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Post by hwinpp on Mar 20, 2010 2:22:19 GMT
They seem to think I am. Couldn't stay there with my girlfriend of 11 years who's Thai and the same age as me. I think it's ridiculous.
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Post by ilbonito on Mar 20, 2010 5:49:04 GMT
Oh really? The same discussion has come up about the Atlanta hotel on lonelyplanet's thorntree board. If they wouldn't let her check in then that is ridiculous, and rather offensive (its HER country!) . On the other hand, located as it is off the prostitution hot spot of Sukhumvit, I can see why they would have a prohibition on people bringing in unregistered guests, (although basing it on race is stupid). I was travelling solo so passed through oblivious....
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Post by ilbonito on Mar 20, 2010 5:50:56 GMT
I wonder what their reaction would have been to my (Japanese, same-sex) partner?
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Post by Deleted on Mar 20, 2010 6:09:46 GMT
No, I am not a miscreant, but the Atlanta Hotel has mentioned in numerous French novels that take place in Southeast Asia and never as an isle of calm and sophistication.
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Post by hwinpp on Mar 20, 2010 6:54:43 GMT
Oh, I guess it's ok. The policy is clearly spelled out, I didn't like they just said no without bothering to check.
A couple of places here in Phnom Penh do it as well.
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Post by ilbonito on Mar 20, 2010 23:45:28 GMT
Yes, kerouac - the Atlanta is extremely "novel" - esque!!! I can easily imagine it featuring in tales of international intrigue. Apparently the lobby gets used heaps for films too, as a period piece.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 20, 2010 23:53:44 GMT
I suppose I shouldn't mention that I am one of those horrible people addicted to the atrocities of Khao San Road. But I find the location convenient for being able to walk to Wat Po, and I am constantly fascinated by the fauna of the 'road'.
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Post by ilbonito on Mar 20, 2010 23:58:51 GMT
On my last night in Bangkok, I went to take one more walk through the Arab district. The streets were alive with neon, incense, the smell of oil frying and jasmine. A muezzin wailed from a mosque, while a young boy wearing glowing Satan horns on the corner smiled and offered the novelities for sale to clubbers. Beggars in the shadows called out to me as I passed ; “salaam malaikum”, while a white guy handed out flyers for a bar, talking to everyone – me, Thais, Arabs – in indiscriminate Japanese. A Chinese tourist walked into a 7-11 with a Tshirt that said BITCH, holding the hand of his daughter with downs syndrome who was wearing fluffy blue rabbit ears. On the street corners, bargirls clustered in their Britney Spears cast-offs. The air was hot and heady and the city felt throbbingly, thrillingly alive.
I had been planning a trip to “Bed” – a club that had been described to me as a cylindrical all-white tube containing big white beds for lounging, and psychadelic performance art. I was looking forward to it. But when I rocked up, the club had just received a visit from the police and been ordered to shut down; for Thai Mothers Day! So, my plans in array, I went for a walk down them main strip of Sukhumvit instead. A group of “girls” – two biological, two transsexuals, - called me over and we sat and chatted and chilled on the outside terrace of Subway, watching the world in its all its permutations ebb and flow up that street of dreams. It turns out the girls had been fishing for “clients” but when I told them I was gay they all hooted with laughter, and relaxed, and we just hung out together for a while and ate our sandwich rolls, before one kissed me on the cheek good-bye.
It felt like the perfect farewell to this city.
As the world globalises and urbanises, more our planet will look like Bangkok. And although it faces enormous challenges, I left the city quietly confident that in the end, in its own messy way, bangkok would get it right. Thailand was one of the few nonwestern countries never colonised. It never imported Western ways wholesale. But gradually, fluidly, it has patched together a modern society on its own terms- one that registered for ten years the highest economic growth rate in the world. Its path to democracy has been rocky - hey, it still is - but thats because the Thais (unlike the Japanese) seem to be experimenting with a system that will work for them, genuinely grappling with the ideas involved, and trying to figure things out. How to balance their king and faith with a modern economy, and their traditional openess to the world with a culture that must be cherished and protected? And in the end, this all-embracing, forward-thinking city has become something that is all its own – and all the more inspiring for it. In the end, Bangkok fascinated me, exhausted me, inspired me, and left me hopeful – if this is what the future is like, maybe it can just work afterall?
