A lot of financial firms have offices in SilomDTAC is Thailand’s second largest mobile service provider
Drove through China Town againGot down at Chakphet road
Batter-fried fruit
Reached Pahurat road
I could see a sign stating Gurudwara Sikh, but all it pointed to was a wall of shops on the side of the road I was on
I still waded through Pahurat market
Figuring the gurdwara was behind the shops, I found a gap and walked into an alley. There, an old Thai man saw me and just raised his arm to point to where I needed to go. I guessed I wasn’t the first Indian he may have come across in search of the elusive gurdwara.
Kept wondering how much more I had to walk to find it……but there it was (finally!)The ‘desis’ were in sight 🙂
Gurdwara Siri Guru Singh Sabha
You can read about the history of the gurdwara at their official site, but apparently Sikhs have been in Thailand since the early 1900s. All non-Sikhs have to cover their heads with a scarf, which they provide by the stairs in the main hall.
Pick one
You also have to take off your shoes if you want to go upstairs. They have a big shoe rack in the main hall and you get a token.
The Sikhs were being their charitable self today with a blood donation campThe 6-storey gurdwara is one of the largest outside IndiaThe first floor is a Langar hall, where visitors and devotees had sat down for the free mealsThe floor above it looked like it was hall used for weddings and other eventsAbove that was the main prayer hall
This kid was waiting for his chance to ‘photobomb’ this shotThe fourth floor is a schoolThe fifth floor was a hall with rooms…… with priests (I assume?)Not sure what this signifies or what they preach
That looked like a more accessible entryI had reached the topSo naturally, I went back down
The sexes are segregated in order to maintain ‘concentration’ it seems
Assuming the prayers were over, I went downDecided to eat
As much as I love Thai cuisine, after nearly two weeks, eating simple dal curry, sabzi (vegetables) and chapathis felt soooo good.
Feeling full, I went all the way back down, collected my shoes and left the gurdwara.
Stepped out to a world where samosas and spring rolls are sold side-by-sideNow to get back out…I walked through the Pahurat textile marketI finally came out through hereRajamangala University of Technology was across the road
Here’s a map to give you a better idea:
(Image source: Google Maps)I moved on
I was on the hunt for Sampeng Market nextThe traffic scene here is *quite* different from the Sukhumvit side
After a bit of asking around, I was directed to Sampeng Market.
This wasn’t the main entrance or anything. Just one of many lanes in.Sampeng market is known to be an integral part of China Town
The lanes eventually all meet at one main straight path……which extends a long way
Sampeng market is a massive space with stores selling, well, just about everything: clothes, Chinese medicines, other Chinese specialties, toys, households items, pirated CDs and anything else China mass produces.
Today being a Sunday, it was very crowded!Thus, very stuffy… and quite suffocating at times
It’s through one narrow lane visitors, traders and porters all the pass through
Sampeng isn’t for everyone. It’s quite congested inside (or I assume it’s like this every weekend) and it can get very hot. Also, I didn’t find much of the merchandise to my liking, so unless you want loads of stationary for your kids, cheap, then Sampeng is the place… if you feel it’s worth the effort. I only stopped to buy one of those inflatable travel pillows/neck rests (cost ฿50).
I finally got out and I had the option to move to the next sectionInstead, I wasn’t confident I’d find anything more worth buying and therefore, decided to end my Sampeng trekIf you want to get a good starting point at Sampeng market, this is the road to get to firstThe main China Town area was just a few steps away
I still felt like ‘buying something,’ so decided to head back to my favourite ‘market’ in Thailand.
Took a taxi to the nearest BTS stationVictory Monument, as seen from inside the train
“Thai Prince” Nichkhun was selling something (one of the many products he shills for in Thailand)Yup, back to Chatuchak marketThat’s what it looks like from up aboveWalked past the park againI plunged inI was eying some more good t-shirts, among other things
Though most clothes shops sell more or less the same merchandise, there are a few (relatively speaking) independent studios selling something creative that sets them apart from the rest.
