Honeymoon in Bangkok
Posted by Stuart at 10:09 AM on March 09, 2005Now that I have fallen out of the habit of updating this site on a regular basis, I totally forgot to mention one of the highlights of the last month: A visit from my good friend Brennan and his new wife. They decided to go to Bangkok for their Honeymoon, and I was lucky enough to get to spend some quality time with them while they were here.
(You might remember the long thread of recommended honeymoon places in Thailand. As much as I tried to convince them to stay in Thailand, they instead ended up choosing Bali. They said they had a wonderful time there, so it's all good.)
They seemed to have a good time in Bangkok as well. They went shopping, did river tours, did more shopping, relaxed by the pool at the Sukothai Hotel, went shopping, had massages, went shopping, ate a lot of good food, and fianlly, did some more shopping.
I was lucky enough to join along with some of the above. Brennan's dad had some connections who hooked us up with dinner one night and lunch the next morning at the Royal Bangkok Sports Club. Everytime I take the BTS between Silom and Siam, I look down on the immaculately manicured golf course and horse racing track at the RBSC, and I wonder what it looks like on the inside. I figured I would never know, since it is one of Bangkok's most exclusive clubs (even if you meet the membership requirements, there is still a 30 year waiting list). Well, thanks to friends of friends of friends, now I know!
Other events that week included lunch at Central Chitlom's Food Loft, sunset drinks at Vertigo at the 62nd floor of the Banyon Tree hotel, dinner at Anna's Cafe, another dinner at the Suan Lum Night Bazzar, and amazingly good foot massages at Healthland on Satorn. There was also a bit of relaxing by the pool at the Sukothai. By the way, if you can afford the outrageously high room rates, the Sukothai is a great little hotel. It has over-the-top service, nice rooms, and a pool area that seems to be miles away from the chaos of Bangkok (even though the hotel has a very convenient location near the corner of Sathorn and Rama 4).
So, needless to say, I felt very lucky that Brennan and Deb allowed me to take part in their Honeymoon. For a few days there, it was almost as if I was on vacation too.
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Woohoo we made stuart's journal. we're famous. thank you.
Thanks for amazing times in Bangkok. Fantastic memories, thank you for spending such good times with us. We're ready for another trip out there!
I can't wait for you to visit SF again soon. Don't worry, I won't hold out - I'll take you shopping.
FriskoDude,
Yeah, I guess it should be spelled "Sathorn", not "Satorn" (even though it's pronounced closer to the latter). The transliterated th's and ph's drive me crazy sometimes. Phuket, Thailand is not pronounced "Fu-ket, Thigh-land" :)
As far as the RBSC goes, it was nice, but fairly normal looking inside. Of course the view of the race track and golf course and the serviced apartments surrounding the US Embassy was stunning, but I was expeciting opulence. Instead, it was quite ordinary on the inside. The food was delicious, though.
To be honest, I am not quite sure what I think about the location or even existence of such a place. You are right, its a super-prime location (arguably the best location in all of Bangkok), but probably about .01% of the population gets to enjoy it and use it, other than views from the BTS. Knowing how things work here, however, I don't see anything changing any time soon.
But there are many places like this in the world. When we were having a drink at the top of the Banyon Tree last week, my Thai friend said something along the same lines: "Wow, isn't this beautiful and isn't it sad that most Thai people never get to see this view?"
All I can take away from it is that I feel very, very lucky to have opportunities like these.
I've always wanted to go the Bangkok Sports Club ever since my first visit to Bangkok, and would certainly like to hear some more about your experiences and impressions, since many people over the decades have lobbied for the seizure of that precious land for greater purposes. Seems like a race course could be located anywhere, and really doesn't need to take up so much prime property in the center of Bangkok.
On another note, where is this Banyon Tree Hotel? Must be something very new. Satorn or Sathorn? I prefer the latter.