Chill Sky Bar Saigon is a wonderful venue with breathtaking views of the city. Perched on the roof of AB tower it is a terrific place to have a few drinks before dinner.
Amazing view from Chill
Looking down from the 51st floor.
Chill
Building with the purple lights is the Pullman.
Fantastic Saigon skyline
I first came to this exciting city in 2003 and now in 2015 so much has changed.
Saigon at 8 pm.
Saigon is a vibrant exciting friendly city.
Fabulous bar
76A Le Lai | Rooftop of AB Tower, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam (Formerly CHILL Skybar, Restaurant, Lounge) Phone:+84 8 3827 2372
Tables at Chill
The sky bar is well worth a visit, put it on you bucket list.
A table with a view
There certainly is a building boom happening in this city right now.
Drinks at the bar
A girls night out at Chill.
Red wine from Chile
About $14 aud + 15% compared to at least double that at Sirocco in Bangkok.
Seafood fettuccine $26 aud + 15%
The serving was rather small but an excellent taste made up for it.
The chefs at 27 Grill, above Chill Sky Bar Saigon
27 Grill is located directly above Chill Skybar. When entering the restaurant guests are greeted by a large, glass enclosed wine cellar with some of the finest wines and vintage champagne’s on display. Further on in the restaurant is the open kitchen, built of polished stainless steel, marble and various kinds of polished stone. A key part of the kitchen is the over sized grill, open for all guests to see their meals being freshly prepared on one of the few charcoal grills in the city. Located in the back corner of the restaurant is the private VIP dining area that can be left open or completely closed off.
District one
I visited this city twice in 2003 and stayed in a small hotel overlooking this park. The New World Hotel also overlooks the park which is the centre of the city, for a discounted room rate book through THIS LINK.
Another look at the bar
As you can see it is a rather spectacular bar. Many thanks for visiting my Chill Sky Bar Saigon photo blog.
This is the view from Horizons the amazing rooftop bar. A great five star hotel located opposte the beach & above the Central Festival shopping mall. Just book through THIS LINK for an excellent room rate.
Best Pattaya travel guide gives you quick access to a number of my most popular travel blogs to help you enjoy the wonderful seaside city of Pattaya in Thailand.
Fabulous views, excellent restaurants & a very good room rate if you book through THIS LINK.
The building in the middle is the Holiday Inn, on the left is the Amari Hotel which is another very good five star hotel. Use THIS LINK to book for a very good room rate.
Sutus Court is a great budget hotel right i the heart of one of Pattaya’s main bar areas, just use THIS LINK for a terrific room rate. 420/100 Moo 9 Soi Buakhao.
This is the view from Horizons the amazing rooftop bar. A great five star hotel located opposte the beach & above the Central Festival shopping mall. Just book through THIS LINK for an excellent room rate.
Bangkok canal cruise in a long-tail boat, which is known as Ruea Hang Yao, a type of watercraft native to Southeast Asia, which uses a common automotive engine as a readily available and maintainable power-plant.
As you can see many of the waterfront homes resemble shanty towns, unlike other parts of the world including the Gold Coast in Australiaand Fort Lauderdale north of Miami,where any home on the waterfront is usually an expensive mansion.
No luxury here
In real estate terms this is what we call the poverty pack.
The daily catch
Lunch is ready. 🙂
Bangkok canal cruise in a longtail boat
The craft is designed to carry passengers on a river & may include a lightweight long canoe hull, up to 30 meters long, and a canopy. There is a great variation among these boats, some have evolved from traditional craft types, while others have a more improvised look, the sole defining characteristic is a second-hand car or truck engine.
What a huge engine
And bloody noisy as you can imagine.
Waiting in the lock for the water to rise.
Until recently, the canals of Bangkok accommodated many social, cultural, and commercial activities, functioning as important public places for residents of Thailand’s capital city. Dating from the founding of the city in 1782, the canals in Bangkok are of cultural importance to the Thai people, having originated as a means of providing security against attack, as a source of sustenance (food and water), as the focus of religious ceremonies and celebrations such as the Loy Kratong Festival, and as a site for recreational activities such as swimming and boating activities and competitions.
Luxury waterfront home, I don’t think so.
Faced with the combined threats of land subsidence and rising temperatures and sea levels, the World Bank has predicted that Bangkok’s flood risk will increase four-fold from now by 2050. Bangkok is among the top 10 cities in the world facing the biggest potential impact from coastal flooding by 2070. The Thai capital, built on swampland, is slowly sinking and the floods currently besieging Bangkok could be merely a foretaste of a grim future as climate change makes its impact felt, experts say.
