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I had a few more days in Bangkok before the conclusion of my tour of South East Asia. I stayed, as I did my
first time in the Thai capital back in February, at the Marcopolo Hostel which, while really basic and noisy owing to being above a nightclub was great value, with friendly staff and decent wi-fi. I liked being in the Khao San Road/Soi Rambuttri area - the bars and restaurants there are so much cheaper than around Sukhumvit, though I headed in that direction to do some last minute shopping for bargains at Panthip Plaza (computer city - I picked up a trackball mouse there) and along the markets for a couple more gifts for people at home.
Khao San Road was as lively as on my first visit - it may have been the low season elsewhere in Thailand but that doesn't seem to have translated to less crowds in the bars here. The Green House, on the much more easy-going Soi Rambuttri, that I mentioned in the previous post always seemed to be full of people. Many of the customers - more, it seemed, than last time - were making use of the wi-fi and available
power points, while listening to the bar's guitarist.
My last full day in Bangkok was the 19th May and I headed across town to Sukhumvit once more. There was a rally of the red-shirted protesters at Ratchaprasong intersection - at the far end of the Central World mall which was set on fire in the unrest in 2010. The red-shirts gathered to mark the first anniversary of the Thai army's assault on the protest encampment there. The rally was peaceful, lined by stalls selling DVDs with footage of the events, traditional music and lots of red clothing bearing slogans ('Red in the Land' etc). I went up onto the skywalk bridge over the intersection and looked down on the thousands of people, almost all dressed in red, below - an impressive sight regardless of political persuasion!
My Sri Lankan Airlines flight wasn't scheduled to leave until after 9pm so I stayed at the guesthouse until it was time to get the taxi to the metro station, at around 5. From Phaya Thai I took the Airport Link metro. It's a modern train that compares well with those in Europe. As was the airport - while it's not as
good as Singapore or KL it is far from unpleasant; security was good and efficient and the futuristic architecture of the departure gates was well worth photographing. Where most airports have a variety of shopping outlets in the departure area, Suvarnabhumi had lots and lots of King Power 'duty free' shops, a few fast food type places and not much of anything else. After a quick snack I made my way to the gate and before long was on the plane.
On the first leg of the flight, to Colombo, I was seated next to a talkative British expat who had been living with his Thai wife in a village not far from
Pai. He met his wife on a previous visit to Thailand, then they went back to England; he had some real tales to tell about her experiences in an English town after knowing nothing outside her rural Thai village. This time, he was returning to the UK without her to find better-paid work in construction. The man in the next seat, across the aisle, looked rough - not surprisingly, he'd spent the last few weeks in the notorious
Immigration Detention Centre for overstaying his visa by two-and-a-half months
and deported onto this flight. When we reached Sri Lanka he wasn't allowed to transit without being accompanied.
Bandaranaike Airport was a pleasant enough place to while away a couple of hours before boarding the (much longer) flight from Colombo to Heathrow. I found a cafe with wi-fi and the biggest helping of cheesecake and sent a message home letting my family know that I was on my way and bought some tea from one of the several Ceylon tea shops. Going into the gate, the ticket-checker looked rather quizzically at my passport and then at me and for a few seconds I thought there must be some kind of problem but then I was waved through. It's true I don't look much like my passport photo anymore!
After an uneventful plane ride - I slept well in my window seat until we were over Turkey and the plane was lit up and food served. We touched down at Heathrow just before 9 in the morning and an hour later I was on the tube to Acton. I looked forward to meeting up with friends at
WLTUC - the social club where I had been a regular customer,
committee member and volunteer barman during the time I lived in the area, and still returned often after I moved to South London. Clare, one of the other regulars there kindly offered me space on the sofa; Gyp the greyhound's usual favourite spot; for a few days of catching up before heading for Newcastle and family.
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Mark Iles
non-member comment
Good to have you back
So, when are you down to London? What are your next moves?