Bangkok Guru

If you’re in Bangkok and, like many of us, usually have bugger all to do at weekends during the day, perhaps this weekend you might like to pass those boring hours before sunset by paying a visit to Thailand Mobile Expo 2008 currently held in Queen Sirikit Centre. Bangkok’s biggest mobile show started yesterday and lasts 4 days until this Sunday 5th October. Normally I wouldn’t be arsed with this sort of stuff but as I’m currently looking for a new mobile to replace the shitty one I have, I reckon I will have to check this expo out.

If you know of any good mobile model of any make with a decent digital camera that is also reasonably priced, please let me know because that will simply mean me encouraged to go out even more often and hopefully coming back with reviews of cool places in Bangkok with good pictures to accomodate them. Thanks!

If you want to check the whole thing out yourself, here’s the map of the venue, although I would just recommend using the MRT and getting off direct at the Queen Sirikrit Centre stop. Apparently, the first two days of the show haven’t been that busy but things will sure improve over the weekend for obvious reasons.

And for those of you photography enthusiasts, don’t forget to bring your camera with a powerful zoom as there’s some serious photo opportunies there. Haha yeah as with most trade shows in Bangkok, those cute ‘pretties’ (event girls) are helping to add the much-needed highlights to the expo:

If you’re lucky, you could come back home with not only a new mobile phone but also a couple of new numbers too so good luck and have a lovely weekend

Today’s biggest news in Bangkok is the story of the full blown assault on a prominent Channel 3 political correspondent by the Bangkok mayoral election candidate Chuwit Kamolvisit. I know most of you couldn’t care less about Thai politics but you just have to check this one out.

For those of you Thai politics dummies, here’s some background info: Chuwit is an outspoken, angry voyeur, part time politician who is also no stranger to controversy and political stunts. He’s also one of the biggest whistle-blowers of a lot of topical issues rife in Thai society. Wisal Dilokwanit, meanwhile, is a ruthless, sarcastic yet honest journalist who passionately believes in complete freedom of the media and is well known to enjoy asking politically awkward, inconvenient questions to absolutely anyone and everyone.

Anyway the story goes like this: the pair were preparing themselves behind the scene for the interview on Chuwit’s campaign for this weekend’s mayoral election and Chuwit somehow told Wisal about his secret ‘tactics’ he believed could help kick the arse of his arch rival Apirak and land himself Bangkok’s most sought-after post. Wisal was seemingly ambivalent about this but they agreed it wasn’t something to be taken too seriously and should be kept to themselves.

That wasn’t to be the case because later towards the end of the boiling interview Wisal started mentioning in front of camera what he and Chuwit were discussing earlier which sure enough made Chuwit’s blood boil. The aggro between the pair then became more and more intense with a torrent of abuse hurled at each other. To make matters worse, there was no clear sign of either ever backing down.

A passionate and ruthless journalist, Wisal clearly believed he had every right to expose Chuwit by asking him anything he wanted to and, after all, the earlier conversation they had together was well relevant to the upcoming election but Chuwit thought otherwise. To him, Wisal was provocative, failed to honour his words and therefore deserved a bit of kicking - he had a special treat installed for the confident journalist.

As soon as the interview was brought to an abrupt close, Chuwit wasted no time in delivering a sharp blow to Wisal’s mug effectively knocking him to the ground. He then pressed on with a couple of good kicks before finally being stopped by the film crew. Wisal was rushed to hospital where he was treated before later filing a complaint against his attacker to the Thai coppers.

Obviously this was a high profile incident and what sort of effect it will have on Chuwit’s chances we shall all find out in a few days’ time.

But my question to you is: who’s in the wrong here? Did Wisal overstep the mark and so deserve the beating? Or was Chuwit’s reaction simply out of line? You may say anything here - I can promise nobody’s going to get hurt!

Last week I wrote a post filed under a new category ‘After Hours’ and quite frankly the feedback was rather encouraging so I thought perhaps I should add to this new category again today. I have been to a couple of after hours clubs in Bangkok and one of my favourites is Scratch Dog on Sukhumvit soi 20. It’s a well established after hours joint which sure warrants a review here on Bangkok Guru.

The club: Scratch Dog is a late night disco tucked away on the basement of Windsor Hotel on Sukkers soi 20. The nice looking red carpeted steps lead you down to sound-proof doors guarding the main entrance to the club which enjoys quite a sizeable room. There are two levels in the club. The more popular is the lower one comprising smaller tables in the packed centre surrounded by much larger tables with comfy sofas.

The music: Most of the stuff played in Scratch Dog is hip hop with a vast selection of both old school and latest artists. The excellent sound system surely makes up for the unfortunate lack of a live band or sexy dancers which are so common on Bangers’ nightout scene.

