A few nights in Bangkok (Bangkok)

Member Name: gardkarlsen

Product:	Bangkok
Date:	19/04/05 (886 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Shopping, Great food, Friendly people

Disadvantages: Tuk-tuk drivers, Pollution

Summary
This is a travelogue that will give information about the trip that my wife, Nikki, and I had to Thailand in the periode from 11th of September until the 28th of September 2002. On our trip we first spent a few days in Bangkok before we flew down to Ao Nang beach outside Krabi. Then we flew back to Bangkok and took the bus to Hua Hin before ending up in Bangkok again. For the first time we travelled together with some friends of us. Their names are Olav and Allis and their daughter Tonje.

For the first time I also travelled with a digital camera by the way. Before the trip I bought a Canon Powershot S30 and together with two 128 Compact Flash memory chips and a laptop I could take as many pictures as I wanted each day. I hope of course that this will lead to better pictures…there should be a few that are good because I took more than 400 pictures during our stay :-) Please check out the pictures on my homepage http://gardkarlsen.com

Prelude
I have had a fear for quite some time. That I once will grow too old to seek new “adventures” and that I will rather go back to places that I have been before because it is “easier” and not so much of a challenge. So going back to Thailand seemed not to be a good idea since we have been here before (see seperate travelogue for the trip we had in 1998) but we found out that Thailand still has a lot to offer and we decided to go to places in Thailand which we hadn’t visited before. And for the first time we also agreed to travel with some friends of ours and it was a bit exciting to see how that would turn out.

The trip begins
On most of our trips earlier we have chosen to fly KLM because: a) it has been the cheapest alternative, and b) Amsterdam is not very far from Stavanger so it is easy for us when we travel. But I feel that the quality of KLM has gone down in the years since I started travelling so this time we decided to try Thai Airways instead (they were in fact the cheapest alternative).

We decided to fly to Thailand on September 11th and due to the events last year on this date many people asked if we really would dare to fly on this day. But we did and we left Stavanger on a beautiful clear day. We made some arrangements before going and that was to book a hotel in Bangkok and to book a hotel at Ao Nang beach in Krabi. The first hotell was booked by Tom - a close friend of Olav and Allis, who lives in Bangkok. The hotel in Krabi was booked through www.hotelthailand.com and I’ll get back to the details about this.

The trip to Bangkok this time must be one of the most efficient trips that I have ever had. We flew from Stavanger in Norway to Copenhagen in Denmark and we just had enough time to get to the gate where the Thai Airways plane was waiting for us and then we were off. The flight with Thai took about 10 hours and we started flying at about 2 in the afternoon and we landed in Bangkok 6 in the morning. Normally long flights are placed in such a way that you get tired and you feel that you need to sleep. But on this flight we flew most of the day and due to the time difference we skipped one night. The consequence of course was that we got very tired in the middle of the first day in Thailand.

Arriving in Bangkok
Arriving on your destination when you go on vacation is always special. All of a sudden you are far away from home and when you get out of the airport there are new sounds, new smells and lots of new things to see. We have been to Bangkok before but it is still fascinating to come here and see all the traffic, the way they drive and so on. But be aware: when you land at Don Muang airport there are lots of people waiting for you after you go through customs. These people all want to know if you have booked your accommodation, if you have transportation to get to town and so on. We rented a little minibus for 800 baht to get us to our hotel and most of the time in the bus was spent looking out the window.

Our hotel was as mentioned earlier booked by Tom. We had originally wanted to stay at the Bayoike Sky tower (the tallest building in Bangkok) but Tom said that it was not a very good location. So he booked us in at the Rembrandt hotel (check out their webpage on http://www.rembrandtbkk.com/) located on Sukhumwit Soi 18. This is a very nice hotel and well located. Only 5 minutes away is the Asok BTS station and from here you are only like 5 minutes away from Siam square. The hotel has good restaurants, a nice swimming pool and great elevators *grin*.

The first thing we did after getting into the hotel was to go into the Siam area to look around. But we were there at about 9 am and most of the shops were not open yet. But we were stopped by many tuk-tuk drivers that wanted to take us on different trips but due to previous experiences from Thailand we tried to avoid that :-) But we also met a few locals that started talking to us and asked us where we were from and so on and they seemed just like curious and friendly people. But in the end they started to recommend that we should go to Thailand Export center because it was the last day of the sale (of course). It can be a bit overwhelming when you come from a place where you hardly see the sales personnel in a shop. In the end we got so used to the nagging from tuk-tuk drivers and we go better and better at ignoring them. But it also made us a bit rude of course and I don’t like that. One day this guy wanted to ask us about directions to a hotel and I just ignored him and walked past him. Luckily Nikki understood that this was a guy that just wanted a little help.

