Bangkok - The Heart of Southeast Asia

It is somehow unfortunate that Bangkok for the average Westerner is linked with its vibrant nightlife, the sex shows, and its sex industry. The city has a lot more to offer. The cuisine (for those in to gastronomic pleasures) is second to none (whether Thai or other Asian, European, etc.) and usually very well priced.

Shopping in Bangkok can be incredibly rewarding, and I am not referring in those tourist-orientated stalls on Shukumvit Street. There is a wide variety of other options, from art and antique shops to the massive shopping centers like MBK (see below).

In Bangkok, you are spoiled for accommodation, and if you read your Rough Guide, you will find the best option for your budget.

More interestingly is the human element of Bangkok, the Thai people: friendly, engaging, and polite, with a philosophy, life approach, and culture that can teach so much to us Westerners. The Thais will make the difference between a pleasant stay and an unforgettable one.

Quick Tips:

If Bangkok is a stopover city, for a further afield destination, make a provision to spend more than a day there.

Best Way To Get Around:

Bangkok can be very hectic, but currently has a very unfair reputation about its traffic. It is perhaps true that traffic in Bangkok was an absolute nightmare some 15 to 20 years ago, but this is no more the case.

My favorite way of getting around is a combination of taxis (ordinary metered ones, not the tuk-tuks) and the Skytrain. Tuk-tuks tend to be a rip-off for tourists and certainly not the safest option.

Using the river transport along the Chao Praya river is another option, very scenic and interesting (and gives a totally different perspective of the city), but not necessarily the overall fastest.

To the unsuspecting Western eye and palate, one of the most challenging culinary sights in Thailand are the corner street vendors selling fried insects. If you are not warned by another visitor, the first thought that springs to mind when you see the piles of cockroaches, grasshoppers, worms, and all sorts of other arthropod varieties sold complete with seasoning, soy sauce, salt, and pepper is: "Surely this is not real". Yet it is. The Thais buy them as if there is no tomorrow.

Piles and piles of fried insects will disappear in front of the very startled Western eyes. Thai buyers and Western overlookers look at each other bemused and puzzled. The Thais scorn the Western reluctance to sample what they consider a Thai delicacy (and an undisputed source of animal protein), and the Westerners have a mixed reaction in the boundaries of disgust and disbelief. I suppose the cultural gap prevents the two groups of understanding each other. I must admit that on my first visit to Bangkok 4 years ago, my gut reaction was a mixture of disgust and disbelief.

After several nights of watching Thai young people eating pounds of insects, I decided to approach a street vendor and ask hesitantly (pointing to the cockroaches): "How much are they?" A prompt response from a language savvy vendor was: "The big ones or the small ones?" (pointing at two different piles with two distinctly different sizes) At that point, I burst into rude (I suppose) laughter and ceased my first attempt to sample the impossible.

Two years later, as I was watching another vendor equally busy selling her insects, our eyes met, and she somehow guessed my mix of hesitation and temptation. She smiled, picked a four-legged insect from a pile, and offered it to me. In a naive manner, I asked: "Is this the tastiest one?" She smiled and nodded obligingly, and I hesitantly extented my hand to pick the fried insect. After all, it was a free try. Spyro, from behind, shouted: "John, you can buy as much as you like--I shall pay for it." While I chewed the insect, she kept smiling, and I realised that although it was not the best meal I'd ever had, it had a rather neutral taste with a nutty flavour.

My hesitations well and truly over, I proceeded to buy a whole bag of a mixture of everything and sampled them one by one. I must admit, I was too much of a novice to appreciate the subtle differences between species, but I could see why the Thais were buying them. Yet I failed to convince even one of the six members of our group to sample an insect.

The whole complex is a vast area of several acres and more than 100 buildings. They represent Thai architectural concepts and the elaborate designs and ornaments will both challenge and impress the Western eyes and minds. In order to fully understand what one sees, he/she will need perhaps months of reading and preparations and several days of touring. In practice, this does not happen, and the average tourist spends a couple of hours going around, inpressed by what he/she sees but not really comprehending one single iota of the Thai history and culture.

I found Wat Arun one of the most impressive Wats (temples) in Bangkok. It is located very near the Grand Palace, on the other sife of the Chao Praya river. It is dedicated to the Indian God Aruna, and the craftmanship of this building is stunning. When you stand below the 82-meter prang (Khmer-style tower), the building is overpowering to your senses.

Every tourist that visits Bangkok will be suggested a visit at the Chatuchak nmarket, which, with the exotic animal trade, the bizarre cacophony of sounds, and the mix of smells and heat, matches the impression of a vast third-world bazaar.

MBK, on the other hand, in the heart of central Bangkok (very near SIAM skytrain station) is very first-world, with everything a Western shopper would dream of (BUT IN THAI PRICES). MBK has eight air-conditioned levels, each expanding in a pretty vast space, with hundreds of shops at each level.

You can find numerous banks and money-changing outlets, restaurants to cater to every palate and budget, from the usual Western culprits (McDonalds, etc.) to the truly exotic, and there are mobile phone and accessories shops (100s), videos, TVs, cameras, and other electronic equipment, clothing at bargain prices, souvenir and gift shops, countless cafeterias (including the usual Western Starbucks, etc.), and even massage centers to help you relax from shopping fatigue.