The crowd: mainly local clubbers who migrate here from conventional nightclubs after 2am but there’s also a respectable number of foreign visitors. Quite a few well buff looking people in here and apparently some Thai A-listers can be occasionally spotted here too unless you’re too pissed to recognise them!

The price: 400 baht to get in and you get 2 beers. A bottle of whiskey (black label) costs 2k but you can bring in 4-5 mates.

And here’s the club in action:

All in all, Scratch Dog is another good venue for those of you unwilling to end your long night adventure too easily. If you’re done with clubbing in the Sukhumvit area and for whatever reason don’t want to go home just yet, I would highly recommend giving this after hours club a go.

If you’re now in Bangkok and have been out to get some food, chances are you have come across loads of bright yellow triangular flags with some Chinese writing on them in front of many restaurants and food stalls. Yes, the popular Vegetarian Festival is back and in full swing once again. It’s a huge annual festival observed mainly by Thais of Chinese ancestry.

Bangkok’s Vegetarian Festival is held during late September and early October and lasts precisely nine days. The Festival is a celebration of the traditional Chinese belief that if you abstain from meat consumption and any other stimulant during this time of the lunar calendar, you will enjoy better health as well as sheer bliss.

Locally known as ‘Kin Jay’ กินเจ, the Vegetarian Festival is in fact a time of complete abstinence and purification of the body and soul. To observe this festival properly, you must stop eating not only meat and its derivatives e.g. milk and eggs but also celery, garlic, onions and some spices that are horrendously pungent.

At this time during the Kin Jay festival, quite a few ascetics (nutters) also perform such apparent miraculous feats as body piercing, walking on burning fire etc. They sometimes pierce their cheeks with sharp objects like knives, skewers etc. You might like to check these out yourself but be particularly careful if you are of the faint hearted type.

Are you taking part in the festival? Any good veggie dishes you think are worth sharing with us? Please let us know. Thanks!

Today I received an email regarding Thai politics from a friend which really cracked me up big time. If you’re a PAD supporter, you will like it. If you’re a DAAD supporter, you won’t. Here’s what the email says

Five reasons why you should not support the Democratic Alliance Against Dictatorship (DAAD):

And five reasons why you should support the People’s Alliance for Democracy (PAD):

Don’t you agree the contrast is pretty stark?

I’ve today learnt from a mate that there were police raids in Jet Metropolitan Club over the past three nights. Acting on the tip-off, the police raided the club in an attempt to find and nick the apparent many pillheads getting mashed in the House section of the club.

For three consecutive nights starting Thursday, the police turned up in a good number, took control of the club, switched off music, turned the lights up before forcing random urine tests on dodgy looking clubbers, a couple of whom ended up testing positive for narcotics, mostly ecstasy. This has unfortunately but predictably led to the order to temporarily shut the club down until the police probe into alleged drug trade is completed.

I wasn’t there myself but was well gutted to learn this story as Jet is one of my favourite bars in Ekamai. I really haven’t much to say but just hope they can work things out so the club can reopen again in the near future. Any update on the story I will let you know soonest.

If any of you were there on any of the three nights and want to share your experience of the raids, please do it here. Thanks!

Bangkok is a wonderful, cosmopolitan city with a great deal to offer. It is no wonder why so many have come to live and work here. But for all of Bangkok’s qualities, life for many who live here can be hard. Our transport system is in a mess so that people are forced to spend an awful lot of their valuable day stuck on the way to and from work. Pollution is another major concern that needs addressing by everyone. The mayoral election has returned and once again people expect to see better things made to make Bangkok an even better city to live in.

Sixteen candidates are taking part in the Bangkok mayoral election to be held on 5th October 2008. The candidates last month completed their nominations to run for the job held by Apirak Kosayodhin of the urban-popular Democrat Party since 2004.

Apirak (5) with his ‘Future Bangkok’ vision will again run for his Democrat party and suspected Thakin’s proxy Prapas Chongsa-nguan (10) with his proposed lift of ban on Monday pavement trade for the troubled People’s Power Party while other notable independents include Kriangsak Charoenwongsak (2) with his promised super fast Wimax solution to solve Bangkok’s notorious internet issues, hiso cow Leena Jungjanja (7) with her smart travel card that would allow commuters to use most modes of public transport within Bangkok - the BTS skytrain, the MRT underground etc. and of course we must not forget the furious voyeur Chuwit Kamolvisit (8) whose campaign is focused on slagging off the other candidates rather than putting forward any viable solutions of his own.

I myself have yet to decide who to vote for although I know for a fact it’s going to be another landslide for Apirak having learnt all the recent independent poll surveys which all suggest he will win another term in office quite comfortably. What about you? What are your thoughts on the upcoming election? Who’s your favourite and why?

PS. A bit off topic but I have to say number 14 looks like a good milf though!

