Thailand - Bangkok - The Hangover 2 and a nerve wracking time wondering if I would get out before the floods hit!

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Bangkok - The Hangover 2 and a nerve wracking time wondering if I would get out before the floods hit!

Following my incredible time in Laos I was heading back to Bangkok for 5 days until my flight to Vietnam. I had read all about how the floods were affecting Thailand but I was somewhat surprised to arrive and see absolutely no signs of them??? If you happened to live in a state of isolation from the news you could easily be forgiven for thinking that all was normal. However the truth would ultimately reveal itself in dramatic fashion!

I had several things I wanted to do in Bangkok and one of them was to shop for super cheap clothes and electronics, genuine originals of course, ok maybe not but where else can I buy a Lacoste polo shirt for £4? If you see any of my family in an array of new brand named clothes you may be able to guess where they come from unless of course they have won the lottery and decided not to tell me.

One of the other things I wanted to do was take a stroll through the less cultural side of Bangkok called Soi Cowboy, basically it’s one of the main bar areas with a plentiful selection of girls on offer. As many of you will know I’m not a big drinker and this is certainly not my scene but I had to see what it was all about. I didn't stay long but basically it was a strip full of dirty old men with 18 year old girls all over them, the guys looked happy enough but seriously it just looks so wrong and they really must have their moral compass switched off. I simply don't get it but we are all different I guess. One of the most striking difference here is that it's quite normal and no one really bats an eyelid at it, whereas I'm just walking along thinking "you dirty old ba*tard!" So after my evening stroll complete with an internal moral debate about what must be going on inside the minds of the blokes and the girls I proceeded to head back to the hotel with a hooker to see what it's all about, just kidding of course, I had two!

My most interesting day in Bangkok by far was when I met up with Maam to go and see a flood hit area just outside of Central Bangkok. To set the scene Maam got a call from her sister saying the family home had been flooded overnight and could she come and help save some items within the house, the flood waters in this area went from nothing to 2 meters in 24 hours, absolutely crazy. I of course offered to come and help, or stand around and by pretty much useless and get sun burnt as it turned out but my intension were good. My reaction to seeing such devastation was one of total shock and self-questioning as to how I would feel if it was my home. I clearly had no comprehension of such tragic events and was out of my depth (sorry I couldn't resist that one.) After watching many local people attempt to save their belongings with all manner of ingenious make shift rafts I was left with one overriding feeling from the day, no not the sun burn but the sense of complete unity and togetherness of the local people and their ability to somehow stay up beat, I'm not sure we would all be able to remain that calm in the face of such turmoil, it was a very memorable day for many reason and I really hope the floods cease soon and the people in Thailand can start to rebuild. Sadly I have no photos of this day because I wisely decided to leave my camera at the hotel, but I’m sure you have all seen the videos on the news.

Signs of the flood situation had become apparent in central Bangkok just before I was leaving, every shop was busy building dwarf walls around their entrances to protect them, all major buildings were like a sand bag jigsaw puzzle and all the shops had sold out of water and tinned foods but thankfully that was towards my last couple of days so didn't really get affected by it. But I guess the threat in Central Bangkok was becoming very real and is still so as I write this blog.

The remainder of time in Bangkok was spent relaxing and sightseeing with my first class tour guide Maam. We went to the grand palace which as you will see from the photos is incredibly beautiful. We also went to Golden Mount, China Town and the small Indian area in Bangkok where we had a fantastic curry!

Another fantastic 5 days in Bangkok, I've been left with so many differing memories ranging from both devastation in the eyes of the locals and happy times of exploring deeper into such an eclectic and diverse city. It's fair to say Bangkok might have a very well-known and publicised façade but there are so many more interesting levels if you scratch away underneath the surface!

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Photos

Bangkok - Terminal 21
And then I saw this...