Thailand And Other Places East of Grinstead

17th to 19th February 2016 - To Bangkok

As usual we have let our blogging lapse at the beginning of our trip, so we are now 10 days into our stay in Thailand, which will shortly become an expedition into Malaysia, then Singapore, finishing up with a cruise to Shanghai before flying back to the UK.

Travelling out to Thailand was fairly mundane until we started our run of  Upgrade Luck, The first win was a very welcome upgrade to Business Class with Emirates from midnight Dubai to midday Bangkok.  After being handed replacement boarding passes, which just said "Business" we were still uncertain about the upgrade until Rosi was shepherded into an A380 reclining upholstered bathtub with built in free minibar and iPad. Ever modest she then asked for a glass of orange juice (by then I was on my second glass of champagne and still looking for my own bathtub).

We all need upgrades

Bangkok is a high tech shambles, terrible congestion, throat tickling pollution, but lots of smiles and very welcoming,.. even to the extent of upgrading our hotel room to a suite.
We had two full days to explore... nowhere near long enough but we managed a long tailed boat tour of the River and Canals, a tour round a few of the more important temples, including my favorite, the Reclining Buddah and a tour of the Royal Park, where Rosi got a strident whistling from the Park Policeman for having the cheek to lie down on a bench for a kip.

Rush hour in Bangkok 

 Exploring the canals was interesting, although one can spend a lot of time in the locks waiting for another half a dozen long tailed boats to fill the chamber.  And one's attention is mostly drawn by the ramshackle huts that are gradually sinking into the alluvium only a little faster than the rest of Bangkok.

Overhead Truss supporting segmental arch

  The flood defences I saw are poorly maintained and set to fail, so, although all their new transport systems are being constructed 20 metres up in the air on vast glued segmental arches  Bangkok is the last place I'd want to invest in. At least the roads will be useful in rescuing people from the flooded City.





Travelling was easiest on the MRT underground with a three day pass costing just £4.60,  but I had to try the Skytrain, which is also out of reach of the floodwaters,   unfortunately it was so packed at rush hour I couldn't see out.

Travelling to Ayatthuya, about 50 miles North was even cheaper at about 50 pence, although we did go third class, which meant my seat wasn't fixed down and kept threatening to deposit my neighbour on the floor every time I fidgeted. At least the ceiling fan worked.  At your seat food and drink service is excellent, in fact the constant attention from the vendors threatened to block the aisles all the way there.  If you want ice cream you have to lean out of the window at stations and waft a 10baht coin about (20 pence a scoop, and delicious).


More here soon...