This was one such shop
Called Paracetamol Studio, the guy in the photo above says he does all the drawings and art himself, and then prints them on t-shirts and bags. I really liked his art and ended up buying three t-shirts at ฿300 each. He wouldn’t allow for bargaining but if you bought more, the price per t-shirt comes down.
There are more such ’boutique’ storesYou also have studios selling paintings and other works of art too
I just can’t recommend Jatujak market enough! There’s a reason why I like coming here. The variety of things you find is simply amazing. A lot of it is inexpensive and the rest, still rather affordable.
But do get here early in the morning if you plan to cover as much of this place as possible
Because despite coming here for a third time, I still can’t tell you how much of Chatuchak Weekend Market I have covered!
If you asked me where Paracetamol Studio is located on this map, I couldn’t possibly tell you
So if you wish to return to a store you once shopped from, take my advice, note down the store number.
This clock tower is one of the most important landmarks at Jatuchak. Important, because it stands high above the shops and can be used a point of reference in case you get lost (which will happen!)The clock tower is also where you can find porters in case you buy more than you can carry
It was lunch time and I reached the phase where one wonders if they are walking around in circlesTried this on the way outThis guy is a bit of a celebrity here at JJ market
Just as I was rushing out, I stopped by a store that sells genuine rock band t-shirts, many of which are seconds, but in very good condition and well washed. I finally managed to score a Def Leppard (my favourite band) Hysteria t-shirt and got it bargained down to ฿300 with the excuse it was my last night in Thailand. I was quite happy 🙂
Back at Siam Paragon, there was still a big line for Krispy Kreme
I called up my friend Sawmteii as we had agreed to meet for lunch, but she was still busy with family.
Siam BTS interchange. One train plys the Siam line, the other, the Silom line
I therefore headed back to my room, freshened up and got my ticket printed for tonight’s Jay Park fan meet at Siam Paragon.
I have already written about the Jay Park fan meet in another post, which you can read here.
After the fan meet, I went to a supermarket to pick up snacks and other items to pack in now itself as I was leaving Thailand tomorrow.
Bought some prawn chips, and this one had Nichkhun and his fellow 2PM members on the packet
As I was packing and trashing unwanted covers, I ended up having a right laugh reading the instructions on the Chinese travel pillow I had bought from Sampeng earlier in the day.
😀
My Thai Airways flight was at night, so I still had tomorrow morning to do something. Which means, there’s one more post before I conclude this trip! 🙂
After a good night’s sleep, I went downstairs to have the buffet breakfast at the hotel. Then spent an hour browsing the internet on the guest computer at the lobby. After feeling quite relaxed, I checked out as the clock struck noon.
I took a moped taxi to the bus station (฿50) and bought a ticket for a bus heading to Ekamai bus terminal in Bangkok (ticket cost ฿113).
Since it was dark when I left Bangkok to come to Pattaya, I sat by the window to see what I missed
In the bus, I also wondered where to stay in Bangkok. I wanted to stay on Khao San Road, Bangkok’s popular backpacker hub. I really wanted to check it out as it’s a preferred joint for backpackers, but unfortunately located on the other side of Bangkok (some even call it Old Bangkok) — which isn’t connected via the skytrain service (BTS). Trouble is, tomorrow I am to meet up with a friend arriving from Bangalore and the day after, I had a ticket for the Jay Park Fan meet in Siam Paragon Mall. Commuting back and forth by taxi, that too with Bangkok’s mid-day traffic was the last thing I wanted to do in the last 3 days left in Thailand.
Traffic slowed down (a lot) from here on. It took half-an-hour more for the bus to reach Ekamai bus terminal. The terminal is on Sukhumvit road and is easy to get to because the BTS station (also named Ekamai) is right in front of the bus terminal. So if you are staying in the Sukhumvit or Silom area, and want to head to Pattaya, don’t go to Mo Chit bus terminal, head to Ekamai instead.
In the end, I decided to stay on the Sukhumvit side itself, which meant Thai House Inn again. I paid for two nights in advance and checked into the same room I stayed before. I probably should try and find another place to stay in since Thai House Inn isn’t the classiest of places, but at ฿700 a night, the proximity to Nana BTS station (a minute walk), for a single guy there’s no better deal like it anywhere else.
