Bangkok Rama Hotel

Here I am, finally living in the style I deserve. My own suite of rooms on the Chao Phraya river overlooking the Shangri La and the Oriental, sipping ice cold beer on the balcony as our maid prepares me a snack before I set out to meet some mates for lunch. I must say coming from a third world country I am always surprised on arriving here, just how the world has ...

... being particularly hungry, I definitely should have gone crazy in the market – to save myself and everyone around me (I think pretty much everyone knows how I get when I am hungry – if not, lets just say, it aint pretty). Later on, I tried some sort of fish cake, some sort of meat on a skewer, thai iced coffee, some other banana leaf thing, steamed pumpkin cake… mmmm!

Our next stop was the royal palace and temple complex. It was a ...

... some lunch at a little cafe conveniently located nearby. At 1pm the bus arrived, we loaded our bags into it and ascended the stairs to the top deck where our seats were located.The journey took around seven hours, and was rather uneventful. The air conditioning was practically non-existent, and we sat and sweated for the majority of the time. I slept a little bit, and also attempted unsuccessfully to watch some films on the TV screen; sadly ...

... to walk home.
Now the difference between theory and practice become apparent, as we watch our two heroes from up and above, like a game of GTA San Andreas. They stumble out of 7 11 and discuss the route home, the map blinking in the corner, theoretically straight on, hit the next main road, then the next alleyway until we hit the bridge, over, then right and into the hostel through the alleyways we already know and love. Putting this into practice, their mission clear, they jump ...

... 8221; making it easy for customers to arrange a private encounter upstairs. We spent a few minutes in the club observing the scene, and that was enough to satisfy our curiosity.

The rest of our time in Bangkok was more business-like. We spent most of Tuesday exploring the possibility of helping teach English camps throughout Thailand—we even had a job interview! And though we were offered the job, we soon discovered ...

... arrived) proved efficient and not overly expensive.
However the warnings were perhaps more appropriate for the Khao San Road area, where I made the uncertain decision to base myself for the few days I had there.

Driving across the city, large office buildings and high rises were spread throughout a huge area, such that distinguishing any one region of this sprawling, expansive metropolis proved difficult. Endless rows of air-conditioners lined ...

... all too familiar design and purple sign jogged my memory. In 2005 I had stayed one night in Pattaya with this chain and checked out early the next morning swearing I would never set foot inside another one of their hotels. However here I was being unloaded in front of their doors. I did not want to go in and when I did I could feel the anger fill me up. I had already paid for the room in Phuket and now I was regretting my decision. My check in was relatively smooth. I did get ...

... clothes etc. All sorts of shops and restaurents as well, including a shark restaurent and a Chinese remedy shop, with natural snake skins to heal!! Going back to the hotel, we had some food and decided to book a bus/boat trip to Ko Tao, an island about 4 hours off the east coast. Excited about our journey we went to sleep nice and cool in our air con room, with an added bonus that our room was facing away from where the cockerils lived.

... women worship men. They are gentle, and soft and they know just what to do to snag a man into their masterful web...where a white woman may come home and say honey can you please rub my feet, the Thai woman will come home and say... honey can I please rub your feet...Their greatest accomplishment or sign of success for a Thai woman is to snag a white man. Love isn't part of the equation usually, a Thai woman can fake love for the sake of providing for ...

... you, one Baht.'
The heat had made me real tired after walking the streets most of the morning, so a ride was welcoming.
'OK. Can you take me to the Marble Temple?'
'Yes, but first we must go to some jewelers and tailors for you to have a look around.'
I knew there was a catch, having been caught in this situation during a previous Bangkok visit, I should have known better, but needing a ride was verging on the desperate.
The point of the ...