Living in the Crazy Fun and Weird Bangkok

Well, there's at least one on his jeweler in Bangkok. Rama Jewelers.  We entered on a whim. My wife got excited and wanted to have our wedding bands made there, for her a diamond one. and ended up ordering a $2000 ring on the spot.  We had momentary buyers remorse when we went into a nearby jeweler, who promised to create a similar ring more cheaply. We had already put a deposit down and paid for the rain. It took a month to complete. We went in to pick it up and my wife noticed how tight it was around her finger. Apparently we had sized it incorrectly. They explained that perhaps it was because she was now far more pregnant, and thus her ring finger was swollen. We agreed to come in after she gave birth, (presumably her extremities would no longer be swollen) and if it wasn't fitting at that point, they would make an entirely new ring for us. Keeping to the agreement, we came in two weeks after giving birth, and true to their word, they took the original ring, ...

So my friend was very pregnant, and craving fruit, and convinced her husband to take her via motorbike to the market.  Having but one helmet between them, somehow they decided that it was best if t would be worn Ryan who was driving, while our pregnant damsel held onto his waist. Unsurprisingly, this attracted the attention of the police, who promptly pulled them over to question their judgment.   Amenable and apologetic, they paid the fine of 300 baht directly to the policemen, as is the custom in the country. Thai policeman They continued on to the fruit market, and upon arriving, realized that they had no money left to spend.  Lacking bank cards, instead of returning home, they went back the short distance to the original policeman, nicely approached him, and asked if they could get a rebate so that they could afford some fruit.  He pulled  100 baht out of his pocket, and handed it to them with a smile.  Even corrupt police ar...

Bangkok, famous for massage. Competition fierce. And if you're looking for a different experience? Might I suggest Perception (Blind) Massage in Bangkok where you will receive your choice of massages from trained, sightless masseuses. Located in the business district of Bangkok, on the second floor of a building, the walls are grey, and you'll find the barely illuminated room calming, but more so, the masseuses are excellent, perhaps due to having more honed sense of touch and feel of the body, the sense heightened to help counter the lack of sight. On the wall, in a braille like configuration is the name of the business, along with a several placards with motivating thoughts; perhaps not Rumi but well intentioned nonetheless. In addition to the wonderful massage, you are enabling the blind to earn an income and feel a sense of contribution to others well being. In mind my mind, it's a win the whole way around, and something, even if you only do it as novelty, which...

Recently went into the jungle around Chiang Ma on  Flight of the Gibbon ,  the second time in less than a year I have gone on this awesome zipline experience . I highly recommend it. One of the highlights for me was seeing gibbons swinging from one branch of a tree to another. Their agility was astounding! Here is a video I took of my fortuitous sighting. Video : Gibbons swinging from vine to vine Also, a video of my fairly timid mother and how she found the experience. It's a great experience for all! Go do it!

Bangkok, where businesses don't even bother shuttering the windows it's so safe. Buddhist societies are probably the most trusting in the world. It's exemplified by this local fruit and flower stand which think nothing of leaving their storefront totally unlocked for the entire weekend. And while only homeless people in most countries would steal the bananas, the orchids are in fact rather valuable, and would represent a decent loss to the proprietor were they to find them gone. video : the open storefront in Bangkok This is in sharp contrast with Saudi Arabia, a place where, although you could leave your car window open and your wallet on the front seat, and be guaranteed to find it there when you return, the reason for this is quite different: because the penalty for theft is getting your freakin' hands cut off! I'm not advocating leaving your wallet out in the open in Thailand, merely illustrating the general trust which exists between people in Thail...

You stand as a "farang" (foreigner) in Bangkok if you're white. The know with a fair amount of certainty that you have more money than the average Thai person, and the lcoal merchants are always looking to make a few more baht per transaction. durian truck Bangkok Approaching a durian truck, we inquire about a piece of fruit. The grumpy truck owner offers to sell it to us for 480 baht. As it was an especially large piece of fruit we ask if we can have half the fruit. I don't blame him for saying no. But seeing that we also wanted half the fruit, an Indian man in line ahead of us offers to split it with us, and negotiates with the seller. After hemming and hawing, he finally realized that he wasn't going to wring to separate sales out of this, so he cut it in two for the price previously named to the Indian who had been negotiating before us- 400 baht. Just another example of the different prices given to people with white skin, as the brown skinned man wh...

So you're a company in Bangkok and want to advertise to drivers traveling down a road. Sadly, it appears to be cheaper to pay people to kneel for hours holding up the sign, than to get a metal holder to prop up your message. For more travel adventure stories  

Rule #1- too many people ask the same question about flying here from some distant locale for a week. You'll be suffering from jetlag and regret from the hefty ticket prices you paid for such a such short time. We highly recommend at least two weeks here in Thailand. With that said- here is a link to an itinerary that makes a lot of sense for two week vacationers. Thailand- Two Week Vacation Itinerary  Thoughts or comments leave them below. 

