Our Love/Hate Relationship with Bangkok

We were back in Bangkok on 3^rd/4^th Nov, between leaving Khao Sok and before catching the night train to Chiang Mai.

To paraphrase Murray Head, ‘One night in Bangkok, makes the Gladstones grumpy’.  We hate arriving and love leaving. This city just doesn’t fit us, it brings out the worst in all of us, especially me and Shoshi which in turn means we don’t have any patience for the kids.  The shopping, the incessant taxi and tuk-tuk drivers trying to get a fare, the noise, the neon – it is all the opposite of what we are looking for and what makes us happy.

We did enjoy a couple of hours in Lumpini Park, which is like a mini Central Park, walking and boating, but as soon as we left there and walked around the Siam area, which must be the largest concentration of pure consumerism in the world, then we were all at each other’s’ throats.  Hungry, tired, irritable and generally just pissed off with the city.

Luckily our guesthouse allowed us to check out at 6pm which meant we could go back to relax before heading off for the sleeper train to Chiang Mai. We were thankful for small mercies and were looking forward to our 12 hour train journey (well, 4 of us, Shoshi was coming along under protest but more of that in another post to come).

We did manage to grab some great food at an ‘Al fresco’ street food place opposite the train station, our table on the inside lane of a 3-lane dual carriageway. Living life literally in the fast lane, then headed off for the train.

Thankfully we won’t be back in Bangkok again, only having to spend a night at an airport hotel before flying to the Philippines in a couple of weeks. But it has given us plenty of food for thought on our onward plans.  Should we avoid other large cities, should we miss out on places like HCMC, Hanoi, Phnom Penh and others or will they offer experiences beyond that of Bangkok?  

We don’t have the answers for now, suffice to say that Bangkok, you won’t be missed.