Smog, lots of smiles and organized chaos; some first impressions of Thailand’s capital. It is dirty, yet clean. So many people are running in different directions, but everything seems to work out just fine. Lars, Wim and I are spending eighteen days in Thailand, starting with a few days in Bangkok. Our hotel is located on Silom street and has a nice rooftop pool where we recover from a nineteen hour trip (from door to door).
There are also countless shops and street vendors attempt to sell their merchandise. I’m not sure what I want to do with an Armani suit while it’s thirty degrees Celsius and I’m not sure if I want to try roasted spiders either. The combination of all the above with the crowds and the neon lights make for great sights.
It’s starting to get late and we’re tired. When we’re about to leave the area, we walk past a sign: “The Club -Air-conditioning, cool drinks and good music!” “OK, one last beer!” There are not a lot of people inside, but we decide not to let external factors control our joy. Supported with buckets of rum-and-coke, Mojito’s and amazing dance music we help to start a dance party that is still going strong, when we finally decide to give in to our jet-lag around 3.30AM.
A friendly guy in a tuk-tuk takes us back to the hotel and luckily ignores us as we shout “tuk-tuk” to everyone we pass. At least we thought it was funny.
A Dutch guy named Co van Kessel started a bike tour company in Bangkok a few decades ago, and we decide to book a tour. What a great experience! We bike through the streets and narrow alleyways. We are greeted by the locals with big smiles and a friendly “Sawatdi Kha!” (Hello!), as we pass their front doors and can look inside their houses. I just love friendly people. There is a guy lining up to give high-five’s to all fifteen of us. “He is here every day, he loves his daily portion of high-fives”, our tour guide explains. We make a stop at the flower market, bike through China town and visit Wat Kanlaya (a Buddhist temple with one of the biggest Buddha statues in Bangkok). Most importantly: we’ve seen places we would have never seen otherwise.
We end up walking into a bar that is about to host a Thai kick-box game. We are seated in the second row and what follows is spectacular. Two guys enter the ring: the guy in red is lean and athletic, the guy in blue seems heavier and less flexible. The first few rounds are clearly won by the guy in red, who performs some outstanding combo’s. The guy in blue mostly blocks punches and kicks. After round four, the game changes: the guy in red has used most of his energy and gets sloppy, while the guy in blue prepares his final punch: knock-out, game over.
After walking around a bit more the next day, eating a lot more and taking a boat ride, the journey continues by bus to our next destination. Chiang Mai is coming up!
There is plenty of food throughout the whole city of Bangkok and you simply cannot go wrong with the tiny restaurants or food stands: it is all delicious and dirt cheap. For about €5 you can get a complete meal including drinks. If you are on a budget you can also simply opt for a Pad Thai for €1.25.
We decide to take a boat taxi over the Chao Phraya river. For €0.30 you can stay on the boat as long as you want. You just have to accept that you are treated like cattle, so one can ensure the boarding process is completed in record time. At every stop the boat rams into a series of car tires, tied to the dock. The communication between the driver and his assistant occurs through whistles. It’s quite the spectacle. After thirteen stops we decide to exit and walk over to Khaosan Road (pronounced by locals as “Kosaloot”).
“The word “Khaosan" translates as "milled rice", a reminder that in former times the street was a major Bangkok rice market. In the last 20 years, however, Khaosan Road has developed into a world-famous backpacker ghetto", according to Wikipedia.
The street is filled with bars, restaurants and places to get a Thai massage. “Hello massage!?” A one-hour massage in the Netherlands costs typically about €50. Here it costs about €6. Lars and I convince Wim to go in with us, and are thrilled that he feels re-born afterwards. A Thai message will now be part of our daily schedule. It’s a vacation in Thailand after all!
A Dutch guy named Co van Kessel started a bike tour company in Bangkok a few decades ago, and we decide to book a tour. What a great experience! We bike through the streets and narrow alleyways. We are greeted by the locals with big smiles and a friendly “Sawatdi Kha!” (Hello!), as we pass their front doors and can look inside their houses. I just love friendly people. There is a guy lining up to give high-five’s to all fifteen of us. “He is here every day, he loves his daily portion of high-fives”, our tour guide explains. We make a stop at the flower market, bike through China town and visit Wat Kanlaya (a Buddhist temple with one of the biggest Buddha statues in Bangkok). Most importantly: we’ve seen places we would have never seen otherwise.
During the evening we decide to explore another side of Bangkok: the evening market. Officially there is a big market with stands to sell clothes and food, but unofficially sex-tourism occurs. While we walk through the streets, underaged girls are dressed in sexy clothes and try to make contact with passing tourists. An uneasy feeling comes over us, but if we want to fully explore the city, we shouldn’t skip this side of it. Dirty men are trying to lure us into bars using improper and degrading language about what’s to be found inside.
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