My Bags are Packed ...

 I am ready to go, leaving on a jet plane (John Denver)

Thavorn and I just celebrated our birthdays on the 23rd and 24th of September. Thavorn wanted a new iPhone Max Pro and I decided on a 21 day solo trip to Bangkok. I have not had a solo trip to Thailand in over 10 years and I am looking forward to it. I also booked a trip for the family in March of 2026.

I arrive on October the first and will stay at Asoke and Sukhumvit for 4 nights before going to the Empire Marriott in the business district near Pat Pong for 2 weeks, I then have 2 more nights on Sukhumvit before flying back on Oct. 21st.

It has been about 2 years since the last trip to Bangkok. I am curious to see what has changed and I suspect a lot has. I have watched quite a few videos and there are many new places (bars) to explore and many have closed down. Tourism is down about 7 percent this year and there are many more Asian (Malasians, Indians, Koreans) travelers now. It is also the end of the rainy season so there should be fewer visitors at this time.

I am just about finished recovering from my hernia operation so I will try some exercising in the pool as well as exercising drinking, socializing, and playing pool. Lots of walking as well as I explore the sois in and around Asoke and Sukhumvit.

I will post my observations over the next 4 weeks.

TTYL

Thailand - when to Travel

 Canada to Thailand is about 24 hours with a short connecting flight or two.

The rainy season is approximately April through to October. This impacts airfare prices quite a bit. I have discovered the cheapest fares are the shoulder months of March and October. The prices of the flights I want to take are about $1350 return.  Forget about the summer months where July and August fares are $2350 return. 

When you have to purchase 3 tickets it means huge savings in March or October.

I am flying this October solo for my birthday present to myself.

However, I started to think about Thavorn and Jaidan who have not seen family for almost 3 years.

I thought I would explore the month of March that would require Jaidan missing 3 weeks of school becuase of march break week in the middle. I checked the air fares and the 3 of us can fly for $4,100 return.

I am thinking of booking shortly to get that rate.

Yippy kai yah

Return to Bangkok

 It has been an unsettling 3 years. The first year was the diagnosis of a tumour on my right kidney and a 9 month wait for surgery. The second year was an incisional hernia from the first surgery and a 7 month wait for surgery. The 3rd year was the first hernia fix failing and a 8 month wait for the new surgery that happened on August 28th.

I am now into a 4 week recovery that includes my 75th birthday so I decided (WTF), it was time to celebrate myself with a 3 week walk-on-the-wild side in Bangkok! I leave on September the 30th and return on October 21st and for the first time in a long time, I am travelling by myself.

As, I once stated, 'You can't step into the same river twice ...' I will try to recreate my memories from 2011 ish and explore what I came to love about Bangkok. I have really no expectations and I will simply explore the changes that have been wrought in the past 15 years in Bangkok.

I plan on documenting my trip on this blog so stayed tuned as I expect it will become more interesting coming from Thailand rather than the Great White North.

Undies gifted by my son Jordan 

TTYL