I'd heard the good, the bad and the ugly about Bangkok, but also learned it was a tourist savvy and welcoming country, despite the current government/military unrest....and occasional bombings. It's cheap, has incredible food, with good western hotels and shopping malls, transportation directly into the main part of Bangkok from the airport and more noise, smells and sounds than you can shake a stick at.
I booked a great room at the Holiday Inn Siam ( about $75 a night super deluxe upgrade all in), crammed my backpack with enough clothes to get me through a sweaty weekend and off to Bangkok I headed. As I was on the train from the airport, it looked inviting to depart at a local station rather than the end of the line. It gave me a chance to walk the streets on a hot Friday night with just the locals, exploring side streets and dark alleys (well I'm getting dramatic now) and taking in the sense of being deep in the heart of this energetic and non-stop city. Here's what it looked like the night I arrived............
Now, to be fair.....Bangkok also has a daytime.
You can spot the teams of women who come to shop in Thailand at their huge malls. Whereas you'll find NO DEALS in Singapore, you'll find tons of them here. The dollar is strong and the Bhatt is weak. Figure it out. However, and I wish I had taken one more picture, after seeing all the western brand name stores at all the malls, you have to walk through another huge, long mall at the airport....with the same stores. It's like "honey, I forgot to pick up a $25,000 Guicci watch in Bangkok. Let me just grab one here at the airport". Really?
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