Day 6: One day in Bangkok

I believe I may have mentioned that Bangkok is quite busy. If not, Bangkok is quite busy.

Especially at night.

Saturday night.

We may have got a budding Robert De Niro as our taxi driver this evening, he certainly seemed about ready to go postal after 30 minutes of taking us around the block and then dumping us a couple of streets away from where we started. No where near Chinatown, where L and I thought we were headed.

The day started by experimenting with the hotel breakfast, at the Coffee Club which is kind of part of the hotel, but also its own thing. There’s some crazy thing with vouchers that give you a semi upgrade as part of our hotel deal, but there’s a surcharge on anything you’d actually want to eat/drink. We went for the “Chinese breakfast”, a small bowl with a fried egg, sweet Chinese sausage, some minced pork, and 3 cherry tomatoes. It was a bit on the ordinary side. I doubt we’ll be having breakfast in the hotel again.

I’d expressed an interest in looking at new laptops, so we caught the BST to the MBK, a 6 storey mega marketmall with everything from rhinoplasty to hello kitty. Not many laptops though, just lots of newish smartphones, and people offering to repair smartphones, and accessories for, you guessed it, smartphones. I didn’t look closely enough to see how many were legit, as to pause briefly invited the unwelcome attention of the tout. I also can’t really comment on the prices, as not many items had prices marked. But if you want to be hassled by endless stalls selling the same phones, Level 4 is for you.

Other floors of the MBK were a mix of quite welcoming staff, and staff who couldn’t take their eyes off their phones long enough to give a shit, so it seems that some Western ideas are catching on here. One swanky corner offered a posh spa, and plastic surgery (items were listed on the signs outside, but no prices). Level 6 had a food hall where you have to buy a swipe card at a central kiosk before purchasing at individual stores.

Post-MBK we hiked down to Soi 42 on the BST, where rumours indicated a gluten free bakery was to be found. Theera is more of a cafe by day, but do custom gf orders and delivery too. The cafe bit is good, but pricey, as waffles and coffee for two came to $40AUD (they also seem to only take cash). The waffles were good, L had the impressive looking chunky monkey, and I had a nut one with macadamia icecream and granola. Theera aims to be more than gf, also has dairy free, nut free, and vegan options. I am a little put off by places that try to lump all of the xyz free folk into the same space when it means that the options presented cover multiple intolerances/choices, so the gf option also has to be dairy free, for example. I see L get this all the time on airplanes too, by ordering the gf option she’ll get margarine instead of butter, and so on. So while it’s great that Theera has multiple choices in the soy icecream arena, I’d have liked the dairy option on my waffle.

Back to the hotel for a little rest from the heat and humidity, then began our ill fated Chinatown trip. After the hotel secutiry/concierge helpfully flagged down multiple taxis, as no one wanted to go to Chinatown, he found one that would, for a fixed price of 150 THB. Then the traffic stopped, he fidgeted. Turned down a side street, and stopped at the traffic at the next intersection. He fidgeted, and turned on the meter, probably working on a sly plan to see if the farangs in the back would pay more. We suffled through traffic, and then he starts to ask us for 200 THB for the trip. We say no. He talks to himself. We try not to look at him, just in case he starts to Travis. We shuffle through the traffic, and then reach a big intersection, where he turns left and then stops, telling us to get out as he can make more money off someone else, or something like that.

L checked her phone, Uber was looking to charge almost double to Chinatown, so we passed on that and found some meat on a stick by the side of the road. I baulked at the chicken intestines, part of me wanted to, but part of me understands basic food hygiene. Then it was a good head, neck and shoulder massage before picking up our laundry, dropping this back at the hotel, and then some more street food. Had a good pork mince and vermicelli stir fry with mint, and a big bottle of Singha (I think beer bloat will get me before the all the chilli does).

Tomorrow is an early morning visit to the Chatuchuk markets, which is the world’s largest weekend market or something. Surely it won’t be busy, right?