Happy Sunday, Bangkok!
What a week. A couple of high profile road deaths have dominated the news this week — the tragic accident of a pregnant YouTuber and the awful collision between a pedestrian on her phone and a car, which went viral after being caught on a dashcam video.
A car bomb set off at a Big C in Pattani province has brought a new spotlight on Thailand’s problems in the so-called Deep South.
In lighter news, it appears that rainy season is revving up for a big showdown. Time to get wet.
Let’s see what else has been entertaining and enraging Bangkok this week…
News
Man steals car from hospital, decides to propose to girlfriend, gets drunk and arrested on his way
This is a classic story of love and romance that could only have been told in Thailand. 29-year old Seksan Muenboontan was waiting to be treated for a foot injury at a Chiang Mai hospital when he got bored and allegedly decided to steal a car from the car park, drive to Lamphun and propose to his lucky girlfriend.
Alas, on the way, Seksan got waylaid at a roadside bar, got drunk, tried to escape without paying, before getting punched in the face by the disgruntled owner. Shortly afterwards, he was arrested. What a day.
Seafood street food mecca heading to Bangkok
Foodies, rejoice! It was announced this week that the BMA plan to introduce a seafood themed street food mecca into Bangkok. But, not central Bangkok — as you might expect, a little closer to the sea: Ban Khun Thian district. It’s a bit of a way to travel — the Bangkok Post point out that it’s around 25 km from the nearest popular street food hub with no direct public transportation. Excellent.
Doggy fun run in Bangkok
You’ve got to look at this just for the photos. This week saw a 1.7 km, ahem, maa-rathon, take place in Bangkok to raise funds for a new Siriraj Hospital building. Labs, chihuahuas, French bulldogs wearing go-pros, you name it…
Blogs
Thailand: the land of many faces
A bizarre travel blog here from a UK writer that really lays into our darling city, Bangkok. On just a 3 day trip to the Thai capital, the writer has it all figured out, has discovered the hidden face that is “a sombre, lonely world infested by pimps, traffickers and sex tourists.
Sure, Bangkok is a long way from perfect but to characterise all the foreigners here as either “young backpacker types” or “middle aged sex tourists” is a very narrow, tourist view of the city. And to divide the city in two — an idealised Bangkok made up of temples, good food and cheap river transport, and a sinful version where girls apparently as young as 6 (!) exhibit their wares in neon-lit streets — misses out the miles of middle ground that contribute to making Bangkok such a great place to live and visit for everyone in the middle of those demographics.
Also, we’re never ones to act as Bangkok sex-trade apologists, but from what we hear, most Bangkok ladies of the night are closer to 40 than the prepubescent teens the writer has imagined.
Undiscovered Southeast Asia: towns and beaches
A great article from the Guardian here on some ‘unknown’ places to visit in this part of the world to get far away from the tourist droves.
Representing Thailand are the beautiful Nan and Loei but there’s a number of great picks from Laos, Vietnam, Borneo, Malaysia, Cambodia, Indonesia and more.
Exploring Krabi on motorbike
A very visually pleasing post here from the Nomad’er The Distance blog on how to explore Krabi province on two wheels. It looks like the blogger found it a cheap and easy endeavour — only needing to avoid pot holes on the road once they left behind the traffic in the city centre.
YouTube
As per the norm…we always end up drinking much more and starting earlier on “dry” days than on normal days. 555 TiT pic.twitter.com/lCi2Lo2KNe
— Dan (@ExpatDanBKK) May 10, 2017
I love how I live in a major metropolitan city wherein I have to beware of free range chickens on the roads when driving. #Bangkok
— Signore Sammy (@signoresammybkk) May 12, 2017
When riding your bike in Bangkok always listen for the sound of toe nails scratching on concrete, the soi dogs like to attack from behind
— Glenn (@_GlennCollier) May 12, 2017
Making merit before training @eminentairgym pic.twitter.com/EoqLPJKe5t
— Sweet3Mango Bangkok (@sweet3mango) May 11, 2017
Spotted on Sukhumvit not far from Nana BTS. Is he looking for the beach?
(Pic https://t.co/xJVkXiemfz Noco) pic.twitter.com/lGSh8N9LL1
— Stickboy Bangkok (@StickboyBangkok) May 10, 2017
And that’s been The Week On Sukhumvit — see you next time!