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Post by Deleted on Mar 21, 2010 0:16:46 GMT
I agree that Thailand is truly amazing, and I sort of approve of their political turbulence when so many other countries only want the status quo. France has had diplomatic relations with Thailand since 1856, but the first diplomatic delegations from Thailand to France arrived in Paris in 1684 to visit Louis XIV, which is pretty incredible in itself. King Rama V visited France in 1897 and 1907.
Even though Thailand has not been mentioned as much as the BRIC countries (Brazil-Russia-India-China), I really think that Thailand will be one of the major players in the future simply because it knows how to integrate foreign elements to its lifestyle without getting all huffy about "foreign invasion" and still remaining uniquely Thai. (France, damn it, could easily do the same thing, but it doubts too much and is afraid of being swept away by other cultures although this is clearly impossible -- to everybody except the French.)
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Post by ilbonito on Mar 21, 2010 6:48:34 GMT
Yes- globalization is something Thailand could teach the world a lot about; its been doing it for hundreds of years. Its amazing to think that Ayutthya was the largest pre-industrial city in the world, with more people than either London or Tokyo, and that Thailand had a Greek prime minster in the 17th century!
In that way modern Bangkok - and even Khao San rd - is really a continuation of traditional Thai culture; the Kingdom has always been interested in what was going on in the rest of the world, and ready to adapt the bits that it liked to its own purposes.
(I personally prefer Soi Rambuttri to Khao San, but I'm not one of the anti-Banglamphu snobs. There is simply nowhere in the world like the backpacker melting pot of Khao San. It may not be "Thai" but it is nonetheless one-of-a-kind, and fascinating for it.)
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Post by curt on Mar 22, 2010 7:41:08 GMT
I think the turn off for all the "anti-Banglamphu snobs" is not so much the neighborhood, but the attitude of the traveling unwashed, many who come away having "experienced" Thailand. Although it can be a good base, many believe it to be a destination in itself.
Because of all the businesses catering to travelers, and the mass of said, it can be quite convenient. But, some spend their holiday there.
That said, it beats the Hell out of Sukhumvit!
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Post by ilbonito on Mar 22, 2010 8:10:31 GMT
Khao San is just so far from anything else in BKK though and poorly connected by public transport. Sure you can walk to the Grand Palace, but getting anywhere else is a bit of a chore.
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Post by curt on Mar 22, 2010 9:29:54 GMT
Khao San is just so far from anything else in BKK though and poorly connected by public transport. Sure you can walk to the Grand Palace, but getting anywhere else is a bit of a chore. The Phra Arthit express boat pier gives plenty of access to the rest of the city, transfering to the BTS or BMTA. Many locals also use the Saen Saeb canal boats as a means to cross the city, sans traffic.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 22, 2010 9:33:57 GMT
I have never gotten the hang of the boats. That is something I must work on next time I go to Bangkok.
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Post by ilbonito on Mar 22, 2010 10:17:36 GMT
The boats are fun, but its still a long schlep. The boat from Pra Arthrit to Thaksin is at least 20 minutes, then there is a 15 minute Skytrain after that to get to Siam... And the Saen Saeb canal boat is just too scary because they don't even stop at each pier, just slow down. The thought of falling into that black, acrid water...shudders... One of my favorite BKK urban myths is that the sister/hairdresser/uncle of (insert name of voguish Thai celeb here) fell into the canal and climbed out only to die a few days later...
