I think the second poster got it backward. I understood that the cheaper or less classy hotels tend to have more rigid rules about guests bringing in native Thais, perhaps with a view to making sure they get the double occupancy rate. On the other hand, the better ones (Pen, Oriental, Shangri-La, Grand Hyatt Erawan) approach guests with more discretion, figuring you're paying a lot and deserve to do more or less whatever you want in your room.

I had a slightly different experience than most, I suspect. I came to BKK to visit my boyfriend, the other half of TNcouple43, whom I hadn't seen in a year since we'd left Tennessee, where we'd met at university. Once I got my reservation, I emailed the Peninsula and asked them to put him on the register, and they had no problem at all. He stayed with me the entire time, and it couldn't have been more obvious. He was clearly Thai and I clearly farang, but we had breakfast in the restaurant every morning together, had room service and valets come while we were in the room together (even w/ one in the king bed or the shower). The hotel staff had no problem taking photos of us in poses only lovers would strike. They were most kind and accepting (like most of Thailand).

We saw some humpy farang guys in the Pen health club but didn't go any further. Also some Asian guys from HKG and KL who were surely looking for action, but we didn't bite. I'd say you can definitely find something in there at the right time.

I certainly hope the hotel manager in the previous post works at the Pen, because I'm about to get critical. The Peninsula, particularly my individual guest room there, was the best hotel room I've ever stayed in anywhere, beating the Windsor Court (New Orleans), the Plaza (New York), the Regent Hong Kong (now an Inter-Continental), Four Seasons (Atlanta), Baur-au-Lac (Zurich), Fairmont (New Orleans and San Francisco), and others. It was incredible, really. But other deluxe hotels in BKK weren't as impressive. I thought the Regent looked like a Holiday Inn with nice lobby shops. And the Oriental just wasn't all that. My boyfriend and I were stopping by one morning to look over the menu at the Normandy, and the asshole security guard behind the doorman wouldn't let us in the hotel because we were wearing shorts and looked like tourists. He pretended not to understand me (like anyone there doesn't speak English) and, when I said I wanted to see the menu before confirming our reservation, he tried to give us a brochure of the hotel to make us go away. So my boyfriend spoke to him in Thai and we forced *him* to cancel our reservation because he was being such a total prick. Won't stay there ever, and won't dine there either. I'd go back to the Peninsula in an instant, but my boyfriend wants me to buy him a place in Baan Chao Praya. And I'd just love to do that for him, for us.