Bangkok Part 4(P) : Phraya River Cruise, Paragon, Pratunam and Patpong Night Market.

Posted: April 14th, 2009 | Author: faddy | Filed under: Travel | Comments Off

The third day did not begin very well for me, as Mr Flu and Ms Fever had knocked on my door and was welcoming themselves in. On top of that, the four of us were scheduled for a tour around Bangkok (at least that’s what the advertisement said) which was due to begin at 7:30am. So with a heavy head, Anz and I got ready in record time and met the boys who were already waiting downstairs with our tour guide and driver.

The first stop of the day was a river cruise along Chao Phraya River and to the canals of Bangkok aka Asia’s Venice. We cruised along and saw many of Bangkok’s temples, the houses sitting next to canals, monks waving at us etc. I have to admit that I would have been more psyched if not for the fact that I was ready to puke at any moment, and…

… one of the guys on the boat was the same asshole who ‘used’ me in Secondary School to get the number of my BEST FRIEND.

*Flashback moment* It was in Higher Malay class, and I was bored so I started fiddling with my best friend’s wallet. To my utmost horror, terpampang on the front of the wallet was the IC photo of the boy whom I was chatting with daily from 11pm – 6am in the morning for the past week, and who had suddenly gone cold on me. The best part? I gave him my best friend’s number because I thought he was kidding when he wanted to get to know her cuz she’s hot.

But it’s ok, cuz I got Mr K now. Eh Bie eh? You lagi sachok berg! LOL.

So whilst Haikal, Qiey and Anz were being snap happy pointing to this and that, I was too busy… sleeping wakakaka! Seriously, splitting headache + rocking boat + blistering sun + torn contact lenses + asshole at the back = not fun at all.

So around 30 minutes later, the boat rumbled to a stop at a mini zoo. I was miffed to know that we had to pay further to enter the zoo, as the person we arranged the tour with had promised us that 500 baht was “all inclusive! No need to fork out anything more!”. All inclusive my pantat.

It got worse after the river cruise, because then the guide brought us from one factory to another in a bid to get us to spend. The first two factories were jewelery factories whilst the third was a textile shop (see above picture). So for another thirty minutes, sales persons kept pushing us to buy their things or services and it was just so damn effing annoying.

To top it off, the person we arranged the tour with had promised us that the driver could drop us wherever we wanted, but on the day itself, the guide insisted she could only send us back to the hostel. So everybody, learn from this. Do NOT go for any tours, even if they say it is government subsidized. Pfft!

At around 11:30am, we finally got the first taste of food with LubD’s 80 baht breakfast. With all of us still feeling sleepy and sick, we all got back to our rooms and slept the whole afternoon away whilst the rain lashed at our window panes.

The first stop we got to when we woke up feeling much better was Siam Paragon, which was not much of a difference from the Paragon we have along Orchard Road. Expensive brands, luxury cars, blah blah blah. Boring.

Took out my lovely Lonely Planet, and decided to head to Pratunam Market, which was just a stop (walkable distance, actually) away. I think where we were headed to is not really a ‘tourist destination’ as I did not really see many tourists there – mostly locals and backpackers.

Pratunam was MY heaven and it was finally where I spent alot of my money. Bought myself a number of tshirts, bottoms and my rattan shoes – so pretty – all at low prices if you can bargain really well. Rule of the thumb : Any Tshirts above 100baht can be bargained further hahaha.

We even managed to get a DIY carbonated drink by the above seller at 10baht. From the many flavors, we had to choose one, and he will pour in the syrup, pour in the ice, and stick this metallic thingy into the cup and voila! Carbonated juice!

After all the shopping and bargaining, we decided to walk further into the area instead of walking back to the tourist belt. Behind this spot we were sitting in the above picture was a Buddha statue, and it amazed us that every single Thai who passed the statue would bow and give a short prayer, even whilst walking. Cool, huh?

So we walked and walked aimlessly, jumping over puddles and looking and small knick-knacks, quickening our steps at dark shady areas, and finally saw what we were looking for since Day 1…

Grasshoppers! Initially I was quite apprehensive as they looked so like… grasshoppers. But upon seeing Haikal pop one after another, I finally tried one and as Nassy had told me, they really taste of Twisties! Hahaha! I guess once the bugs were fried, you can’t really taste much of them, but it’s all the spices that overpower your buds. So, try it people!

After resting a while and taking 101 jump shots, we were too damn tired to walk back all the way to the Skytrain so we just flagged down the first cab available to make our way to Patpong Night Market – the Geylang of Bangkok.

Along the way, the driver informed us that Patpong consists of two sois, one for the shopping and one for the bars, clubs and other shady things. He was going on and on about Pussy Show and things to that effect and that we should visit such places as Patpong’s shopping atmosphere was terrible.

I have to admit that before we got to Bangkok, we did toy with the idea of going to one show just for the sake of it as EVERYONE told me to check it out. However, upon nearing the place and listening to the gristly details (shoving blades, goldfishes etc in…), we decided not to as it’s just so… wrong and manipulative.

As for shopping at Patpong Night Market, I have to say that the cab driver was right – the place was just damn terrible! Prices are hiked at SIX TIMES higher then what one could have gotten at Chatuchak or Pratunam, and the shopkeepers are all so damn rude! They shout, and they gang up on you when you decided not to buy after asking for a quote.

One word for this tourist trap? Avoid. Even the bars full of girls in bikinis lining the street are not worth it.

As Patpong was around a 15 – 20 minutes walk from LubD, we decided to slowly stroll back while taking more shots. Slowly, my flu and fever crept up on me back while Anz’s stomach cramps began to take a toll on her.

Earlier on, we had decided to stay up overnight during our last night at Bangkok just to explore the place again, but once we had laid our head on the pillows, we rang the boys and told them that we will not be joining as we really, really could not get up. Meh, what a waste~

So yeah, our last night in Bangkok had the girls tucked in bed shivering while the boys explored the neighbourhood with their DSLRs. Haikal told me later on that they had walked the entire night taking photos, encountering 7-11s one after another all barely 100m apart, and that the halal Tom Yam cup noodles in Bangkok are much better then those in Singapore.

Thanks eh for not buying some for me. Mengidam ni hahahah! Ok, next and last entry – our final day at Bangkok :)