April 2001
Hi Everyone,
living in Pathum Thani, I hardly ever visit the southern parts of BKK.
Yesterday I did and it was all new to me. Guided by GPS, I went from
Banglamphu to River City, as direct as the road would permit. At one point,
the nice asphalt road turned away from what was supposed to be the right
direction, whereas an unsealed, pothole-dotted road went straight ahead to
where I wanted to be. I had the mountainbike, so I went for what seemed to
be the shortest way. Very soon, I was in a beautiful Bangkok ghetto. No, it
wasn't a village where Thais indulge in their traditional life, here
everything was real. Burned out cars, smashed glass, rotten furniture tossed
on the street, rubbish and sick street dogs everywhere. The roaches, take
them for granted. An unsealed road offers good opportunities to pick up
stones and throw them at moving objects. The houses and huts were made of
more rubbish, men hanging around in front of their homes, tense (I think),
looking at whatever moves. The tires that someone dumped on the road were
not burning, but still Cambodia can't beat this, it must be America.
Right in the middle, accessible only by narrow walkways, I found a
guesthouse. A couple of black guys stayed there. I wondered if it would be
cool to check in and spend the night, no karaoke but rap music, gunfights
amongst local gangs and all that. Well, the management wasn't  around and so
I left again.
By the time I climbed back onto the central road of the ghetto, it had gone
dark. The GPS gained lock and came up with a position. The arrow on the
green, backlit display pointed me south-west, 1.4 km to River City. I picked
up speed, no gunshots falling behind me, no dogs chasing me. Obviously they
respected me, I had done right wearing chucks. A few minutes later I crossed
the barricade that marked the end of the gettho, pushed apart at one point,
so that motorcycles can sneak in and out. I was back to what they call
Bangkok.

Next time you're around, check this out. I hope they don't clean it up,
meantime.

Regards,
Martin


PS:
Even if you're not into Arts, River City is worth a visit for all the weird
things you can see there.
Those who need to spend a lot of money quickly, mustn't miss this.