Earlier this year, in April, I went to Thailand for a holiday - what an amazing and CRAZY place! We stayed in Bangkok for two nights then seven nights in Koh Samui island. It was me, my younger brother Jeff, and a mate, Robert.
Bangkok is something out of this world. As soon as you walk out of the airport you're approached by dozens of taxi drivers in plain clothes offering to take you to your hotel; there's no cab rank or anything like that, just randoms that offer a price. The first guy we spoke to wanted 1000 Baht to take us to the Shangri-la in the city, around $35. We initially thought "yeh, what the hell", but then spoke to a few others and managed to get a cab driver to take us there for 400 Baht (around $14). Not only did he drive us to the hotel, he waited for us to check in, then drove us around for another 3 hours - all for $14!!
Bangkok city is the busiest place I've ever been to. The traffic is maybe 5 times as bad as Sydney. At 10pm on a weekday, you have traffic jams all over the place and people everywhere, from hookers to merchants selling fruit - it's non stop. There's a constant smell of smog, and it's hot as hell. We went to a shooting gallery near an army base and when we agreed on a price to shoot 3 rounds of bullets each, the guy just handed us 3 handguns and a bunch of bullets and goes "here you go, shoot at the target". We were there cracking up at the lack of security and just plain carelessness, but that sums up Bangkok. Anything goes if you have money.
Bangkok city is the busiest place I've ever been to. The traffic is maybe 5 times as bad as Sydney. At 10pm on a weekday, you have traffic jams all over the place and people everywhere, from hookers to merchants selling fruit - it's non stop. There's a constant smell of smog, and it's hot as hell. We went to a shooting gallery near an army base and when we agreed on a price to shoot 3 rounds of bullets each, the guy just handed us 3 handguns and a bunch of bullets and goes "here you go, shoot at the target". We were there cracking up at the lack of security and just plain carelessness, but that sums up Bangkok. Anything goes if you have money.
Koh Samui was probably an even bigger culture shock than Bangkok, and a really, really fun place. You rent these motorbikes for $10 a day and just ride around the island from place to place. The bars are full of tourists from all over the world. You buy these buckets of Vodka and Red Bull for 300 Baht ($11) and just get trashed and party until 6am. We would be blind drunk and still jump on our motorbikes and ride back to the hotel. We went to the full moon party on Koh Phangan island - by far the biggest and best party I've been to. 10,000 or more people on the beach all smashed, dancing to all types of music. And when you wake up with a massive hangover, you just walk over to the beach and get a one hour thai massage for $10!!
Comments