My Four Days as a Tour Guide in Bangkok

When an Internet Friend Came to Town, it was My Opportunity to Be the Tour Guide and See My City with New Eyes

I've been playing the tour guide this week as a woman I met on the internet has just moved to Thailand to teach English. She's never been to Thailand before and seemed a bit lost, so I volunteered to help. You'd think it would be annoying showing that you don't really know around your city right? Wrong! It's been amazing and has made me realize again why I love my city so much.

We started out on Thursday by visiting the local Tesco Lotus supermarket for basic food and cleaning supplies, then Central Ladprao Mall to get sheets and pillows. She was amazed at the prices and selection and, of course, bought more than she planned on. We then had a quick dinner at S&P, a cheap delicious Thai chain restaurant, and headed home. She collapsed exhausted after jet lag set in.

On Friday, we took the sky train down to Siam sky train stop and visited all the malls down there. There are four malls together - Siam Paragon, Siam Center, Siam Discovery and MBK. Some are expensive, some are cheap but they all have pretty much everything you could ever want. At one point, she stopped in the middle of aisles and aisles of cheap, fabulous quality clothing at one of the malls and said "I think I'm going to cry". After questioning her more, it turned out she'd never been anywhere where the shopping was so amazing and where she could get anything she wanted at about one eighth of the price of England. She's already decided, after only four days here, she's never leaving Thailand.

On Saturday, we both took a break but hit the road (or actually boat) on Sunday when we took the river boat down the Chao Praya River to Khao San Road. The river boat is fabulous as you really get to see the 'real Thailand', and it only costs 25 cents. Barges coming down from China, kids swimming in the river, little traditional Thai houses on stilts, and temples everywhere - you see on theriver, all things you would never see in most Western countries.