She does not instill confidence
The river and canals are very busy with water craft buzzing past at a rapid rate, on this day out driver was not at all concerned, but I can assure you we were. 🙂 Not everything goes to plan when you take a Bangkok canal cruise, here is a story from a Thai lady who works for the Bangkok Post. So my advice is if an operator seems angry of unfriendly simply try another one until you are comfortable with your choice.
Many thanks for joining me on my Bangkok canal cruise photo blog.
Not everybody is happy on the river
A Vietnamese cargo ship ploughed into riverside houses along the Chao Phraya River in Phra Pradaeng district yesterday April 5t 2017, damaging three homes.
Residents fled to the streets in panic as the cargo ship loomed over them. Three houses were damaged, one badly, but nobody was injured.
iCheck Inn Soi 11
When I’m in Bangkok I like to stay in Sukhumvit Soi 11, here is an excellent budget hotel, if you USE THIS LINKyou will get a great rate of around B1100 per night, or $30 USD.
Fabulous views, excellent restaurants & a very good room rate if you book through THIS LINK.
The building in the middle is the Holiday Inn, on the left is the Amari Hotel which is another very good five star hotel. Use THIS LINK to book for a very good room rate.
Sutus Court is a great budget hotel right i the heart of one of Pattaya’s main bar areas, just use THIS LINK for a terrific room rate. 420/100 Moo 9 Soi Buakhao.
This is the view from Horizons the amazing rooftop bar. A great five star hotel located opposte the beach & above the Central Festival shopping mall. Just book through THIS LINK for an excellent room rate.
Hilton Pattaya five star hotel dominates the skyline in central Pattaya. Perched above Central festival shopping mall the location is perfect.
Even better at sunset
Certainly one of the best locations in Thailand to watch the magnificent sunsets while enjoying a cocktail.
Captured the flash
What a fluke, I managed to take this photos just as the flash activated. 🙂
Hilton Pattaya Spectacular decor
The modern architecture is absolutely stunning.
Lounge near reception
Hilton Pattaya five star hotel is as modern as any hotel I have ever been in.
Cocktail bar and lounge
The Hilton Pattaya is in a perfect location opposite the beach and above Pattaya’s best shopping malls. Central Festival has a huge amount of restaurants and shops so you never really have to leave the building.
If you are in Pattaya and want to go to Hua Hin there is now a daily minivan service, they have offices in Pattaya, Hua Hin and Cha Am, for Hua Hin the mini van leaves at 8:00, 10:00, 12:00 and takes 4 hours to get to Hua Hin, priced at only 400baht.
The Pattaya office is on South Pattaya Road, if your heading towards Sukhumvit road go over 3rd Road and past Soi Ko Pai/ Soi Bongkot and it’s on the left hand side at soi 10, which is around 300 meters or more from Sukhumvit Road.
Pattaya Office 088 709 2365
Hua Hin Office 088 709 2364
Cha Am Office 089 254 1399
Fabulous views, excellent restaurants & a very good room rate if you book through THIS LINK.
The building in the middle is the Holiday Inn, on the left is the Amari Hotel which is another very good five star hotel. Use THIS LINK to book for a very good room rate.
Sutus Court is a great budget hotel right i the heart of one of Pattaya’s main bar areas, just use THIS LINK for a terrific room rate. 420/100 Moo 9 Soi Buakhao.
This is the view from Horizons the amazing rooftop bar. A great five star hotel located opposte the beach & above the Central Festival shopping mall. Just book through THIS LINK for an excellent room rate.
I flew to Adelaide in October then drove to Philip Island along the Great Ocean Road before staying with friends at the winery in Dromana. A couple of days wandering around Melbourne I flew to the Gold Coast for a week to catch up with friends.
This is not part of my travel blog, just lots of photos from 2014 featuring friends, family & trips.
I have to tell you, life is very good in Thailand.
Drinks with Barrie Comfort
A nice Pommie guy who also lives in Markland. I have given him the nickname “Butterfly Dundee”, because he is always photographing butterflies. 🙂
Kayo flew over from Tokyo for a visit.
I have known kayo for around 10 years, we met in Australia when she and I were living on the Gold Coast. I caught up with her in Tokyo in February and she flew to Thailand for a few days in August.
Welcome Inn Soi 3 North Pattaya
One of my favourite places to eat in Pattaya, close to where I live and the food is terrific and very cheap. Sadly it was demolished June 2015.