We landed on a Thursday morning and we stayed in Bangkok until Monday. Many people just make a short stop in Bangkok to get to their “final” destination either south or north in Thailand. I still feel that Bangkok is a city that is worth several days of exploration. The city itself has become less…eh…exotic since the last time I went there. It seems like a lot of work, energy and effort are being put into making Bangkok a more western city. I’m not sure that I’m able to explain this in a good way but it seems like progress is destroying some of the Thai lifestyle.

As I said we stayed in Bangkok for several days. So how do you get around in Bangkok? Well, I have to say that I just loved the Skytrain (also know as the BTS). As the name indicates this is a train that moves around in the city of Bangkok and the lines are one floor up compared to the road. This is absolutely one of the best changes since I was in Bangkok the last time. Back then we were stuck in traffic all the time trying to take a taxi or tuk-tuk from one place to another. But now it is possible to move quickly from A to B even in rush hour. But of course the two existing lines don’t cover that much of the city but it is a great start. We bought a 3-day pass for 280 baht and we took the train quite a lot. Included in the ticket is also a little booklet that shows you maps of the area around the stations and also other places of interest. For more information about the BTS you can check out this page http://www.bts.co.th/index1-e.htm. Once this is said I have to add that taking a taxi or taking a boat doesn’t cost much and is also a great way to get around. Well, when it comes to taxi it can be efficient as long as you don’t end up in a traffic jam :-)

Thanks to Tom we got to see more of the Bangkok nightlife than I have seen before. The Rembrandt hotel is located not far from Soi Cowboy and we walked over there one night. I guess this street is a red light district because when we went there to have a few beers, the girls from the bars were very…eh…present. They tried to drag us into the different places but we refused. There is a club there called the Doll house if I’m not mistaken and one of the girls outside carried around a poster which read “The Doll house: 50 gorgeous girls ( 2 ugly ones)”. I thought that the poster was pretty funny. We also went over to different bars on Silom road at night and that was great fun too :-) DJ Station was pretty lively as it got later and later. We also went a couple of times to a restaurant/bar located on top of the Banyan Tree building. This building is one of the tallest in Bangkok and the restaurant is located outside and on top of the building and the name is natural and clever: Vertigo. Go there if you want to sit outside, have a drink and enjoy the view of Bangkok by night.

Coming to a major city like Bangkok also offers great opportunities when it comes to shopping. It might sound strange to travel on vacation to go shopping but the stores do have more to offer than the shops here at home. And there are plenty of places that I can recommend in Bangkok. We went to places like Emporium (Phrom Phong BTS station) and Gaysorn (Chit Lom BTS station) but they seemed to be more upmarket. So it was better to go to places like MBK, World Trade Center, Siam Center, Central Chitlom and Sogo. If you are really into hardware/software you can go to Pantip Plaza. I guess the latter is like Singapore’s Sim Lim square. For us the prices were pretty nice due to a strong Norwegian Krone compared to the Thai Baht. But also because things are generally cheaper in Thailand compared to back home.

Thai food
One of the best things about travelling is trying out the local cuisine. Well, I guess it is not easy if you come to Thailand for the first time and you’ve never been in contact with Thai food before. We go to a Thai restaurant on a regular basis back home we know a little bit about the food. But it seems like many of the tourists settles for typical western food when they go to Thailand. But luckily Olav and Allis are also into Thai food so we had many good meals there. And Thai style means that you order lots of dishes and then you share the food with your friend. My recommendation is to try out the Thai food because it is really delicious and spicy. The favorites that should not be missed are: Tom Yam Goong (spicy and sour shrimp soup), Tom Ka Gai (Sour chicken soup in coconut milk), Masaman curry (curry with peanuts and potatoes), meat in green curry and many many other dishes. If you end up in the south of Thailand or along the coast then you also have a lot of seafood to choose from and we enjoyed snapper, cotton fish, prawns, crabs and so on. There are so many great dishes to try out and the flavor is so nice. One day Nikki and I had lunch at the World Trade Center (in the Thai food court) and we each had rice and curry and it was only 30 baht per meal (that is less than 1 €) and I guess this proves that it can be really cheap. By the way: insects has also become a quite popular dish in Thailand. We stopped this one guy on the street one night and we bought a little bag of vegetables and ants. I hate to admit it but we didn't taste it.

