The streets of Bangkok, Thailand, Part 2

In the first part of the story I told you about our arrival in Bangkok and some of the main historical landmarks of the city. Here I will tell you about the more modern side of the capital – the skyscrapers and the special tourist entertainment we peeked into. I will also give you some practical advice on transport and shopping, as well as information on some places we didn’t have time for, but I’m sure it’s worth a visit.

A walk through the brothels

After the cultural experience in the previous days, we decided to focus on the diametrically opposite theme, located very close in terms of location to the park – NaNa Plaza. Bangkok is known as World Sex Capital. Maybe not the most anticipated place for us as a young married couple, but it sounded interesting. The whole area was full of bars and clubs and there were girls or pretending-to-be  everywhere on the street with quite provocative clothes, make-up and vision, in stark contrast to the modest Thai society. Nana itself is something like a four-stocks shopping mall, but inside it is full only of brothels. Admission is free, but photos are prohibited, the girls poke you and invite you to enter to all kinds of service offers and low prices for whiskey. We liked the bar and went for a cocktail. The prices were not higher than a Bulgarian disco. There is no entrance fee. Local girls and drunk western guys as much as you want. “Real girls only” on the front, for obvious reasons. Inside the bar, the girls were immediately kicked out of a table and we were accommodated. They were all hooked up to 20 centimeters in heels and, quite understandably, tried to lean on a chair so that their legs wouldn’t hurt. On one side, our eyes fell on a huge tub of foam, in which we saw Thai women waving naked to the waist and swaying sluggishly like algae. On the other side – the big attraction – a real fairground carousel with about 40 girls permanent contingent, hung on it in swimsuits and numbers, where the girls changed periodically. There were absolutely all kinds – tall, short, thin, thick, painted, blond. Rarely a really good looking one. The girls swayed sluggishly left and right again, without much enthusiasm. To my surprise, from time to time one was ordered and got off the carousel. I hope they were there of their own free will. I expected to see something more seductive, but the picture was a rather vague for my imagination. In a normal Bulgarian disco it is much more interesting. There were indeed 2-3 incredibly beautiful girls, but that is, the stories had raised our expectations quite a bit. We were not particularly impressed, we drank our cocktails and left. Whoever made the rankings didn’t go around the world enough or we just weren’t in the right place.

My favorite Pad Thai

Transport and domestic flights

If you are considering renting a car, keep in mind that, as in any former British colony, traffic is on the left and, combined with complex city driving, can be a big challenge.

In the morning we caught Grab, which is an alternative to Uber, to get to the small airport, Don Mueng, as we flew early, It costed about 350 baht, almost half of which are tolls on highways connecting different parts of the city. Otherwise, there are convenient buses (A1, A2, A3, A4) or subway, which are 3-4-5 times cheaper. These buses do not go to Google Maps, so my advice is not to rely solely on it to determine the route with the city.

Waiting in the metro

On the way back from Khao Lak we had another night in Bangkok. This time from the small airport we caught an A4, which took us directly to Khao San Road, where our hotel was. This line passes through the Royal Palace, the Monument to Democracy and other famous places in the city.

This area of ​​the city is in stark contrast to the poor market area by the river where we stayed earlier. Many tourists, bars, clubs and stalls, luxury and crowds. All kinds of food and massages everywhere. Again a rush, but in Thailand it seems to be normal. We walked and had dinner by the river, only ten minutes away. There are many beautiful and romantic restaurants with live music, from which you can watch the shiny cruise ships and glowing bridges.

Calm dinner on the river

Shopping

Our last day in Thailand was dedicated to the market, eating and gifts. We went to Chatuchak – the largest in Thailand and one of the most famous markets. It is a huge maze. It is full of people and all kinds of goods. The big bargain fell there. They offer mostly souvenirs, but there are also many quality and nice things here and there. For example, I bought a very stylish and beautiful purse for BGN 12 (6 Euro), and I didn’t even bargain. There are beautiful handicrafts made of wood and leather. If you like something, my advice is to put a marker in Maps, otherwise your chances of finding the same place again are greatly reduced.

I ate some octopuses and all sorts of nonsense. Hristo bought T-shirts and was photographed by the owner as a model. The seller showed us the “catalog”, where the mannequins were photographed again with his phone, but they were mostly local and there were only 2-3 foreigners. The man was especially enthusiastic about the opportunity to photograph Itzo and gave us a steady discount. I also managed to buy a cane hat, just like the Vietnamese rice fields hats from Rambo for a gift to colleagues. It still hangs in the office to symbolize our tireless work in everyday life. We took gifts for relatives and friends. It took most of the day. Experience shows that you can easily negotiate a discount between 30-50%. At one point we found ourselves in a kind of animal market with all kinds of dogs, cats, crocodiles, squirrels and exotic fish and corals. I think that if the security had seen me there at the airport, they would put me in jail directly. I did not dare to shoot. Then we headed to the nearby park, again everything was very green and beautiful. Toyota had made a mini model of a city and streets with road signs and traffic lights, and people were teaching their children to ride bicycles and survive. I would also benefit from such training, where traffic safety takes on different dimensions compared to Europe.

In the market maze

We don’t know what is was, but was something with meat

Have you heard that European men are very popular in Asia? Absolutely true! My favorite story from that day is how Hristo enters the 7-eleven (the most common supermarkets) to buy a Redbull and is wearing the cane hat. (I open the bracket that Red Bull comes originally from Thailand and you can still buy the  drinks there). The locals were very happy to see him with the hat. At the box office 3 young girls. The situation was as follows: when they saw him, they began to smile and look at each other. He went to one to pay. The girl with trembling hands dropped the money three times as she served him, and the other two giggled shyly from behind. It was a lot of fun and just like the romantic comedies with a rating of <6 on IMDB. Not that he’s not nice, but there was a star. This put the icing on the cake, after he had already been photographed for the T-shirt catalog and after the locals stared at him at every street, bus stop and shop. I also did not stay completely cold, I was photographed to advertise pineapples in a remote village, but he remained the star of the family.

Itso with the Rambo hat

What we left for next time

Here I will quickly list a few places and entertainment that are highly recommended by other tourists, but unfortunately, we did not find time for them:

• The old capital – Ayutthaya 80 km
• National Museum of Thailand
• China town
• Dinner on a cruise ship with a panoramic tour of Bangkok at night
• Skybar – a panoramic cocktail or a dinner on around the 80th floor of a skyscraper with a beautiful view to the whole city.

A local soup

In the following stories I will share about our trips to Northern Thailand – the cultural capital Chiang Mai and the national parks Doi Sutep, Khao Sok, Khao Lak and the islands along the west coast of the Andaman Sea.

Itso trying Thai ice-cream