nd February
Busy Day....... I'm closing in on my first week in Thailand and I've yet to leave Bangkok Metropolis. This morning my wife has an appointment at the UK Visa Agency in downtown Bangkok and in the evening we have a more familiar appointment. The result of the UK visit visa application could be a game changer this year. While it's game on for BG Pathum United later.
Downtown....... The appointment at the Trendy Office Building in Khlong Toei Nuea is at mid morning, but we can't hang about. It's quite difficult to reach from our residence. The choices we have are to take the car downtown, take public transport or a combination of the two, and we decide on the latter reaching Bang Kapi. This seems a good option as there is a direct route from here to where we need to be using the Khlong Saen Saeb canal boat. However this option doesn't have its drawbacks. There is a 10-minute walk from the shopping mall in Bang Kapi to the pier and then from Nana Chard pier you need to take a motorbike taxi to the Trendy Building.
Hua Lamphong Railway Station....... With the appointment not expecting to take long I'm looking forward to visiting Hua Lamphong Railway Station to see some trains and with business concluded we take the MRT Blue Line to this station. Here I'm grateful that nothing has changed and I can simply wander up and down the platforms without purchasing a travel ticket unlike at Krung Thep Apiwat I visited a few days ago. After a period of observing comings and goings at Hua Lamphong The smart money is on return to Bang Kapi and back home for a rest before the evening's entertainment. However I had asked V-1 (Katoon) about Talad Noi which is not far from the station.
Talad Noi....... Talad Noi is a neighbourhood on the bank of the Chao Phraya River settled by Chinese in the early days of Bangkok. It consists of a network of narrow roads and passageways. Once a thriving community it is now more of a heritage site appealing to the connoisseur of history and culture of Bangkok. There are some iconic old buildings here worth investigating but my intention is only to get a flavour of the area without delving too deeply into its history besides finding something for lunch.
At this point my frailty is starting to get the better of me as we find ourselves deep into maze of streets and alleyways finally making it to the riverbank. While there is much to see here this is not what I intended and have to be satisfied making just a note of some of the iconic buildings including the Rong Kueak Shrine, Holy Rosary Church and the First Siam Commercial Bank in Thailand. Trying to retrace our steps we get hoplessly lost which wastes time, finally hiring a tuk-tuk to make it back to Hua Lamphong Station. Now, that's something I haven't done for a very long time.
Backtracking....... Reaching station I get a second bite to the cherry and spend another period recording railway traffic. It still seems early, and we could make it back to the residence to rest and recuperate. However, call it another learning experience we head back to Bang Kapi a different way first using the MRT again and reaching Lat Phrao. Here there is a connection to the new Yellow Monorail Line which Will take us to Bang Kapi. Using this line is another first adding to Pink Line I use earlier. At Bang Kapi there is another hoop to jump through. You're still going away from where we from the car in for the second time today we need to take a motorcycle taxi. There is a decision to make. Heading back to the residence at this point will not achieve much. We might as well head straight to the stadium which is in the opposite direction and enjoy the build up to the game. The journey will take a good hour and give me the chance to get some sleep.
BG Stadium....... Arriving at BG Stadium it's clear we made the right decision. The game is well-supported with hospitality everywhere with queues for food and drink and products from the club shop. Unbeknownst to me the entry price includes a food and drink voucher which accounts for the queues. It's a great pantomime it's just a pity we have to pack so much into the same day.
The Thai Premier League is currently on a break. As there are Just 16 teams in the league the break is nearly for two months. Game tonight is an international friendly game between BG Pathum United and Cerezo Osaka. Cerezo Osaka currently plays in the J1 League, which is the top tier of football in the country.
BG Pathum United v Cerezo Osaka....... The game kicks off at 7.00pm local time in front of a huge crowd with neither team dominating but the visitors take the lead in the 35th minute, headed in from the corner kick by Ryosuke Shindo. 4 Minutes later the home team are level. Another set piece this time from a free kick is headed in for debutante Seydine N'Diaye to head in the opposite corner of the net. It's 1 : 1 at halftime and everything to play for.
