Bangkok

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Wednesday 31 Aug
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I caught a taxi to Phuket airport, then caught plane to Bangkok, arriving at the old airport at Don Meuang (rather than the new airport 'Suvannaphum'😉.

Had a look around Sukhumwit rd in Bangkok - had trouble recognising many locations are there are so many new tall buildings there blocking old views.


Thursday 1 Sep
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I caught the 'sky train' over to the King Taksin bridge on the Chao Phraya river then caught a tourist boat up to the pier near the Grand Palace. that was a good and interesting little trip. I walked over to the Grand Palace - i wasn't intending to go in - I've seen it before - what I really wanted to check out was the touts who are reputed to infest the area, tricking tourists in going on expensive tours of jewellery shops etc. However while a number of suspicious people spoke to me none of them gave me the "Grand Palace is closed today - I take you for tour" spiel.

After a snack, I caught a taxi over to Rama I road, and then walked up the lane
to Jim Thompson's House - an interesting place I had never got round to visiting.
Jim Thompson was an American who lived in Thailand in the 1950s and 1960s, and
played a major role in reviving the defunct Thai silk industry. He built a fantastic
traditional style Thai house on the bank of one of the major Bangkok canals.
He disappeared on a visit to a Malaysian jungle in 1967, but the house was saved
and is looked after by a foundation.

It is run very professionally with good guides, and none of the usual hordes of
souvenier sellers, and touts infesting the place. Only disappointment is you can't
take photos in the interiors of the interesting rooms. Not sure why they have that
rule.

After lunch I decided to take a public boat down the canal, and explore a different
part of Bangkok. I ended up quite some distance from the hotel, in a rain shower, which
took ages to let up.

When i finally decided to make my way back to the hotel, the traffic was at a complete
standstill, and I ended up walking about 5km back to the hotel. Major sections of this
required walking on the side of the road due to the peddlers who own the footpaths.

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Photos

Sukhumwit Rd, Bangkok
Typical parking lot traffic.

Footpath taken over by vendors
This problem is so bad in some areas that a government official proposed building an elevated footpath 50km all the way around Bangkok! Then visitors and locals could walk in ease without having to fight their way past all these hawkers. To be called the Sky-Walk. Some people quipped they ought to go the whole hog and build an elevated Bangkok above the existing Bangkok - call it the Sky-Bangkok.