Absolut had set up a ice bar at Siam Center
Decided to go for a movie to pass some timeWatched ‘Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1’ in IMAX
Post-movie (which I thought was a bit of a drag), I decided to go to MBK.
The Siam Ocean World aquarium is beneath the food courtThe mall was all decked up in preparation for ChristmasEven though less than 1% of Thailand’s population are Christians
There’s an exclusive ukelele store in BangkokBut as I tried to get to MBK via the pedestrian overbridge, none of us were allowed to… by the policeI looked down and I saw the roads all clear, which usually implies some VIP was passing through
I got back down to the street to see if I could cross the road but there were policemen there as well. I asked them who was passing by, and they said: “The King”.
Tidbit of valuable information when in Thailand. King Rama IX is the most ‘beloved’ man in Thailand. I put beloved in quotes because there is a law which makes it a criminal offense to say anything bad about him in public. So you have no choice but to praise him. His photos are everywhere in Thailand and his birthday is a national holiday. He is credited for developing Thailand, his influence has stopped many political coups and reportedly, he’s the richest royal in the world. (But my point is, if people truly love him, why have a rule criminalizing lèse majesté?)
Sadly for the Thai people, the King hasn’t been in the best of health lately and isn’t seen much in public because of that.
The King’s cavalcade zipped past us and in a matter of minutes, we were allowed to move again
I obviously didn’t get a glimpse of King Bhumibol Adulyadej, but then again, nobody would have. Nobody could identify in which car the King was. Maybe it was a security measure.
Anyway, I was hungry by this point and decided to go back to Siam Paragon because their food court has better options for fast food.
Tried MOSBurger’s rice burger (yes, that’s rice pressed together to make the ‘buns’) 🙂
In the evening, I decided to check out Bangkok’s Chinatown.
Took a taxi, cost ฿60 from Siam CenterTook around half and hour to get here
As with any Chinatown, plenty of food to go around
YumFrom all I could tell, there wasn’t much else to see besides the well-lit shop signsI kept walking down
When I was doing my research, I read there is even a small community where Indians reside. You could call it Bangkok’s ‘Little India’ as Singapore’s popular community is called, but don’t try asking for it here. I tried it with some Thai locals, and they looked at me with a smile… which implied they had no clue what I was talking about. I wanted to find the area mostly because there is a large gurdwara here in Bangkok (since the Indian community here are predominantly Punjabis). I knew asking for a ‘gurudwara’ would get me more puzzled stares but I did ask if anybody knew where the ‘Indian temple’ was. No luck with that either.
I kept walking in search of ‘Little India’ but no signs of anything remotely Indian
But just as I was about to give up and walk back, I saw a woman who looked kinda Indian (I’m guessing she was a second generation Indian resident of Thailand) and asked her where the gurudwara was. She told me I needed to get to Pahurat Road, which wasn’t very far from here. I thanked her and noted down the name of the road.
Figuring the gurudwara would be closed to the general public at this time, I decided to come back the day after. I hailed a taxi and headed to Patpong.
Patpong is famous for two things: one, it has a night market; two, it also houses Bangkok’s red light district.
The Night Market
There wasn’t anything seedy about the place (at first)
The usual offerings sold here, nothing special
But as I went to the side street to get a glimpse of what the other stalls were selling…
…you could see the other side of PatpongWhich made me wonder if the ‘night market’ was just a cover up 🙂There are a few good bars with live music though
Like on Pattaya’s Walking Street, here too you will find a few touts soliciting tourists (quite aggressively) to come watch a peep show. Most them say it’s free but having read people’s experiences on Tripadvisor, I knew these are just tactics to pull you in and then slap you with a huge bill as you leave.
One of the touts, even held my hand and dragged me into one such place. Figuring I wouldn’t be coming back to an area like this again, I followed him. He was rather in a hurry saying the ‘ping pong show‘ would start soon. He led me upstairs into a bar where the girls and the mamasan welcomed me in. There weren’t many others in and the setting wasn’t what I was expecting. While I was expecting a more quiet, dark and sensual setting, this joint was just another typical low end bar with dim red lights, and where every song plays at 2x speeds blurts out from the sound system.
