1:06 p.m. - 2003-11-14
Cheap as chips
Thursday 14th November �03
1:06 p.m. I am now In Bangkok! "One night in Bangkok makes a hard man humble", according to some song I�ve never heard� and the world becomes your oyster. Well, it's certainly cheap and easy.
It must look like I spend all my time in Internet cafes due to the number of entries of late. Well, sometimes it certainly feels like it. This is hard work and I hope y'all appreciate it. Arrived in Bangkok yesterday after another mad dash to the airport: this time allowing just 45 minutes to check in. Being late avoids the queues even if I am panicking slightly. I touched down in Bangkok at 5.30pm and changed my money, forgetting to ask for change for the phone. Consequently, I could only ring one number. I picked �Freddy�s Place� which Michael had recommended. I decided to forget The N*akorn P*ink Hotel that Cami�s friend Josh had suggested, after I read that a backpacker was found dead in her bed there last year from a heroin overdose. After I came off the phone a middle aged Thai lady approached me and put me on the defensive straight away. She said she could get a taxi for me for only 350 Baht. That seemed a bit steep to me, but she showed me her badge from the tourist board. So I thought, what the hell, even if she is conning me, it�ll only be �1 or so. Her name was Nancy and she was nice and chatty. Her husband was driving the taxi and she told me all about her seven year old son, Popsimi. She was trying to take me to the Boxing Stadium to buy tickets for the Muay Thai. She said that she had a �friend� who could sell me ringside tickets at a reduced price of 1000 Baht. It seemed a bit fishy to me, so I declined. It took about 45 minutes to get to Freddy�s, which is in the area that was popular for backpackers in the 70s and 80s. It�s not as sceney as Khao San Road. The traffic here is of course appalling, but I got very excited when I saw my first Tuk tuk. At Freddy�s a very small Thai girl carried my huge backpack upstairs to my room. When the light was switched on I saw something scuttle across the bed, but it was actually pretty clean but very noisy. I ventured out to the Seven Eleven (which are everywhere) to buy a snack as I wasn�t feeling up to eating local food yet and tried to ring Joshua (my contact here). I couldn�t get through, so I went for a walk. After a while I realised I didn�t know where I was going and thought that maybe it was a bit dodgy to be wandering around in Bangkok without a map on my own. So I turned back and went to bed.
This morning I got up at 6am to negotiate the pavement free streets to get to Lumpini Park. I got stuck in the middle of an intersection waiting for a break in the traffic and just as I was thinking that I would be standing there all day; a dog suddenly appeared and walked out into the road. Amazingly everyone slowed down and I saw my chance and followed!
I took my new camera to get some footage of the legions of Chinese practising Tai Chi. The whole park was bustling with activity already. Joggers, ballroom dancers (!), Karaoke singers, badminton players (playing with imaginary nets) and feral cats were everywhere, along with a food market. I took some time to try and memorise some key Thai phrases such as:
"I don't understand"
"No!"
"Too expensive"
"I only eat vegetarian food"
"How much?"
My guidebook didn't include: "Are you trying to scam me?"
I bought a phonetic phrase book, I think you are less likely to get shafted if you speak a little bit of Thai. You have to get the tones right as well. It�s very hard. I hate suspecting that I�m being conned all the time. It�s confusing, because you don't want to offend anyone and I�m too trusting as well.
I just had to refuse a Tuk Tuk driver an offer for a ride, because he quoted me a tour for 20B, but said that included a promotional tour of a clothing factory. I said I didn't want to go there, and he confessed that they gave him petrol vouchers for bringing tourists. That's why it was so cheap. It's so funny that everyone that comes to Bangkok experiences almost exactly the same scams. You hear about them and you tell yourself it won't happen to you, but it�s nearly impossible not fall for at least one scam. Especially if you haven't figured out the real cost of things yet. I gotta go and eat now. I think its lunchtime; I can probably stuff myself for �1.
I am going to try and get to see some Thai boxing this weekend. It is very violent, but supposed to be a great show with traditional live Thai music playing while they are fighting.
Managed to get through to Josh. I had the wrong number. I�m meeting him tonight at the Lumpini Night Bazaar. He is an English teacher here. What would I do without Cami�s contacts?
