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Sweet Pork Sausage and Spicy Sauteed Bamboo at Chatuchak Weekend Market

Bangkok, Thailand – Before I left for Thailand I was warned about Bangkok.  “I don’t know anyone who’s liked it,” one friend said.  “There are so many other beautiful places in Thailand,” said another, disapproving of my destination.  I tried to explain my decision to another telling him it would be an easier transition to move from New York to Bangkok than a more remote place.  “Yeah, going from hell to hell,” he snorted.

Sure, Bangkok is crowded, polluted and chaotic, less friendly and more expensive than its rural neighbors, and difficult to get around, but I love it.  I’m back here, en route to Cambodia, for a few days and I missed this crazy place.  I love that I can walk two blocks up Sukhumvit and grab some freshly made curry puffs stuffed with curried and tamarind-sweetened potatoes from one vendor, fresh papaya from another, and then sit down to a plate of decent pad thai and watch Thai soccer on TV outside.

Yes, Bangkok can be a little dirty, like all the sludge that gets flicked by my flip flops onto the back of my legs as I walk through the watery back end of the Pak Khlong Talat (wholesale flower market), but I love that I can grab a bowl of out-of-this-world noodles with fish balls there in the morning and in the evening find myself in Bed Supperclub, which looks like a white spaceship on stilts, getting an impromptu lesson on Bollywood dance moves while other party goers snack on samosas.

It’s true that Bangkok can be unbearably hot, which is why there’s a real mall culture here.  I still get a kick out of the fact that friends well beyond their high-school years want to meet up at the mall, granted this mall is Siam Paragon, a specimen of luxury and modern architecture, with high-end eateries to match.

No, it may not be as regionally authentic as more remote towns.  Still, I like that I can score a pair of shiny black heels for 150 baht ($4.50) and a pair of skinny jeans for 650 baht ($19) at Chatuchak market, the 15,000-booth outdoor weekend market, after ordering up a plate of steamed rice with sweet pork sausage and ultra spicy bamboo shoots sauteed with thai basil for 25 baht ($.75).  This isn’t hell, it’s just a colorfully surreal reality and I don’t want to leave.

Potato Hand Pies on Sukhumvit

Fruit Vendor on Sukhumvit

Pad Thai on Sukhumvit