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Trip to Thailand (Bangkok, Sammakorn, Koh Sichang) - February 2005

Thailand 2005: Day Five

Barry Price
2006-02-22 22:36:56

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I call Lois Ann in the morning to see if she has any plans – it would be a shame to travel six thousand miles to the city where she lives, and only meet up with her once. She’s busy writing an article for the magazine today, but tells me she hopes to be finished tomorrow. I was hoping to arrange to meet with Tets too – we enthusiastically discussed getting together for a jam session, but we’re running out of time. He flies to Japan on Sunday, and won’t be back until I’m already on my way back to England. Today’s Thursday, and we’re spending the weekend on the island of Koh Sichang. So it has to be today or tomorrow, and sadly it doesn’t look like it’s going to happen.

Martin and I have a leisurely morning, go for a swim, then head into Bangkok for my first suit fitting. We take a detour on the way and grab some strawberry waffles and coffee, then it’s on to the tailor’s. The trousers and shirts are more or less done, but the jacket looks very strange without its arms. I’ll have to come back tomorrow for a second fitting, but that’s fine – it’s worth making sure it fits before I take it all back to England! We chat with a couple from Seattle who are on a tour of the whole of Thailand, they’re very friendly, and we give them a few tips on places to go and places to avoid in and around Bangkok.

Then Martin and I head off to Suan Lum, once of our recommendations, for a buffet dinner - kebabs, spicy sausages, and some German beers. We wander the market stalls for a while, I buy some silk ties and Martin buys some beach clothes for the weekend. Then it’s back to the bar where we drank with Lois Ann last year for a Guinness or two.

The night’s still relatively young, we’ve had a couple of beers, and so when Martin suggests that we hit Patpong again, I agree. We didn’t really experience it fully last year - I got so stressed by the hassle of all the bar PRs that we left after a few minutes. We’re set upon by tuk-tuk drivers on the way out of Suan Lum when we say we want to go to Patpong – they assume we’re ignorant tourists, and therefore easy money. Unfortunately for them, we actually know how much a ride to that part of the city should cost, and so wave them on their way as we get a metered taxi instead.

Patpong’s part of the Bangkok experience, but not for the faint-hearted. The tamer bars are home to dancing girls in various states of undress, the remaining bars offer some eye-opening shows. Top tip: put your hand over your pint glass to avoid projectiles. We don’t stay long, the hassle factor is a major annoyance. We wind down with a massage instead, and then it’s back to Martin’s place via the waffle house for supper and coffee.

Bizarrely, in the DVD of Series 1 of The Simpsons, Smithers is black. I wonder why they changed this.