The Second half opens with both teams playing attacking football. Cerezo Osaka build up pressure but against the run of play after a turnover in midfield, Alves Danilo produces a run and shot in the 74th minute which creeps into the net under the goalkeeper's body. That is a gift. 5 minutes later after a nice build up, BG finds a man free outside the box who drives in another low shot which is palmed away by the keeper only to the feet of Chaowat Veerachart who makes no mistake in finding a empty net. Credit to the J1 team they don't give up and are rewarded with a 2nd goal in the 88th minute. Hirotaka Tameda meets a low cross to powerfully head home leading to some anxious final minutes in the 4 minutes added on. So the home team get the honours but both teams can be congratulated for a entertaining game. The 16,014 crowd is well above average in the TPL. Man of the match goes to Seydine N'Diaye from Niger. All the rabbits return to their burrows after successful foraging.
Conclusion....... I conclude that I regret having to pack in too much today. It's been really hard but I'd booked the football game before I knew of the appointment at the Trendy Building. The result was over 13 hours out today. As mentioned, we experimented with using public transport. In all we used the Khlong Sean Saeb canal boats, the MRT subway twice and the Yellow Monorail Line. Then, in between we used motorcycle taxes twice and a tuk and the costs added up as we had to pay at every stage including a ridiculous parking fee in Bang Kapi. The experiment spectacularly failed given the cost and unacceptable amount of walking involved. This is contrary to what I expected and doesn't bode well for those who have invested in Bangkok's transport infrastructure; it is simply just much easier to drive in by car. Yes the traffic can be horrendous but then how much time was used up connecting and waiting for services? However, I did regard this as a learning experience and that experience has told me how not to travel in the future.
Busy Day....... I'm closing in on my first week in Thailand and I've yet to leave Bangkok Metropolis. This morning my wife has an appointment at the UK Visa Agency in downtown Bangkok and in the evening we have a more familiar appointment. The result of the UK visit visa application could be a game changer this year. While it's game on for BG Pathum United later.
Downtown....... The appointment at the Trendy Office Building in Khlong Toei Nuea is at mid morning, but we can't hang about. It's quite difficult to reach from our residence. The choices we have are to take the car downtown, take public transport or a combination of the two, and we decide on the latter reaching Bang Kapi. This seems a good option as there is a direct route from here to where we need to be using the Khlong Saen Saeb canal boat. However this option doesn't have its drawbacks. There is a 10-minute walk from the shopping mall in Bang Kapi to the pier and then from Nana Chard pier you need to take a motorbike taxi to the Trendy Building.
Hua Lamphong Railway Station....... With the appointment not expecting to take long I'm looking forward to visiting Hua Lamphong Railway Station to see some trains and with business concluded we take the MRT Blue Line to this station. Here I'm grateful that nothing has changed and I can simply wander up and down the platforms without purchasing a travel ticket unlike at Krung Thep Apiwat I visited a few days ago. After a period of observing comings and goings at Hua Lamphong The smart money is on return to Bang Kapi and back home for a rest before the evening's entertainment. However I had asked V-1 (Katoon) about Talad Noi which is not far from the station.
Talad Noi....... Talad Noi is a neighbourhood on the bank of the Chao Phraya River settled by Chinese in the early days of Bangkok. It consists of a network of narrow roads and passageways. Once a thriving community it is now more of a heritage site appealing to the connoisseur of history and culture of Bangkok. There are some iconic old buildings here worth investigating but my intention is only to get a flavour of the area without delving too deeply into its history besides finding something for lunch.
At this point my frailty is starting to get the better of me as we find ourselves deep into maze of streets and alleyways finally making it to the riverbank. While there is much to see here this is not what I intended and have to be satisfied making just a note of some of the iconic buildings including the Rong Kueak Shrine, Holy Rosary Church and the First Siam Commercial Bank in Thailand. Trying to retrace our steps we get hoplessly lost which wastes time, finally hiring a tuk-tuk to make it back to Hua Lamphong Station. Now, that's something I haven't done for a very long time.
