Bangkok: A Sort of Homecoming

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June 25th 2013

Published: June 30th 2013

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Siewch

Traffic, Sukhumvit Road

Now this is how I remember Bangkok. Mercifully, the traffic situation has improved vastly from when I lived there.

Prologue

I lived in Bangkok in 1994 and 1995 in the days before the metro and skytrain and before Suvarnabhumi Airport. At that time, roads were almost always gridlocked and it took a long time to travel even a short distance. I remember it once took me over two hours to drive 5 miles to work. The city was crowded, noisy and polluted, but it was also endlessly fascinating. One of my favorite memories was looking into my rearview mirror and seeing an elephant behind me!

When I booked our award tickets for our vacation to Bali, I could only get us back home from Bangkok, so we decided to spend two days there. We opted to spend one day in Ayuthaya (see our other blog entry) and the other day in Bangkok itself.

Krung Thep, the City of Angels

We arrived in Bangkok on the evening of June 23rd. After clearing immigration, we took the excellent airport train to Makkasan station, and then walked a short distance to the Petchaburi Metro Station where our accommodation, the Unico Premier Metrolink Hotel, was supposed to be located. Finding the hotel was easy as it was the only brightly lit building

Cabbages and Condoms Restaurant

Angry Birds lampshade made of condoms.

next to the station. After checking in, we made our way to Silom via the subway and then walked down Silom Rd and then through the infamous Patpong to get to the Tawana Ramada Hotel which had good (and, more importantly, presumably sanitary -- we weren't yet conditioned to Bangkok street food) pad thai when I lived there. The pad thai at Ramada was still good but not quite how I remembered it. Jeff did like how light it was compared to the pad thai we get in the US. Along the way, I showed Jeff my former office building above the Robinsons department store.

Patpong itself seemed to have tamed down a lot - there were far fewer people trying to get us into massage parlors or sex shows. After dinner, we walked back to Silom station. En route, I was distracted by khao ngiew ma muang (mango and sticky rice) at a sidewalk stall. It tasted heavenly! So much for avoiding street food! After this snack, we bought some provisions. We were both very disappointed when we realized that pocari sweat - something we had become very fond of in Japan and Indonesia - did not seem

Cabbages and Condoms Restaurant

Oh, Miang Kam, I missed you so much! One of my favorite snacks when I worked at Don Muang Airport in 1994-95, miang kam is made up of betel nut leaves, fried coconut, lime, ginger, chilies and a tangy citrus sauce. A lady used to come by in the afternoons selling this. My staff used to test my mettle by challenging me to put multiple chillies in it.

to be readily available in Thailand. We then took the metro back to the hotel and turned in.

The next day was spent in Ayuthaya. When we got back to Bangkok, we went to Cabbages and Condoms for dinner at Sukhumvit Soi 12. Cabbages and Condoms is owned by Khun Mechai Viravaidya, Thailand's "Condom King" who is best known for his efforts to reduce overpopulation, HIV infection and rural poverty, among others. The food at Cabbages and Condoms is good but pricey by Thai standards. I took this opportunity to eat hard-to-find Thai dishes in the US, including an appetizer of miang kam (betel nut leaves with fried coconut, ginger, lime, chilies) and haw mok (seafood steamed with curry in a banana leaf). The main attraction at Cabbages and Condoms, however, is not the food but the decor that includes mannequins dressed in condom outfits and lampshades decorated with condoms. There was also a wheel of fortune-like display where you can try your luck and see what happens if you do or do not practice safe sex. Jeff spun the wheel and got cancroids (I have no clue what those are but they sound nasty!). haha. Instead of dinner

Klong Taxi

Jeff on klong taxi.

mints, they give you condoms here.

Our last day in Bangkok was reserved for sightseeing. After checking out from our hotel and storing our bags there, we walked to Klong Saen Saep to take the klong taxi - long tailed boats that ply the main klong (canal) in Central Bangkok. Back when I lived in Bangkok, this was the fastest way to get around, but getting to the klong itself was a hassle due to the traffic. Anyway, the klong taxi cost us only 14 baht (about 50 cents) each to our first destination - Wat Saket or Golden Mount. En route, we got a glimpse into life alongside Bangkok's klongs. The klongs themselves are very polluted, so it is best not to fall in!