As soon as I was seated, I was surrounded by 3 or 4 smiling girls all of whom tried to chat me up, and when it came to ordering drinks, there was no menu. I ordered a vodka drink and insisted on knowing much it cost. The waitress said ฿100. Fair enough. I also made it very clear I was told this show was free and that I wouldn’t have to pay anything to see it. The mamasan assured me with a “yeah yeah”.
When the performance did begin, it was the amusing act of seeing the two girls shoot objects like bananas, darts (at a balloon), and ping pong balls (of course) — all using her nether region. And that’s exactly what it was, amusing… it was the least bit erotic, surely not in the setting I was in 🙂 The most amusing act was when one of the performers pulled a series of blades on a string out — and she cut a paper using the very same razor blades to prove they weren’t blunt. Now, only women know the true potential of their inner workings, but I’m sure even women in far more respectable professions would squeal if they saw this. As a guy, my face looked more like this: 😕 None the less, I had to praise these performers for their, erm, talents.
After 15 minutes and my drink nearly done, I had seen enough and wanted to leave. I could see the other patrons arguing with the mamasan over their bills and I knew what was coming my was as well. Besides the ฿100 for my drink, I wanted to tip a ฿100 each for the two performing women, so that was a total of ฿300. The bill they handed over?
฿3000.
I told the mamasan I wasn’t going to pay it and ฿300 is all she will get. She raised her voice (she had to, they wouldn’t turn down the crappy music) and threatened to call some men to rough me up if I wouldn’t pay. I replied: “Call them”. When she did, I knew things were only getting easy for me. She spoke in English to her Thai “baddie” saying there is an Indian who refuses to pay and that he better come. Now if there is one thing I’ve learned about Thais is that, you’ll never see one Thai speaking to another Thai in English. Very few in Thailand know how to speak English, that too fluently. So I knew this was just an act.
After she hung up, she said they’re coming. I replied: “Okay, I’ll wait”. I could see some of the working girls try and hide their smiles, so I knew I was going to win this one. After waiting around 2 minutes, the mamasan finally said: “Okay, give 1000!”. I said: “No, 300”. More standing still ensued. Finally she gave up and said: “Ok give!”. I handed her the ฿300 and told her ฿100 each were for the two performers. She didn’t say anything and I walked out.
And that was it 🙂
In hindsight, it made me wonder if I should have gone for all this in Pattaya’s Walking Street as the Tourist Police was right there and by now, I’m sure they heard countless such experiences from other visitors. But even if this happens to you, follow the same advice: just keep your foot down and refuse to pay. What’s the worst they’re going to do? Stab a tourist?
Walking out, I noticed there wasn’t even a name for this bar, so it surely was one of those clearly intended to scam people and only remain operational by paying off the right authorities.
This alley looked like it mostly catered to Japanese
What I just experienced didn’t change my opinion of this wonderful country. If your sole purpose of visiting Thailand is just to hang out at such venues, you will most likely leave with many such stories. Even if you don’t, as with any other country in the world, shit happens — you just have to be on your guard.
The so-called ping pong show is one of those “When-in-RomeThailand” things-to-do. Many tourists, men and women alike, are eager to see it. In fact it was a girl friend of mine who told me “not to miss it,” with a laugh. Now I know why — it’s more a laugh than sensual 🙂 Trouble is, many use that eagerness tourists have to run scams like this.
Sala Daeng is the name of the BTS station if you want to get to Patpong
Patpong doesn’t seem as big a seedy place, not based on some people’s descriptions calling it Bangkok’s largest red light district. Maybe there’s more to it, who knows, I wasn’t bothered to explore anymore of it now.
If you plan to come to Patpong just for the night market, don’t. There’s nothing here you can’t find anywhere else in Bangkok for the same price (or maybe even cheaper).
I took the BTS back to Siam.
Absolut’s open-air concert event at Siam Center
Once back in my area, I decided to grab dinner first and then go back to my room.
