Monday 14 July 2008

Bangkok Taxis

Arrived at Bangkok International Airport at 6am after departing from Brisbane Airport just after midnight. It's a 9 hour flight. Bangkok is 3 hours behind. I got a taxi for 500 baht from a guy who took me to another guy who said it would be 600 baht because of the toll and then when I finally got to the actual taxi driver he said it would be 700 baht. I knew it was supposed to cost about 500 baht.

My taxi driver picked his nose and drank from a brown bottle of Red Bull. He wanted the 700 baht up front and started yelling and screaming and I gave him 100 baht and told him he would get the rest when we got to the hotel. He drove like a maniac and I screamed a few times. I made it in one piece and got out at the Grande Sukhumvit by Sofitel. My room wasn't ready so I went and had some breakfast.

Grande Sukhumvit by Sofitel

I was seated at a table opposite a woman in a black burkah, her husband and 2 children. She had a slit for her eyes and she had to lift the black square of material to eat and drink. She constantly adjusted the head gear and I could tell by her eyes that she was uncomfortable. I was looking at her throughout breakfast thinking how lucky I was to be wearing my singlet tee shirt and shorts. I had a lovely breakfast of tropical fruits, eggs and croissants and went back to the front desk to find my room wouldn't be ready for hours. I said I hadn't been to bed and was very tired and needed to sleep and guess what - they upgraded me to a one bedroom suite at no extra charge. I already had a room at half the rack rate through Wotif. It was on the 21st floor and had a dining room, loungeroom, dressing room, bedroom and bathroom. It had two flat screen tvs. The bed was the most comfortable I had ever slept in, it was wonderful. I slept for a few hours and then went to the spa for a Thai massage and had the best massage (one and a half hours) of my life with a beautiful Thai girl called Apetha. I had room service and went to sleep for the night as I had to get up at 5 am for the flight to Koh Samui.