Wat Saket is at the end of the klong taxi. It is a temple perched atop a hill and it is a short walk from the klong taxi stop. At the top of the Golden Mount is a temple with great 360 degree views of Bangkok, and also an impressive golden chedi. When we had our fill of the views, we walked over to the Giant Swing. In the old days, men used

Golden Mount (Wat Saket)

Devotees at the big chedi on top.

to swing from this structure in order to get a bag of gold. My understanding is many people died trying, and the practice was stopped.

As we hadn't eaten breakfast, an early lunch was in order. The Lonely Planet recommended two restaurants in our vicinity, and we chose Chote Chitr. What an excellent choice this was! Chote Chitr is a small hole-in-the-wall place with only five tables run by a pair of Thai-Chinese sisters. A permanent fixture at the restaurant was their three dogs. They had an extensive vegetarian menu using mock meat to replace real meat on just about any menu item. Jeff had a vegetarian pork salad and mee krob (another poorly done dish in the US). I had fish chu chee curry which was both savory and crispy. This restaurant is amazing and we were both very happy to have eaten there.

After lunch, we walked to the Grand Palace where we were greeted by hordes of tourists and tour buses. I knew that knees and feet had to be covered, so I packed our sarongs from Bali in our backpack. The first person stationed at the front gate to weed out improperly dressed people

Giant Swing

Men used to swing from this to retrieve packets of gold.

allowed us in, but a woman at the next station yelled at us that sarongs were not allowed and insisted we rent long pants. WTH? As far as I know there is nothing explicit about sarongs not being allowed. I never really liked the Grand Palace anyway (too many tourists) so we did a 180 degree turn and walked out with the woman calling after us. Exiting the Grand Palace, we had a pleasant stroll along the street market towards Wat Pho. We took a short detour to enjoy the Chao Praya waterfront, and Jeff also ate jackfruit for the first time. At the street market, we also saw kluei khaek (fried banana, or literally "Indian banana") but we weren't hungry enough to buy some, a decision I later regretted because I really love the stuff.

At the entrance of Wat Pho, a very polite and apologetic man told us that both Wat Pho and Wat Arun were closed to non-Thais today as there were religious ceremonies taking place. He suggested Wat Benchamabophit (aka Marble Temple) and Wat Intharawihan, and he proceeded to mark them on our map and he even offered to hail a tuk tuk for us

Street Life

Street market outside Wat Pho.

and tell the driver where to go. For all I know, this could have been a scam to get us into a tuk tuk that would take a detour to a shop, but I was ready to get out of this uber-touristy area anyway. We thanked him but declined the last offer. I have been to Wat Benchamabophit in the past and it was in fact on my Plan B, but I had never heard of Wat Intharawihan which the man said had a 42.5 meter Buddha. We started walking in the direction but ended up hailing a taxi to take us to Wat Benchamabophit where we had a pleasant stroll in the peaceful temple grounds with nary another tourist in sight.

After that, we made out in the direction of Wat Intharawihan. We got a little bit lost but we enjoyed getting a glimpse into life in a non-touristy part of Bangkok by walking among the sois, seeing people eat at roadside stalls, and watching school kids chanting and singing and then getting out of school - many on motorbikes with two or more kids clinging on to one adult. Exploring the sois was, in fact, one of

Wat Benchamabophit (Marble Temple)

my favorite activities when I lived in Bangkok as this is the real Bangkok and there are many treasures - good food and interesting sights and smells - to be found there.

Along the way, we heard singing and we headed in that direction to find a concert being held on a makeshift stage erected in the middle of a parking lot. There were various street vendors in the area and they were all having a blast dancing to the music. It was really fun to see the people here enjoying themselves. It looked as if this parking lot was being set up for a large event as bleachers were being put up.

