Bangkok Safely

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After four weeks working in Ho Chi Minh City I decided it was time for a holiday and a change of scenery. I had been intending on travelling to the North of Vietnam but with typhoons and flooding recently decided to head to Bangkok instead.

Arriving at the airport is an efficient experience. Immigration flowed nicely, buggage reclaim was quick and when it came to getting a taxi it was one of the most organised systems I have come across. You go to a desk, explain where you want to go and they hand you a ticket. You then proceed to a queue of taxi drivers who take the ticket and take you to their car and then on to your destination. They will usually charge a fare rather than use the metre and there is a 50 baht charge for starters but when that is about £1 you don't really mind. All in all the journey from the airport to the hotel was swift and only cost 350 baht (£7).

I had chosen my hotel via asiarooms.com. The Convenient Park sounded perfect and the pictures looked very nice. It was supposed to be near a sky train station, which it is; only the station is not open yet and is not due to be open for some time. This meant that I had a 30 minute walk before I got into civilization. This was just one of the reasons that I quickly renamed it the Inconvenient Park. The staff were not very helpful and 3 days out of 7 they forgot to leave towels in my room, which lead to difficult conversation with reception ('We do not have any towels. Could you send some up?' 'You want towers?' 'No, I need towels. You know hand towels, shower towels' 'You need a shower?' 'Yes, that is why I need a towel' 'What tower?' 'Bath towel, hand towel' 'OK, i will send somebody up' 'Good, make sure they bring towels').

Bangkok is considerably warmer than Ho Chi Minh City, so I quickly struggled with the heat (which is especially difficult when you have to walk for 30 minutes every morning just to get started). Still being the rainy season there were some very heavy storms, but fortunately most of these were in the evening and I only lost half of one day due to rain.

My first day of exploring Bangkok introduced me to one of the main annoyances of the city. Having got to the Sky Train station I had been aiming for, I then set out to walk to the Grand Palace (I realise this was a mistake since the distance on the map did not do the actual distance justice, but that is an aside). I started walking in the wrong direction to begin with (ok, so i should have learned my lesson after Seoul). It was after I realised this that I had my first encounter with a tuk tuk pimp. 'Where you going?' he asked, I innocently replied 'The Grand Palace'. 'It is Monday, Buddhist Day, it is not open yet. I recommend you take my tuk tuk for a tour of the city and then we will drop you off at the Grand Palace when it open in two hours. Only 20 baht an hour'. I did the maths and decided this sounded quite a good deal (too good as it would later turn out). The tuk tuk journey was worthwhile, this is a form of transport unique to Thailand and worth experiencing. The tour itself also started well with the driver pointing out various landmarks. Then the first of his sales pitches kicked in. 'I will take you to a gem store. They have a special offer, today is the last day. If you buy something they give me stamps for clothes'. I did a quick visit to the store but did not make a purchase. 'Now I will take you to a tailor. My sister works there. If you buy something they will give me fuel'. I walked in and walked out again, starting to get a little annoyed. 'OK, it is still too early for the Grand Palace. I will take you to Central Pier and you can get a boat there', by this point I just wanted to be at my destination so I agreed. Unfortunately he did not take me to Central Pier he took me to some other pier (probably run by his brother) where the only option was to charter a boat along the river. Annoyed and having lost a lot of time already I decided to take the boat. This at least got me to where I wanted to go, but cost 2000 baht for the pleasure.

So, I was finally in the area I wanted to be in. As I walked out of the pier another tuk tuk pimp approached me. ‘Where you going’ ‘The Grand Palace’, I answered. ‘Too early, it will not be open for another 2 hours’. Oh yeah, I thought. Heard it before. ‘You should go to this temple and then onto this one, only open today; very special’. ‘No thanks’ I said and then walked away to Wat Pho (early afternoon and I am finally getting some sightseeing done).

