A week-end in Bangkok
While Bangkokians like to escape from the city and spend the week-end in Cha-am, Cha-amians also like to escape from the quietness and go to Bangkok for some serious partying. That was one of those week-ends, but you are probably not interested in the details.
My favorite means of transportation when I go from Cha-Am to Bangkok is the train and the minibus. The train does take a long time (it arrives late in Cha-Am, stops often and takes a long route to Bangkok), but people who like the train will know what I mean: when you go somewhere by train, you really travel. You don’t just go from point A to point B, you really get to see a lot of things along the way. But I left Friday afternoon and I didn’t want to arrive late in Bangkok, so I went by minibus and planned to come back by train. As it happened I also came back by minibus, as it was raining a lot Sunday morning and I was lazy to get to Hualamphong train station (plus I had a major hangover to deal with, but, hmmm, ok I said I would spare the details).
Anyway, I thought I could tell you more about the minibuses. In case you are not familiar with them, I suggest you also check the pros and cons on the how to get to Cha-Am page. You will see a picture of the minibus station, which is on Narathip road, on your left side, just before you reach Phetkasem road when coming from the beach. Tickets can be bought inside the shop, the price is still 180 baht. You are given a coloured ticket, say red, and if there are many people waiting, chances are the people who were there before you will have a different colour. When a minibus arrives, they call the green tickets, for example, then another arrives a few minutes later, and then the red can go. Usually you don’t have to wait more than half an hour.
The road between Bangkok and Cha-Am is now almost finished, only getting through Phetchaburi slowed us down. On both trips our driver drove fast but carefully. Just a bit of tailgating sometimes, Thai style, but otherwise nothing to report. The minibus leaves you at Victory Monument, so from there you can hop on the BTS (the skytrain), and easily reach any destination around Silom or Sukhumvit. We left Cha-Am at 2:15 pm, and at 5 pm I was in my hotel near Siam.
If you are interested in Bangkok’s nightlife, you probably know already that the closing time for the bars is now around 2:30 am, which is good news. Cow Boy is still rocking, though pretty quiet at the moment with much less tourists visiting (because of the demonstrations by the PAD, tension between Cambodia and Thailand, and of course the economic crisis). NEP is still the same, though Pretty Ladies has been redone on the outside (but don’t panic the place is still there). On both nights we ended up at Spicy, soi 11, on the underground of the Amabassador hotel. It seems to be a popular spot, though I’m not into clubbing anymore.
This is the great thing about Cha-Am, so far from Bangkok and so close at the same time!