The Raid : 1 ruthless crime lord, 20 elite cops, 30 floors of hell
The Indonesian movie “The Raid” by Gareth Evans could become the best action movie of 2011. Iko Uwais could move up to ranks of a Tony Jaa. I heard Tony Jaa is totally pissed off from movie-making and would rather live as a monk than shooting movies again. There is still Tom Yum Goong 2 coming next year and then that’s it ?
Back the to Raid : The trailer looks fantastic ! I think there is only one guy in real life who could be the crime lord : anyone been to Stadium lately and hearing about the myth…Damn, the trailer excites me about Jakarta again.
Synopsis :
Deep in the heart of Jakarta’s slums lies an impenetrable safe house for the world’s most dangerous killers and gangsters. Until now, the run-down apartment block has been considered untouchable to even the bravest of police. Cloaked under the cover of pre-dawn darkness and silence, an elite swat team is tasked with raiding the safe house in order to take down the notorious drug lord that runs it. But when a chance encounter with a spotter blows their cover and news of their assault reaches the drug lord, the building’s lights are cut and all the exits blocked. Stranded on the sixth floor with no way out, the unit must fight their way through the city’s worst to survive their mission. Starring Indonesian martial arts sensation Iko Uwais.
The idea for this video was to show the hospital in a neutral, authentic perspective of a touristic outsider.
You will see people walking towards and away from the camera, strange and “unwanted” things are not getting cut out. Of the 1 hour walk I originally was planning to cut a 30min video but I liked all so much that I actually only cut out 10min of some longer walks. This just shows how authentic the whole video is.
My motivation for this is : I simply love Thailand, if I can help a little a good place like this one, it makes me happy. I am not doing this for everyone, only if I really consider something to be worthy to be portayed.
The staff I encountered at the Bangkok Hospital Pattaya is extremely friendly and helpful. I had the opportunity to have Dr. Ian Corness as a guide. He is a very knowledgeable person, an excellent communicator and he got a great sense of humor. Thanks to him, this whole walk doesn’t appear sterile and boring.
Video 1 explains general things about the hospital : They have 400 beds, are accredited by the Joint Commission International, their international service speaks 22 languages. They are even a little more international orientated than Bumrungrad in Bangkok making 60% of their revenues with foreign patients.
Dr. Corness shows a standard room which costs something around THB 5000 / day. Rates in Pattaya and cost of living in general are cheaper in Pattaya than in Bangkok. Dr. Corness liked to stress that Bangkok is considered as a transit for most people (not me !) whereas Pattaya is a destination. Traffic in Bangkok moreover can be so bad that the transport from Bangkok Suvarnabhumi airport to Sukhumvit can take sometimes almost same time (usually around 40 min) like driving down all the way to Pattaya (usually around 2 hours).
Dr. Corness explained in a great way why people should not be worried about the standard of the hospital although the city being best known as the world’s largest sex destination.
Nowhere in the world except in Thailand you will find the hospitals being constructed like a hotel. The main reason for the medical tourist coming is still the very lower price which can be around 25% of what you would pay in the USA or Germany.
In video 2 we see the dental cosmetic & implant center where 28 dentists work. We learn about the efficiancy of the health promotion center : for example you get your blood test results only 45 minutes later after the blood was taken. Some befriended MDs in Germany might get mad when they read it here. Things in Thailand just work easier, heavy beaurocracy like in Europe helps creating extra jobs but it won’t get more efficient…
The hospital employs 12 cardiologists who all have extensive experience and are fully accredited specialists. I have a quite high trust that hospitals like Bangkok hospital and Bumrungrad employ physicians that really work on a very high level. Local universities like Chulalongkorn or Chiang Mai university for example have reached a standard that appears really good to me.
Because they are a private hospital they are able to pay higher salaries to their physicians than a public hospital could pay. This is clearly an advantage to get and maintain some of the best doctors of Thailand.
Dr. Corness already works 12 years for the hospital. He explained in a funny way that he came to Thailand 14 years ago like many other foreigners who had been through a lot of shit in their home country. I bet he really could write a best-selling book about life in Thailand from the expats point-of-view. He is a great character. He got re-married 10 years ago with a Thai and got a son and a daughter with her.
In video 3 we see at first the Arabic reception area and Intensive Care. They are the only hospital in Pattaya that has an MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) scanner.
Dr. Somchai who studied medicine in Munich, Germany, introduces his supersight surgery which isn’t LASIK. He brought a lot of technology and knowledge from Germany to Thailand. He works together with Carl-Zeiss from Jena for the lenses he uses. Dr. Somchai works since 15 years for the hospital, he developed his technology in 2002 and had 205.000 operations being done with it. Dr. Corness refered to him as one of the leading lights of the hospital. He was also responsible for getting the Icelab from the German company Zimmer to the hospital.
In total the hospital employs 100 full-time physicians and 100 part-time.
In video 4 you see the brand-new, cutting-edge Icelab, a cryo therapy spa, which is the only one across whole Asia. You can heal all kinds of conditions with it at minus 110 degrees, especially pro sports men like to use it for healing faster. I should inform Mr. Rainer Calmund about it to send his football injured pro-players down there for a little fun rehabilitation time. It costs only around THB 1000 per session, around 10 you should do depending on what you use it for. You walk through 2 chambers with different temperatures and try to last in the 3rd chamber around 3 minutes. Next time I come to Pattaya I want to try it. You get a big boost of endorphines and oxygen from it because of the density of the air. After all the heavy partying and drinking in Pattaya that I am used to : this is just what I need. In case they don’t like my video portray, they won me at least for the Icelab already. LOL.
Later you see the cantine and the dermatology & cosmetic surgery center. They employ 5 cosmetic surgeons. The most popular surgery there for forgeigners is breast augmentation (enlargement) and for locals a nose operation from flat to more western looking. A big part of the medical tourism happens within beauty surgery. Pattaya as a nice, touristic beach destination is clearly scoring in convincing patients to stay for a longer time if the operation demands it.
Bangkok Hospital Pattaya is a fully digital hospital. All your data (for example blood tests, diagnosis, X-rays, prescriptions, etc…) is electronically stored and you get identified with a barcode you carry along. Moreover they share data with hospitals abroad, so let’s say you want your doctor in the USA to have all the info on what you did in Pattaya : no problem, they are very cooperative. I am very impressed of it.
In video 5 you see the MRI scanner. The hospital got their own busses and can arrange picking up international patients from Suvarnabhumi airport. The International Service Department can also take care of visa and other issues.
The hospital got 11 ambulances, the majority of ambulances run in Pattaya are public, run by various foundations. Their own ambulances go out with a doctor on board and treatment could already start there.
The Emergency Medical Service got 16 beds. Pattaya, let me assure you, is so much safer than any place in the USA I know of.
We make some jokes about the large amount of public holidays in Thailand : Dr. Corness wants to produce a small pocket calendar for Thais which lists the days when Thais are actually supposed to work. LOL.
The International Service Department will also help you with your insurance, trying to figure out if your insurance abroad will cover fully or partially costs of your stay at this hospital. What I learned about insurances is : they really don’t give a shit about people, of course we all work in the monetary system. The insurance looks at the numbers like everyone does : as long as they don’t have to pay more, it is very likely that they agree to a stay/treatment at the hospital. That’s why price matters so much. Plastic/beauty surgery however is nowhere covered anyway.
I want to say many thanks again to the entire Bangkok Hospital Pattaya staff, especially to Dr. Ian Corness taking the time and guiding me around that spontaneously. I am always shocked and impressed how helpful people in general are towards me in Thailand, like giving me permission for such video tours. Taking into account my aggressive logo and sometimes controversial website content : When they give me their trust, I am all the more willing to help.
Here comes the buzzer beater. This video is a summary of the best scenes of the last trip. I doubt life can get any better than that from this level on. I have never seen any other video where I saw something that I liked more than what I am doing here. For me personally I am living my dream for this moment : it is my life, my money, my time. My values might change over time and then I simply do something else later on, but right now I am very happy that I can do just that…
This Big Mango in my eyes is the world’s best city. When I visited Bangkok for the first time in 2005, I already had the feeling that this would become a love-affair. It just felt right to be there and things didn’t change since that.
When we explored the city by helicopter I recognized how little I know of the city. I don’t think it is really important to know every angel there, but there is plenty I still want to learn and explore. The heart of Bangkok are its natural friendly, Buddhistic people who are strongly connected with the king. I don’t think it is correct/fair to say that everything went downhill and that it just became a touristic, idiot hub. It depends on the areas and tell me any other place that’s better taking it all together. Jakarta has more diverse characters, it feels more grown-up, but they don’t have that open, free feeling : too much is happening just inside buildings there.
One of the most frequented questions I get is how much money you need to enjoy it the way I present it in my videos. I thought a long time about it and experienced the very luxury but also the budget end. I didn’t start staying in Bangkok at the Jim Thompson suite. My first hotel was the President Solitaire. I payed for my first room and first stay THB 2200/day. Let me tell you what : I was so extremely happy with this room, I could not believe that I was now able to afford a room that has such a nice marble bathroom. I was blasted away from the Thai hospitality and got the chills when I entered my room. I think the first time Jim Thompson didn’t make me happier, although I still consider it to be the best room of a hotel in Bangkok and Bangkok is No.1 worldwide in my eyes.
The point is that at a certain level, the extra luxury doesn’t bring you proportional extra fun.
Interesting is that according to the Tourism Authority of Thailand, the normal, average tourist spends around THB 4000 per day, a little more than USD 100. And I believe that this for a tourist is just about right to do everything without real limitations if you are smart. Of course there always is no open end. But I would never go in below THB 4000 per day, it won’t be fun. As an expat or resident the budget could be decreased a lot. Beware that taken into assumption that your currency might inflate at a rate of 2.5%, your fixed money value will decrease by half after 2 decades.
Honestly speaking you can basically fuck all my guides if you search there for eventually having the ultimate day. They can help you for getting an impression, give you ideas and a better overview. Everyone has a different taste, I prefer to structure here everything as an authority because in first priority I am doing this site for myself, it is a collection database of my own travel memories.
Do you really need to pay THB 5000 for having the best massage experience of Thailand ? Hell no, you only pay that if you want to be secluded/safe from the real world, housing in pure luxury while getting the treatment. Some of my most memorable massages were THB 250, 90 min Thai massages in some dingy parlors, located in small Sois.
The picture is very similar for Thai food. My best Tom Yum Goong I also didn’t had a 5-star Thai restaurant. Does this now all mean that I reverse back and only stay at the budget places ? No, I will continue visiting the whole spectrum because I think I experience most that way. The point I want to explain is that even if you cannot afford the luxury places, just be happy with what you have and that you found Bangkok instead of dieing in ignorance without knowing heaven.
I want to thank a few people who helped and supported me on the last trip to make this video and following happening : Jakob, Thomas, Vann, Em, Twopee, Michael, Jah, Tar, Cherry, Fai, Nadia, Kat, Dream, Ann, Lookpad, Michaela, Patrick, Advance Aviation, Peninsula hotel Bangkok, Four Seasons hotel Bangkok, Dusit D2, BKcoolclub, The Pent, Funky Villa, Bangkok Pattaya hospital, Baccara, Rainbow 4. Many thanks for letting me keep the memories inside this video and I hope it enjoys/motivates/inspires other people as well :
Global Nanpa Pool Party @ Dusit D2 Pattaya : Friday, February 4th – 12 to 6pm
Global Nanpa and the Dusit D2 Baraquda Pattaya invite you to join a sexy pool party with cool music. Entrance is free and drink prices are as usual ! Enjoy an uncommon, rare event at Pattaya’s most stylish pool area. Check it out if you are in the area that time…
Patpong during heavy rain, explained by American expat, Bangkok, August 2010
The first thing people should know about the bar area Patpong is that unlike Soi Cowboy and Nana Plaza, Patpong is full of scams and there are not many sexy girls around. Still Patpong got a certain vibe and feel that makes me want to come back and is unique in its own way in Bangkok.
Patpong was a place that I always avoided so far, but on the recent trip I finally wanted to explore it more. It was more spontaneous and very much unplanned as the video also shows clearly. The about 30 minutes video is almost a little adventure showing and explaining you a glimpse of Bangkok’s true naughty nightlife. This pioneering video is the first of its kind in the internet.
For the videos I give you a quick walkthrough : It all starts with me trying to find the bar Electric Blue and getting lost at first in the gay area. Later I bump into Kelly, an expat from Texas, who is unlike me very outspoken and knows the area well. At that moment it was luck for us both. Lucky for me to have found a guide and lucky for him because he owed THB 100 for a beer to Spanky’s bar. So I “payed his barfine” and he started to show me around. Star of Light is one of the first places. Then we approached a different place where the expats tried to ignore us without telling us the bar name. I think this situation is something I want to bitch around a bit : A moment like this would have never happened in the Philippines or Indonesia, the expats in general are more openly friendly and generous. Expats in Thailand appear in general more rude to me. A main reason for this behavior is simply “pussy protection” mode. They don’t like you, other people, entering “their territory”, especially when you are equipped with plenty of cash and not bad looks. It is all about competition and conflict of interests, that’s why some expats appear so non-communicative like in that scene.
Kelly is a math and science teacher in Bangkok being married since 5 years (!) to a Thai woman and speaking Thai fluent. He is not a person I would call a friend or buddy, but he seems to be an honest guy, got the correct perspective on things and he is perfect for such video walks because of his extrovertive, outspoken nature. I paid him later THB 1000 for the guidance. However when walking around with him, people (Thais) were not smiling at me that much like they usually do. In general I prefer doing mostly everything myself on Global Nanpa.
Back to the bars : We walk along Madrid bar, some outdoor bars which expats love in general. Kelly is a really funny dude, he was actually walking around at first barefoot in the heavy rain, having left behind his wet shoes at Spanky’s, later he got some flipflops. At King’s Castle we see an African girl who is showering in the rain and later washing her tits with soap in the public. I had to cut out that scene.
In part 2 we pass King’s Castle 2, Kelly bargains for some CDs, we pass some more bars and he talks about Mahachai (?), south of Bangkok, where prostitutes shall only charge around THB 200 = Euros 5 ?!
Part 3 shows Soi Thaniya, the japanese area. Kelly called it a very “physical Soi”, farangs like us are not very welcome there, especially not with a video camera. We almost got a little into trouble there and one Thai/Japanese guy followed us a short distance, but we were able to clarify the situation fast. Compared with my adventures in Kabukicho, Tokyo – this was just nothing. The soi is uninteresting anyway, I am also not a big fan of Kabukicho and Shinjuku in general. In terms of girls they just don’t offer much. The best girls you can get to know by street nanpa there – and not in the red light districts. Kabukicho is more a gambling and entertainment area and not a bargirl place.
I totally love the part when Kelly starts talking and standing in the heavy rain on the street with lightning in the back, explaining what happens after when all the bars are supposed to close. I think it is the best scene of the entire video. Later he telephones with his wife and finally we arrive at Electric Blue and Bada Bing. I was a bit dissapointed of the places. The quality of the girls is not great and they have maybe only 20 to 30 girls. But it still might be a nice change once you have overdone the bars at Cowboy and Nana Plaza.
The water castle is just next to the bird market, so you can easily walk from there. Although Yogyakarta went through many changes during its history, it seems like that the sites are still well maintained, not much got destroyed or rebuilt so that you get the feeling you took a trip with a time machine when walking around there. It feels unreal certainly. The normal people that cross your path are not only very friendly but also have a lot knowledge to offer. Surprising is always the fact that most of them are critical thinkers, something that’s sadly not often existing anymore in Asia.
Red Shirts Big Bang : Bangkok on the way to Civil War ? No, not as long as the king stays alive and can maintain stability…
The protests and the march had been very peaceful and well organized, no traffic jams at all. I set my personal time record from BKK airport to Rajadamri Road in 18 minutes : NEVER believe mass media ! I actually didn’t plan joining that but somehow got into the march at Siam and followed it over 4 hours to its end at Victory Monument. It had been an extremely exciting and memorable experience. The people were super-friendly, open-minded, non-armored and generous. The atmosphere was not agresssive at all. On the other hand it needs to be mentioned too that the red shirts got free food and drinks for coming to Bangkok those 1-2 days and at the rural side there is not much to do currently in March, season depending. I estimate to have seen around 20.000 people at the March. Leader Jaran Ditthapichai was hoping for around 100k people. It is hard to make a true estimate without real efficient calculation. On the way I collected about 2 hour video footage and I almost didn’t see anyone with cameras on the way, so the stuff is most likely pretty exclusive. Moreover I talked to some journalists from Bangkok Post, Times England, BBC and other people who all confirm what I always expected : their articles get “cleaned” and there is no true independent media out there. The best chat I had was with a very smart 16-year-old school boy from Bagna whose dad is British and who had a really good understanding for Thai politics and knew a lot of details like yellow shirts paying off people to cause conflicts which could have lead to an escalation. Good thing was that the police and not the military were blocking the streets. The police certainly are pro-Red Shirt, you see that in the videos. Too funny that even the US and British guys seeing the event agree on that the BBC and CNN are really some of the worst news agencies possibly out there. “What they want are dramatic news stories” (quotation from Times journalist in my video). Manipulated mind-fuck ! Let the bubble burst finally ! The lies make me more and more angry…
Kudos to Global Nanpa ! There are some deep talks and scenes coming up. It will take some time to edit the material,this is powerful and high-impact shit ! I also fly back soon to Jakarta. So no time for further updates. Apologies…
I just watched the movie with George Clooney and am very positively surprised. It is one of the best movies i saw in the last years. Moreover I can identify myself pretty much with the life philosophy of the Clooney character. He speaks the truth about marriage/family and employment. The main wisdom the movie comes up with is : if you want to experience real freedom, you have to empty your backback. You have to get rid of all personal belongings and of relation commitments. It is just the opposite of what the western system brainwashes you with from early on and that’s why most people end up unhappy and miserable…I loved the scene when Clooney talked with that guy who got cold feet on the day of his wedding. This movie is deep, entertaining and surprising, you should watch it. 10 million frequent flyer miles is an impressive number ! Damn it.
