Silom Road, Bangkok

Bangkok, Silom - back on the road

Now can write in earnest. Doesn't feel like much of a travel blog when the "from a cafe" is an upper west side Starbucks, or my living room. Even this cafe - World Cafe in Bangkok - is not precisely Thai (a chain) but I imagine my settings spiral down soon enough and so won't begrudge a last go at emails with milk coffee, AC and cinnamon buns.

Arrived at 1am last night not having booked a hotel so spent another mess of minutes finding a place on Silom for around $50. Found Tower Inn Hotel - popular with western men who were up and milling around the front desk when I arrived. (We are an easy walk to Pathpong.)

The westerners in the city seem on edge this weekend and found out the cause by eavesdropping this morning: elections are going on and for the sake of voter clarity, no alcohol is being sold. India did the same thing I recall - I recall resenting democracy there too. If US adopted the same measures? More blue states had we been sober? the opposite?

"Bloody dry Bangkok, mate," said the Aussie who seems unaccustomed to 9AM, "can you believe it, bloody dry."


Very few signs or mentions of the tsunami - I'd thought it might be more NYC post 9/11. There's a poster with a photo of the king's son as you come off the expressway to Silom that seems tsunami-linked and a CARE donation box at the cash register in 7/11. Otherwise, zip.
I'll be in Calcutta this afternoon and so begin the India portion of the journey.

Missing R (sipping ginger tea and watching Killing Fields on his couch) and friends.

Love from Bangkok,
C