Bangkok, like most national capitals, is big, busy, bursting at the seams and all about business. The traffic is incessant with trucks, buses, cars, tuk tuks, scooters and bicycles competing for space – and pedestrians being pretty well on their own as far as surviving street crossings. Our rule of thumb for making it across safely is: always follow a local person.

With temperatures in the 90s F. and 30s/40s C. we have to plan our outings carefully. Of course, we still end up having to walk a lot in the heat and humidity as we don’t always have enough information to tell a taxi or tuk tuk driver where to take us. We’ve found cab drivers to be very friendly, always trying to speak to us in their faulting English which is, of course, a heck of a lot better than our non-existent Thai.

We saw many of Bangkok’s attractions last time we were here (in 2008 as part of the ‘round the world trip) and so felt more relaxed about taking in the things that interest us. Fabric and silk markets are at the top of the list as Thai silk is of a quality quite different from those produced elsewhere: its roughness permits dyes to better adhere creating a wide pallet of brilliant colors.

Just walking around our hostel’s neighborhood, we’ve found other interesting shops although we haven’t been buying anything in them for various reasons: rattan (too bulky), Buddha worship items (no need), guns and knives (no need, too bulky, and why would we?) 24 Karat gold jewelry (can’t afford). We’ve also been to Chinatown – which is kind of funny for us as we’re headed to the real thing. The Little India part of the city was great with tons of lightweight clothing (really needed here) and cheap fabrics.

A local prison has been turned into a museum and the Queen sponsors a shop selling items made by people incarcerated in another local jail. Queen Sikirit is also patron of a fair trade shop at the Royal Palace which offers goods made by ethnic Thais around the country. Her program supports the re-learning of old crafts such as painting, weaving, pottery, etc. so that tribe members can make additional money over and above their traditional agricultural work.

We visited the Royal Palace – well, the little bit that is open to the public – walked the grounds and saw the many temples built over the centuries by various rulers. This was the heaviest touristed area we’ve visited in the three months of this trip and it reminded us how tiring it can get when you are constantly accosted by tour guides, tuk tuk drivers, vendors and touts for just about everything. We ducked into a small cafe with air conditioning to escape the heat and the vendors and found a nice woman the proceeds of her business out in the open with no worries of thieves entering and taking it from her.

It was also the only time we had a tuk tuk driver try to steer us wrong: he told us that the National Museum didn’t open until 1:00 p.m. (a lie, it opens at 9:00 a.m.) and wouldn’t we like to go to the Smiling Buddha statue? This is the best-known scam in Bangkok and there are signs warning tourists against it at the entrance of the palace and in the gift shop. I guess enough people still fall for it because the tuk tuk drivers are still trying to make money off of it. It was great that businesses post signs in many foreign languages to help tourists steer clear of the scammers.

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WHAT’S NEXT: We’re traveling to Hong Kong for a week and then we’re moving to our new home in Wenzhou, China. We’re very excited to be only one hotel away from home.

NOTE: My “This Expat Life” & “Writing on Wednesdays” blogs are on hiatus until we settle down in Wenzhou in February 2010. Between now and then, I’ll be writing only about Baby Boomers Traveling. Hope you enjoy coming along with us.

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