A shopping adventure in Bangkok

Bangkok City

In Bangkok, sightseeing and shopping goes together. It was with such eagerness and excitement that a travel companion and I decided to beat the sidewalk to Patpong Night Market on the second evening of my stay there, recently.

We  wanted to walk, just to breath in the ambiance of a thriving city. This walk was from Sukhumvit Road, a mistake as it took us almost an hour to reach the Silom area. We rested on seats along the walkway, though. On the way we saw a couple sleeping on a mat on the ground. They looked so peaceful there laying on the grass under a shady tree. The dusk lent them an otherworldly look, as if they were floating on a space of 'then and now'...the contrast that is, between a huge bustling city and sleeping on the rough under the stars. Near them slept two dogs, oblivious to their surroundings as if they were just as exhausted as their masters. We wondered about who they were, what they were doing for a living...indeed, what was their life.

Once at Patpong though we forgot about our sore feet and our thoughts on the couple, and gazed, ogled and gawked at the various and many varieties of goods on sale. We just meandered into the crowd and wandered into the busy street.

Chao Praya  River

It was a shopping haven: I was all over the place, looking, touching and admiring all the colourful stuff on display. A pretty lady boy selling handbags spoke to me in Thai and when I told him that I was not Thai and that I come from Malaysia, he said 'you look like Thai lady, I give you good price for bag...for you 400bhat.' Good deal actually, but I did not particularly liked the bags.

Shoppers have to be very careful as they would cite the highest price for their wares, which could include Jimmy Choo, Prada and myriads of ‘branded’ goods. Goods available there ranged from undergarments to lingerie, to handbags wallets and belts, shoes…you name it; all for exorbitant prices. Be wise, haggle.

Good shoppers usually slashed the asking price by half and get away with it.

There were also some interesting outlets with languid girls undulating around on stage. The rather poetic movement were actually beautiful but the incessant come-ons from ‘mummies’ could be a tremendous turn-off. All these were seen from outside, as the doors to the outlets were tantalisingly open.

European or at least Caucasian tourists seemed to congregate in Silom as I saw more of them there than elsewhere, perhaps because of the nightlife available or the food outlets that were found all over the place. 

The girls seemed to frantically want these tourists inside their business enterprise, more so than we Asians, for reasons only known to them. As a woman,  I was practically ignored much to my relief. Blending serves one well when one wants to observe incognito.

Incognito or not, we did not do too well with the Tuk Tuk. Going by Tuk Tuk ‘cab’  a trishaw type transport on motorcycle wheels could be an experience in Bangkok too. Its ...Nice.

However it would be better and wiser to ask the fare from one place to another as they could rip you off. We learned our lesson well when we were asked for 200bhat for a ride that a relatively comfortable taxi charged 90bhat for.

The ride was nerve-wreckingly thrilling to say the least as we held on for dear life during the 15 minutes 'jiggled-juggled and bumped' adventure.

Much to our relief we made it back to our place before we were shaken to bits. -AV