Greg’s Kitchen
My brother Warren and Lenny Schorsy at Gregs Kitchen. Sadly we lost Lenny in April 2016 to a brief illness, RIP.
Mike Beard the cartoon man.
Mike has lived in Pattaya for 20 years and produces some of my favourite cartoons.
Roland is a very happy Sydney barrister who often visits Thailand for business reasons.
Ooa a gorgeous girl at Drinking St
Sadly this gorgeous babe went back home to the country about a month later.
David Herd Thailand 2014 at Drinking St
A week or two after this photo was taken sadly this beautiful young girl decided to leave Pattaya and go back to her home in the country.
I just ordered a double Jack Daniels.
I leave a bottle or two at the Cherry bar then pour my own at my leisure. The charge s only $10 and the girls provide me with ice & soda. Life is good for David Herd Thailand. 🙂
Fabulous views, excellent restaurants & a very good room rate if you book through THIS LINK.
The building in the middle is the Holiday Inn, on the left is the Amari Hotel which is another very good five star hotel. Use THIS LINK to book for a very good room rate.
Sutus Court is a great budget hotel right i the heart of one of Pattaya’s main bar areas, just use THIS LINK for a terrific room rate. 420/100 Moo 9 Soi Buakhao.
This is the view from Horizons the amazing rooftop bar. A great five star hotel located opposte the beach & above the Central Festival shopping mall. Just book through THIS LINK for an excellent room rate.
Holiday Inn Pattaya Beach Road, opposite the Beach in North Pattaya. Consisting of two huge towers, several swimming pools and all the usual five star facilities. The tower on the left opened in October 2009 and the one on the right in August 2014.
Click on the photo below for a terrific room rate, you can book now & pay later, plus enjoy free cancellation if you change your mind. Pattaya is a great seaside city, come & enjoy the fun. 🙂
Great location
Away from the crowds and madness of south Pattaya the location is more peaceful and quiet yet only a 10 Baht bus ride to get to the action.
Looking north to Wongamat
Just north of Pattaya is Wongamat where there are some nice bars and restaurants.
November 2007 Holiday Inn Pattaya
There are 367 rooms in this tower.
Here is what you will see from your hotel window every morning.
Great vision of Parasailing in Pattaya, Thailand
Holiday Inn beach Road
There is another on the terrace as you enter from the street. A 4th pool is in the executive tower in the new building.
Flow Coffee shop
This is one of my favourite places in Pattaya for coffee and cake. At 7pm they offer sandwiches, cakes & pies at 1/2 price.
Delicious cakes & good coffee
Here is an example of the terrific Holiday Inn cakes.
Sunset at the Holiday Inn
They make the best pizzas in Pattaya here.
Assorted cold cuts
If you don’t want a pizza there are lots of alternatives.
Thanks for visiting my Holiday Inn Beach Road photo blog, as you can see it’s an excellent hotel in a great location.
Click on the photo below for a terrific room rate, you can book now & pay later, plus enjoy free cancellation if you change your mind. Pattaya is a great seaside city, come & enjoy the fun. 🙂
Fabulous views, excellent restaurants & a very good room rate if you book through THIS LINK.
The building in the middle is the Holiday Inn, on the left is the Amari Hotel which is another very good five star hotel. Use THIS LINK to book for a very good room rate.
Sutus Court is a great budget hotel right i the heart of one of Pattaya’s main bar areas, just use THIS LINK for a terrific room rate. 420/100 Moo 9 Soi Buakhao.
This is the view from Horizons the amazing rooftop bar. A great five star hotel located opposte the beach & above the Central Festival shopping mall. Just book through THIS LINK for an excellent room rate.
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. 🙂
Was Lollipop, now Suckers
I prefer the name Lollipop but I guess they are now referring to the people who enter the premises. 🙂
Here is the name a few months ago
This post is going to show you the old and the new Nana Plaza Bangkok
The more things change the more they stay the same. Can you believe it’s 2018 & Lollipop returns. 🙂
Lollipop just refuses to die.
Nana Plaza Bangkok
Nana Plaza Bangkok seems to be forever changing not always for the better. In fact Soi Cowboy is more spectacular and the girls seem friendlier, the downside is that it is more expensive.
December 2014 with friends
I like to stay at the Dynasty Hotel which happens to be only 40 meters from Nana Plaza so it is a very convenient drinking spot for me. In the photo above is Bow, Matt Harkness and Roland Bonnici.
The Plaza comes alive after 9 pm
The later it gets the busier it becomes.
Entrance from Soi 4 to Nana Plaza Bangkok
The plaza does not look too appealing in daylight.