Nana has a lot of Middle Eastern restaurants, which was great for me (given how much I miss this cuisine)You get really good foreign exchange rates here, far better than the rates the banks in the malls give. I exchanged a few dollars.Picked up a few shawarmas and a drink from 7-11 and called it a night
Date: 27th November 2010
Today, I met up with my friend Sawmteii and her friend, who had just arrived in Thailand. We met up at the Siam BTS and since it was their first time in Bangkok (and came with very clear intentions of shopping – a lot!), I showed them around the malls.
I couldn’t fathom the locals’ desperation to bag Krispy Kreme donuts. There were huge lines everyday at the Siam Paragon outlet.So much was the demand, there were street hawkers who sell them in ‘black’ outside after doing the tough job of waiting in line just to bag these boxes of doughnuts.
After Siam Discovery and Siam Paragon, we walked towards Petchburi Road.
On Petchburi road, the girls wanted to check out Platinum Mall, which claims to be Thailand’s largest fashion mall.
Boy, was it crowded inside
Eight floors of fashion goodness… well, mostly for women anyway. Hardly anything for men in here.
Despite advising the girls to keep all their shopping towards the end of their journey when they return to Bangkok, they couldn’t help but feel like kids let loose in a candy store 🙂
Who can blame them? Even as a guy, I could appreciate the stuff being sold here. Really good looking dresses and accessories at prices anybody can afford. Dresses which would easily cost upwards of Rs. 1000 in India could be had for Rs. 500 or less. You could buy one, two, three, ten or more — and prices vary accordingly.
A lot of bulk buyers too
We spent quite some time in here. And when I saw ‘we,’ I mean Sawmteii and her friend Mimi. I loitered around wondering if there was anything for guys. It wasn’t until we got up to the 4th floor that I found a store selling some pretty nifty t-shirts.
After walking past pretty much every floor, the girls decided to dedicate their last few days in Thailand in here and we went up to the 6th floor to have lunch at the food court.
Post-lunch, I took the girls to Chatuchak (disembark at Mo Chit BTS).
We sat at the park for a bit before embarking on more walking through hundreds of shops
Sorry, make that thousands of shops!
Jatujak weekend market is the largest flea market in Thailand and sees most shops open on Saturday and Sunday (It is open on weekdays too, just not every shop).
In case you buy more than you can carry… there’s always DHLPalm… fap?Plenty of food to energize you for all the walking you’ll be doing at JatujakThe famous bags salesman calling every foreigner “Michael” was still at it in 2010 🙂The reason I like JJ market a lot is because they sell *everything* that can be placed inside a houseBought three kinds of lamp shades
After much walking around and being clueless as to where exactly we were (it will happen), eventually it was time for the puppies to come out. (Real puppies). You’ll only see them being sold once the sun sets — which means they’re probably doing it illegally.
Sawmteii couldn’t help but pick one up
And at the prices the puppies were being sold for (around ฿3000-฿5000 depending on the breed), she didn’t feel like putting them down either. We were seriously talking about how to bring dogs via airplanes.
Eventually we decided to call it a day.
Had one of this: cold banana on a stick dipped in chocolate and sprinkled with nutsMo Chit BTS station
We got down at Nana so that the girls could check out my area (they were staying a few BTS stations further down). Got some currency exchanged and had dinner at an Arabian restaurant before wishing each other goodnight and parting ways.
Tomorrow was going to be my last full day in Bangkok.
As soon as I was done with lunch, I headed to the nearby BTS station (this stop was called Nana) and stood in line to get coins. The fares range from 10 baht (Rs. 13) to 60 baht (Rs. 83) and it essentially works like so:
– get 5 and 10 baht coins from the manned counters
– each stop is number coded, so you first choose your destination by selecting the number on the machine
– put in the required number of coins
– your card is issued
You need the card to get past the gates and only then can you go up to the platform. Once there, you generally don’t have to wait long. I had to get down at the last stop heading north on the Sukhumvit line, Mo Chit, to get to Jatuchak park.
Taken from inside the skytrain on the Nokia E72
It costs 60 baht but my god! The time you save! A ride which would have taken me an hour in Bangkok traffic took me just over 10 minutes. I can’t wait for Bangalore Metro to open! This service is such a time-saver.