Wat Pho is the largest and oldest Wat in Bangkok. With considerable grounds to walk around, the highlight though is the reclining Buddha (also the largest of its kind). Often overlooked by tourists who go next door to the Grand Palace (well I almost did the same), it is a less commercialised example of Thai temple and for that reason should be visited.

After visiting the temple, I decided it must be time to visit the Grand Palace. I started out towards the entrance when somebody who looked like an official approached me. ‘Where are you going?’, similar question but my suspicions were not aroused. ‘The Grand Palace’. ‘Today is Monday, Buddhist Day. You will not get in wearing shorts’. It sounded plausible. ‘I recommend you go to these places’ he said highlighting them on the map. He gave a wave and a tuk tuk appeared (yes, it was another tuk tuk pimp in disguise). ’He will take you for 40 baht’, ’No thanks, I’ll walk’.

Further down the road yet another tuk tuk pimp tried to persuade me to hire his driver, but by now I was wise to their exploits and managed to continue on foot.

The tuk tuk scams are quite well known, and in fact I was quite lucky because there are many who end up worse off than having just lost a few hours. They will drive you around but you will usually end up with their relations trying to sell you something and you will rarely arrive where you are heading. They do frequent the main tourist attractions. I later found out the Grand Palace is open every day from 830am and if you are not suitably dressed they will lend you some clothes, so if anybody tells you it is closed or you won’t get in then just ignore them and go anyway (unless they are one of the armed guards for the palace, it is usually best to believe them).

So anyway, back to my travels of the first day, post tuk tuk interventions.

Continuing on foot I saw the Giant Swing, some more temples and the Royal palace before finally heading back to the Sky Train and my journey home.

Tired and well walked I returned to my hotel convinced there had to be an easier way to get around than walking or tuk tuk.

After doing some research into public transport I worked out I could get to most places by using a combination of Sky Train and public ferry. The public transport in Bangkok is excellent. The Sky Train has two lines and is celebrating its 10th Anniversary this year. Although it does not have a station near the main tourist attractions, it is a efficient way of travelling around the city. You can get to any station for under 40 baht or a day pass will cost 120 baht. The Metro is celebrating it’s 5th Anniversary this year but only has one line. The main benefit of the Metro is that is stops at the Bangkoks main railway station (more on that another time). The mass transit systems of Bangkok are more suited to the residents carrying out their daily lives that for tourists, but if you get to Central Pier on the Sky Train though you can travel to most of the main attractions. From the pier you can jump on a tourist boat (approximately 150 baht for a day pass) or you can use the public ferry which will take you most places on the river for 20 baht per journey.

So it was with a combination of Sky Train and public ferry that I found myself at the Grand Palace on my second day.

The Grand Palace is the former Royal residence but is now just used for some ceremonial purposes. The Palace itself is not that impressive, but within the grounds there is Wat Phra Kaew; the Temple of the Emerald Buddha. The temple is the one every tourist wants to see and is pictured in most guide books. A shining beacon of colour and gold, this is the spiritual home of Thai Buddhism. For all the glory though, the central piece, the Emerald Buddha, is actually very small (66cm) sitting high above the ground and you may well miss it if you do not look carefully. You can easily spend a day just walking around this complex. There are a couple of smaller exhibits including a weapons museum and temple museum. It is a chore to get there, with many obstacles in the way (mostly in the form of con artists and tuk tuk pimps) and you have to adhere to the strict dress code but this is one sight you will really want to see.
From the Grand Palace you can hop on a ferry and cross the river to Wat Arun. This is known as the Tenple of the Dawn (ironic since if you are on the other side of the river, the sun sets behind the temple; a beautiful sight on a clear day). Wat Arun is an old style temple, the centre piece being the 82 metre spire. It is covered in colourful porcelain murals and as long as you do not have a fear of heights, or steep stairs, you can climb up a large proportion of it for a stunning view back to Bangkok. It is said that after the destruction of Ayuthaya, the King took the discovery of a shrine here as being a sign that he should build his new capital. A palace was built next to the shrine which was the Kings home until his assassination. The capital was then moved across the river and Bangkok was born. For all the glory of some of the other Wats, this was my favourite in the city. The structure and simplicity more beautiful than the gold and jewels that are popular in Thai temples.