Gulliver’s Tavern is a popular night spot in the Sukhumvit area. If you’ve been there, you will know how friendly people are and it’s not unusual for you to make new friends. It’s also a noticeable pick up place where a lot of Thai girls, usually in packs, are sat with their mates pretending to have a good time.

But as soon as you make eye contact, they will waste no time in approaching you and making a bit of chit chat before offering their night service. As a Thai, I’m speaking from a foreign mate’s experience of course! Be careful though as not all these working girls are real girls - some are ladyboys. While this is a decent bar to have a quick cold one, there can sometimes be quite a few of these types here.

Every now and then, I find Gully’s good for a beer in the evening since I live only a couple of BTS stops away from here. I particularly like the fact that it shows most Western sports on the many TV screens and is a cool meeting place for both Westerners and backpackers who typically go there for a drink or two. It is also not that sleazy, well in comparison to neighbouring Nana anyway. The food is also good, reasonably priced and there are a couple of pool tables if you fancy kicking your mate’s arse!

The pub is laid back. You can wear almost anything here. It’s a rather informal place in fact and you don’t always have to hook up either. It reminds me of good old pubs in my local town in England!

Bangkok’s China Town is a rather hectic old business area located on Yaowarat Road en route to Charoen Krung Road. Here, there are an inconceivable number of streets & alleyways on which you can aimlessly wander through a maze of shops and pavement stalls selling virtually everything you can imagine.

Walking up the road from Ratchawong Pier, you will see some colonial style chophouses taking you to Sampeng market. Here, it’s a shopaholic paradise with tonnes of cheap stuff in bulk mostly for girls. And along Yaowarat Road, there are an awful lot of restaurants serving shark fin & bird nest soups, though not particularly cheap if you’re on a budget.

That said, there are also a respectable number of cheaper little noodles stalls. And further on, you will find loads of gold shops. In fact they are absolutely everywhere and nobody will be able to count the precise number of them. Also, the many Chinese chemists here can be very good if you know what you are after.

If you keep walking to the end of Yaowarat Road, you might like to check out the famous China Town Gate and a temple. Not too far from that is the Golden Buddha Temple.

Last weekend was a heavy one. We started off in Flix for a beer before moving on to Baroque. After the closing hours, we went on a mission to check out this new ‘Karafun’ after hours club. It’s located right behind Bangkok’s biggest gentlemen’s club Caribbean. I don’t remember what time we got there but we did stay till half six in the morning. It was great fun and here’s my review:

The club: It might be a bit difficult to locate Karafun yourself so my best advice is to tell the cab driver you want to go to Caribbean in Yaek Meng Jaai (แยกเหม่งจ๋าย) near Huay Kwang road. Just follow the crowd upon your arrival and you will find it. Outside it’s quite dark but as you walk further through the big glass door you will see loads of people queuing up near the main entrance. Inside it’s a massive, massive hall with plenty of dance floor able to house hundreds of all night ravers.

The music: bloody wicked, current trance and house tunes played by a couple of familiar looking DJs from Baroque but the music here is even more vibrant and incredibly banging. It is so good that you won’t notice how long you have been in there for.

The crowd: as it’s located right next to Caribbean and run by the same management as the famous hostess bar, you will most likely bump into quite a few of these hotties who come here to socialise and enjoy themselves after work. The ravers here are also rather laid back. In fact they seem to have a plethora of fun and you can make friends with them witout too much difficulty. One of my farang mates was well pissed and he ended up going home with a milf! And for no apparent reason, a lot of people in here love wearing very dark sunglasses and can’t seem able to stop dancing so if anyone has a theory to explain this, please let me know!

The price: very, very expensive if I must say. At weekends, it’s 500 baht to get in but you get two beers for it. After that, it’s 300 baht for a small beer. Yeah, that’s £5/$10 a beer and you can’t say it’s cheap even by Western standards! If you want a bottle of whiskey, a black label alone costs 2,000 baht and you can bring 5 people in. If you are lucky and happen to know a girl who works in Caribbean next door, she can probably get you in for free so try your best and make as many friends as you possibly can!

Sorry I haven’t got proper pics for this new place. Have two from the club’s website and while they are not proper ones i.e. they’re taken when the hall is still used as a mere restaurant/karaoke bar, you should still get a rough idea of what it might look like during peak periods i.e. 2am-6am. Just picture the place with nice light works, laser beams, a lot fewer chairs, no couch, more dancing space and lots and lots of ravers.

If I do return to Karafun again which I’m pretty sure I will, I will try and take good pictures to do it a bit more justice so do stay stuned. I share the view of many that it’s now probably one of the best after hours clubs in Bangkok. So the next time, you’re out and don’t just want your night out to end too easily and early, you know where Karafun is!