Although I had been through Bangkok and had also stopped off for a few days I had never really had the chance to take a good look at the city. On previous visits I had headed strait for the Bars and Clubs but during my last visit (late August/September 2000) I was invited by a really cute Thai Guy from Bangok to stay with him as his guest in his house in the middle of the city.
Most days he had to work but we met up every night and he managed to find the time to show me some of what Bangkok had to offer during the twilight hours!!
My days were spent exploring the city sites, The Royal Palace, and I must admit I did drift off a few times to some of the Sauna's and other places of pleasure and naughtiness!
Getting around in the city has greatly improved since my
first visit with the introduction of the Sky
Train which hovers
above you on huge "monorail-like" tracks above the
overfull roads below. Although the complete network of tracks is
not yet fully completed you are able to travel to most of the
destinations that you would like to visit as a tourist and the
journey is a real eye-opener as you pass through all different
parts of the city.
It seems as if many of the very large
stores have taken advantage of the high level track and have
built covered walkways connecting
the Sky Train to their first (or even second!) floor areas to
save you even having to go down to street level to enter the
store ...............
One thing that the Sky Train has done is to make some very sheltered
areas at street level ............ and yet the open construction
has not added to the sometimes stuffy air that can hang at ground
level from the thousands of cars, busses and commercial vehicles
etc.
The construction that took many years has of course also
taken many commuters off the roads so the future does look quite
promising for this huge metropolitan city!
The Skytrain opened for its first day of business on December 5th 1999 (HM The King's birthday) with thousands of people crowding the stations. The lines for the ticket booths at Morchit Station reached out of the station and across the pedestrian walkways. A Chinese dragon troupe performed on the platform to ensure good luck.
I would
certainly recommend to anyone who is making a stop over or taking
a holiday in Bangkok to take
a ride on the Shy Train ......... just go anywhere
and everywhere and you will see parts of Bangkok that were
inaccessible in the past but are now open to the visitors of this
huge city.
Using this
link you can go direct to the Bangkok Transport System Official
Website for maps, charges and update information. (Don't forget to come back!!).
So ..Now lets the doors of the Beautiful Royal Palace