A short video of the concert can be found here:

We finally found the wat and the Buddha statue was very impressive (I later learned it was only 32 meters and not 42.5 meters, but it was still huge). There was also a colony of kitties living at the wat that was fed and cared for. Jeff went a little gaga over the cats. While he was cooing over them I made eye contact with an onlooker and said "farang prasat" (crazy

Wat Intharawihan

We named him MC 42.5M Buddha (as opposed to MC 900ft Jesus... geddit?).

foreigner), to which she replied "mai pen rai" (never mind).

Ah, mai pen rai. The kryptonite of many an expat in Thailand. In a work or domestic situation, mai pen rai pretty much translates to "live and let live", which in turn means that nothing will be done about whatever was troubling you. Mai pen rai is a powerful construct; us expats were powerless against it. But, choosing to not go with mai pen rai would pretty much guarantee a miserable existence in Thailand. When I lived there, an expat-oriented English radio station even had a silly mai pen rai jingle.

But I digress.

After Wat Intharawihan, we made our way back to the klong taxi and rode it to Nana Nua stop, which is on Sukhumvit Soi 3. From the klong taxi stop, we walked through the Muslim quarter to Soi 5 for a traditional Thai massage at Buathip, a legit massage place I went to when I lived in Bangkok. Along the way, we stopped at a store and, lo and behold, we found pocari sweat, but at a bit of a price premium. Nonetheless, this was a perfect drink after a long, hot day

Wat Intharawihan

MC 42.5M Buddha's feet.

of exploring and we gratefully chugged it down. The one hour massage at Buathip, which cost 270 baht, was great if a bit painful - Thai massage stresses stretching and pressure points. After the massage, we walked to Soi 24 to eat at Lemongrass, one of my old haunts. The food there was good but pricey, but we were slightly miffed that they ushered casually dressed people like us into the back of the restaurant.

After dinner, it was back to the hotel to pick up our bags. From there, we walked to Makkasan City Air Terminal to take the airport rail link to Suvarbhumi Airport. After checking in, we made a beeline for Thai's Royal Silk Lounge for a much needed shower. While at the airport, the effects of the massage kicked in and I suddenly felt very relaxed. Soon after our red eye flight to Seoul's Incheon Airport - the first of three legs on our long journey home - took off, I reclined my seat into bed mode and fell asleep immediately - a rarity for me even in First or Business Class. I even declined the first meal. Gasp!

Personal Reflections

Bangkok has

Klong Taxi

This is how the conductor collects fares... by walking along the side of the boat.

changed a lot since I lived there. The traffic is nowhere as bad as it used to be, transport is so much easier, and Patpong and its touts are much more subdued. Pollution, mercifully, appears to have eased too. The ease of transport opens up so much more of the city that previously was a hassle to get to because of the traffic. Bangkok has unfortunately gotten expensive but that is to be expected.

It was definitely a good thing we got turned away at the Grand Palace and Wat Pho, as we ended up walking around and experiencing more of the real Bangkok.

Travel Tips

USD1 = THB30.

Accommodation: Unico Premier Metrolink Hotel was booked via agoda.com for $35/night. The rooms are small and it isn't located in the glitzy tourist belt, but it is in a fantastic location close to all the key transportation modes: it is a short walk from Makkasan City Air Terminal, right next to Petchaburi Metro Station, and near Klong Saen Saep. Agoda.com gives you the option to prepay for your room in US dollars; you can avoid foreign transaction fees on your credit card if you select this payment option.

Klong Taxi

These are the boats that are used for the klong taxi.

Traditional Thai Massage: Buathip on Sukhumvit Soi 5 is a legit place with set prices. No surprises await you here. However, don't be freaked out if you are led into a dark room.

Transport: The subway is efficient but not too expansive. A three-day pass that can be used on MRT only (and not Skytrain) costs 230 baht.

Transport via klong taxi is highly recommended for a glimpse into klong life. If you get onto the klong taxi east of Pratunam, you will have to switch klong taxis to get to Wat Saket, so keep your ticket.

The airport train costs 35 baht. The express train from Makkasan to the Airport seems to operate infrequently (like one every hour). The local train was fine and travel time from Makkasan to Airport was around 20 minutes.

Additional photos below

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