Fancy seeing Bangkok, land of crazy traffic, on a bike by night?

When I first heard that Grasshopper Adventures was running a Bangkok Bike Tour, I thought it was a joke. It’s hard enough to cross the road by foot, let alone roll about by pedal power. And then I discovered they also run the tour at night, and I thought for sure these guys are crazy - and I signed up right away.

All good inventions take a while to catch on, but for the brilliance behind designing this cycling tour in Bangkok was to keep the bikes off the road and in the back streets.

“Every day, I used to ride to work along the canals and footpaths, and I never had to worry about being run over by a tuk-tuk,” says Ae Thagoon, who runs the tours for Grasshopper Adventures.

The rides are available any day of the week and are guaranteed to run even if there’s only one customer. Tours begin a few streets back from Khao San Road, in an area of Banglamphoo that is popular with locals for its markets and temples. It is easy to get there by land or water.

We get on our bikes just before the sun goes down, so we can get familiar with the gear before darkness sets in. The path ahead is completely flat. so there’s no need to work the gears to hard, but the brakes are an essential element for a safe ride.

Once you know you can pull up in an instant, it is easier to wander about with a little of confidence. For day trips, the level of skill required to get around town is very low. You don’t have to be Lance Armstrong to do the tour - all you need is good balance on the bike and be prepared to take it slow when the path gets narrow.

The itinerary is as much about stopping to enjoy the highlights as it is the riding. Entering the grounds of Wat Po at night reveals a new world of peace and tranquility that would be hard to imagine during daytime when thousands of visitors ramble past the temples. The soft glow of floodlights bounces of the stupas. You can’t visit the reclining Buddha at this hour or the night, but the smell of incense still wafts through the air to remind you that this is a living place of worship.

Wat Po and Wat Arun are the starts of this journey, but the smaller temples in minor streets are equally entrancing. Bangkok is filled to the brim with Buddhist devotion, which is one reason the people in the city are so nice. Every community has its own temple, a central point for the gathering of harmony and kindness. When you have the time to explore these lesser known locations, you will get a different feel for the city.

A certain charm
Grubby tuk-tuks and epileptic taxi drivers are not what Bangkok is about - it’s the generations of families living together in small homes along rivers and streets that define the city’s charm. Typical of any Asian city, the “charm” does tend to spill onto the street, and as we ride through cloistered neighborhoods, we encounter the hazards of low-hung laundry, cooking over the hot coals and children inventing new ball games.

The sudden arrival of cyclists and flashing lights cause a stir with the kids, and they pop out of the darkness to wave and scream in excitement. Even the grandmothers get a little overwhelmed sometimes, and they too give a grin and a chuckle.

Bangkok is a city of canals and klongs that form a network of waterways feeding off the Chao Phraya River. This is where much of the city’s life takes place. The footpaths and lanes that connect the klongs to major thoroughfares are not very wide, which make them ideal for cyclists. It’s these smaller streets that make Bangkok such a great place for two-wheeled transportations.

Paths along the bike rise not only get narrow, but they can also look a little wet at times. One section that follows the klong for several hundred meters suddenly does a left turn and heads out across the water. This trail that leads away from terra firma is a little mysterious in the dark, but it eventually returns back to the river banks.

Locals to Bangkok like Ae Thagoon would not dream of taking a taxi or bus to get across town. They are not trying to be eco-friendly, they just know how simple it is to grab a bike and head into the backstreets. In the absence of traffic lights and traffic jams, the distance from one side of town to the other seems small. And you don’t have to race along at breakneck speed either. A gentle pace gets you around in very little time.

The duration of a tour depends on your group and how long you want to stay and play at the temples and markets. Day-trippers may find themselves engrossed in smaller markets across the river in Thonburi, while the night-riders can get easily distracted by the variety of street eats on offer.

Two-wheeled adventures in Bangkok are not merely a way to see the city, but they give you the rare chance to experience life through the eyes of local folks.

Facts:
Grasshopper Adventures offers half-day bike tours around Bangkok on any day of the week for just 1000 Thai Baht, and the three-to-four-hour night ride for 1100 Thai Baht. Book online at www.grasshopperadventures.com or call telephone +66 (0)87 929 5208.

Every time I go for a beauty treatment here in Thailand, I get spanked.

The other day I went for a pedicure and the woman bent my toes back in a most unnatural fashion, then punched and spanked the bottoms of my feet. Okay, okay, I’ll give you a tip!

It was the same going in for a wash, spank and blow-dry. These ladies at the beauty parlour are from the shampoo-rinse-repeat school of hair massage. Just when you think you’ve made it through the rinse cycle and are starting to enjoy the fluff dry, brace yourself Effie. Spank, spank.

