Fool me once shame on you, Fool me twice shame on me (then you)

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So my last few hours in BKK are now ticking away. Why am I in an internet cafe, you ask?

Well, there are a few reasons actually.

1. It REALLY stinks outside. The pollution is so bad that I have developed quite the sore throat. Though that's probably just the softie American in me talking.

Brian's Revenge

2. (Perhaps more importantly) I am doing this for free. Well sort of.

Remember that scam I mentioned last time? A tuk-tuk driver agrees to take me around to some "sites" and also to do some "shopping".

How could I fall for the same scam twice, you ask? Easy. Didn't I already say that I am American? 😊

So these two guys are sitting across the street from a major toursit attraction. They start talking to me in english, and seem like regular stand-up sort of guys. They ask where I have been, and tell me where I should go next. They even hail a tuk-tuk driver, and "negotiate" a pretty good deal for me. The driver starts at 100 Baht (~ $3), but my new friends will accept nothing more than 40. The driver was to take me to three sites, and one shop. Fair enough. They ushered me into the cab, and off I went. Dashing again in between traffic, same thrill ride as the previous journeys.

Everything was grand! Until - I told the driver that actually I didn't have any interest in the shop, and that he should just take me home. This apparently wasn't such a good idea in his book. In fact, it turns out that he didn't even reall care about the 40 Baht that been so carefully negotiated on my behalf. He wanted the gas coupons. We argued for quite some time, until a bright idea occured to me...

"How much are those gas coupns worth?" I asked.

After a lengthy pause, he responded that they were worth 50 Baht.

"Fine. I want 40 Baht per coupon". He stopped the tuk-tuk, and we haggled it out for a bit until we agreed on a price. I went to two shops, and got paid for it. Not much, and to tell the truth, I almost didn't take it. I did feel a little guilty - afterall the money meant a lot more to him than me. All the same, I was pissed for being fooled twice, and getting paid made me feel better. Plus, I got a ride home (it had taken me about an hour to walk to where he picked me up)

The non-river boat taxi man

In other news, I have decided that I am an expert on how NOT to take the river taxi system. I hoped on one yesterday a few hundred meters from my pad, and ended up at a light rail station. Sweet!

I bopped around all day -including getting a Thai massage that did NOT include sex of any kind. I befriended an honest Tuk-Tuk driver who took me to a place that he goes all the time. It was an interesting experience. We both roll into a room, and get ready to change. I had no idea what to do, so I basically just mimicked him. It must have seemed pretty strange to him - I only did what he did.

In any case, I got an amazing 2 hour massage for about $10. From a very nice looking gal, I might add. At the end, I'll be honest - the thought of "special service" did cross my mind. Fortunately, "special service" wasn't even on the menu at this place. Strictly massage. That's why I went there in the first place.

Getting home was another matter altogether... Yet another tuk-tuk driver tried to tell me that my plan for getting home was folly, cause the boats stopped running. Bah! I was the seasoned world traveller here... I would figure it out. How hard could it be?

I got to the dock, and behold! A boat! With a proud look upon my face, I jumped aboard. All was well in my world, as I sneered at all those who opposed me.

We went drectly accross the river. Fair enough, the boat goes accross... I then had to pay. Odd - I didn't pay until I near the point that I got off last time...

The the boat goes right back to where we started.

You see this boat did nothing but go back and forth accross the river. Which is perfectly fine if you really like that stretch of river... But you see, I sort of had a notion of heading home.

It turns out that the boat service going home had, in fact, stopped.

I "saved money" by walking half of the 5k or so back to my place, as opposed to getting a cab. I made up for the money that I saved by buying a water every 50m or so, and then finally jumping into a cab when I was tired and grumpy.

Yikes - this is a whole lot of negative about Bangkok so far. Contrary to what it may seem - I really do like the place. In fact, I'm sure that I'll come back here soon.

For now, it's one last dinner, then a 14 hour train to Chaing Mai. The train will serve as my lodgings for the night. Four words describe my thoughts about this train - "air-con, baby. Yeah!" Oh, and hopefully no bed-bugs.

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Comments

[anonymous]

sounds like...
...a great adventure. massage should be super good for you especially when you been swinging from one place on the other on foot if not with wits. haha.. that should loosen some tension from your muscles. hm... and good thing that you went to a proper place. ha... :D - you should see me smiling foolishly at the computer reading your blog. man, i hope my mom wouldn't think i'm crazy. sorry man, didn't want to laugh at your pain. ha. :P but opps! there i go again... but i would say: "hang in there dude. proud of you." - bettyboo aka amy

[wanderingbri]

Brian's reply to Joanna
So I had already posted a point-by-point response to Joanna's comment that defended my actions, and refuted the claims that she made. After some thought, I decided that my response was purely emotional, and subsequently deleted it. Thanks Joanna for three things: 1. For taking the time to respond to someone's post that you don't know (I am presuming that we have never met here - am I incorrect on this?) and 2. for illustrating a point that is valid - some of the locals in Thailand DO in fact have a fairly negative view of foreigners in general for some of the reasons that you describe. I don't have enough information to generalize this problem to other areas of the world, or to say that this is specifically a problem with American tourists. I usually like to think of myself as one of the "good guys", but who knows - maybe you are correct? It's tough to say exactly how my actions are intrepreted by the locals that I meet. This is a debate that I leave for another time. Finally - 3: I was very surprised to see how I reacted to your posting. My ego actually took quite a brusing under your unexpected criticisim (to the point where I felt the best course of action was to attack you right back). I think it was good to be reminded that I can't please all the people all the time, and that some people will always disapprove of some of my words/actions.