Departure date, Feb 7
ETD 1:00AM (didn't happen)
Clusterfuck, India style
Going to start right off by saying, as you can see from the opening line, this post is not rated PG, not for the judgemental, prude or uptight. This is going to be a hardcore, open and honest account of my experience in Bangkok. It's sometimes funny, and sometimes not so funny, but always interesting and hardcore. Read at your own risk.
Our direct flight to Bangkok was supposed to leave at 1:00AM, Thursday morning. We four, lovely ladies all arrive at the airport within fifteen minutes of each other very excited about our first trip to Bangkok. Not one of us had been there before and we were looking forward to this trip very much. It was also our good friend Erika's birthday on Saturday, a great excuse for a girl's weekend!
Not surprisingly the flight was delayed.nNo problem, bar was just a few feet away from out gate, so we grabbed a table and some drinks and waited. And waited. And waited. First the flight was just delayed an hour. Then it was canceled. Then we were told that we would be re-directed to Bangkok thru Hong Kong. It would take two hours, it would take ten. No one knew. The Thai Airways officials were not giving us information. Any and all our information was mere speculation amongst the other travelers. At one point one of of the Thai Airways reps was surrounded by a mob of people demanding answers and she literally turned around and ran away. Smart girl. It was complete and utter chaos. Misinformation after misinformation ensued. At the pretense of herding us disgruntled passengers to another flight, we were told to follow some TG (Thai Airways) representatives. They took us straight to baggage claim where we were told to retrieve our luggage. Nothing else, just get your bags. I can't describe how frustrating it was to want information, any information and not receive any. It took more than an hour at baggage claim to get our luggage. Apparently the "baggage crew" was upset that the same ten or so bags that were circling around on the carousel were not retrieved in a timely fashion so they refused to put more bags on until those were taken. Finally some disgruntled passengers took the bags off and the rest of the bags finally started coming out. After we all had our bags we asked the reps, "what is happening, will we be able to take an alternate flight, what time is that alternate flight supposed to arrive in Bangkok, what is going on?!!!!!!!!" the same reply of "two more minutes, we will give you more information in two more minutes"....it was so laughable because at no time whatsoever were we given one straight answer. A very visibly upset man actually took a swing at one of the airline representatives. It was like watching a train wreck. All of a sudden soldiers came and surrounded the passenger and I'm not sure what happened to the guy as our little group was at the information desk trying to obtain any info that would help us decide on our next step. I don't know how it happened but finally someone said to us "our flight is back on, the same flight will be leaving at around 6!" Now keep in mind, our flight was originally supposed to leave at 1:00AM, after the delay, cancellation, and retrieval of our luggage we were told all was for naught, we are now going on the same original flight, so let's get our bags re-checked in, get new boarding passes and wala! We will be on our way shortly. Easy, peasy! We are told all this while just hanging out by the baggage claim area. A TG rep tells us, not to worry, all passengers and luggage will be re-checked in and all is very well and good to go! This is where we lost one of our four. None of us could blame her for giving up and calling it a day as we still did not know whether this was for true or not....were we really going to get to Bangkok?
Our direct flight to Bangkok was supposed to leave at 1:00AM, Thursday morning. We four, lovely ladies all arrive at the airport within fifteen minutes of each other very excited about our first trip to Bangkok. Not one of us had been there before and we were looking forward to this trip very much. It was also our good friend Erika's birthday on Saturday, a great excuse for a girl's weekend!
Not surprisingly the flight was delayed.nNo problem, bar was just a few feet away from out gate, so we grabbed a table and some drinks and waited. And waited. And waited. First the flight was just delayed an hour. Then it was canceled. Then we were told that we would be re-directed to Bangkok thru Hong Kong. It would take two hours, it would take ten. No one knew. The Thai Airways officials were not giving us information. Any and all our information was mere speculation amongst the other travelers. At one point one of of the Thai Airways reps was surrounded by a mob of people demanding answers and she literally turned around and ran away. Smart girl. It was complete and utter chaos. Misinformation after misinformation ensued. At the pretense of herding us disgruntled passengers to another flight, we were told to follow some TG (Thai Airways) representatives. They took us straight to baggage claim where we were told to retrieve our luggage. Nothing else, just get your bags. I can't describe how frustrating it was to want information, any information and not receive any. It took more than an hour at baggage claim to get our luggage. Apparently the "baggage crew" was upset that the same ten or so bags that were circling around on the carousel were not retrieved in a timely fashion so they refused to put more bags on until those were taken. Finally some disgruntled passengers took the bags off and the rest of the bags finally started coming out. After we all had our bags we asked the reps, "what is happening, will we be able to take an alternate flight, what time is that alternate flight supposed to arrive in Bangkok, what is going on?!!!!!!!!" the same reply of "two more minutes, we will give you more information in two more minutes"....it was so laughable because at no time whatsoever were we given one straight answer. A very visibly upset man actually took a swing at one of the airline representatives. It was like watching a train wreck. All of a sudden soldiers came and surrounded the passenger and I'm not sure what happened to the guy as our little group was at the information desk trying to obtain any info that would help us decide on our next step. I don't know how it happened but finally someone said to us "our flight is back on, the same flight will be leaving at around 6!" Now keep in mind, our flight was originally supposed to leave at 1:00AM, after the delay, cancellation, and retrieval of our luggage we were told all was for naught, we are now going on the same original flight, so let's get our bags re-checked in, get new boarding passes and wala! We will be on our way shortly. Easy, peasy! We are told all this while just hanging out by the baggage claim area. A TG rep tells us, not to worry, all passengers and luggage will be re-checked in and all is very well and good to go! This is where we lost one of our four. None of us could blame her for giving up and calling it a day as we still did not know whether this was for true or not....were we really going to get to Bangkok?
