Sawatdeekraaaaaap, Bangkok!

Sawatdeekrap, Ron!

Bangkok is a great laid back city. Ronald greets you with a wai when you enter his establishment. He's got an even bigger smile here in Bangkok, and most of the locals share his outwardly friendly nature. And just like Ron, everyone seems to have a little hustle going on behind the smile. Not to say that they're not helpful or genuine, but I'll say instead that most of the business seems more grassroots than top down organized. Hence, there's a negotiation to every situation. It makes the place that much more interesting.

one stop shopping!

For those of you who don't know, there's quite a sex industry here. There's also apparently a street market for related drugs too - valium included. I saw this when I first arrived and thought that I had to take a funny photo. Then I realized that these little stands are on just about every block in the touristy areas. Oh well, just keep walking. At least the guys that sell this stuff aren't in your face about it.

BTS station

I don't want to make it seem like Bangkok is all seedy and hustle. To the contrary there are some quite nice train stations on the new BTS line, and there's also a brand new airport express train that puts the CTA to shame. Most of the tourist areas are actually quite well organized and have helpful staff (that speak English) to guide you along the right way.

who left this trash on the sidewalk

But seriously, the city is fairly clean. It suffers from a similar lack of public trash cans as Seoul, but the results aren't quite as good. Still, I don't think I run across foul smells as often as I do in Chicago... depending on where you go.

bombin' Bangkok

There are a variety of kids that skate or rock out to different music here. I think there's more of an "alternative" culture here than in Korea. I've heard a few cabbies driving by with their tunes pumped - some were pretty grimy.

no thanks!

Bangkok also suffers from the same English translation problems as Seoul, but with results that are sometimes even more humorous. Sometimes I wonder if it's actually done this way on purpose. This is funny in another way, because this hair shop is located on the train platform. I'm not sure who would get their hair done in front of all the other commuters, but maybe that's common here.

massage in the dumpster

Massage places are everywhere. Most of the hair salons also offer massages. There are foot massage beds lined up along market streets - which is somewhat strange to Americans. We assume massages are a very private affair, so our massage shops are setup like a doctor's office. Here they do away with that clinical atmosphere and make it more like a 7-eleven. You can see that the windows remain on this place, but I don't know if the business survived the wrecking ball.

lottery row

These guys are everywhere. I'm pretty sure they're selling lottery tickets - it's strange to imagine that your winning ticket came from a dirty guy on a bike. But even the lottery has to hustle here.

Jim Thompson's house

Like I said, not everything to do here is crass and filth. Jim Thompson was an American silk importer/exporter. He really liked it in Bangkok, so he decided to move here in the 60s. He built his house out of a few old traditional Thai houses, and moved them to his property along a canal. As I heard on the tour (mandatory yet worth the 30 minutes), traditional Thai houses are built without nails so they can be deconstructed and reconstructed in a new location. I'm not sure why traditional wealthy Thais had such a nomadic lifestyle. I do know that the construction without nails comes from Feng Shui - which dictates that metals block the flow of chi. All Korean temples are built almost entirely without metal.

part of Jim Thompson's expansive collection

Back to ol' Jim - he rebuilt these houses here and collected many different Asian artifacts on his travels. He seemed to like Thai architecture, but mostly relied on Chinese art and furniture. His house is setup like a museum inside, and no photos are allowed. I hate to admit it, but you could get the whole tour of the house with just 10 photos. I'd imagine the no-photo policy has something to do with that. However, the tour and the house are really worth seeing. To add to the legend - Jim mysteriously disappeared on his final tour to Malaysia. He went out hiking in the jungle with a few friends and was never heard from again.

ready to bike the streets

The traffic in Bangkok is awful. So why not risk our lives to bike around on a tour? Anything without a motor seems safe enough here, so we sucked it up and jumped on our bikes. It was a truly unique experience.

watch your step!

The first part of our bike adventure led us through the slums south of Sukhumvit Road to this little gem of an attraction. Not only is the bridge constructed out of rickety wood (and shabbily at that), but the river below is full of unmentionable stuff. Our tour guide told us in advance that we should cross the bridge "one after another," which I thought meant single file. I came to realize as we arrived that it really meant one person on the bridge at a time for obvious reasons. It could really ruin your day to fall into the cesspool.

all aboard!

I didn't read the description of the tour carefully, so I was surprised when we arrived at the dock and were waiting for a boat. I thought it was just something to see, but sure enough, we loaded the bikes and climbed aboard this longtail boat. Longtails are the general boats that run all over Thailand - they're named for the frightfully bare and probably converted motor stuck on a long shaft with a propeller at the end. This does the trick of moving the boat around. We cheerfully climbed aboard, and were unsure of what we'd encounter across the river.

hard rockin' in the jungle

Apparently our tour across the river led us to the Hard Rock Cafe of the Bangkok jungle. I rather doubt the affiliation is official. It was nice to get out of the dirty city and into this park for a ride across narrow planks over the swamp. It wasn't really for the faint of heart, but the paths were smooth and wide enough for minor corrections. Don't panic.

"On" the awesome bike tour guide

Our tour guide was cheeky "On". I put that in quotes because it's her nickname. None of us farang had a prayer of remembering (much less pronouncing) her 5+ syllable name. Like the stellar tour guide she was, "On" was well prepared at the start for that little hiccup. Her nickname is easy enough, so we unanimously approved the farang-friendly option. I'm told all Thais have nicknames like this which is quite helpful.

Pepsi in the jungle

Toward the end of the ride here, we were rewarded with one of the finest beverages you can enjoy in a country with unsafe drinking water. But seriously, the Pepsi was surprisingly lacking in sweetness. Not that it wasn't sweet, but it paled in comparison to the Fanta that Thais drink regularly.