I've done a trip on the Saen Saeb once but - given my shitty sense of balance - that was enough. I've ticked the box, I can move on ;D
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Post by curt on Mar 22, 2010 11:36:07 GMT
Try heading to the northern most express boat pier, Nonthaburi, pier #30. Nonthaburi is a nice little town, offering a free museum and a great open market. The museum is just down from the pier, while the market is inland, just up the road from the tower. There is also one of my favorite eateries, Baan Rabiang Nam, about a five klick taxi ride north of here. cheapeatsbangkok.com/photos/thai/rabiang_map.jpgFor the less adventurous, you can have lunch at Rim Fung, again just south of the pier.
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Post by ilbonito on Mar 22, 2010 11:57:09 GMT
This is my favorite BKK restaurant: The Flying Chicken had been the other semi-mythical place I wanted to track down. It is located on a road out towards the airport (just down the road in fact from the biggest restaurant in the world, where 4,000 outdoor diners are served by waitresses on rollerskates). The woman at the tourist office warned me that it was pretty old and she hadn’t heard anything about it in a while. She thought it might have closed. But I perservered. I got her to write down the address in Thai, jumped into a taxi and when it pulled up outside a neon-lit doorway with a glittering giant chicken shrine, I knew I was in luck. I saw down in a leafy tropical courtyard with flashing fairy lights (of course) and a Thai country and western singer on a pink, tinselly stage. It was quiet, with just a few groups of Thai families or workmates knocking back beers, while the waiters chatted and their’ children ran round in the greenery. One of them brought me a menu, with a rubber chicken necklace around his neck. I knew what to order. The Flying Chicken restaurant is famous for one thing. If you order the “flying chicken” a waiter comes riding out on a unicycle, wearing a helmet with a spike on it. They then put your chicken into a small catapult, and voila! Your chicken flies! The waiter catches it on his head, everybody claps, and the chicken is brought to your table for dinner. My favourite part was how the waiter’s kids looked on in clear awe of their father. You could tell that they too, wanted to be chicken catchers when they grew up. It might be stupid but the fact that this crazy place exists, and that despite everything I had seen it myself, and that everyone there seemed so happy, made me smile and almost clap for joy. Here were some of the non-chicken options on the menu: The last one sounds goooood....
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Post by Deleted on Mar 22, 2010 13:15:24 GMT
The giant outdoor (non-touristy) restaurants of Asia are great. I haven't been to any in Bangkok, but I've been to some in Saigon, Singapore and Malang and everybody always seems to be having such a great time, especially the family groups of 12 people with toothless granny dozing in her noodles and all of the little children running around under the table with the dogs.
Thanks for the boat information, curt. That should come in useful next time I am passing through town.
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Post by bixaorellana on Mar 22, 2010 21:32:37 GMT
So, yes -- you did have the flying chicken? It would be worth hanging around for the same sick reason people watch aerialists -- something might go wrong.
The other choices are pretty tempting, and I plan to incorporate one of those words into my vocabulary. I'm sure a frosty "Get tooped!" at the right moment would be totally devastating.
The chicken (it's a rooster, isn't it?) is truly beautiful. I'm so glad you persevered and we got to hear about this place.
Kerouac, that description of the family-style outdoor restaurants could be of any number of them around here. What I love about them is that there's never any hurry and people just relax into the occasion.
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Post by komsomol on Mar 31, 2010 12:29:23 GMT
Have you been to other parts of Thailand, ilbonito? It can't all be like Bangkok.
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Post by ilbonito on Apr 3, 2010 5:39:35 GMT
No, to be honest I find it hard to tear myself away from BKK. I havent explored much. A couple of beach trips, Ayutthaya (which is basically a day trip) and a quick stop in Changcheongseo (spelling?) The last few times I was in Thailand I didn't even set foot on a beach! I'd love to explore more but if I'm pressed for time, I just stay and the city and explore there. But I'm curious to try Chiang Mai, or the Deep South. They look fun
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Post by ilbonito on Apr 8, 2010 5:59:42 GMT
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