Blistered in Bangkok III: Trying our luck at Jatujak Market on a Friday

It was a Friday, and since there was not much in our itinerary, we didn’t hurry to get dressed after we took our breakfast (which to my delight didn’t turn out to be bad because the utensils were clean =>). Around 11am, we went straight to Phra Athit Road to take our lunch, again on the street side to taste the bagoong rice sold in a cart, which we spotted the other day on our way to Phra Sumen Fortress. The cart was parked at the side walk across ASTV Headquarters, with plastic chairs and tables set up closeby. I pointed to the vendor/cook 2 of the 3 meals displayed on the cart. Each of us were served a simple but spicy soup while waiting for the main course.

Then came the 2 dishes, both with bagoong rice but with different toppings. Mine was like a vegetarian meal, with steamed bokchoy and okra, cucumber, salted egg, strips of green mango and a little dipping sauce which I believe to be bagoong isda with tomatoes and lots of chilies. My husband’s meal was the bagoong rice that we are familiar with, with pork, cucumber, strips of scrambled egg, lemon, and chilies. If I hadn’t been watching my weight, I would have ordered another one of those delectable dishes which was only TB45 each. The only problem for us was they didn’t sell any beverage which our burning tongues badly needed. 

From the cart, we crossed Phra Athit and walked a couple of steps to the Phra Athit Pier. Traveling by boat along Chao Phraya river was the easiest and cheaper way to reach the BTS (Skytrain) station. We paid around TB15 each to reach the Sathorn station and waited for 10-15 minutes for our boat.

For those who plan to try this, be sure to walk fast to reach the boat since it parks for only about a minute or two and leaves immediately, not wasting any second to wait for lazy-walking passengers. Most of all, use the railings cause when the boat smashes into the platform to park, one might go out-of-balance and fall into the dirty Chao Phraya waters. It was definitely not a sophisticated ride but it was totally an efficient transportation system to escape the torturing Bangkok traffic. In addition, you can do sight-seeing since it passes through wonderful landmarks such as the Grand palace and most especially, of Wat Arun.




 The ride to the last station, Sathorn, was about 10 minutes. This connects to the BTS Saphan Taksin station. There are a number of card dispensing machines, and I, being a technology-ignorant, let my husband get the cards, costing TB25 each. Not surprisingly, the train was more spacious than the MRT trains in Manila, but almost similar to LRT. We got off at Sala Daeng and transferred to the MRTA (Subway) Silom station. We bought tickets for TB45 each, and these came in the form of round black chips, which we thought shall be inserted into a slot. Apparently, after a funny but embarrassing experience, we learned that we just had to flash the coin across a small screen until the sensor recognizes the microchip inside. Thanks to the Indian, who probably thought that we were inexperienced Thai commuters who rode the BTS for the first time. Of course there was nothing to see during the entire ride because we were underground. I wanted to chew Mentos during the 15-minute trip to lessen the discomfort caused by the pressure in my ears, but foods and drinks are prohibited inside, which my law-abiding husband wasn’t familiar with cause he drank water several times, unaware also that one passenger disdainfully stared at him.

We got off at Phahon Yothin station because we wanted to check out the Central Ladprao Mall, again for discounts. Again, my husband was disappointed with Giordano because the discount was not that low enough; on the contrary, I was, because ladies’ pants were only sold for TB400. At first I didn’t find it cheap but when I recalled the cheapest Giordano pants that I bought on sale in Manila costing PhP700, I grabbed one khaki pants and paid for it right away. What delighted my husband was when we found a nice-looking pair of Hush Puppies with 40% off from the original price and spent only TB1900 for it. Since we each both got ourselves super-discounted products already, we stopped by Auntie Anne’s to rest and have snacks. Actually, those who have weakness for pretzels will be thrilled in Bangkok cause Auntie Anne’s are everywhere. There are also lots of Dairy Queen stores, which is justifiable because of the hot weather in the city. Had I known that DQ Blizzard is sold inexpensively here, I could have tried all the flavors, which I couldn’t do in the Philippines because the price is not that cheap.

It was still early when we finished snacking so we went to visit the Union Mall across. The building was overflowing with bargain and second-hand stores and what attracted me was one store selling used designer bags. I actually spotted a Dolce & Gabbana shoulder bag, and though I was not sure if that was genuine (because I never owned one designer bag), it didn’t look fake at all. I cannot persuade the vendor to bring down the price to TB350 (from TB700) so I didn’t buy. And now I still regret buying it because at the Bangkok Airport I saw one lady carrying the same exact bag with the same color and it really looked classy.

