Thailand 2025. Day 29. My first full day in Bangkok

My first full day as a tourist in Bangkok was pretty interesting. I took the metro to downtown (a very poorly defined downtown) and bought a two-day pass for the hop-on hop-off tourist bus, to which the company added an additional day as a bonus, so now I have a way to move from point to point inside the city.

First I did the whole circuit, which took about 2 hours, and confirmed my opinion that this is a huge city, mostly built for cars and scooters. The interesting stuff seems to be inside warrens of small streets, so it is hard to see from the bus. The narrative tells you about this temple or that palace, but they are buried amidst the tall buildings.

The formal city of Bangkok is on the left bank of the Chao Phraya River, but the megalopolis extends for a long distance across both banks. The views from the river crossings are very impressive.

After the circuit I stepped down from the bus to visit Chulalongkorn University, which is the main university of Thailand and the one all students aspire to be accepted to (there are dozens of other universities, of course). It was a very handsome campus with a big grass-covered quadrangle that is a big relief to the eyes. Then I had to hustle to catch the next bus. In theory the buses come very 30 minutes, but with the traffic the schedule becomes a bit unpredictable. I know because after I stepped down for my second foray the following bus took nearly an hour to arrive.

My second stop was at the Temple of the Gold Buddha, famous because it hosts a solid gold Buddha that is invaluable. It was hidden under plaster that had been gilded but because of its great weight it slipped when it it was being moved, cracked, and the inner gold statue was discovered.

By then I was flagging, so I just enjoyed the rest of the ride, promising to myself that tomorrow I will visit the National Museum and one of the Mega Malls.

I got off the bus at the site of one of the night markets famous for being party central during the night. It was too early for the action to begin, but I thought I could take a look at the preparations while walking to the metro for the ride back. I had not gone more than a few steps when I was accosted by a tout, which in typical friendly fashion inquired where I was from and what was my name, and then grabbed me by the elbow to come see his bar. We walked through the maze of streets where the vendors were unpacking their wares until we got to a dingy stair that led to the bar, where there was a stage with a bevy of beauties who were ready to give me a special Thai massage to make time for the bar to be able to start serving drinks at 5 pm. Somehow I extricated myself promising to come back with my friends the following evening. And here I was thinking that my white hair protected me against all evil!