There are many nice fruits too that I hardly see at home here in Norway (at least in fresh condition). My favorite is the Rambutan and it’s relative Mangosteen. Apart from that you can always try durian which smells so bad that in some places there are signs saying that you’re not allowed to bring it :-) I have tried durian in Singapore but I have to admit that I had to give up after the second bite. It was not the fruit for me, that’s for sure :-)

After a couple of days in Bangkok we met Kittimawadee (a Thai friend of mine) and her fiancee Bee. They took us to the Chatuchak weekend market (as you understand from the name it is only open on Saturday and Sunday). It is pretty easy to get there now because it is located near the end of the BTS line (Sukumwit line). The market is so big and it would have taken us ages to see it all. I have heard that there are 9000 different little shops. And you can get everything here from clothing, souvenirs, jewelry, pets, food and so on. We walked around there for a couple of hours but we didn’t buy much. Well, Nikki did come out of there with a pair of slippers with a cow pattern on them :-)

As mentioned we were first thinking about stating at the Bayoke Sky Tower so we decided to go there one day during our stay. We actually walked there from Siam square and it was a bit of a walk. Crossing the main streets can be quite a challenge and walking to Bayoke Sky Towers you have to cross Petchaburi road which is quite a busy street. But we made it to the tower and for about 120 baht you can take the express glass elevator to the top and enjoy the view. And there is quite a view from this 309 meter building.

Wat Arun
Bangkok is filled with temples and when we went there the last time we got to see Grand Palace (Wat Phra Kaeo) and Wat Pho. But we never got to see Wat Arun (the temple of dawn) due to “sabotage” from tuk-tuk drivers :-) So we got up early one morning to check it out. We took the BTS to the end of Silom line and then we took a boat up the river to get to it. I recommend trying out transportation by boat because it provides a great view of the city. I think we paid 8 baht to go up river and 2 baht to cross the river. And Wat Arun itself was very nice. I’m not sure the “very nice” is enough to describe a temple like this. I just think that it is amazing that so much money and effort has gone into building temples like Wat Arun. The whole place is decorated with porcelain and it must have taken quite a lot of time (and patience) to get this right. Unfortunately it was not possible to climb up on Wat Arun. Not sure why I say “unfortunately”. I always seem to want to get to the top if I see that there is a possibility for that. Maybe that is just typical Norwegian :-)

While we were on the other side of the river we decided to walk over to see the Royal Barges. I think we did misjudge the distance a little bit because it took us quite a while to get there. And the entrance from the road to the Royal Barges was really strange: it took us through narrow pathways and it was like almost like going through a maze. But there were signs so we had no trouble finding it. But I’m not sure that the barges were worth the walk though. It is more or less just a big garage for 8-10 big boats.

After a trip to Krabi and Hua Hin we came back to Bangkok again:

Back in Bangkok
On Wednesday 25th we went back to Bangkok. We came down to Hua Hin on a bus and we decided that we wanted to try the train in the other direction. So we bought first class tickets (for about 800 baht pr. person) to the train that goes to Bangkok at about 6 am. We were at the train station a bit early and we sat there watching a train stopping and a lot of people were trying to sell snacks, breakfast and drinks to the people on board the train. We got a small compartment to ourselves when we got on the train but the keyword here is “small” :-) Once we had shoved in our suitcases and bags there was hardly any room to move around. But there were two beds and we slept a little bit to start with. After that it was nice to just look out through the window and watch the world go by. It is especially fascinating when you reach the outskirts of Bangkok. Along the railway people are living in little sheds and you can see people sitting outside eating dinner and people putting up clothes to dry. Bangkok is pretty fascinating in that manner. Here you can see really worn down sheds right next to a beautiful temple. And not far you can also find a skyscraper. And we also noticed that there are quite a few skyscraper “shells” around Bangkok. When I say shells I mean buildings that are almost complete but obviously there were not enough money to finish the buildings. But I guess that is a result of the economic crises that hit Thailand in the end of the 90s. The train by the was not that fast by the way…we got to Bangkok at about 11.30 so it takes the same time as the bus but it is more comfortable.

