East Eats West

Cozy hotels in Bangkok

Picture: The Shanghai Inn in Bangkok, Thailand.

If you are tired of the off-the-rack fair of international big-name hotels in Bangkok, try some new designer hotels like the Shanghai Inn. Here you find more Bangkok hotels that make you feel at home and not part of a big hotel chain: http://www.i-escape.com/hotel.php?hotel_key=TH027

www.i-escape.com

Slugging it out at Klong Prem Prison

Picture: A Thai female prisoner winning the world boxing title against a Japanese figher in Klong Prem Prison in Thailand.

When I was waiting for my flight to Siem Reap in new Suvarnabhumi Airport (Bangkok) I watched a boxing match on TV. In the beginning I thought it odd that two girls were boxing. Than I realized that one girl was Thai and one Japanese. And finally I read the tiny but visible prints on the Thai girl’s shorts: “department of corrections”. And I remembered reading about this annual slug-fest before where female boxers from Japan and Thai prisoners slug it out at notorious Bangkok’s Klong Prem Prison. And the oddest thing was that in between the rounds they showed wonderful commercials about the wonderful life inside Thai prisons. Well, why not consider a stint at Klong Prem next time you are going to Bangkok (everyone goes to Phuket)?

Read about my visit to Klong Prem prison here: http://easteatswest.typepad.com/east_eats_west/2006/02/inside_klong_pr.html

And if you want to read about how it is to be in a Thai Prison (The Klong Dan Prison in Samut Prakan) from the perspective of a Thai named Gor, go here: http://www.thaiprisonlife.com/ 

Answer to my picture puzzle: Filling up the parking lot

Picture: Making room for more cars

The Siam Paragon Shopping Mall is the crown of shopping malls in Bangkok and on a weekend thousands of locals flock to the massive complex, by car that is. Even the massive garage cannot cope with all the cars and cars get parked in three rows, blocking the cars in the middle. But this is not a problem as ushers push the front row cars back and forth for letting in and out the cars in the middle.

Take a guess: what are they up to?

Take a guess what those two men are doing with the car in the parking lot of the super-mall Siam Paragon? Just leave a comment with your guess.

Running into the Prince Alois of Liechtenstein

On the occasion of the Thai King’s 60th anniversary of ascension to the throne all the major hotels in Bangkok like Mandarin Oriental, Intercontinental and Grand Hyatt hosted royal guests. After having dinner at the Grand Hyatt we were waiting for a taxi when a car-caravan with red-lights appeared from the busy Sukhumvit Road and stopped in front of us. And out came the Prince Alois of Liechtenstein from Switzerland’s tiny neighbor Liechtenstein. Unfortunately I am a bad paparazzi and the shot of the prince at night turned out badly.

Answer to picture-quest of last week

Mobile banking to the max in Bangkok: a mobile van equipped with an ATM and a little currency exchange booth in the back and money is truly mobile.

Royals from around the world in Bangkok for the King’s 60th anniversary

Picture: The royal convoy exersicing in front of Mandarin Oriental Hotel in Bangkok.

On the 9th of June 1946 the Thai King ascended to the throne at a tender age of 19 years after his brother had been assissanted in Bangkok. With 60 years on the throne is the longest reigning monarch in the world and is very much loved by all Thais. His anniversary triggers all sorts of festivities the whole week ranging from exhibition to royal barge processions on the Chao Phraya River. But not only the Thais but many royals from around the world are celebrating with him in Bangkok. On a visit to the legendary Mandarin Oriental Hotel in Bangkok last week I saw the Thai police excising with a wide array of luxury cars the arrival of royals at the hotel. I politely asked if the whole exercise is for the arrival of royal guests next week and a smiling female police officer openly acknowledged it. A surely a friendly gesture but maybe not the cleverest thing to do regarding their security. Anyhow, if you want to meet almost all the royals from around the world, come to Bangkok this week. The newspaper The Bangkok Post later published a list of hotels all the royals will be staying. Upon our return from Luang Prabang our plane had to circle for over half-an-hour due to “VIP-traffic on the ground”. Furthermore whole highways were sealed off for VIP-traffic. This is one of the few instances where Bangkok Traffic Police apparently seemed to be doing something with an end.

Picture: The Royal Barge Procession on the Chao Phraya River in Bangkok.

Take a guess...

Take a guess and write a comment what this might be? I saw this vehicle in Bangkok near Khao Sarn Road. 

It happened to be a closet - a woman’s vision of fashion, food and beauty beyond pure commercialism

Picture: Fashion shop It happened to be a closet in Bangkok.

In the sleek world of retailing, commercialism, marketing and advertising rule and it is easily forgotten that in the beginning of any successful products comes a visionary, passionate and dedicated individual, an individual who follows their own rules against common wisdom. When my friend Ann took me to heir sister’s fashion shop cum restaurant cum hair saloon cum bakery called “It happened to be a closet” the look and feel of the place immediately enthused me. And or in a website, I got really interested. The owner and visionary of the project is Ann’s sister (whose name I did not find out). Under the label “It happened to be a closet” she has her own funky fashion label and calls the shop that is housed in an older house of Khao San Road, Nero, as the house is black with gold-trimmings. She sells fashionable clothes in bright colors for 70$ upwards (a hefty price-tag in Thailand) and the Mediterranean food served in the restaurant is absolutely mouth-watering. One can choose to sit either right-smack in the middle of the shop, in the kitchen or in a living room. I asked my friend Ann why the shop is located on budget-traveler-Mecca Khao San Road and she said that her sister believes in that among the many budget travelers are also affluent ones. The from the outside  rather sinister looking house is inside beautifully decorated and one feels like in a different, creepy world where Johnny Depp might come around the corner any time. Unfortunately the staff has also a mysterious and creepy edge to them, as they are mostly mute and evasive, as I felt sometimes like an intruder and that the place is just run for a closed circle of friends. And there lies also the challenge: can you go so much against any commercial wisdom and still prevail? Where does vision became a problem of distorted view? But then again, maybe the whole shop is not meant to make money and only a hobby of a visionary woman, who knows?

Picture: The house Nero is off Khao Sarn Road next to True Café.

Last visit at Klong Prem Prison for Drug Addicts in Bangkok

It has become a routine for me to visit Oliver whenever I am in Bangkok at the Bangkok’s Klong Prem Prison for Drug Addicts (read about my previous visits here). I got used to having my passport copied and then waiting for the speaker to read out the visitor’s name, trotting with dozens of Thais to the visitor compound. By the casual atmosphere outside the prison it is easy to forget that hell lies right behind these bars and fences. Oliver told me that he was finally sentenced to six years in prison for selling ecstasy and hopes to be repatriated to a Swiss jail after two years. When I met him, sitting on a long bench facing a heavily-barred window among hundreds of noisy visitors, I saw the sadness, loneliness and exhaustion on his face. He told me that he is lucky to get such good treatment from the Swiss Embassy, the best in Bangkok according to him, and constant remittances from his mother in Switzerland, that makes life bearable. He can buy decent food with the money and the guards look after him. I asked him if there are other nationalities and he said that there are many Africans and even a Japanese. For them the embassy does nothing and they have no relatives in Bangkok, meaning that without money they are treated badly in the prison. I asked Oliver if there are any Chinese prisoners and he said no. To his knowledge the Chinese prisoners always pay off the police and therefore are rarely sent to prison. In retrospect Oliver probably wishes as well to have paid the officers right there and then when he was arrested for drug-dealing. Oliver admits to being guilty and he gets punished for his crime, but his story shows that the law in Thailand is sometimes only for the poor, for the ones who can not pay the police and judges. 

* Name changed