Backtracking....... Reaching station I get a second bite to the cherry and spend another period recording railway traffic. It still seems early, and we could make it back to the residence to rest and recuperate. However, call it another learning experience we head back to Bang Kapi a different way first using the MRT again and reaching Lat Phrao. Here there is a connection to the new Yellow Monorail Line which Will take us to Bang Kapi. Using this line is another first adding to Pink Line I use earlier. At Bang Kapi there is another hoop to jump through. You're still going away from where we from the car in for the second time today we need to take a motorcycle taxi. There is a decision to make. Heading back to the residence at this point will not achieve much. We might as well head straight to the stadium which is in the opposite direction and enjoy the build up to the game. The journey will take a good hour and give me the chance to get some sleep.
BG Stadium....... Arriving at BG Stadium it's clear we made the right decision. The game is well-supported with hospitality everywhere with queues for food and drink and products from the club shop. Unbeknownst to me the entry price includes a food and drink voucher which accounts for the queues. It's a great pantomime it's just a pity we have to pack so much into the same day.
The Thai Premier League is currently on a break. As there are Just 16 teams in the league the break is nearly for two months. Game tonight is an international friendly game between BG Pathum United and Cerezo Osaka. Cerezo Osaka currently plays in the J1 League, which is the top tier of football in the country.
BG Pathum United v Cerezo Osaka....... The game kicks off at 7.00pm local time in front of a huge crowd with neither team dominating but the visitors take the lead in the 35th minute, headed in from the corner kick by Ryosuke Shindo. 4 Minutes later the home team are level. Another set piece this time from a free kick is headed in for debutante Seydine N'Diaye to head in the opposite corner of the net. It's 1 : 1 at halftime and everything to play for.
The Second half opens with both teams playing attacking football. Cerezo Osaka build up pressure but against the run of play after a turnover in midfield, Alves Danilo produces a run and shot in the 74th minute which creeps into the net under the goalkeeper's body. That is a gift. 5 minutes later after a nice build up, BG finds a man free outside the box who drives in another low shot which is palmed away by the keeper only to the feet of Chaowat Veerachart who makes no mistake in finding a empty net. Credit to the J1 team they don't give up and are rewarded with a 2nd goal in the 88th minute. Hirotaka Tameda meets a low cross to powerfully head home leading to some anxious final minutes in the 4 minutes added on. So the home team get the honours but both teams can be congratulated for a entertaining game. The 16,014 crowd is well above average in the TPL. Man of the match goes to Seydine N'Diaye from Niger. All the rabbits return to their burrows after successful foraging.
Conclusion....... I conclude that I regret having to pack in too much today. It's been really hard but I'd booked the football game before I knew of the appointment at the Trendy Building. The result was over 13 hours out today. As mentioned, we experimented with using public transport. In all we used the Khlong Sean Saeb canal boats, the MRT subway twice and the Yellow Monorail Line. Then, in between we used motorcycle taxes twice and a tuk and the costs added up as we had to pay at every stage including a ridiculous parking fee in Bang Kapi. The experiment spectacularly failed given the cost and unacceptable amount of walking involved. This is contrary to what I expected and doesn't bode well for those who have invested in Bangkok's transport infrastructure; it is simply just much easier to drive in by car. Yes the traffic can be horrendous but then how much time was used up connecting and waiting for services? However, I did regard this as a learning experience and that experience has told me how not to travel in the future.
Bangkok Metropolis
Khlong Saen Saeb, various districts
Hua Lamphong Railway Museum,
Rong Muang, Pathum Wan District
Klong Phadung Krung Kasem, Bang Rak,
Krung Thep Phra Nakhon District
Talat Noi, Samphanthawong District
Pathum Thani
BG Stadium, Bueng Yitho, Thanyaburi District