See this pic? No ques, no counters with ticketing machines, yet we were supposed to be rechecked in a timely fashion? Somehow during all this chaos Erika and Jma discover that a bit further down the airport area, where there were actual check in counters, TG reps were sending a few passengers down there at a time. When we asked what was going on, we were finally told "yes, they are checking in people over there, but do not go over there, because if you do, people will follow you and we don't want too many people queing up and making a big line for the check in over there (where it was orderly and efficient) so please remain here, we will check you in shortly". Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight. We three, all had trolleys loaded with our luggage, very nonchalantly and in unison wheeled our trolleys around and took off in break neck speed and with the wind flying in our hair headed directly to those counters! Once there we all had a fit of the giggles and the biggest smiles. We were laughing and joking and all of a sudden we just knew we were going to get Bangkok!
Within about fifteen minutes we were re-checked in along with our luggage and headed back to that same bar where we had started off our early morning departure. In less than an hour we were on our way! Total delay time was between five and six hours, but totally worth it once we were sitting in our seats and on our way to Bangkok.
Okie dokie, here is where you should stop reading if you would like to end off this read with a happy, rated PG ending. Let me back up by saying that we didn't indulge in any drugs, orgies etc...but we did see some things that were disturbing. Go big or go home and folks....after what we went thru to get to Bangkok, "holla land of squalla"......we were open to all experiences.
Again, no one gets shot, mugged or sick......but although we joked and teased many times before the trip over the things we were sure to see "Ladyboys, PatPong area", etc we were determined to see "the real Bangkok".
So......a couple of hours on the plane, we get to city of squallor.....get checked into hotel, blah blah blah, we are finally ready for the first night out! We took a taxi to the Patpong district. Which is also know as the red light district, anyway, we head that way and decide to look for a restaurant as we were all pretty hungry. For some unknown reason we head into an alley. There Jma and I see a man squatting with his pants pulled down and wiping his ass because he has just taken a dump on the sidewalk. Maybe not the street we should be heading down for a nice dinner? Whatever. We continue on our way and we quite literally bump into what seemed like a nice restaurant. Yada, yada, yada, we eat, lovely dinner, head back out to experience Patpong! When we were driving into the area we couldn't help but notice these loud, big, neon signs....see below:
Okie dokie, here is where you should stop reading if you would like to end off this read with a happy, rated PG ending. Let me back up by saying that we didn't indulge in any drugs, orgies etc...but we did see some things that were disturbing. Go big or go home and folks....after what we went thru to get to Bangkok, "holla land of squalla"......we were open to all experiences.
Again, no one gets shot, mugged or sick......but although we joked and teased many times before the trip over the things we were sure to see "Ladyboys, PatPong area", etc we were determined to see "the real Bangkok".
So......a couple of hours on the plane, we get to city of squallor.....get checked into hotel, blah blah blah, we are finally ready for the first night out! We took a taxi to the Patpong district. Which is also know as the red light district, anyway, we head that way and decide to look for a restaurant as we were all pretty hungry. For some unknown reason we head into an alley. There Jma and I see a man squatting with his pants pulled down and wiping his ass because he has just taken a dump on the sidewalk. Maybe not the street we should be heading down for a nice dinner? Whatever. We continue on our way and we quite literally bump into what seemed like a nice restaurant. Yada, yada, yada, we eat, lovely dinner, head back out to experience Patpong! When we were driving into the area we couldn't help but notice these loud, big, neon signs....see below:
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