R & R in Bangkok

I spent a few days in Bangkok last week. It was time for a bit of R & R and a chance to meet up with some old friends who live there. One of the things I and my pal Andy noticed was the ‘absent’ tourists who would normally be supping beers in the late afternoon. Soi Nana was noticeably quiet and the staff in the bars and hotels in the area confirmed that there were not many people staying there.

One development over the last couple of months is the large numbers of lady boys strolling around the area. They seem to outnumber the women by at least 2:1 and very definitely come out in the later part of the evening. Now that the Internet café opposite the Dynasty Inn has closed, that side of the street is dark and provides another few yards for these lads to loiter and generally annoy people. In passing, I believe the Internet café is going to be renovated into a small hotel.

Over a couple of evenings we had some disappointing meals at the Busstop in Soi 4 and the Bloom Terrace at the Dynasty Grande in Soi 6. Neither the service, the quality of food, the quantity of food nor prices were sufficient to warrant another visit any time soon. There seems to be a lot of staff changes going on also and too many staff do not know what they should be doing.

Flanagan’s proved top be a pleasant enough watering hole though I do not share Gerry’s belief that the Thai group playing Irish music is ‘good’. They are enthusiastic to say the least but to my ear it was a sort of organized, Celtic-oriented, fiddle and banjo filled arrangement.

Jool’s continues to churn out the usual fare for which it is known and which continues to be value for money when you take the portion size into consideration. At least in Jool’s the Ham and Pea soup does contain ham – not the case in the Busstop!

Room rates continue to stay high in the plainer establishments and in some instances are more or less unjustifiably high given the discounting which is going on in the usually pricier places. Overall though in the plainer hotels there is no likelihood that you will be tempted into a beer at a high price ++.

In general though, were it not for the fact that I have some friends who live in Bangkok, the Capital is not as attractive for a break as it was before. It has changed and not for the better. The beggars and hawkers are more and more annoyingly persistent and the famous, genuine smiles are becoming more and more rare and plastic commercial grins more and more common.