It has been almost a month now since my last trip to Bangkok and the smell, the spirit, the hustle and bustle and the smog from the city of Bangkok still lingers.
I cannot forget the many wonderful sights and smells that can never be experienced in Singapore. As I just gotten off the plane at Bangkok's spanking new Suvarnabhumi Airport, which to me just seems incomplete to a certain extent due to its unpainted walls and tiled flooring, I then made a trip to the exchange counter and changed my crisp Singapore dollars which I withdraw from Singapore Changi Airport. As I handed over my Singapore dollars to the sweet looking lady with a smile, I was handed over a stack of thousand bath notes. Out of the sudden I felt rich most probably in my entire life I have never held a stack of one thousand bills before. Well my friend, before you are thinking of heading down to Bangkok on the next available plane, just between you and me, that stack of notes will be gone before you can say "Sawadee!"
No doubt having grown up and stayed in Singapore for my entire life, Thailand is a paradise compared to the sterile, clean, cold environment of Singapore city. With the dizzying array of stuffs that you can get from the streets and shopping centres, either real or otherwise, you may end up spending even if not your inheritance, the remainder of your available credit limit on excess baggage if you are not careful.
RATCHAPRASONG
My first day in Bangkok was spent in the upmarket streets of Ratchaprasong, Bangkok's answer to Singapore Orchard road belt. Even if you are thinking of spending to your heart delight and thinking that Singapore's currency rate gets you a better deal and bargain, you better think again and arm yourself with a calculator. The prices of products in the shopping malls may set you off then you bargain for. Things are not as cheap as that you can find in Singapore. Ratchaprasong is Bangkok's premier shopping stretch with designers stores the like of Zara, Gucci and Prada. For the Bangkok's virgin, ahhhh I don't mean virgin literally but those that have never been to Bangkok city before, Ratchaprasong is NOT, I repeat NOT where you go to get 'Knock-Offs' that the city is famous for. What you see here are as real as it gets. There are no FAKES. So don't start bargaining the price or ask for discounted prices as that may end you being booted off.
PRATUNAM MARKET
The last time that I was in Pratunam some four years ago, there was the one and only Pratunam. The famous Pratunam market. Now the place is doing so well there are now Three Pratunams, the original Pratunam Market, Pratunam Centre and the more stylish and upstyle Platinum Mall that sprung up across the street. We always asked ourselves, do great clothes and an expensive price tag always go hand in hand together? Not in Bangkok, if you know where to shop. In this wonderful, congested and thoroughly confusing city, anything is possible, especially if you on the hunt for cheap clothes or shoes. Pratunam Market which open daily from morning until the late afternoon is the place to hit for great clothes at rock bottom prices.In the heart of the city, the market is easily accessible from Ratchaprarop Road. A dusty 'Pratunam Market' sign is an indication that you have hit the right spot. Stepping into the small lanes, I find myself in the middle of a clothes-maze where lanes bisected each other at random and all look the same with clothes hanging from every available space that the shop owners could think off to display their produce. If you become disoriented by the smell, sight and noise, don't worry continue on walking and eventually you will walk out of the market. Tiny stalls and even tinier shops are crushed together on both sides displaying everything from T-shirts to formal evening wear, from beach wear to winter jackets, children's clothes and even bizarre outfits.
Keen in Prado, Gucci, Louis Vuitton or any other designer wear? There are several places that you can fulfill your heart desire. Either you can head towards the upmarket Ratchaprasong or you can find the same product here in Pratunam. The market is abounds in designer fakes which all look the same but are a hell lot cheaper. Perhaps four, five or more times cheaper than the real stuff. If you have a deeper pocket and have fetishes of designer goods but cant afford more than one of it, then you can purchase more than two or three pieces of the less then genuine goods to enjoy the benefits of wholesale price. Shoppers lugging enormous bags weaving themselves in between the crowd are a common sight. Most can't believe their luck and buy entire wardrobes at one shot. Of course, they never let on back home about 'the Pratunam Market origins' of their designer wear. Don't be afraid to bargain till you get the price you want. A bit of advice: wear good walking shoes and light clothing. It's hot business shopping in Pratunam Market and you need to be comfortable when you walk around checking for quality and bargains.
If you are one of those that cannot live without the creature comfort of aircon, the two other Pratunam malls sells the same goods but you can browse for clothing and souvenirs away from the humid and hot environment. Most of the goods cost not more than 200 bath a piece so it is a shopaholic's paradise. However buyers beware, you need to be in possession of a wad of cash with you and you will see those wad dwindling fast. If you think your piece of plastic which has the word 'Platinum' would be of any use, think again, all payment is upfront by cash only.
CHATUCHAK MARKET
The weekend pilgrimage site for all bargain hunters and a mecca of cheap product, BIG does not even start to describe Chatuchak. If you have the morbid habit of trying to list down all the goods that are on sale, just forget about it. By the time your pencil finishes it last lead you have not even started the list yet. This is where you come to fulfill your clothing, home improvement, interior decoration needs plus a couple of food, pets and exotic knick knack vendors thrown in just to boggle the mind.