After a day trip to Ayathuya on the third day, it only left Jim Thompsons House to complete the main sights of Bangkok. So on day 4, I too the Sky Train there.

Jim Thompson was an American who served in Thailand during WW2 as part of the Office of Strategic Services. After the war, he remained in Thailand where he discovered the art of hand woven silk. Seeing a market for this in the West he started a business selling the silk to fashion houses in Milan, Paris, New York and London. Whilst being a sharp businessman, he also invested in the people working for him in Bangkok making them shareholders on the company. In 1967 while out walking in Malaysia, he simply disappeared and was never heard from again. There have been many theories as to what happened, from the simple he was killed for money to the more obscure involving his connection with the CIA. This international mystery will likely never be solved though.

In 1959, Thompson purchased a piece of land and had 6 traditional Thai houses converted into one home. He decorated his home with collections of art from around the region and tried to maintain as much of the traditional style of the house as possible (although he did have some air conditioning added and still had a few Western touches for comfort). It is an eclectic mix, but his eye for style makes it work. The house is now open to the public, although only with a tour guide. The gardens are like a jungle, with the house hidden amongst the trees and flowers. There is a natural feel to the structure, thai tradition and western comfort blended together in a way only Jim Thompson could manage.

The house is just a short walk from the National Stadium Sky Train station and offers a discount for under 25s.

From there it was a short journey to Siam Ocean World, Southeast Asias largest oceanarium. Having been to several oceanariums before (Edinburgh, Barcelona and Valencia) I was a little reluctant to pay the 850 baht entry fee. Fortunately the Sky Train maps at all Sky Train stations offered a 20% discount, so I decided to give it a try. I was glad I did. There is the usual selection of sea life, including tiger sharks etc and you walk through the tunnel with the fish swimming about you. This is about as close as I would want to get to a shark. One of the highlights though is a glass bottomed boat journey around one of the tanks. This gets you much closer to the action and you can see the actual size of the creatures not reduced by the glass tank. There was the option of a behind the scenes tour or a diving with sharks experience but I gave them a miss. After the oceanarium there is also a 4D movie to watch, which is good fun. As well as the 3D effects, which were excellent, you gets sprayed with water and the seats move making it true experience.

I enjoyed Ocean World and would easily rank it second to the one in Valencia, but far better than any of the others I have been to.

All in all Bangkok made me think of a slightly more advanced Ho Chi Minh City. The roads are cleaner and poverty is not so apparent. There are more cars than bike, but the heavy rain fall and the heat reminded me of how close Thailand and Vietnam are. Bangkok is clearly a richer city, the Sky Train and Metro system are evidence of this. There is building work going on all over, signs of the growth of the city. There is still a lot of street food despite a lot of quality restaurants.. I did not venture into the seedier side of the city, although I understand it is quite easy to do so by mistake. The main down side to Bangkok is that it can appear that everybody is trying to rip off the tourists. Keep your street smarts though and you will not become a victim. I was pleasantly surprised by my visit though, there is more to Bangkok than prostitutes and lady boys although if that is what you are looking for then it is very easy to find.

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Comments

[Colabamumbai]

Tuk Tuk Scam
The Temple is closed is an old scam that tuk tuk drivers have been using and the gems are fake at the gem store. Beware of the new scam at the new airport. Stay out of the duty free stores especially King Power. They are falsely charging tourists with theft, then you are taken to a Police station away from the airport where you will be forced to pay a lot of money for your release, this is all very well organized. This is receiving a lot of publicity. Dont rent skidos or other eater craft as you will always be charged for damages and the money extorted from you. King Power Duty Free is owned by Army personnel.