Back to sprawling Bangkok

Bus rides from Pattaya to Bangkok are not what they used to be : no more stops in every hamlet along the route, but a smooth trip of two hours – traffic jams in Bangkok allowing – and here you are in Morchit close to everything in Bangkok. I know many well-to-do farangs would not be caught dead in a vehicle that they deem unworthy of their self-assigned social position   ...  more power to them ! As for me, I like this way of transportation which is quick, safer than these dreadful vans, and cheap. And by the way the news that Morchit Bus Terminal would stay in Jatujak was greeted as the best news of my holiday !

With only two days and a half left in Bangkok, I had to plan things very carefully so that I could pile up as many sights, odors, information, before going back home. Boys being also part of the collection although I was looking for quality more than for quantity … and my favorite Chang Beer too as it is still impossible to find it in my area.

Huge shopping mall in Bangkok outskirts

I spent the afternoon checking the new Purple Line train which goes a very long way from downtown Bangkok until the end of the Bangkok metropolis in Nonthaburi province. The trains do not have a lot of users, due to a very poorly planned link with the existing MRT network : from Bang Sue station which is the end of the present MRT line, you have for now to hop on a (free) bus to Tao Pun, which is the temporary end of the Purple Line. Although operated by MRT which also runs the underground Blue Line in Bangkok, the Purple Line is entirely an elevated train from Tao Pun onwards to its last station.

With few people, no advertising darkening the windows (probably not for long !) and very friendly fares, the travellers can have apleasant exerience enjoying an unobstructed view over the Nonthaburi area ; the suburban landscape is rather non-descript but many shopping malls dot the route. I visited the Central Plaza Westgate easily reached from the penultimate station (Talat Bang Yai) : a really huge shopping center which would deserve a further visit when students are not at school and hang out in the place, or only for some hours of shopping and eating, or … both !

New condos all over the place

The Purple Line also allows a very convenient access to some gay massage places in the area like iSpa, 88 Massage, Pakin Spa, BodySlide, HiClub and probably much more … a whole new world opening for massage addicts. For real estate developers too : you could spot every station from from afar only looking at the new condo developments which spring up like mushrooms … not sure every one is sold though …

Two days left and still so many things to do …