It would be no exaggeration to say that hardly anyone especially Bangkok residents doesn't know where or what Chatuchak Market is. This is The Worlds Biggest Weekend Market selling practical
ly everything under the sun, from the smallest nails, to foods, trendy fashions, antiques intricate wooden carvings, masks from far-off lands, adorable fluffy dogs, colorful fish of every hue and singing birds. There are countless numbers of individual booths overflowing with every imaginable type of wares to catch your fancy. Once inside the market, you will be catch up in a world of bursting crowds and stalls stretching as far as the eye can see. If you are thinking of decorating your home, searching for that perfect piece of furniture or decoration, be it antique, modern, Thai or Western? Or perhaps a lovingly created ethnic handicraft to brighten up your space? Ceramic products, whether they be tea cups, coffee mugs, pots, traditional Thai Benjarong or ceramic dolls. Well, come to Chatuchak Market and chances are you won't go home empty-handed. Chatuchak Market has an endless selection of food and drinks, ranging from small beverage stalls on almost every soi or corner , iced refreshments, noodles, rice & curries and Thai-style fast foods. This is where I had my prawn. I enjoyed the unique salesmanship tactics employed by the different vendors, who rely on shouting, making odd noises, playing music and even wearing outlandish dress, to capture the attention of passing shoppers. The real charm of the Chatuchak Mattel lies in the fact that you can-and should-bargain with each stall you are interested in. Whether you will snare a bargain or not is a test of your own negotiating skills. So, don' t be surprised if the same goods bought by you and your friends from the same shop carry different prices. Now, are you ready to begin your quest to find what you have been searching high and low for ? Well then, mingle with the crowds, sweat it out and have fun in The World's Biggest Weekend Market. Only sheer determination can keep you in the market for more than a few hours, longer then that you may need to seek counselling for post traumatic shopping syndrome.
Taking Public Transport
As in many other parts of the world that I have been to, bus is the cheapest way to get around and mercifully less hazardous to health and more assured to your safety than the endearingly quaint tuk tuks with their stunt drivers weaving in and out through black fumes on the roads which does a similar job to the taxi. However if you are a thrill seekers and one who does not mind loosing a bit of your sanity then tuk tuk would be just the answer for you. So named because of the sound of their engine, these are motorized rickshaws and are popular amongst tourists for their novelty valueFerries & River Boats
A leisurely cruise down the Chao Pharaya River will take you close to many of the local attractions and Wats (Temples) that you may wish to visit. There are many piers that you may take the boat from but the cheapest and most convenient is to but a whole day pass which allows you to travel up and down the river till you are nauseated. Just take extra caution not to fell into the water. I do not know what is down there. Not since the last clean up that were done. Another form convenient travel would be by river which cuts across the city in a zippy. It is a more cleaner and safer means of transportation at least if you were to fall into the river the chances of you disappearing will be less.
Taxis
I have lost count on the actual number of taxis companies there are in the city of Bangkok but what I can say with a certainty is that the taxis are painted in the most weirdest colours that one could imagine. Have you seen pink chosen as a colour of choice for a taxi. Well if you have not than Bangkok is the place to go to. The flag down rate of the taxi is 35 bath which is like a few Singapore cents, but I had my own shares of encounters with unscrupulous drivers that will roll their eyes and tell you that the meter is not working when you ask them to press the meter button. Taxi rides within the city is cheap and rarely cost more than 100 bath unless the driver brought you around for a silent sight seeing, so it is unlikely to cause your heart to stop unlike the notorious Bangkok trip.
Down and Dirty, Don't go there.
Bangkok's Patpong is the gaudiest and most unrestrained red-light district in Asia, probably the world. It is a by-word for all that is unpermissible, and much that isn't, to seekers-after-pleasures of the flesh. For years tourism officials have tried to play down Patpong's lurid attractions, but it remains one of Bangkok's most visited areas. Lying between Silom and Suriwongse roads, the four acres of bars and massage parlours that lie within Patpong's two main streets are crowded nightly with seekers after sexual pleasure, as well as curious tourists who come to gaze on the glittering neon and the boy and girl bait set to lure punters into the bars.
The girls tell sad stories, most often fiction. Many men fall in love with Patpong girls but the men's stories then become more poignant than the girls. They run out of money and the girl runs out on them. C'est la vie!
You can walk safely through the neon-lit streets, avoiding the touts who will proffer a calling card listing, in up to four or five languages, the stuff of porno magazines. You can ignore them and do some shopping instead, or have a meal at one of the excellent restaurants in the area. You don't need to even look inside a club to feel the buzz.
I guess my only regret is not having the opportuinty to be there during my last visit. Bangkok is a city that will assail your every sense. It is busy, polluted, noisy and really not that clean. But there is nothing in the world quite like it and that is the reason why so many of us just keep coming back.
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