Having first visited Bangkok in October 2003, Bangkok was chosen as a transit destination en route to Luang Prabang, Laos to give me a chance to visit with my brothers-in-laws, visit new parts of the city, and indulge in street food.
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Having first spent about nine wonderful days becoming acquainted with Bangkok back in 2003 during my first 17-day trip to Thailand, and having a scant one day/one night layover in the city in December 2007 that was beset with delayed flights, my wife dealing with air sickness & bad back pain that had us staying in our hotel room for a sizable chunk of our free time, and a Thai national election running over the weekend we were there that forbade the sale of alcohol to even visiting ‘farang’ tourists, I was really looking forward to being back in Thailand’s ‘City of Angels’, if only for a do-over of that disappointing 2007 visit. After a 1-1/2 day layover in Bangkok prior to my visit to northern Laos, and roughly six days back in the city visiting with family involving lots of street food, floating market food and some meals at good restaurants, a fair amount of Thai beer & whiskey, multiple excursions by Bangkok’s MRT, BTS, airport rail links, khlong ferries and long-tail boats, wanderings through wet markets, street and both on & off the well-beaten tourist tracks to explore parts formerly unknown (including walk-throughs of Bangkok’s Nana Plaza & Soi Cowboy red light districts), and a few full-body oil massages with back walking, I can definitely say that it was very good to be back in Bangkok, and that the 2007 layover experience was fully made up for. After taking the ‘scenic route’ from LAX to BKK via FRT (Frankfurt) with about 22 hours in the air plus 4 hours in layover, and clearing Customs at Survanabhumi Int’l, I made my way by public transit to Don Mueang Int’l/DMK (from which I would fly to Luang Prabang the following afternoon) and walked about 25 minutes with my carryon backpack to my booked room at the Moca Hotel in the old school, no frills yet rich with charm & local color, neighborhood of Don Mueang that I explored on foot during my layover. My final 6 days’ accommodation was in the more upscale Ratchathewi neighborhood adjacent the BTS station.
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The Don Mueang neighborhood in the vicinity of Moca Hotel and the large adjacent Watthana Nan wet market was pleasantly short on farang tourist and long on old school retro ambiance (particularly with the rustic cantilevered stilted homes lining the banks of the khlong near the Song Phrapha Road bridge that gave me my 1st monitor lizard sighting in Bangkok), with the intriguing array of street vendor and wet market vendor offerings and the attendant interpersonal interactions with said vendors adding to the local color and the fond memories. My post-Laos 6 days back in Bangkok gave me a taste of the city’s Ratchathewi neighborhood (pun intended given the street food indulgence) with obligatory trips to MBK Center (where I could thankfully change Lao Kips to Baht) & hikes to the Victory Monument, Pratunam & exploring the tourist-free yet intriguing stretch of Soi Phayanak, and trips out to Thom Buri, Sukhumvit, Khlong Toei wet market, ICONSIAM Mall and the Lat Mayom Floating Market.
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The most memorable part of my recent trip to Bangkok was exploring & experiencing the fascinating Khlong Toei wet market, the largest in the city and one of the largest fresh markets in Thailand. Located on Rama IV Road near the Khlong Toei & Queen Sirikit National Convention Centre MRT stations, the market is officially open 6 am to 2 am for cleaning in sections, but some parts of the market are essentially open 24 hours a day. The market has sections selling live poultry, eels, frogs, and the fresh meat and seafood section is incredibly massive in an open area between warehouses shaded overhead by a canopy of red and blue hanging umbrellas that filters the bright sunlight to cast their respective hues over the recently butchered meat & poultry, still-flopping fish and assorted seafood/freshwater protein like colored mood lighting. The market’s surrounding neighborhood was an infamous slum and still conveys a colorful rough around the edges vibe. Video: https://youtu.be/PE3CM49X_50
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Upon my early am arrival, the trip between Int’l airports (BKK to Makkasan City station by rail link, Phetchaburi to Bang Sue station by MRT Blue Line, Bang Sue Grand Station to Don Mueang/DMK station by rail link) provided me with passing views of new parts of Bangkok plus a street vendor moo ping skewer (12 Baht) in-between stations, with the ‘urban rustic’ vibe of the local train line platform’s food vendors in front of Bang Sue Grand station very intriguing. The Watthana Nan wet market stroll ( https://youtu.be/J8dX7EmB2Dc ) was a nice diversion while waiting for my Moca Hotel 2 pm check-in. The walk from Asia Hotel to the Boat Noodle Village behind the Victory Monument ( https://youtu.be/7UIIbyIePws ) provided both exercise & a tasty bowl of spicy pork noodles. Waterborne sights in passing were enjoyed during a Khlong Saen Saep Boat (Golden Mount Line) ride ( https://youtu.be/vE_UYdujGuI ) and by long-tail boat at Khlong Lat Mayom Floating Market ( https://youtu.be/DHS7SoOZphM ).