When we got back to Bangkok we checked in at the Rembrandt again. After two weeks with more or less just Thai food we decided to go for something western style again. We tried out the Outback steak house in Siam Discovery center and that was a very positive surprise. The staff were really friendly and the food was excellent. We also decided to try out the cinema of course (yeah, we enjoy going to the movies). So we bought tickets at EGV (Siam Discovery) and it was Gold Class tickets. I think they have two screens here that are Gold Class. We were not really sure what that was but when we got in we realized that this was the first class at the movies. Instead of normal seats we got these huge red recliners where you could get support for you feet and almost put it into a horizontal position. This made it difficult for quite a few when we had to stand up when they were playing the national anthem before the movie started :-)

Please note that there are some unusual pictures in this section. In the BTS guide we found a little piece about a Museum of forensic history. In the short description there were sentences like “for something out of the ordinary” and “not for the squeamish” and of course we got a bit curious. So we jumped into a cab and try to show him the brochure and he didn’t understand much of that. So we explained that this would be located at the Siriraj Hospital and he picked up on that. But I guess he thought that it was weird that we were pointing at a tourist brochure and then asked him to take us to a hospital because he kept asking us all the time if this was where we wanted to go. For the record it is possible to take the boat there too but it is still not easy to find. The museum (or as it turned out many different museums) was located in the hospital itself so we walked around quite a bit before we found it. The museums are first of all in use for medicine students I suspect because here you can see all sorts of bodyparts kept in jars of formaldehyde. But it is also a growing tourist attraction and the most popular place was the place where they kept the mummified remains of different criminals. The “worst” section was the pathology section where they had lots of babies on jars. I could help thinking back to different horror movies where people all of a sudden come to life when you come to close. But there were also lots of pictures of gruesome events, lots of human skulls showing what happens when you get shot or get in a car accident, stab wounds through different organs and so on. Let us just say that this is the most bizarre museum I have ever been to and believe me we got out of there with a nauseating feeling.

Last time we went to Bangkok we went to places like Grand Palace (Wat Phra Kaeo) and Wat Pho. Nikki didn’t really feel like visiting these temples one more time so one morning I got up early and I walked around alone. I started at Siam and ended up in the Grand Palace area. I started at like 7.30 am so one my way I watch the city waking up, people going to work and parents feeding their kids on street cafes. On the way I stopped by Wat Suthat which is located right next to the Giant Swing. I came there right after opening time so I walked more or less alone around in this temple and it was pretty nice. But when I got to Grand Palace I was not alone that is for sure. Even if I reached the place at like 9 am it was packed with tourists and it was hard to walk around because I was getting in the way of people taking pictures of each other and so on. So I didn’t stay there long but I took some pictures before I left. I like the paintings on the inner wall by the way (the Ramakien). It is possible to walk around looking at these painting for hours and find new details all the time. The entrance to Grand Palace is about 200 baht but it also gives you a ticket to Vimanmek teak mansion. On my way back I also stopped by the Golden Mount and walked up the top of this. The view that you get from this 76-meter hill is quite nice. A word of advice is to dress in light clothes if you are going to be outside long. I started pretty early in the morning but it was still hot and humid. So after walking for about 1 ½ hours I was pretty soaking wet. But remember that you can’t get into temples like the Grand Palace in a pair of shorts.

I mentioned early that if you want to go shopping there are plenty of places to do that. I was looking for a digital camera for a friend of mine and the cheapest place was Booth “D” Camera located on the 3rd floor at the MBK center. I got a Powershot S30 for about 22.000 baht (about 530 €), which is quite cheap at least compared to back home here in Norway.

Time to go home
All good things must come to an end I guess. On the evening of September the 27th 2002 we got a taxi to take us to Don Muang airport and we flew back to Norway just after midnight. It is always with mixed emotions I go home after a vacation. On one hand you just want the vacation to go on and on forever. And on the other hand it is nice to get back home to your own bed and so on.

Conclusion
I still think that Thailand is a great place to go on vacation. It is easy to combine a city and beach vacation, there are lots of activities to choose from, it is still cheap to eat and live there and both the air and water is nice and warm :-) Even if I have been there twice I still think that I will come back here in the future. I would still like to go to the north of Thailand to see how that looks, I would like to go there in the hot season and so on. We had plans to see the bridge over river Kwai, see Thai boxing and so on but we never got around to it. BUT we still had a great vacation and hopefully you have gotten some useful information by reading this travelogue. If you have any questions or comments please get in touch with me on gardkarlsen@hotmail.com.

A big thank you to Tom for showing us around (especially at night *grin*) and helping us when it comes to booking hotels. And a big thank you to my friend Kittimawadee for taking the time to meet us and showing us around.

Summary: