Got back yesterday from a week travelling for work to Singapore then Bangkok.  Singapore I’ve been to before, but it was my first time in Bangkok, so I stayed till Sunday night before coming home, to have a bit of a look around.  I’m glad I went, and definitely going back to Thailand is on my holiday agenda for the future.

Interesting contrasts are many in Bangkok, from the splendour of the temples and palaces, like this:

to the slums.

Not to mention the contrast between the devout Buddhism:

and the sex trade which is pretty much out in the open.

I couldn’t begin to count the number of times I was asked by a taxi or tuk tuk driver offering to take me to a massage parlour or a sex or pussy show, and walking around Patpong Road on a Saturday afternoon, having a pamphlet full of nude girls shoved in my face and asked if I wanted a girl – or on saying no to that, a boy.  30 minutes for 1,000 baht (about $30).

No, I did not take up any of those offers.  Nor did I see a ping pong show, or darts or anything like that at one of the clubs at Patpong.  Tempting as it might be to see a woman shoot things out of her pussy, I was able to resist that temptation.  I did go for a massage, but it was of the traditional Thai variety – not one with a “happy ending”.

Never mind the seedy stuff, the food was great and cheap, the drinks cheap.  Apart from the heat and humidity, I really enjoyed Bangkok.  I want to go back now.