Jatujak Park in Bangkok
Chatuchak (also called Jatujak or even JJ) Weekend Market is located near Jatujak Park.
Walk ahead and you enter the weekend market
Now, I’m not much of a shopaholic but while I was doing my research for my trip, JJ Weekend Market claimed to be the largest flea market in the world with thousands of stalls! I wasn’t going to count but it still intrigued me enough to go check it out.
I didn’t even know if there even was a “main entrance” so I just entered one of the lanes.
She was promoting a product
I immediately realized why JJ was popular. You get everything! From clothes, fashion accessories, home furnishings, cutlery, food, fake brands, stationary, cool crap… wholesale as well as retail.
He was drawing quite a crowd
The guy in the pink shirt you see above was selling every bag inside his store (even the big ones) for 199 baht (Rs. 270). He kept calling every non-small eyed guy (including me) “Michael” and pointed towards his store in the hopes of luring us in. The tourists did find it funny hearing him go “M-O-I-kaal!” and I did step inside to see what the fuss was all about. There was a fairly large trendy looking Puma bag (good looking fake) I thought of picking up but I reminded myself that just because it’s cheap doesn’t mean I have to buy it. Especially if I’m really not going to use it. So I just walked away without buying it.
Which was a good thing because just down the road there was another store selling bags for 189 baht (Rs. 260) — but without any fuss [picture can be found below]. I realized what a clever marketing move it was that the 199 baht store was employing. Get people’s attention with a lot of noise and the notion that everything must go with 199 looking like the rock bottom price. Once people are in, take a hit on bags that may actually cost 250 selling for 199 baht but make up for lost profit by selling bags that may actually cost him 100 baht for 199 there by evening it out anyway. Clever.
Tip: Try and do all your shopping from Bangkok. I realized Bangkok is the hub and main distribution point for pretty much every other city in Thailand. Take for example the cool looking lanterns you see above. I saw the silver one first on the streets of Ao Nang — for around 1600 baht (Rs. 2,200). Obviously I didn’t buy it because I thought it was quite pricey. But here? Prices start from 300 baht (Rs. 410).
Just because JJ calls itself a ‘flea market’ doesn’t mean you don’t get genuine products here. There are authorized dealers for original Converse shoes (very popular in Thailand) and several other brands. But the thing is, I’d still pick up a good looking fake for hundreds less. The imitation is just that good!
Another cool aspect of JJ I really liked was the sub-cultures that existed within the place. You had various sections dedicated to different fashion. A series of stores specializing in hip-hop fashion, gear for rockers, reggae, etc. It was really cool.
That’s no wig, that’s really her hair. She let me touch it.
I really want to profile the various sub-cultures at Chatuchak the next time I come here.
So did I shop much at all? I had already picked up a funky T-shirt (for 90 baht/Rs. 125) and I was looking for a Def Leppard t-shirt at all the stores selling rock gear. Some stores had genuine second-hands (the official merchandise but already worn) but those were selling for over 1000 baht (Rs. 1,300). Now, I love me some Def Leppard but I wasn’t going to spend that kind of money for a second hand t-shirt unless it was worn by Joe Elliot himself!
I had spent nearly 3 hours here and I could have checked out more stores but a lot of them began closing by 6pm itself.
I decided to leave JJ and so… puppiiiiiesssss!
Awwww… yet so cruel
They even had puppies for sale! I felt sad seeing them being sold like this. But when I heard 3000 baht (Rs. 4,100) for some breeds, I was more “Hey, that’s not bad” than “Awww, poor thing”.
Those are quail eggsThe store that was selling bags for 189 baht
There was a lot of stuff I could have bought from here, especially clothes and shoes. But I had already spent enough and my bag was full enough.
Also, don’t cave in and splurge at JJ thinking everything is cheap here. Some items you’ll get in air-conditioned malls such as MBK Center for more or less the same price. So do go around Bangkok a bit before you decide to spend.
It was past 8pm by the time I finally left JJ market. Yet another place I’m definitely coming back to.
I took the BTS back to my hotel room and called it an early night after dinner as I had woken up very early today.
All non-Sikhs have to cover their heads with a scarf, which they provide by the stairs in the main hall.
