Thailand - Bangkok

After the peacefulness of Lake Toba and the wilderness of Bukit Lawang we found ourselves once again with another huge city to navigate. In the airport we were quickly befriended by a Canadian man called Roy and his silent Thai partner. He was keen to tell us which shops to hit, where the floods had hit and invite us to his companions (see how careful i'm being not to say Thai Bride) sisters house to use the internet and get our bearings. As nice and helpful as he was we just didn't feel right and wanted to sort somewhere to stay in town. When his stop came on the sky train we had to politely shake him off and wish him well before going to the end of the line in the middle of Bangkok and getting amongst it. Natalie promptly explained to me that the problem was that he had thin lips and wasn't to be trusted. This must come as a shock to those of you with thin lips who thought for a second that Nat even likes you in the slightest.

In all honesty our stay in Bangkok was pretty uneventful in comparison to other legs of the trip as we ended up staying at a friends step dads house and and taking full advantage of his selection of Alan Partridge DVDs and functioning internet (which informed us that a lanky, pubed haired car fanatic was airing some opinions that not everyone was so keen on). However it is still a great city which we will be seeing more of when we pass through to fly to Vietnam and India next year. Aside from relaxing we did see some good stuff, the highlights of which were.

Night Markets -

You can't go anywhere in Bangkok without ending up at a market of some sort and we took in quite a few, the best of which were Ratchada Night Bazaar and Rot Fai Market. Ratchada is an market where Vespa enthusiasts come to show off and stalls sell everything from vintage car parts to vintage clothing and Rot Fai is a sprawling market outside of town selling just about everything you could imagine. It was here I found some dusty Thai and Chinese records for pennies and Nat found a Kewpie Doll (like one she had as a kid) which I got her as an early Christmas present.

The King's Birthday -

The King is a big deal in Thailand and as such his 84th birthday celebrations were anything but low key. When we say celebrations I don't mean Queens Jubilee, couple of clowns on a cul-de-sac having a picnic celebrations, its more the city is all out enjoying the stalls, plays, and 50ft posters of his face. He is so revered that in Thailand you will be imprisoned for saying anything bad about him. For example, if I was to say he is a boss eyed whopper, which i'm obviously not, I would be looking at serious jail time. Before we arrived someone had just been jailed for 20 years after sending a scathing email about him.

ZudRangMa Records -

After Nat suggested I maybe checked for record shops in the city (I know, I thought that was a bad call after enduring Japan) I found out about ZudRangMa, a cute little store a ten minute walk from where we are satying selling massively expensive Thai Funk and Folk records. I only bought one 7" from the bargain section but it is worth checking the albums they helped compile with Finders Keepers and Soundway if you are interested in Thai music. If your not but would amused by a track that sounds suspiciously like Iron Man by Black Sabbath, check the video below.




Koasan Rd - 


Not a highlight as such but worth mentioning if you are interested in the shower of shit that passes for humanity here. Bit harsh maybe but its just lights, horrible bars playing grating house and ping pong shows, which for those who don't know have nothing to do with ping pong. We did get a giggle out of the terrifying model heads that line the streets though.