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Asia » Thailand » Central Thailand » Bangkok
July 28th 2007
Published: August 15th 2007
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Bangkok! It a place that almost everyone has heard of. I had no idea what to expect. I knew that there would be the endless calls from tuk-tuk drivers, busy traffic, and deals, deals, deals everywhere. Would I like it? That was the big question before coming. The answer with no doubt is a big yes.

The city is big. It's big not is just area and population, but in diversity. There are so many unique sections of the town, that there will be at least one you'll like. You can go from tourist town to china town to uptown shopping by simply changing streets. That was a big seller for me.

For sites, there's more than enough to keep you busy for a week. Temples, palaces, museums are everywhere and most are worth a look. The two biggest and most visited are Wat Kaew and Wat Pho. Wat Pho houses the largest reclining Buddha in Thailand and Wat Kaew is home to the sacred Emerald Buddha. Both are incredible sites, even with the countless tour groups running around.

For entertainment there's everything and anything you could like. I pretending to be a "school boy", so I didn't see much of Bangkok's famous nightlife, but there's still lots of fun trouble to be done during the days. I really like my visit to the Muay Thai matches at Lumpinee stadium. There's 8-10, 5 round fights and the main event was very good. Lots of quick knees.

If you like shopping, there's some of the best and in western sizes! With the huge ex-pat community finding an XL shirt is easy. That's been a big problem for me in other countries. There have been lots of good designs, labels, but nothing in my size.

Ok, now for the downside. Bangkok is a shady place with too many scams. I'm not saying to trust no one, ok, yes I am, "Trust no one!!!" The rule is that anyone coming up to you offering help aren’t. Anyone nice would be too shy to come up to you. Trust more the people you go up to, but still only slightly. Another good bit of advice is when you ask for the price; always divide it by at least 4. Just walk away if they do not budge. With the huge amount of scams, it actually makes things easy because you know to never let your guard down. Then you can have some fun. Just remember that in Bangkok, you're much more likely to have your money sweet talked from you, than taken by force and the Thais are very, very sweet talkers.

With Bangkok being such a busy Asian port, I can easily see myself returning with a smile. I'm looking forward to the next time.



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15th August 2007

As always...great picture taking!

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