Phuket

en301 · #1 19-02-2005, 02:00

Hello. I'm a new member and have really appreciated all the info available here. A quick intro........American, been to Phuket twice back in the mid 90's and have wanted to go back ever since.

I have almost no questions left to ask after reading the threads.

I do have two, however.

The first is regarding the military exercise Cobra Gold. I saw on the COMMPAC website that it is scheduled for around the first week of May this year. I was wondering if Phuket gets any of the port visits or if that is Pattaya. Also, do the port visits tend to take place after the exercise or before or both?

My second question regards snorkeling in Phuket in late April. Will the dive shops still be running trips to the reefs at that time of season, or are the seas getting too rough? If I'm there a week, will I have a good chance of getting at least a couple of days where the weather will be good enough for a snorkeling trip? I'm not dive certified and won't have time to get certified, so snorkeling will be my thing.

Any help in these areas would be greatly appreciated.

eric-the-viking · #2 19-02-2005, 16:41

can only help you with the dive shops,yes the ones that are open now will still be open in April,if you can dive then i suggest you do a live aboard to the similian islands ,really nice dives.excellent viz plenty of marine life ,i personnallylove shark diving ,so last time i was there i was over the moon to see a couple of white tips and a school of leopard sharks and to be so close to them that you could almost touch them(we didnt of course).

chucky66 · #3 20-02-2005, 19:35

Although i dont know for sure myself Ive been told by my expat friend that Phuket/Patong occasionally gets its share of US navy calling in during the exercise or just before the exercise and that they tend to blend in very well with the tourists. Although it is not on the same scale as Pattaya during the exercise where military police are crawling all over the place with sidearms, hawaian shirts and handcuffs.

--------------------------------------------

COBRA GOLD 2005 (CG 05)
COUNTRIES: Thailand, Singapore, United States
Dates: 02 - 13 May 2005

COBRA GOLD is an annual multilateral exercise that demonstrates USPACOM's capability to project force strategically by rapidly deploying a CTF to conduct Joint/Combined operations. For CG 05, U.S. forces combine with Thai, Singaporean, Japanese and Philippine counterparts, under a coalition Combined/Joint Headquarters (CTF), to conduct extensive Command Post Exercise (CPX) training, Humanitarian/Civic Assistance (H/CA) projects, and Field Training Exercise (FTX) to include combined live fire training. The exercise scenario content is designed toward peace operations and consequence management emphasizing the challenges on the war on terrorism. CG continues as the model for multilateral CTF Command Post Exercise (CPX) operation in a smaller scale contingency. Training is multilateral, multi-service, interagency, realistic and geared toward the most likely contingency operations in theater - UN PKO/PEO/CM/CT. CG 05 will be the 24th iteration in the CG series.

stevem · #4 24-02-2005, 12:18

Cobra Gold is held around the Pattaya area. The USS McHenry was in Phuket for the past 3 nights.

butterflyblonde · #5 07-04-2005, 04:17

Does anyone here have any experience of being in pattaya whilst the US Navy are in town ?

I have read a few things reagrding this b4 but usually relating to phuket, thankfully the reports are good from what i hear and it's great to hear the guys are friendly and not causing trouble.

My question is really to do with how many navy guys i could expect to see around as i will be in pattaya while they are there? I hope to god that there are some women left for me ?

May have to go extra early to the bars while they are in town to book my place

chucky66 · #6 07-04-2005, 23:09

Quote:

Originally Posted by butterflyblonde

Does anyone here have any experience of being in pattaya whilst the US Navy are in town ?

I have read a few things reagrding this b4 but usually relating to phuket, thankfully the reports are good from what i hear and it's great to hear the guys are friendly and not causing trouble.

My question is really to do with how many navy guys i could expect to see around as i will be in pattaya while they are there? I hope to god that there are some women left for me ?

May have to go extra early to the bars while they are in town to book my place

I was in Pattaya last May when Cobra Gold 2004 was going off. generally the US were well behaved. From what a serviceman told me ..it isnt just US navy that are there but a large range of forces/servicemen. They seemed to be let out in their hundreds at a time during the hours of 6pm and 1am. Many MPs with armbands, sidearms and shorts were walking around to keep an eye on things and there seemed to be a lot of local tourist police helping keep things under control. The go-gos were heaving and many of the women seemed to go a lot quicker than usual. There is no doubt that the navy guys got a LOT of attention from the bar girls. It was obvious that the navy guys didnt mind splashing their savings on these girls, so all you bargain hunters out there will have a smaller chance of success during the excercise.

Ive never actually counted the number of military out on a night during it but I would say that if you walked into a bar/go-go and there were 30 punters in there, that 20 of them would be with the cobra gold lot. Id say about 40-50% of the people you will see along walking street on an evening would be military at peak R&R times.

I had the same plan to go earlier and get the girls but the US navy seem VERY clued up about how things work there and often bar fine/arrnage with bar papasans/mamasans to take out early.

butterflyblonde · #7 08-04-2005, 02:19

Cheers for that Chucky.

Do they actually leave the girls at 1am and go back to the ship ? Or are they taking them longtime ? Either back to the ship (which i cant see being the case) or are the navy boys staying in hotels overnight?

If the navy only take them out for s/t in the evening b4 heading back to ship i see a lot of potential for picking up girls in walking st just after 1am

chucky66 · #8 08-04-2005, 03:36

Quote:

Originally Posted by butterflyblonde

Cheers for that Chucky.

Do they actually leave the girls at 1am and go back to the ship ? Or are they taking them longtime ? Either back to the ship (which i cant see being the case) or are the navy boys staying in hotels overnight?

If the navy only take them out for s/t in the evening b4 heading back to ship i see a lot of potential for picking up girls in walking st just after 1am

Some navy guys stay on the ships but from what I heard there were many complaints about double bunking etc so the military rented out a couple of the very big hotels in jomtien..(may have been ambassador city?). The guys werent supposed to take girls back but I got to know a few who definitely did..and some who took 3 or 4 back with them. The higher ranking officers seemed to have the better deal and had better curfews etc than the lower ranks. Last year in May durin Cobra Gold walking street seemed to empty out pretty quickly. Ive heard that things have changed over the past year there and the entertainment clampdown isnt as severe there as what it was a year ago but I cant comment on that.

butterflyblonde · #9 08-04-2005, 18:28

Quote:

Originally Posted by chucky66

Some navy guys stay on the ships but from what I heard there were many complaints about double bunking etc so the military rented out a couple of the very big hotels in jomtien..(may have been ambassador city?). The guys werent supposed to take girls back but I got to know a few who definitely did..and some who took 3 or 4 back with them. The higher ranking officers seemed to have the better deal and had better curfews etc than the lower ranks. Last year in May durin Cobra Gold walking street seemed to empty out pretty quickly. Ive heard that things have changed over the past year there and the entertainment clampdown isnt as severe there as what it was a year ago but I cant comment on that.

Iv'e been checking this out on a pattaya forum, one of the guys there is saying that this time they have orders not to enter Walking st itself.
Wether true or not i don't know.

The main feedback i get from the other site is that usually the soliders are simply there the get drunk and let off steam, ie: some don't even bother and dont actually want to pay the money for the ladies. We'll see..

I also heard the dates keep getting put back due to one reason or another so the date they will be there is not crystal clear.

I was a little worried before that their presence may make my cause a little more difficult due to their popularity , but from what i'm hearing there's nothing to worry about as most are inexperienced lads next to us seasoned mongers....my pooying radar will be activated and working at full strength to ensure i get what i want.