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| Accommodations: |
My one night layover accommodation prior to flying to Laos out of Don Mueang Int’l was Moca Hotel, a rough 25 minute walk from the airport located behind the Watthana Nam wet market. The view be around the hotel is somewhat old school retro, but there’s plenty of local color, restaurants, 7-Elevens and massage parlors (Noknoi Massage on Song Phrapha Road near the khlong recommended) nearby.
My accommodation for my 6 days in Bangkok after traveling to Laos was at the Asia Hotel, located in the city’s Ratchathewi neighborhood on Phaya Thai Road near the Ratchathewi BTS (Sky Train) station. The location was convenient as there is a walkway to the BTS station, very good sidewalk street food vendor stalls & two 7-Eleven’s nearby, and the MBK Centre Mall, an MRT station & the Khlong Saen Saep Boat (Golden Mount Line) canal ferry pier within reasonable walking distance. Soi Phayanak Street next to Asia Hotel is well worth checking out for true local color.
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During my 6 days in Bangkok visiting with the brothers-in-law, nightlife mainly revolved around food, mostly street food but also a few restaurants, with time spent strolling and snacking (fried fish cakes, durian & mangosteen ice cream) our way around ICONSIAM Mall’s SOOKSIAM food pavilion following our meal at the pavilion’s Khao Soi Lamduan Faham restaurant. Having experienced the Patpong family-friendly night market and red light district with one of my brothers-in-law 20 years earlier, I was able to check Nana Plaza and Soi Cowboy visits off the list. Nana was visited with the brothers-in-law after a Ratchathewi street food dinner, with beers at a bar called Atomic. Soi Cowboy ( https://youtu.be/mfATLtmlHvk ) was a solo excursion by BTS after a Japanese dinner, where I would have a beer and pleasant chat at Tilac bar with an attractive bar girl named Tess, an sweet early-twenties single mother over the SangSom shot I bought for her.
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During the visit with my brothers-in-law, we didn’t have any hangouts spots per se beyond ‘hanging out’ to eat durian and mangosteen while seated on the steps leading up to the entrance of the 7-Eleven behind our favorite sidewalk street food vendor stall (conveniently for us located just 3 or 4 doors down from our Asia Hotel). The benefit of all the 7-Eleven’s in Bangkok is that I finally got to try and periodically enjoy the much raved about (by expats living in ‘The Kingdom’ via social media) Thai 7-Eleven Ham and Cheese Toastie panini sandwich (other varieties available), which once purchased the counter staff will press out hot & crispy for you. I also tried the Thai subsidiary of Japan’s Lawson’s convenience mart (‘Lawson’s 108’) version of the famous Japanese egg salad sandwich, which Lawson’s 108 calls the egg cream sandwich. It was quite good, with Lawson’s 108s found at a number of BTS stations.
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Perhaps the most memorable meals enjoyed in Bangkok were had, not at a famous (and expensive) restaurant in an upscale mall, but rather seated on a plastic stool at a steel folding table lit by bare hanging bulbs beneath the elevated BTS tracks eating dishes from the surprisingly extensive menu of a well-equipped sidewalk street food vendor stall found in the Ratchathewi neighborhood near the Asia Hotel on Phaya Thai Road (Video: https://youtu.be/ddFGiM2wY9A), with the salt-encrusted grilled tilapia & kor moo yang grilled pork neck a ‘must-try’, as is fresh durian for dessert. During my pre-Laos trip layover near Don Mueang Int’l, I had a personal cooking demo of my pad krapow moo kai dao spicy pork with holy basil order by Madam Zabb at her restaurant near Moca Hotel (Video: https://youtu.be/m_7N7GZoWv4 ). The food at the Khlong Lat Mayom Floating Market (Zone #1) was also amazingly good, as was the khao soi at Khao Soi Lamduan Faham in ICONSIAM Mall’s SOOKSIAM food pavilion.
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It was my final day in Bangkok and I had yet to explore Soi Phayanak, a street that flanks the north side of Asia hotel which, when glancing down it in passing from its T-intersection end with Phaya Thai Road, looked uninteresting. That would change when our hailed tuk-tuk driver decided to avoid traffic by taking it for a short distance, then go right on another soi & right on Phetchaburi to get us to Pratunam for lunch. At the next corner, Soi Phayanak made a small bend and narrowed to a one-lane, one-way street, where the neighborhood quickly took on an intriguing & lively old school vibe. After the right turn made, the narrow street becomes Soi Rama 6 Soi 19 at the Rama 6 Road intersection, crosses a small khlong then dead-ends near multiple train tracks. My final adventure prior to the hotel checkout & taxi ride to the airport was to walk the above Soi’s to find a temple for donations, for which the help of locals (including two Lao ladyboys) was needed. ( https://youtu.be/9s1iED2NBgE )
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Published on Friday October 11th, 2024
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