After modern, sleek, air-conditioned Singapore it was some change to arrive in Bangkok – a huge, sprawling, noisy, crowded city, with jam-packed streets full of taxis, cars, tuk tuks, motorbikes and people. Our hotel was in Sukhumvit, which turned out to be an excellent choice as it was close to a Skytrain station – the rapid transit system which speeds you way above the constant traffic jams. We saw the Royal Palace and Emerald Temple in the midday heat (high 90s and very humid), thus confirming that saying about mad dogs and Englishmen. We also went to Jim Thompson’s House (JT was an American who helped to re-launch the Thai Silk trade in the 1960s) to see some stunning antiques in traditional Thai teak houses, moved and re-erected in a pretty tropical garden. We met up
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