Bangkok, 31st Oct - 1st Nov 2008

Friday is not the best day of the week to arrive in Bangkok! The traffic is horrendous and it took nearly two hours to get to the west of the city from the north. I had hoped to stay on or near the river but most places were offering prices that were a little on the steep side. Gung managed to get the phone number of the "Riverside Hotel" located near the Krung Thonburi Bridge on the west bank of the "Mae Nam Chao Phraya" (Chao Phraya River) which flows through Bangkok. [Bangkok is known in Thailand as "Krung Thep Maha Nakhon" or "Krung Thep" for short with a silent "h"]. An excellent hotel with very competitive room rates (most of the residents were Thai).

Looking south form the "Riverside Hotel" towards the Rama VIII Bridge

Rather than eat in the hotel, we decided on a Thai restaurant in the soi (small street) leading to the hotel. At the end of the meal Gung overheard a conversation between the owner of the restaurant, a lady from Isan, and one of her customers. It concerned the hotel, and on enquiring it transpired that the owner had a privilege card allowing the holder various discounts at the hotel. The following day our rate was reduced from 800 to 640 Baht! As usual, the Thai meal was excellent - eating well is quite high on the list of priorities for Thai people!

"Victory Monument" in Bangkok.

Bangkok has a huge weekend market at "Chatuchak" to the north of the city. Leaving the hotel I suggested that we take a "tuk-tuk" to the new BTS or "Skytrain" station at the Victory Monument. These motorised three wheel taxis are full of character but usually also full of a Thai guy more than eager to charge extra for the privilege of transporting a "falang" from A to B! The driver was dropping off a Thai passenger at the junction with Ratchawithi Road. On approaching him he demanded 80 Baht (I think he was having a "bad hair day"). As much because of his attitude as anything else we took a normal taxi-cab. Bangkok is now teeming with these smart looking, mainly yellow, cars; often to be found sitting stationary in traffic jams. Tuk-tuks, on the other hand, are much smaller, can take just as many passengers (at a squeeze) and are a lot more fun! The metered fare to Victory Monument turned out to be 77 Baht! We used a tuk-tuk for the return journey!

The Skytrain is excellent and will take you to most parts of the city (at least as far as tourists are concerned). We disembarked at Mo Chit station and wandered into the market. Not much to say really; a massive market full of tourists (remember, this is before they decided to close one of the biggest international airports in Asia!?!) selling much the same sort of stuff one finds all over the country (T-shirts, souvenirs, clothes of all descriptions, army surplus etc. etc.) but with a better selection. After purchasing a couple of T-shirts, map prints, clear glasses for driving at night and various other bits'n'pieces we got on the Skytrain for "Pantip Plaza". Pantip Plaza is another huge market but this time located indoors on a number of levels offering all kinds of electronic gadgets. It has a reputation as a place to find new items at bargain prices but I fear only the reputation remains; it is cheaper, easier and generally better (guarantees etc.) nowadays to order online in the UK!

Rather disappointed with the whole place (did not really need anything after all!) we descended to the ground floor and outside in order to find transport to "Khao San Road". We had noticed a number of tuk-tuks parked at the front of the building. Approaching one of them, Gung asked the fare to our intended destination. "Sorry", he said, "I am only interested in foreign business (they pay more!)". His face was a picture when I strolled up! Walking down the road ignoring the metered taxis - I was determined to found a tuk-tuk at a reasonable price as they are an integral part of the "Bangkok experience" - we eventually found one, jumped in and off we sped.

Khao San Road is the original "back-packer" area of Bangkok located in "Banglampoo" between the Democracy Monument and the Chao Phraya River. Nowadays, even Khao San Road is going upmarket complete with a Gulliver's Restaurant (photo right) at one end. Well, not really upmarket as such, but still a more salubrious establishment than one would have found a few years ago. I have heard of tuk-tuks "flying" in and out of the traffic, but this is ridiculous (see photo)!

In gratitude to the lady offering us the use of her "VIP Card" we had dinner at the same restaurant as the previous evening; it was delicious after all.