Bangkok has changed. There's the 30 billion baht airport rail thing, the influx of Japanese and East Asian tourists influencing the way a lot of the girls look and operate, and I found most of my friends in that city gone.
I can't blame them. I was gone for three years. Maybe more. At first, I was worried about my father. He was sick, and I did not think it was proper to be partying in Thailand while he fought for his life.
When his condition stabled a couple of years ago, I found my passport blocked by PTPTN. I resolved that issue last year and wanted to go back ever since, finding a very small window just recently.
When I arrived on Friday, I felt the surge of energy that made me smile - classic Thailand. That country always makes me smile.
Instead of finding a hotel, my first destination was a massage parlour at Sukhumvit Soi 26. I took the Airport Rail thing, wanting to experience something that cost RM3 billion, or close to a billion USD. It was safe, fast and efficient. At THB90, a steal compared to cabs.
The rail ended at Phaya Thai, where it links to a BTS station - the Skytrain's Sukhumvit line. Then it was off to Phrom Pong station.
A short query and other things, I decided to go back to a hotel, an inn I stayed four years ago at Soi 8.
There is so much to write, but I have an early meeting tomorrow at an office that is not mine, so I will end this here, with these teaser quotes. Think of it as a trailer of sorts to my latest Thailand adventures:
"My father plant popcorn."
"I want you to DIE!"
"My mother is Malaysian."
"So what you do?" "I'm a reporter." "I like Harry Potter."
"It's silicone."
"I go hom wit choo tonite. Arrgggggh!"