one of 7 levels of Erawan Falls Only a few hours away from Thailand's sprawling capital lies Erawan National Park, home to a 7 level waterfall. It's SE Asian nature at it's best, and a meditative experience watching the light blue water cascading down the mountains, cleverly changing its course as the jungle's obstacles present.  You get there via K anchanaburi, where you can take a shared van to and from the city, then either hire a taxi or just rent a car and travel up sightseeing the area. You can check out the video below to get an idea of how beautiful the area is.  It's a fabulous experience and well worth the trip! Video :  Highlights of Gorgeous Erawan Waterfall all 7 Levels - national park Thailand

First of all, for as beautiful and fertile a country as Thailand is, the average person here is quite poor. The minimum wage is 300 baht per day, and a decent salary for Thais is the equivalent of $500 per month. That said, there are VERY wealthy Thais for whom money is no object, but the majority of people here live on a very low income.  Which is why I am always so amazed to see so much wasted food here. Growing up, I thought it was a sin not to finish all my food because so many people go without, but on my honeymoon in Koh Kood, a beautiful but hard to get to island an hour and a half off the coast, I saw a group of wealthy Thais leaving most of their Expensive meal at a resort untouched. I was aghast, it included a plate of super expensive seafood fresh from the ocean, left on the plate exactly as it arrived. would leave crab claws and shrimp untouched It's hard for me to account for. I wanted to chase after them and chastise them for waste/ find out how they could poss...

Thailand is known for having three seasons, hot, hotter, and hottest and when you're lucky a healthy dousing of welcome rain, usually lasting only several minutes, which softens the ground and cools you off.  However, occasionally the precipitation can turn into a monsoon, and walking outside is the equivalent of being drenched by a shower turned onto the highest volume. Clothing is instantly drenched all the way through, and your shoes and socks will quickly suffer from mildew and jungle rot. Bring the shampoo if you want to wash your hair. For someone who truly enjoys the moisture of a tropical shower, at these moments, I find an umbrella a necessity. 

It is said that Thailand has three seasons, hot, hotter, and hottest. In addition to this, it gets incredibly muggy here, making for some sweaty conditions. So, leave some sweaty clothes in the dryer (there are no dryers in Thailand, just the sun) and with the climate as it is, it takes far longer to dry the clothes then if you lived in never a drop of rain Las Vegas. Clothes here, I swear they ferment- you could get drunk with the residue left over from your "dry" clothes. In addition to the mildew forming, get your clothes wet a couple times and get ready to toss them out. Business is good for clothing retailers here in the BKK.

There’s a building in Bangkok, near the river, the locals call the ghost building- a high rise condo in a prime location whose structure was built, but for one reason or another, today lies in disrepair, a monument to wasted recourses and a deal gone bad.  Across from the ghost building, Lebua Sky Bar, the ritzy club featured in the Hangover 3 on the 64th floor featuring $25 cocktails and $600 half-bottles of wine. Looking from the balcony of the sky bar, the otherwise dark Building of Ghosts is illuminated by the surrounding lights of the city.  In a brilliant marketing move by the world’s largest company, a giant billboard 15 story poster is plastered across the windows of the Ghost Building featuring technology’s ultimate luxury item, The iPhone 7.  For the revelers at the Skybar there for the status, the awesome view, or just to have a good time, the iPhone 7 will be forever and unconsciously associated with this experience.  The iPhone Lebua Skyba...

Not far from Koh San Road, is the Bangkok Flower Market, where tons (literally) of tropical blooms are on sale. Walk down the street and into the various shops and gaze upon the vivacious colors of nature to brighten your day, or light your night. Get your honey a bouquet and it won't set you back much. Just be aware that carnations in Thai culture are associated with death and funerals. look at the huge smile on her face gorgeous colors down the flower alley More great adventure stories

Before I begin, I discussed previously what an awesome city Bangkok is , but in interest of fairness, it's not Xanadu. I love this city, but let's discuss-- The Downside of Living in Bangkok as a Foreigner 1. Traffic - There is a light, the Sathorn light to be exact, that often takes in excess of half an hour to get through. To get through one light! I remember taking a taxi ride home through the district on an exceptionally busy night and our poor driver, who is used to the horrendous congestion here, kept dropping his head and sadly stating, "oohhff, trrafffikk." That might have been the only English word he spoke. Bangkok traffic, depending on the metric, is often ranked the worst in the world. It's something all Thais are proud of. 2. Language Barrier - With a completely different alphabet, featuring a whopping 44 consonants and 15 vowels, that combine into at least 28 vowel forms, and several different tones, Thai is one of the hardest languages in t...

So I have been living in Bangkok/ Thailand between various stays for about a year. The benefits of following this blog will not only be to entertain with the funny stories and vast cultural differences which exist between West and East, but to give you a general idea of what life is like in Bangkok, enabling you to vicariously transport yourself here. Also, I hope to be able to offer tips if you wish to visit. Today, let's discuss the positives and negatives of living here as a "farang" (the Thai word for foreigner.) Positives of Living in the BKK 1. Cheaper - Oh my God, so much cheaper than an expensive Western City where I am from. An hour taxi ride through the city might cost you $6, I don't even want to think about that spinning meter in New York. You can easily purchase a delicious and filling lunch for two for $8, and that's with bells and whistles. Rent is much, much cheaper- $2,000 a month gets you an unbelievable 3 bedroom pad in a pristine buil...