Bangkok trip report: 10 Days of Bliss.

[jason1975]

7 hours ago, spoon said:

He stays until breakfast and before he left, i asked him if he can let his friend (who went with my friend) knows that i lost my phone and I will meet him later at dinner as per agreed before. 

 

Smart thinking on your part!

I find it helps to know the guys and their friends.

When my guy's Iphone 14 broke down in July, he used his friend's Line account to contact me! His friend has my Line because ... hehehe!

Same thing happened recently in December when his new Iphone 15 suddenly shut down and needed software update at Apple Store. My guy got another friend to video him explaining what happened and this other friend sent video to me. And of course, I have his Line because ... hehehe!

[hank75]

2 hours ago, jason1975 said:

 

Understandable that you thought that FB = Facebook as it is globally accepted shortform.

But when it comes to bars in Bangkok, regulars tend to use the following short form for the bars

FB - Freshboys

DB - Dreamboys

GB - Good Boy

Clearly I need to expand my range of bars lol. I guess I’m a creature of habit I usually gravitate towards familiar places and faces during the limited time I have. 

Also I’m truly sorry spoon had to experience losing his phone. I can’t imagine anything more stressful especially when trying to enjoy vacation time. I hope there is a happy ending during the next chapter (well multiple happy endings)

[10tazione]

55 minutes ago, jason1975 said:

I have his Line because ...

... we both collect stamps!

(reminds me of language school ... Write 10 sentences that start with ...)

[vinapu]

7 hours ago, hank75 said:

Clearly I need to expand my range of bars lol. I guess I’m a creature of habit I usually gravitate towards familiar places and faces during the limited time I have. 
 

most of us are, but my habit is to try to visit every bar at least once per trip, if only to see what's new and support their business

[vinapu]

7 hours ago, hank75 said:

 I can’t imagine anything more stressful especially when trying to enjoy vacation time.

I easily can, staring with passport and wallet. Likely fact that I don't use phone for any financial operations unless absolutely unavoidable ( so far only one case) helps. 

[jason1975]

6 hours ago, vinapu said:

most of us are, but my habit is to try to visit every bar at least once per trip, if only to see what's new and support their business

Good on you to visit every bar! Me too but on my recent trip, I missed out on Banana and Atlas (it was open during my first 2 nights then it closed).

[jason1975]

6 hours ago, vinapu said:

I easily can, staring with passport and wallet. Likely fact that I don't use phone for any financial operations unless absolutely unavoidable ( so far only one case) helps. 

Even if you don't use your phone for financial transactions, losing it will be inconvenient because you suddenly lose access to all your contacts.

You have to spend time to log in to the different apps again and retrieve contacts and messages.

The handphone has become an indispensable object today.

[zombie]

"The handphone has become an indispensable object today."

-I agree with that. 

And the loss of a phone in Thailand often needs a police report to be made...

[vinapu]

7 minutes ago, zombie said:

And the loss of a phone in Thailand often needs a police report to be made...

 really ? It would not even cross my mind unless phone would be stolen by using force , harming me in process.

[vinapu]

2 hours ago, jason1975 said:

The handphone has become an indispensable object today.

when comes to travel , I almost agree although on my recent trip to Havana one day I left phone in the hotel( by neglect , not by design) and found my sightseeing day very normal.

At home I very rarely carry phone with me when going about and find it quite liberating.

[vinapu]

2 hours ago, jason1975 said:

Good on you to visit every bar! Me too but on my recent trip, I missed out on Banana and Atlas (it was open during my first 2 nights then it closed).

It happens to me sometimes to miss one or two bars as well , usually on shorter trips , it's why I noted ' I try".

Many members including you  will knife me but bar I miss  most often  is Freshboys , lol ( 3 times in last 10 trips me thinks)

[spoon]

9 hours ago, vinapu said:

I easily can, staring with passport and wallet. Likely fact that I don't use phone for any financial operations unless absolutely unavoidable ( so far only one case) helps. 

I agree, passport and wallet wouldve been more hassle especially on a trip and most of your cash are in the wallet. Ive learned to store most of my cash elsewhere ( safety deposit box or locked luggage) and only carry enough cash to spend for the day. This trip, i also use a smaller card holder for my more frequent items so i dont have to take out my wallet as often. Losing wallet will still be a hassle as my cards and ID along with driving license are all there so all need to be replaced. Passport, its a nightmare indeed. 

3 hours ago, jason1975 said:

Even if you don't use your phone for financial transactions, losing it will be inconvenient because you suddenly lose access to all your contacts.

You have to spend time to log in to the different apps again and retrieve contacts and messages.

The handphone has become an indispensable object today.

Yes, it went through my mind that we have become so dependable with our phone.

Losing access to contacts, we used to memorize phone number, and i still memorize my father's phone number for cases like this

Reinstalling apps. I do realize, some apps like whatapps, you cant change your phone number without access to the old phone or old phone number. So only way to retrieve my account back is to have my phone provider to reinstate my old phone number with a new sim on a new phone. This will probably require a police report. 

