"mixed feelings" a Bangkok Travel Page by iaint

First visit was in 1987. I was visiting a friend in Singapore and went off on a side trip for a few days to BKK and Hong Kong.
In those days the contrast between Singapore and BKK was just astonishing. Chalk and cheese. I remember on the taxi ride from airport to downtown hotel, we passed an elephant trundling along on the hard shoulder...
Traffic could be difficult in the rush hour at that time, but apart from that getting around was OK.

I became a regular vistor. Every year for 13 years! By about 1991, the traffic congestion was so bad that it was taking the fun out of the place - between the pollution and the difficulty in getting around at any time of day.
We chose our hotel based on the area of the city we expected to frequent, because going anywhere else would be too difficult! Usually we aimed to be at the river end of Silom Road. Good hotels, shops, markets etc, and especially after expressway extensions, good access to airport and railway station.

Loved it for the first few years - the food, the climate, the people. Traffic congestion became a big problem. So did "white trash" attracted by the sex trade, although for 95% of the time we didn't notice because we didn't frequent those areas.
Always enjoyed it however, especially the buzz and lift you get coming in from the airport after the flight from Europe - the heat, the culture change...