Bangkok - MadeToMeasure

(the one of you who can tell me the name and whereabouts of this woman will get a decent bottle of wine..:-) this non-posed picture was taken by Christoph on the streets of Bangkok, no idea who she is. most probably non-thai, remarkable nonetheless)

THAILAND REACTION

mind the pictures

A cheap flight with Tiger Airways to Bangkok took us (Andreas, Christoph and me) just a mere 2 hours. As usual, we German interns only had the weekend at our disposal. So what to do with such a splendid amount of time in a vivid city of almost 9 million people?

Well, we soon and first of all realised that Bangkok triggered some kind of reaction with us. Despite the fact that the most local females could not talk more than 3 words with us due to a considerable lack of English capabilities, we were generally amazed by the stunning beauty of their nature. One simply has to walk the streets of Bangkok at night and will realise what I mean..I leave the rest to your blossoming fantasy ;-)

BANGKOK BEAUTY

Of course, everyone knows what it means with regard to Thailand when fantastic female beauty and substantial poverty go together. The constant smell of prostitution lies in the air virtually everywhere. There are spots (especially certain bars and dance clubs) in this city where you will probably have a hard time finding a Thai Lady who is not employed in this oldest of all professions. Sunset also seems to be a starting signal for the local cab drivers. They usually cannot speak any English (let alone read a map, for God's sake! Drives me NUTS), but start offering catalogues of 'special Thai massage' places right after you take a seat. key word: commission..

This characteristic of Bangkok might be part of the general 'package' the city offers to Western male tourists. It is shameful and repulsive to know that so many foreigners just go to Thailand to get their very special kick and it is a weird and often funny feeling of being lumped together with those guys, especially when you travel as a group of three young caucasian men...All this goes nicely together with the fact that our backpacker apartment had an extra room ('You can use it, if you want. It's free tonight' 'Ahh..really?'), which could well be taken as a po.n location. You can find a few pics of this totally mirrored little playground in my fotki gallery, if you really want ;-)

(a Bangkok streetfighter..Just came out of the store, looked around for a moment, spotted some bird, aimed and shot several times...it must have really got on his nerves..)

FRESH AIR

I find it interesting that most locals seem to have very good and non-irritated skin despite of the constant and overwhelming pollution in this city. A colleague who spent 4 weeks in this city before he came to Singapore told me that he had to recover for 2 weeks with bad coughs after the inhalation of all the dirt. I also saw some tourist groups whose members collectively decided to use white mouth covers, which made them look very odd and alien. I guess that is not a good strategy to make contact with the locals when they have to think you're primarily scared of the place and want to get back to the a save haven..

OUR TOURIST ATTRACTION

It was not my primary goal, but as soon as I realised how cheap it was to get custom-tailored clothes in Bangkok, I had to join Christoph and Andreas and get my very first made-to-measure suit. During the fitting we even got free coke, coffee and some nice snacks..

(of course, tastes like crispy chicken ;-) And yes, I really ate it. Crack it and suck the little innards out. Please mind not to eat the head and the legs..)

The timeline for our suits: Saturday noon: Taking measures; same day 6 hours later: first fitting; Sunday afternoon: pickup and pay. How much, you ask? Well, for two suits, 2 shirts, two ties and the welcome presence of the shop-owners daughter, it was just about 6000 Baht, or 120 Euro.

The Result:

(Christoph and me in our brandnew suits..)

Have to admit that I like it a lot! And the general attitude of the people around change significantly..makes everyone think you're VERY important. So, if you need at least 3 suits or the purchase of a wedding dress looms distantly, it is without doubt time to check out the fares for a weekend trip to Bangkok...

Maik