Financial transaction. Cant deny this has made it much easier for payment, transfer, checking balance etc without having to visit bank. Good thing about going to thailand is most of my transaction are in cash lol

And of course, the social media, games, things we do to past time. Losing a phone, i cant use it for distraction anymore. 

[jason1975]

Back in September, a few days before I was to fly to Bangkok to meet my guy, my previous phone went dead. 

I did not back up my Line account. If I log in to Line on a new phone, all previous messages would be gone.

I took my phone to repair shop and they said it was a CPU issue. At least 2 weeks to fix.

No way for me to contact my guy so I used forum messaging function here to ask a forum member to send a Line message to my guy to let him know my phone was broken.

I was able to establish contact with my guy eventually and it was through Tiktok and then WhatsApp.

Now we use WhatsApp to communicate even though I restored my Line account.

[floridarob]

2 hours ago, vinapu said:

on my recent trip to Havana one day I left phone in the hotel( by neglect , not by design) and found my sightseeing day very normal.

With the roaming charges in Cuba, better to leave a cell phone turned off, by design when there.

[TMax]

I used to take an older phone to Thailand for any contacts there and just get a local SIM but last trip I took my regular phone and just left it in the hotel room safe, I had that to check messages every few days as I was awaiting notification of a medical procedure back home. I did take my Samsung tablet and used Line on that if I wanted to be in touch with anyone (especially the massage shops), I didn't miss carrying a phone around so I guess I'm a bit of a dinosaur 😂  Excuse for taking an older phone was if I lost it or it got stolen it wouldn't have been a worry as I keep nothing serious on the phones.

[jason1975]

2 hours ago, vinapu said:

Many members including you  will knife me but bar I miss  most often  is Freshboys , lol ( 3 times in last 10 trips me thinks)

It is understandable that you skip FB. Not many hunks there for you.

[spoon]

Day 4 - The morning after

After i sent my guy away at lobby, I went back to the reception to asked if there is any update about my phone. Sadly, the answer is still no update. I replied to them saying that I guess Ill need to shop for a new phone now, to which they awkwardly chuckles. 

Went back to my room, I recalled that I have my laptop with me, and perhaps I still have access to my whatapps. I recently use whatapps web to access certain file from my phone. So I switch on my laptop and checked if I can open my whatapps. And voila, it is still connected to my account! I immediately grab a pen and paper to jot down all the important phone numbers from my contact. I also texted my two malaysian friends telling them the whole ordeal. 

I also checked my email. And there i saw a reply from bolt customer service about the lost phone report sent by hotel receptionist. Its an email asking for me to give additional detail, my phone number where they can contact me, and consent to share it with the driver. This was apparently sent to me at 3.31 am and i replied with the hotel receptionist number and hotel name around 9.33 am. And I received a reply of acceptance 9.37 am. I am impressed with the speed of response by bolt customer service!

After checking my email, whatapps and facebook on my laptop, i search on how i can open my line account on the laptop but this wasnt successful, not without my phone with me. Went for a nap a bit then was woken up by door bell and a knock on my door. I thought oh must be the house keeping. 

Went to the door to open it and its actually the bellboy, telling me that someone at the lobby asking for me, to return my phone. Im still half asleep but the news woke me up like ive been punched in the face. Still in disbelief, I told the bellboy thank you so much and I will be right down.

Went down full with anticipation, and as I came out of the lift, I saw him the bolt driver from last night, and on his hand, my phone! It was turned off though, probably due to out of battery. I cant describe this feeling of relief, like all of the sudden, all my headaches are gone. I thank the driver and the hotel bellboy and believe it or not, had to convince the driver to take some cash from me as appreciation. He first refuse the cash, but when i told him it is to cover his gas and it is also from my heart, he reluctantly accept it. He then asked to take a picture with me, showing the phone, to report back to bolt. The receptionist working right now was already a new crew so Ill have to thank the night shift receptionist tonight. 

Back at the hotel, I immediately charge my phone and start to switch on my phone. Told my two malaysian friends that Ive gotten my phone back. Having my faith in humanity restored, i started browsing my line, replied a text from forum member, and started planing my next massage, this time with history massage. Been meaning to try this one guy but based on previous report, his tips is quite high, but recently, a friend told me that he has reduced his tips. Also texted a fellow forum member that might be in bkk. All booked, and back to having my nap. 

Woke up and went for my massage appointment at history, and met my KL friend there, he also booked another masseur there. My session went better than expected, massage was super sensual, my masseur is really good looking with greek god like body, and after was great as well. 

Tonight, a planned dinner with some forum veterans, 5 of us at 25 degrees. It was at first only a dinner for two, but I asked one of them when he is free to meet for dinner and he asked if i wanted to join tonight's dinner and i said yes, and asked if some other members can join as well, so in the end, its 5 of us tonight at 6.30pm

Had a nice catching up and since its still early, I went to see forum member and watching some of the guys playing pool at bar downstairs of freshboy. We then went to jupiter for the night for their show. And of course, the highlight of the show is still the famous boom, but their overall shows also improves. Yes, they have decided to increase the entrance free by 100 baht. We chose to swallow it as my friend already have someone he wanted to off tonight and I already have a guy as well. In my mind, i couldve just reduced amount of guys ill tip tonight by 1 lol. A very productive night indeed, my friend booked a guy tonight, and tomorrow as well, which is his last day. I also prebooked a guy as well. 

