January 2014. Back to Bangkok in order to escape the European Winter, this time - amongst other things - to go on the hunt for slightly garish Asian shirts! Oh yes, I can wear the grooviest shirts in South-East Asia and nobody batters an eyelid. Bangkok is Shirt paradise... Actually a great deal of clothing for the High Street shops are made in Thailand. Some undoubtedly made under rotten conditions. Bangkok was also the main base for lots of protests against the current Prime Minister (As of January 2014 that is). The atmosphere was electric, and mostly very peaceful. A couple of pictures BELOW are of swarms of protesters in and around the Central World Mega-Mall.
I missed the whole Chinatown district last time I was in Bangkok. Not enough time, I suppose. THIS time I wandered around during weekend, with the street markets in FULL effect. It was very warm & very bloody busy. I started at Chinatown Gate (ABOVE), then on to Wat Traimit (The Golden Buddha) (LEFT & BELOW). Bling! Bling!
The rather fetching Hong Kong Noodle bar wall, which is just across the road from the smashing Bangkok train station. And what a lot of Pink Cabs there are! BELOW: Bangkok's Market-cum-metropolis that is the ENORMOUS Chatuchak Weekend Market is a fatigue-enducing day out. Perhaps spending the whole weekend there is advisable, except for the fact that after 13:00 hours it gets SO busy and claustrophobic, there really is no point wandering around the alleyways attempting to shop. There are too many people. Do what I did and arrive early (Sellers start opening at 0900 hours), and spend 5 or 6 hours there, then do exactly the same the next day. The street food surrounding Chatuchak Park is excellent!
Some of the names of stalls in the Chatuchak Weekend market are also funny. Consider 'Grocery Perfect' or its sister shop 'Bikini Perfect' (ABOVE LEFT), or 'Because Dog' (BELOW) ABOVE: A space for hire filled with random dummies. I thought this made for an interesting picture. Perhaps this train of thought makes me a random dummy? Hmm...
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