Reflections on a wonderful month in Bangkok,One of the most common complaints about going to Thailand with any surgeon is the lack of English spoken and while I agree there isn't allot I never found a time where I couldn't get my point across if I made a bit of an effort. Chett certainly manages to make himself understood and the nurses that visit the hotel are understandable. Noi will try and teach you Thai phrases because Fan and Dan are not as good as the others so the phrases come in handy. While on the subject of English, If you're bringing a friend with you it is advisable that they obtain a card from reception and Chetts place giving the location and address in Thai because very few Thai taxi Drivers have good English and you don't want to miss out on precious visits due to Taxi's getting lost. Chetts drivers know what they are doing and while there won't be a running chat throughout the journey that is probably a good thing considering the way Thai's drive.
THE SURGERY CENTERApart from the obvious reason why this is an important part of your stay in Bangkok (The op). This is also somewhere you'll live for almost 5 days. The biggest concern for me about this is the walk down stairs post op most patients seem to have to do. For me it was about 8 hours after coming out of surgery, I was woken up at 0600 for some checks but then fell back to sleep only to be woken up at 0700 and I was told I needed a morphine shot which was news to me as I had no pain at all. No sooner had they done that and a pulse and BP check than they told me it was time to change rooms. 3 nurses helped me out of bed and to the top of the stairs and Rose the admin lady was stood at the bottom of the stairs to catch me if I fell. The smallest of the nurses Dan was stood a stair below me and with the best will in the world if I'd fallen being about twice her weight and about a foot taller the end result was going to be both of us landing on Rose with a strong possibility of the 2 behind me landing on us all leaving Chett without a nursing team. This is definitely a potential danger that Chett should find a solution to until his planned Hospital is completed and open. Once in your new home you can expect to be mainly left alone. The TV works with mostly Thai channels so bring your own entertainment. You will be given 2 bed baths a day which is probably why you are left naked all the time you're in bed. They will provide a toothbrush and paste twice a day also. The nursing staff are excellent and one of them will sleep either in your room or just outside the door each night you're there. You could get lucky and have 2 of them in your room. The journey back to my hotel was about the most painful experience I had because the car was too small for me to easily get into. This was partly due to the seat being in the wrong position and partly because I was rather tender. Noi fixed that and distracted me with a shoulder and neck massage all the way there. I think Chett should get a mini van with seats in that we could lie on and that would be more comfortable.
THE HOTELOverall Bangkok Rama was an adequate location for recovery but a few notes about this for them due there soon. The advertised 80 channels of cable TV isn't operational, Most rooms have had their boxes removed. You can still get Thai Channels but nothing on the list left in the room. The internet will have drop outs in service but overall is quite fast. On a speed test we got 35mbps download and nearly 4mbps upload speed which is faster than we currently have at home. Currently the spa and beauty salon are closed due to ongoing work on the main hotel building. There is a gym but it isn't air conditioned so most people seemed to find having a work out too hard. The pool looks lovely but I cannot say how nice swimming in it was as I never had a go.
The advantage Bangkok Rama has over Dusit Princess is the ability to mix with others in your Soi, The commonly termed Trans Alley. Those travelling alone could find this extremely useful as a way of meeting like minded people who you can share your experience with and maybe later in recovery offer assistance to. If you are looking for a bit of luxury then Dusit Princess wins. Depending upon what you have decided to do for food this could also make a difference as to which hotel you choose. If you plan on cooking your own then Bangkok Rama is the place as you have a kitchen which you can add equipment too. The hotel will hire you a microwave for 2000 Baht a week if you're staying a month but we bought one for 2190 and cheaper ones are available. I will get to food later in the post. The hotel give you for free 2 bottles of drinking water as well as 2 small bottles of soda (Sprite and Coca Cola) per day for free after that you have to purchase your own.
FOOD AND SHOPPINGThe nearest station to the Rama is Hua Mak which takes you towards city. There you can join BTS Skytrain to Siam where there are a few rather large and busy Shopping malls. A Taxi to Hua Mak will cost 40-50 Baht depending upon traffic. The nearest BTS station is On Nut which will also take you to Siam or if you're feeling really adventurous Chattachuk where the weekend market is and if you haggle many bargains await. A taxi to On Nut is about 90 Baht. Tesco Lotus stock allot of goods but if you're stocking a kitchen in one shopping trip it could be worth spending the 60-70 Baht taxi fare each way and visit Seacon Square which is near Dusit Princess. You'' find most things anybody could want and a few things you likely won't want.
For food. Tesco Lotus offer most food needed to make a meal but they seem rather slow at re stocking the shelves so items may not be available when you want them. They do however have ready to cook meals made fresh each day that cost 1-=20 Baht each and can easily be heated up in a microwave. Then we have the food available around the hotel. The hotel restaurant will offer room service but the price quoted in the room menu doesn't include service charge and tax (17%) and a 20% delivery fee unless you can negotiate with them to deliver free as you're a Chett patient unable to leave your room. I know some have done this successfully. There is every kind of street food available all along Pattanakarn Road but I was warned off trying it by Bernadette who grew up in Sri Lanka and learnt to not trust most food cooked. There are a number of restaurants close by mostly catering to locals which looked pretty unappealing in my opinion. Cleanliness was an issue for me as food seemed to be left uncovered leaving me concerned about hygiene. Across Pattanakarn Road the newly opened London Street complex boasts 2 Japanese, A Thai and Korean Restaurant. We tried the Korean and the food was wholesome if not spectacular but the English spoken was really poor so you have to be confident to order. The menu does contain English translations of the names which is a help. I also enjoyed the Thai place. They do better with English but both places have friendly staff who are attentive. Again you have English translations on the menu. What I found odd about London Street was it is a building made on the outside to resemble the UK Houses of Parliament and has a replica London Bus and taxi but no English type food outlet. Maybe that's planed for a future expansion. Near Tesco Lotus is a 24 hour KFC and further along the road is a McDonalds for those not wanting local cusine.
Well folks I could write more but Susan may ban me for posting a huge post so I'll stop here. Please ask any questions you want but if I've said something you disagree with please be nice, These are my personal opinions not based on any loyalty or favour and I may like different things to you or others.
Hugs
Sorcha