Had supper at foodland, but before that, went to goodboy to say hi to a fellow forum member who has now confirmed with me that he is in bkk. Went back to our respective hotel by bolt. By now im a loyal bolt customer hehe.

At the hotel, I told my guy to go to the lift first as i went to the reception to say my thanks to the receptionists. She asked if I already bought a new phone and I told her that no, i havent bought one yet.

[jason1975]

20 minutes ago, spoon said:

I also checked my email. And there i saw a reply from bolt customer service about the lost phone report sent by hotel receptionist. Its an email asking for me to give additional detail, my phone number where they can contact me, and consent to share it with the driver. This was apparently sent to me at 3.31 am and i replied with the hotel receptionist number and hotel name around 9.33 am. And I received a reply of acceptance 9.37 am. I am impressed with the speed of response by bolt customer service!

After checking my email, whatapps and facebook on my laptop, i search on how i can open my line account on the laptop but this wasnt successful, not without my phone with me. Went for a nap a bit then was woken up by door bell and a knock on my door. I thought oh must be the house keeping. 

Went to the door to open it and its actually the bellboy, telling me that someone at the lobby asking for me, to return my phone. Im still half asleep but the news woke me up like ive been punched in the face. Still in disbelief, I told the bellboy thank you so much and I will be right down.

Went down full with anticipation, and as I came out of the lift, I saw him the bolt driver from last night, and on his hand, my phone! It was turned off though, probably due to out of battery. I cant describe this feeling of relief, like all of the sudden, all my headaches are gone. I thank the driver and the hotel bellboy and believe it or not, had to convince the driver to take some cash from me as appreciation. He first refuse the cash, but when i told him it is to cover his gas and it is also from my heart, he reluctantly accept it. He then asked to take a picture with me, showing the phone, to report back to bolt. The receptionist working right now was already a new crew so Ill have to thank the night shift receptionist tonight.

🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰

[jason1975]

22 minutes ago, spoon said:

At the hotel, I told my guy to go to the lift first as i went to the reception to say my thanks to the receptionists. She asked if I already bought a new phone and I told her that no, i havent bought one yet.

You didn't tell her the happy ending? 🤭

[jason1975]

23 minutes ago, spoon said:

Had a nice catching up and since its still early, I went to see forum member and watching some of the guys playing pool at bar downstairs of freshboy.

On most nights, from 7pm to 9pm, there are several highly skilled pool players playing at the pool table bar. The guys are very sexy when they play!

[khaolakguy]

Very relieved for you that everyone was so helpful and you got your phone back. Restores faith etc

[macaroni21]

I'm coming to this thread late, but what a tale! Indeed, very relieved for @spoon too that the phone came back.

After a couple of near-misses regarding phones many years ago, I have determinedly made myself acquire some better habits. I choose trousers with pockets -- as many as possible -- and my habit now is that my phone is always in one particular pocket, unless I take it out to read/send messages. It goes back into the pocket immediately after. 

It's a front pocket, not a back pocket - which is possibly the worst place to put one's phone. Not only will the phone be easily lifted out by a thief, one needs to take it out of the back pocket each time one sits down... and leave it on a table, car seat or somewhere else.

In Thailand, an additional problem is the power bank. I find that I need to have one with me when I am out and about for most of the day (and maybe into the evening). Fortunately, I tend to go about with a backpack, so there's space for that too.

Another point brought up earlier in the thread is that of how others take notes for trip reports. In my case, I dictate into my voice recording app on my phone. I do this several times a day, e.g. when I am walking out of a massage shop; that way I make a record of prices, tips, names, even bits of conversation before I forget. The app generates a transcription, which I can, even days later, copy-and-paste to build a report. I realise however that dictating into a recording app is an acquired skill; many people, I notice, can't do it. The skill involves being able to dictate in complete sentences with clear diction, with content delivered in a coherent narrative order. That way, after downloading the transcript, one does not have to do much more than light editing. I credit my managerial training in my younger days for that skill, having had to dictate fairly long letters to my secretary. It may be a lost art, by now.

[vinapu]

11 hours ago, spoon said:

 Losing a phone, i cant use it for distraction anymore. 

look at bright side, losing phone would be mighty distraction itself

[vinapu]

9 hours ago, floridarob said:

With the roaming charges in Cuba, better to leave a cell phone turned off, by design when there.

I bought SIM card in airport for 7 USD valid for 7 days and it provided excellent coverage , I did not even use hotel's Wi Fi once.

[vinapu]

9 hours ago, jason1975 said:

It is understandable that you skip FB. Not many hunks there for you.

indeed. No grudge against bar or boys there but yes, rarely I see type i like there. Good Boys downstairs is better bet