2025 Thailand – Bangkok
9th January 2025
Considering the poorly maintained streets of Ubud, I was surprised at how good Bali airport was. For the first time, I saw someone sitting on a motorised cabin bag. A handle popped up and people rode around the airport on them. I always thought walking around airports was part of the enjoyment of travelling so it was not for me, especially when they cost around $1500. I did want a cabin bag that I could sit on but surprisingly, I couldn’t find one that advertised that feature.
Again, I had read the strict rules about taking prescription drugs into Thailand and the official website informed me “Your drugs are classified as a psychotropic substance according to the Narcotics Code.’ This time I didn’t give it a second thought and again we sailed through customs.
We arrived at The Skyview Hotel in the middle of Bangkok and enjoyed an excellent meal in their skyline restaurant. Federika had a Watermelon marinated in olive oil, balsamic vinegar, and herbs, grilled and served with mango salsa and I had Shrimp ravioli with Szechuan sauce, broccoli, and bell peppers. It was such a joy to eat something different and so well-cooked. There was a rooftop bar on the next floor that overlooked the city and we would have loved to have stopped for a drink but the music was unbearable and the bass was so loud you could feel the floor vibrating.
The hotel was perfectly situated and our room was high up with full-length windows and a spectacular view of the city. It was next to a shopping mall which was good as I still felt rough in the mornings so Federika could go shopping while I meditated. We had already been to Bangkok twice before so this was mainly a long stopover to do some shopping. We were last there in 2013 and it was surprising how much it had been developed since then. We took the Skytrain to the Siam Paragam shopping mall which was extraordinary. Apart from every conceivable brand name inside the mall, they were also selling high-end cards like Ferrari, Porsche and Lamborghini. There was a more modest mall right next to it where we found a few things and bought sim cards for the three weeks we would be in Thailand.
In the station on the way back, I was interested to see that there was a chain of clinics dedicated to people with body odour or excessive flatulence. 
On our last day, we went to the Chatuchak Weekend Market as we had such fond memories of our last visit. At that time, the market seemed to go on forever and I thought it must have been the biggest market in the world. In the centre was a huge food hall but that was no longer there and they had filled the area with more market stalls. As the grounds were limited in size the only way to extend the market was up, so they had built yet another shopping mall at one end and the food hall was on the top floor which was a shame because it was just like all the other mall food halls. Another thing I had very fond memories of was sitting in an outside café and watching a large chef standing behind an enormous paella dish dancing to Elvis Presley. That had now been replaced by a DJ playing loud techno music so it was impossible to sit and enjoy a coffee. 
We enjoyed Bangkok just as much as last time but it felt like we were in a different place.
2025 Singapore
