Our last full day in Bangkok. Today was to be more sightseeing and such but we had to fit it around coming back to the hotel for clothes fitting in the late afternoon. As we were getting ready to leave the hotel the tailor guy came up and asked if we could wait and do the fitting now as his tailor was coming soon. So we hung around the lobby for around a half hour which we didn't mind because it was better to do it now then having to split up the day coming back. That taken care of we hopped in a taxi to go to the Silom District to take in the Jim Thompson House but what had been identified on the map as the Jim Thompson (an ex-WWII GI who popularized Thai silk) House was actually just an outlet, not the Thai Teak House that was his residence. It would have been too much to backtrack so we carried on to the end of the skytrain line where the river is and the central pier. From there we caught a river express boat up to the pier closest to the Grand Palace. After a quick jaunt through the amulet market nearby we headed over to the Grand Palace. The King no longer lives there but parts of the grounds are used for ceremonial functions.
One must be dressed properly when on the grounds so at one of the gates they have Thai pants for guys and wrap around skirts for the ladies avalable for free with deposit. Since Fraser and I had shorts we had to get done up. That taken care of we proceeded to wander about the palace grounds. Add some more about the this later
It was a pretty warm day and we had spent a good 4 hours wandering around under the sun so it was deffinately time for massage. We tried to find the Wat Po School of Traditional Thai Massage but after walking around in circles just could not located it. Bev had remembered seeing a sign down one of the other streets so we headed over there and voila! found a foot massage place. 200 baht (about 6.50) for an hour of bliss. Feeling suitably refreshed after that we went back to the river fraont and caught a boat to the Bangamolou area and then walked over to Khoo Sao Road, the famous backpackers and travellers mecca of Bangkok. Got there just as it was getting dark and the party beggining. We just wandered around picking up some pad thai for 20 baht (.65!) and a few other assorted goodies. I really wanted to find one of the VW van bars but after wandering around a through side alleys came up nil on that. We had passed an outdoor setup of massages and facials. Bev and I decided to have a facial while Fraser had a beer at the outdoor terrace next door. I was an eight stage facial that included a scrub, various moisturizers and cucumbers. This was also only 200 baht (about 6.50). After all the sweat and grime of the city it felt so good because it also included a bit of a facial massage and finished up with a rub down of the shoulders, neck and spine. Life is good.
By now it was around 8:30pm. Bev decided she wanted to go back to the hotel and have yet another massage done at the place she went to yesterday. Fraser and I decided to hit Patong again, Fraser wanted to try to get another genuine Roex watch. Bev hopped in a cab going in one direction and Fraser and I caught another taxi going the opposite way. Soon we were back at Patong, just as crazy as it was a few days ago when we were there. Fraser went to work and after about a half hour had made deals for a Rolex, four wooden frogs and two sets of cuff links. We needed a beer so just sat at one of the sidewalk bars for one. While we were there he decided he needed to have some Mont Blanc pen sets so off he went for a quick deal on two sets, one for him and one for me. At that point we decided it was now or never, time to take in ping pong show. When in Bangkok..... Ping pong balls, razor blades, string, darts, you name it.
Anyway, I really felt sorry for those girls because it sure didn't seem to me that they were really enjoying them selves. Seems like an awful lot of exploitation is going on there. The area we were in around Patpong is a lot less hardcore and blatant than a couple of other areas of Bangkok. After all that excitement it was time to get back to hotel. In the morning we wanted to hit Chatachuk Market once more before packing up and checking out.