Bangkok, Thailand

March 3.4, 2009


The 7 hour flight from Perth didn’t leave until 5:50 pm so we didn’t actually get to Thai soil until almost midnight. Passport control was quick and the airport was very large and high tech. Bangkok has 6 million people and is such a regional transportation hub it has two major airports – one for international flights and the other for domestic.

We had booked in with a hostel near the downtown commercial district and supposedly an express bus from the airport would drop us near there. I couldn’t get any internet access in the airport to confirm the address so we just showed the address that we had to some of the staff standing near the bus pickup. Hopped on a modern express bus after some really brief conversations with staff there who, like most Thai here, seem to know at least 10-15 words of English. Whether they are the right words or not is what makes the night fun.

Our bus driver took us over massive freeways and onto busy streets for at least 20 minutes with us as the only passengers. Eventually he started to pick up some more locals but no other tourists. After about 30 minutes, he turned and made a motion for us to get off.

We got off on a main road running under the overhead monorail tracks. A gloomy sight if I ever saw one. What made it more comforting was the fact that the street signs were in Thai, the temperature was 28C and the humidity was about 80%. Perfect weather for carrying heavy bags down a dark street that you aren’t sure is the right one.

When you first see Bangkok at night it looks like a giant slum. There are skyscrapers built next to decrepit three story apartments with tarp covered shanties filling the alleys. The street lighting is sporadic and the streets seemed to be full of people not doing much of anything.

Hauling our backpacks we walked a short distance down the street and found the hostel. Got up to the room and, not being able to sleep just yet, wandered back down the street to look at some of the food stalls in the street.

Part of Bangkok only comes alive at night and the street vendors lining many of the streets is an essential part of that. The street we stumbled onto hosted any number of mobile carts that would be gone by 3 am and magically reappear sometime in the afternoon the next day.

Most Thai’s seem to have two or three jobs and, when they aren’t working, they seem to be eating or shopping on the streets. You can get everything from your groceries to takeout to whatever there.

Spent the next day walking around parts of Bangkok. They have an excellent monorail and subway system with the station signs in English and Thai. Once you get your bearings it is not bad. Once you get off those lines the challenges are a little significant.

You realize quite quickly that everyone connected with the tourism industry is looking to make money from you. It is just not the ones that overcharge you directly but also those who will not tell you the “whole” story. For example, we needed to take a river ferry down to the old market area but the staff at the ticket desk just kept pointing to a sign that described the whole day ticket. Thinking we had no other option we eventually bought it.

Once we were on the ferry we watched Thais get on and off and just pay for a ticket from a woman walking down the length of the boat. Quick lesson learned for the next time we take a ferry ride!

The pressure on you to buy (anything) is directly proportional to your distance from a known tourist area. The more tourists the more aggressive the vendors can be.