China Town & Riot Fears

01 May 2010

The riots were somewhat on our mind but we decided we wanted to go see China Town. A local who called himself a police informer (Looking after tourists best interests) had previously given me a map with circles drawn around parts of Bangkok that you should not enter because of the riots. It was only after jumping on a Tuk Tuk that I realised we had no idea where China Town was on the map, could we be heading straight for riot territory? The driver had questioned why we wanted to go to China Town in broken English and now we found ourselves speeding through Bangkok’s chaotic traffic with no idea where we were heading. I half expected to run into a riot at every turn we made. We did pass a street which was blocked off by police and other areas had military style circular barbed wire erected where they would not normally be.

Fortunately we made it safely and China Town really was worth the visit, a maze of alleyways full of stalls, little shops and the odd mall style thing. I was on a mission to find a silver ruby ring and James wanted a chain for himself. China Town was bustling, but with a different type of Thai person to Khaosan Road and the Presidential Palace area. We both got the impression they were not trying to rip you off but charging a fair amount and to haggle could be seen as rude; we were not once harassed to purchase something. James found a silver chain for $225 BHT, but my search for a ruby ring for Renee was rather fruitless; it would seem Thai’s have a different taste in jewellery to Renee.

Comments

  1. Yes it’s a shame that the Thai people don’t share my exquisite taste in jewellery…
    Thanks for looking!

    • Bangkok has just got so many different types of areas, I’m sure there will be something somewhere. But unfortunately not sure if we’ll be going back into the city.