Day 54: Delhi to Bangkok
Trip Start
Sep 21, 2006
1
55
228
Trip End
Jun 01, 2007
Bangkok,
Thailand
Tuesday, November 14, 2006
I'm warned of security delays at the airport since terrorists threatened some outgoing flights (South India flights to the U.S.), so I've allowed three hours to check-in but there are no queues and I even get an upgrade.
Three-and-a-half hours later I'm descending to the new Suvarnabhumi International Airport, Bangkok. It's only been open six weeks, following plenty of delays, not helped by the recent military coup. Transport links were also affected by the large crowds of picnicing locals who turned up to admire this mammoth architectural wonder. Suvarnabhumi's claim to fame is its air-traffic-control tower, the world's tallest. All the gates bear the message, 'Long live the king'. There are some inevitable teething problems; the rotating doors aren't operating; the ATMs won't communicate with overseas, it seems. The exit hall is full of touts for expensive taxi. Better priced, metered cabs can be booked outside.
Bangkok is hot and humid. The smooth roads, executive cars and the luminous central skyscrapers are a world away from the free-for-all of Delhi.
Soi Rambutri, Banglamphu, is lively at 1.30am. I book a prison cell at Sawasdee House and celebrate my arrival with a cocktail at the bar out front. Here I get chatting with a lady-boy and the Dutch owner of Kathmandu's renowned New Orleans bar, where I have eaten in the past.
