Well here I am, sitting in a Bangkok internet cafe, on the last morning of a flying visit to Thailand, sipping a freshly brewed cup of Jasmine tea and collecting my thoughts…

I arrived yesterday afternoon into a typical late Thai summer day of 40°C with 99% humidity. The roads from Suvarnabhumi Airport to my hotel (the Royal Princess Larn Luang in the old part of the city) were choked with traffic (thank all the Gods for airport limos with air conditioning) and it took about an hour and a half to get to the hotel.

It was also a public holiday (Chakri Memorial Day) and most of the surrounding area was closed, but that didn’t bother me too much as I was fairly knackered from the 12-hour flight and not really looking to party.

After a short recon of the immediate area and a visit to the nearest 7-11 for a 6-pack of Singha Beer and a couple of packets of nuts, I retired to my room, ordered room service, sunk a couple of beers and fell into a semi doze for the rest of the evening.

At around 6am the following day, I rolled out of bed to the sound of the morning rush hour traffic (jeez they must start work early around here!) and after a quick shower and light breakfast, I headed out into an already hot and humid day and boarded a mini-bus bound for the Grand Palace.

Awesome! That’s the only adjective I can think of to describe the palace and grounds. The architecture is just stunning; both in terms of it’s scale and the incredible level of fine detail. The same is true of the Wat Pho temples, home of the vast golden statue of the reclining Buddha and the birthplace of traditional Thai massage. The sheer level of artistry and craftsmanship is testament to the Buddhist virtues of beauty and patience.

Back at the hotel around 3pm and after a quick shower, the jet lag caught up with me a little bit and I decided to take a short nap before heading out again. Around 6pm I was awoken by what sounded like a huge explosion, but was in fact a tropical storm which was hammering the city. My hotel window looked like it had been repositioned under a waterfall during my slumber and ball lightning crackled overhead. The streets below quickly turned into fast flowing rivers as torrents of water gushed from the rooftops of the buildings. Quite a sight!

By 8pm the storm had passed and the waters receded, so I headed on out to the Patpong Night Markets – the most touristy of the Bangkok markets…but also the only night market open during the week. Between the go-go bars blaring out their boom-boom beats are nestled a mish-mash of stalls offering the obligatory tourist tat, t-shirts and nick-naks, there are also some interesting curios, some good food stalls and other unusual bits and pieces.

It was a bit disturbing to see how many of the stalls sold pretty much every kind of non-firearm weapon you could think of; from throwing stars and nunchakus to samurai swords, flick knives, switchblades and tasers, you could find it all there! Remind me never to pick a fight with anyone in Bangkok – half the population must be tooled up!

After a few hours of browsing the markets, politely declining offers from scores of touts to view the “Pussy ping pong” shows and a few solicitations from the working girls (“400 Baht cheap cheap”), I settled down to a good meal at a roadside stall (at 30 Baht the cheapest thing I found in the market by a long way!) and then boarded a tuk-tuk driven by a young bloke with dreams of breaking the tuk-tuk land/speed record.

We roared through the back streets at breakneck speed, the driver weaving through the traffic and the occasional group of startled pedestrians, while I hung on for dear life. Ten minutes later we pulled a handbrake turn into the hotel parking lot. The driver was 200 Baht better off and sped off into the night looking for his next hapless victim and I shakily retired to the hotel bar for a shot of two of Thai Whisky to calm my nerves.

Wicked!

Well – almost time to head back to the airport.

Cheers Bangkok…it’s been fun – and I’ll certainly be back!

Check out the Bangkok Photo gallery.

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