Only one hour was left before the Jatujak weekend market was scheduled to open so we left the mall and started to walk. Strolling along Jatujak Park was calming because of its clean surroundings and simple but panoramic landscapes. It was a long walk so we rested our feet for awhile when we reached the end of the park, which is nearby the entrance to the market and at that time, was still closed. But we hurried to leave when it began to drizzle and then found ourselves inside the famous Chatuchak Market. As we expected, not even 1/16 of the total number of stores were opened, it was, after all, a weekend market, and it was only a Friday. But we wanted to try our luck that day so that we didn’t have to force our way into the crowded market the next day. There were a few house decor stores that were opened but we weren’t interested in buying furnishings, but clothing. We spotted one opened store selling polo shirts, bought 3 items, and that was it. We just waited for the rain to stop then we headed out to go back to the hotel.

We wanted to ride the bus that’s going to Khao San but the people we asked, including a policeman, didn’t understand English. We crossed the Phahon Yothin road and waited for Red Bus 3 at the bus stop close to the Mochit BTS Station but never found one. We were having second thoughts about taking the BTS because the nearest station where we could get off, Siam Station, is still far from our place (10kms) and we were not sure if we could easily get a cab since it was Friday. So we ruminated for about 15 minutes at a bench nearby, and looking at the private cars parked in front of us reminded me of unruly Filipino drivers because they had been occupying one lane of a very busy main road while a big parking block was just close by. We stood up to look for a cab, and to our surprise, a Red Bus 3 showed up! We ran towards it and we were welcomed by a fetid smell of body odor. It was an old non-airconditioned bus with wooden flooring but with spacious aisles since it has only one row of seats on the right side and two on the other. I took a seat at the back while my husband stood along the aisle ‘cause there were no vacant seats anymore. I wanted to ask either of the 2 female passengers beside me how much the fare is, but I was hesitant if they could understand English at all so I just waited for the conductor to collect. I told myself how lucky I am to be a citizen of a country that has English as one of its primary languages.

Undoubtedly, a Filipino who is able to speak and write in English makes him/her globally competitive. I have nothing against English but it seemed that the language has become one dividing block among Filipinos. It has become the primary language of the rich, educated and famous and Filipino the tongue of the common and usually underprivileged citizens. And what does this lead to? A Filipino ridiculing his fellow citizen who can’t speak English fluently and ends up not being hired at all for a job. Yet, we don’t scoff at a Chinese or a Venezuelan who speak incorrect English. Can someone tell me if this attitude is solely Filipino? I would think that in Thailand, Thai has remained to be the basic language of people coming from different classes, and I also suppose that a Thai wouldn’t laugh at a fellow Thai because of crooked English.

I snapped back to reality and saw my husband securing a seat and kept on tracking where we were through a map. It was really an excruciating traffic and we were in the bus for almost an hour, enduring the stench inside. Still, we had something to thank for since we were able to save around TB200-300, which we could have used for a taxi had we not fortunately spotted the bus, the fare for which, we expected to be about only TB7. Later on we would discover that the ride was for free! Although TB14 was not too big a savings for us, we greatly appreciated and envied how the Thai government looks after its people by devising simple means such as providing commuters with free rides, which, irrefutably, can yield considerable savings, especially for the humble working class. I sat beside my husband when the seat behind him was finally vacated and we were discussing the area where we were as we referred to the map. Little did we know that the lady passenger behind us was observing us ‘cause before she got off, she tapped our shoulders and told us where exactly we were and that Phra Athit was just 15 minutes away. We thanked her and we wondered also why she only talked to us when she was about to go down; maybe she wasn’t that fluent in English and was afraid that she wouldn’t be able to answer us in case we asked other questions? Hehe, just some thoughts that came across my mind but we were glad somebody was there to help because apparently, my husband’s thought as to where we were was wrong! Only 5 minutes had passed and he hurried to get off. Again, he thought wrongly and we disembarked prematurely at Thanon Wisut Kasat, about 2- kilometer walk to the hotel. We finally reached the familiar Soi Rambuttri and as agreed earlier, we will be having Pad Thai again for dinner. And since my husband wasn’t that happy with the Tiger Beer, we bought a can of Singha Beer, the country’s local beer, for only TB35 at 7-11 and a whopping TB95 at the hotel. Then again, after a long day, for the last time in the hotel, we drifted off.