Spellbound
Nana Plaza Bangkok is square-shaped, with a single opening on the west side, and consists of a ground floor and two additional floors. It started as a restaurant area in the late 1970s. During the early 1980s, a few go-go bars appeared and gradually replaced the restaurants.
The composition of the bars has changed over the past few years; the last non-go-go bar, the Woodstock Pub, was sold in 2005 to the Rainbow Group and reopened as “Rainbow 4.” A few bars offer a more pub-like or beer bar format without dancing; as of late-2009 only the Cathouse remained. Three short-time hotels operate on the top floor. Short-time hotels rent out rooms by the hour or more to the NEP patrons to take a bargirl (or kathoey) for commercial sex.
Most bar girls working at bars in Nana Plaza are willing to leave with customers upon payment of a bar fine.
Spellbound is now Bangkok Bunnies
The more things change the more they stay the same. It is a never ending cycle at Nana Plaza, one business goes bust and another steps in. Bangkok Bunnies is one of the largest clubs in the complex. The photo was taken February 20 2016 as was the following YouTube video.
Now in November 2018 there has been a name change.
The more things change the more they stay the same. I first came to Nana Plaza in 1996, & here I am again in October 2018 drinking ice cold Tiger beer & listening to the Eagles sing Hotel California, the perfect song for this incredible venue. “You can check out any time you want but you can never leave.”
Nana Plaza Bangkok at sunset
My favourite Nana plaza girl
Her name in Phung but to me she will always be Cleopatra. I met her at the Plaza in 2001 and for the next 7 or 8 years each time I would visit Bangkok I would look her up. She left the Plaza 3 or 4 years ago and I believe she now lives with a guy in Europe.
Most bars in Nana Plaza do not employ kathoeys, but several do so exclusively. As of mid-2013, these venues are Obsession, Voodoo (ground floor), Casanova, Temptations (middle floor), Carnival and Cascades (top floor). With the exception of Voodoo which exclusively employs post-op kathoeys, the staff at the remainder are almost all “pre-operation”, in contrast to the kathoey bars in Patpong. A number of post-op kathoeys can be found at other bars managed by the Crown Group, namely Lollipop,Hollywood Rock, Fantasia, and G-Spot as well as the independently run Erotica.
Here is Cleo in June 2006
Hard to believe 15 years has flashed by.
September 2006
Nana Plaza Bangkok with some Australian friends in 2006, from the left is Tony Murphy, David Herd (me) John Sinclair & Brian Rawnsley.
Sinclair has a black list.
There are quite a few of us on s black lit so I thought I would design a shirt in appreciation. 🙂
More friends at Nana in 2008
Good friends Nick & Sharon from the Gold Coast and Rod Perrin from the NSW central coast who lived in Pattaya. RIP
Here is a quick video from 2008
Nana Plaza Bangkok 2008
Nana Plaza 1999
Poor quality photos from the early digital cameras.
When I’m in Bangkok I like to stay in Sukhumvit Soi 11, here is an excellent budget hotel, if you USE THIS LINK you will get a great rate of around B1100 per night, or $30 USD.
Sexy Soi Cowboy Bangkok playground is in my opinion the best of the red light areas in this great city. Nana Plaza come in 2nd place with Patpong Rd a distance third. Located near Sukhumvit Road, between Sukhumvit Soi 21 (also called Soi Asoke) and Soi 23, within walking distance from the BTS Skytrain’s Asoke Station and the Bangkok Metro’s Sukhumvit Station. The PullmanGrand Sukhumvit Hotelis nearby.
The go-go bars follow the pattern common in Thailand, lots of alcohol is served hundreds of women in bikinis dance on a stage topless or even nude.
Country Road
The soi was given its name by longtime nightlife columnist Bernard Trink, after the late T. G. “Cowboy” Edwards, a retired American airman who opened one of the first bars there in 1977. A tall African-American, Edwards got his nickname because he often wore a cowboy hat.
Sexy Soi Cowboy Bangkok playground Spice Girls
When Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra was elected in 2001, his government instituted a “social order” campaign. As part of this, all bars, nightclubs and restaurants had to close by 2am, later changed to 1am for all areas not officially designated as “entertainment zones”. (Unlike Patpong, Soi Cowboy and Nana Plaza were not so designated). A mandatory midnight closing time was even discussed.
Over the years this policy has eased, and as of 2012, some Soi Cowboy bars stay open as late as 2:30am.
