2004 | Hello from the Five Star Vagabond

Samui Bangkok Pattaya 2004

April 26, 2015 by David Herd

This it not part of my travel blog, just my personal photo & travel history from 2003.

Samui Bangkok Pattaya 2004

Samui Bangkok Pattaya, another three trips in 2004. It was a quieter year for travel after my amazing busy year of travel in 2003.

One of my favourite pastimes

I have to maintain my 110 kilo weight. 🙂

Another favourite pastime.

Her name is Jan and she soon became my favourite Pattaya princess.

Another Cherry Bar princess

A beautiful smile & a very sweet lady.

Aussies out of control

Richard Blair aka Mr Stingy out of control in a Soi 8 beer bar. He only recently discovered Pattaya and was carrying on like most newbies.

Samui Bangkok Pattaya

Another two Aussies, John “Pothole” Martin and Ken Shelly have discovered their nirvana.

Pothole & friend

Here is Pothole with what seems to be an attractive Thai lady that he had just negotiated a short time liaison in his hotel room. Of course she turned out to be a LadyBoy which made absolutely no difference to him, in fact he happily described the whole event in great detail to the rest of us sitting around the pool. My only comment is “too much information”.

Happy street vendor

Thai people have taken street food to an art form, however care should be taken when choosing what to eat.

Gorgeous Thai girl at Sabai Lodge

As they say in the classics, if you have got it, flaunt it. 🙂

Sabai Lodge Soi 2 was our favoured hotel

Pothole from Sydney and hypo-active Dan from Airlie Beach

Cold beers in Soi 8

Ken and “Stingy” just before we flew to Koh Samui to continue their indoctrination.

Beach Rd bar with Greg Clee.

Greg & I live in Markland on Beach Rd, he is on 17th floor & I’m on 20th.

Koh Samui

The flight to Samui was very tiring for Stingy, on another note Thailand is the only country in the world he is considered a “handsome man. 🙂

“Stingy” Blair and Ken.

It was around this time I gave Richard the nickname Stingy. It came about when he and Ken were on the beach and a Thai lady was reading his palm. She looked at him and said “you are a very wealthy man, but Stingy”. Of course she was spot on, so many times Richard would be drinking with Ken and showing off by buying lots of drinks for the girls behind the bar knowing that Ken would have to pay half the bill, but the girls would think he was the hero. As soon as I heard what the girl on the beach had said I gave him the label “Stingy” which has stuck with him until today in 2015. I also taught Ken to always have separate “bins”, meaning Bills, when drinking with Richard so he couldn’t pull his usual bill splitting stunt.

Koh Samui sunset

Taken at Chaweng beach from my preferred beachside hotel, the Baan Chaweng hotel.

Chaweng Beach Koh Samui

There are a number of reasons I prefer Samui to Phuket, first they restrict building to not exceed the height of the palm trees. Secondly there are not as many noisy Australian tourists which suits me fine. Like most places however progress has not been kind, to me Samui was more enjoyably in the late 90s and early 2000s. Many of the older charming buildings in Chaweng have been replaced by gold shops etc, such is life.

Ken Shelly and a BBQ prawn

I used to see a lot of Ken in these early days, however in the last couple of years when he comes to Thailand he does his best to avoid me, (he is not alone) c’est la vie. 🙂

Big Dog at Nana Plaza Bangkok

Nana Plaza Bangkok sex sin sleaze it’s all there. I have been a frequent visitor for 20 years & have seen the LadyBoy population rise from 10% to around 40% today. This does not suit me at all, give me the sexy young girls any day.

Sadly Richard passed away aged 76 on October 15 2022.

Phung aka Cleopatra

My favourite Bangkok girl, we met in 2001 at Nana Plaza and got together every time I was in town until about 2009 when she left the business. It’s now 2015 and I hear she is living with a guy in Europe.

Cleo with the huge smile

Without a doubt one of the most terrific Thai ladies I have ever met.

John Sinclair and Rod Perrin, RIP.

Rod was an ex Sydney cop who retired and moved to Forster on the NSW coast. These days he spends most of his time in Thailand. John was originally from Adelaide and after 3 or 4 failed marriages moved to the Gold Coast. He spent around 10 years there before moving to Thailand around 2002.

Gorgeous Eve likes her pepper hot.

The biggest pepper grinder I have ever seen. Eve has a German sponsor from Airlie Beach, a very odd type of man who regularly travels to Thailand. I am on his black list, then again I am on quite a few blacklists. 🙂

Atlantic Bar Pattaya

Another gorgeous girl in Pattaya.

One more to finish

So many girls & such little time. 🙂

You too can have a body like this if you abuse it.

Thanks for visiting my Samui Bangkok Pattaya photo blog from 2004. I eventually moved to Thailand in 2011 and am enjoying a stress free life in paradise. I do an around the world trip each year, please check out Seven Super Cities trip in 2014 and my Eastern European Odyssey in 2015.

Here are some more posts to check out

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