht for a dollar, pound, etc. Collin did reveal that he is doing very well renting his rooms to Thais and a person came in and wanted a room while I was there. She wanted it for a month and the best he could offer was two days. She took it. Colin also mentioned that it is common now for the airlines to misplace golf clubs when transporting them. They are kept separate from the regular luggage and sometimes the airlines misplace them. Which happened to me.
I have been chattier than normal and had extended conversations with Peter at the Traveller’s Rest. Peter is a Canadian who sold his energy company because of pressure by environmental groups. I also Chatted with a person from Belgian on the Baht bus on the way to the Central Festival Shopping Center to visit their Boots pharmacy (favored by expats).
I also went to LTC John Emerson’s golf group at the Golf Center. John has sold his share of the bar and is now avoiding bars because his drinking of alcohol was getting out of hand. I would stop by to talk to him over the years based on our mutual Army background. I had an extended talk with the last remaining partner of the original group of five who owned this golf bar.
Waiting for the Shopping Center to open. It opened and hour later then what is used to on my previous trips which reflects the reduced tourist’s volume related to the currency rate change. I had two conversations waiting for the center to open. One was with a French person who was very nice to talk to with his only limited English ability. I also talked with a person from Bangalore India who stopped talking to me after I told him Indian beggars grabbing me on my two months visit there 19 years ago.
Earlier, I stopped by Kronberg Bar on the way to the shopping center which used to be a golf mecca and I noticed that the golf sign up sheet was very limited indicating reduced participation.
From the shopping center I took a baht bus to my first golf groups location called the Sugar Shack and had a cup of coffee. My first trip here was in November 1991. I was adopted by a person from Sweden who had me play golf with the Sugar Shack group. They are still operational with new owners.
I checked out the Cinplex theatre on second road and got the schedule for current English-speaking movies (Midway, Gemini Man). I also bought a small lamp for the room to read by and a small umbrella. It did have a major down pour of rain this afternoon which I managed to avoid. To end the afternoon, I went to my favorite Subway restaurant and had my favorite vegetarian sandwich, followed up with a massage at my favorite massage parlor.
To top off the day, my golf clubs were delivered to my room. After a careful inventory, all items are present. Wonderful.
Monday, November 11, 2019
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)