And here are the Spice girls
Soi Cowboy Bangkok is more expensive than Nana Plaza, it is also more spectacular, a Jack soda is 180 Baht, when you buy a girl a drink it costs 220 baht. These clubs love to rob you, so Roland & I tipped the girls 100 Baht cash instead of giving it to the club. Out of the 220 Baht for a ladies drink the girls get 50 Baht and the club keeps 170.
David Herd and Roland Bonnici
Here I am with my friend Roland who is a Sydney Barrister specializing in criminal law. He has more energy and staying power than I do so I now call in the Bangkok Energiser Bunny. 🙂
Lovely face at Soi Cowboy
A sweet girl who Roland bought a few drinks for, he charges $300 an hour to represent the Sydney criminals so $8 a lady drink is small change. 🙂 She of course spun him the usual line saying ” I have only been here for one month after leaving my home in the country. Roland being such a nice guy believed her, naturally I got into his ear to quickly explain that 80% of the girls use this tried & true line of B…sh…t. 🙂
Move baby move
She could really move, should have taken a movie.
More Spice girls
The girls are patiently waiting for customers.
Sexy Soi Cowboy Bangkok playground
Soi Cowboy Bangkok is really a lot of fun, some of the bars have rock bands playing far too loud for my liking, however most geriatrics like myself usually prefer the volume to be low enough to be able to communicate this those around you.
Hellooooo baby, where you go?
You will probably hear this question 30 times a night if not more. 🙂
Back to Country Road
Bright lights & gorgeous girls.
They say the neon lights are bright on Broadway
But looking at them just gives me the blues. I can handle this bright noisy scene about two times a year, usually when friends come to town and want to see the sights.
It really is deja vu for me
I guess I have just been hitting the night spots in too many cities for too many years. These days I enjoy myself more in a good restaurant with nice people and soft music in the background. One thing is certain in Bangkok there is no shortage of terrific restaurants, and anything else you want for that matter.
Just check out the look on his face to see how much he loves this wild Soi Cowboy Bangkok scene.
When I’m in Bangkok I like to stay in Sukhumvit Soi 11, here is an excellent budget hotel, if you USE THIS LINK you will get a great rate of around B1100 per night, or $30 USD.
Pipa Beach North Coast Brazil, I remember sitting in a bar in Rio Di Janeiro with two friends Dave Wylie & Doug Roarke, (RIP) and when I asked what was their favorite place in Brazil, Doug briefly considered the question before saying “Praia de Pipa”. Until that moment I had never heard of the place, but on Doug’s recommendation I planned my trip. Pipa Beach Brazil quickly became one of my favorite places in the world.
Three Thailand trips in February April and July. The best was certainly in July when my good friend Phil Thomson arrived with his 21 yo son Michael to introduce him to life in Thailand. Michael’s mother is Japanese and he speaks the language fluently. Being a young good looking guy the girls in the bar made quite a fuss of him.
This post focuses on the July trip with Phil & Michael Thomson.
Michael, Jan & Phil
I think Dad is having more fun than Michael. 🙂
Yes here is proof Michael’s dad is a party animal
Of course Dad had no fun at all. 🙂
Anne and Michael
Anne was so pleased to find some young fresh meat she latched on for a few days.
Nana Plaza and everyone is happy.
We found Muk in “The Office” off Soi 33.
Pizza in Soi 33
Good Italian food here, about 200 meters along Soi 33 on the right.
I met this lovely lady in Soi 33
Her name is Muk and she now works in the country at a 7 11 shop, we sometimes chat on Facebook.
Nana Plaza, game on.
Michael is very happy to be introduced to Nana Plaza.
A rainy night in Soi 33
Nice Ferrari outside the Office.
This cheeky lady is named Ice.
I met Ice a couple of years ago when she was dancing in a club in Nana Plaza, I try to catch up with her each time I come to Thailand.
Herbie and the Thomsons at the Mantra
Herbie Pastor is a very interesting guy from Las Vegas who now lives in Pattaya. He has some terrific stories from his days of owning a casino there as well as a well known New Orleans strip club.
The Honey Pot in Soi 2
This was one of my favorite drinking holes, air conditioned and great music. Sadly now in 2014 along with all the other Soi bars it has closed.
Another reason I liked the Honey Pot.
I rest my case.
While we are on the subject
I can never show too much of Jan, in my eyes she was the most gorgeous Thai girl I knew.
Greg Clee is a partner in a go go bar in Walking St Pattaya, Pothole aka John Martin is I a guy I have know for many years. 🙂 Three Thailand trips in 2009 was a lead up to me moving there from Australia in October 2011.