If you have been in Thailand for more than twenty minutes, no doubt you have experienced the famous Thai massage. This isn’t a slippery, relax-among-clouds-of-aroma-therapy kind of massage (although you can get that here, too - you can get anything, darling, for a price). Thai massage is athletic, the Kung Fu of massage therapy. When you finally surrender to having your masseuse knead, push and pull your appendages like Mr. Gumby, it does feel rather good. Surrender is the key. Resist and something just might snap.

After an hour of push-me-pull-me, you start to feel somewhat friendly towards the smiling man or woman who laughs at your yelps and groans. This is fun, right? Then, when you are completely relaxed — or exhausted — with just five minutes left in your session, they bring it on: The Spanking.

Sometimes it is a cupped hand clap-smack; sometimes a pinch-pull, snap-spank, but they all do it — all the while wearing their patriotic Land of Smiles grin.

Never having experienced the rigors of Catholic school, and the attendant perversions of such a religious upbringing, I have yet to embrace smacking as a fun way to spend an evening with a stranger. However, this, well, fetishism — what would you call it? This stinging lust for abrupt contact of flesh-upon-flesh seems rampant across the land. I had to get to the bottom of it.

At first, I took it rather personally. It’s because I am an European, isn’t it? It’s an authority issue. Let me go on record right now and just say it: I did not vote for that guy in office nor his father! Actually, if it pleases the court, let the record show: Most Americans did not, either.

I tried a little beauty parlor espionage. When they asked, “Are you Australian?” I just smiled and tried to look even blonder. Still, I got a spanking. The retaliation against Europeans theory is out. Then, I had a L’Oreal moment: Oh please don’t hate me because I’m beautiful — and rich, too. Wrong again.

Even the German relic past the expiration date in the stall next to me got spanked. And she liked it.
It got me wondering: Were all these manicurists, beauticians and masseurs trained by Evil David? Simply a surplus of underemployed dominatrixes with their fetish-wear at the cleaners? The answer again, no.

Empirical evidence, I saw this for myself: Thais even spank other Thais.

Turns out this “therapy” (feels like a spank to me) is supposed to be good for you. No, not for strengthening one’s moral character. It is supposed stimulate circulation. You would think with the amount of chillies and other hot Thai spices that the circulation would have no trouble getting around on its own.

“Very good for blood,” assured my masseur, Tong.

Okay, maybe on the back and other, uh, large muscle masses, I can understand that. What about spanking on the scalp?

“Very good for hair,” Tong says. “Makes hair grow.”

What about the feet? Does spanking make feet grow? “Good for relaxation,” Tong reassures me. Yes, Tong is right. It feels so good when he stops.

One thing first-time visitors to Thailand find intriguing is the spirit house, ubiquitously found in the yard of almost every Thai home or building. In Bangkok, the biggest and most popular spirit house is that located in front of the Grand Hyatt Erawan Hotel at the corner of Rajadamri and Ploenchit Roads. Built in 1956, long before the current hotel came to be, this spirit house has over the years emerged into a major Bangkok shrine, drawing busloads of devotees not only from Thailand but also from people across Asia - Hong Kong, Taiwan, China, Singapore, even Malaysia.

Hundreds of Westerners also visit the place daily, not so much to pay their respect to the Brahma god that it houses, but because the Erawan Shrine, as it is known today, is also one of the city’s major tourist attractions.

The Erawan Shrine has an interesting story behind it, which has made it a sensation among superstitious Thais. In the mid-1950’s, according to published accounts, Thailand was chosen to host an international conference. During that time, Bangkok never had a world-class hotel to house the delegates from various countries. So the government asked the private to build one, to be known as the Erawan Hotel. But Thailand then wasn’t even a dot on the tourist map and local investors simply couldn’t figure out how they would fill the posh hotel rooms after the conference delegates had gone home. Since there were no takers, the government was left with no other choice but to build the hotel itself.

Shortly after the start of construction, the project was beset with problems that threatened to delay its completion. Accidents happened on the work site and the upcountry workers started to sense something uncanny about the whole thing. Some people learned that the place was in fact a spiritual minefield, as it used to be a site where criminals were put on public display. One incident broke the camel’s back, so to speak. A marble shipment from Italy, a major component in the construction, sank at sea.

This further confirmed the highly superstitious worker’s suspicion that the gods had somethingagainst the hotel project. Fearing a disaster could also happen to them, they put their tools down and refused to work until something was done. To appease the spirits, a shrine was built dedicated to the highest ranking Brahma God, the four-faced Than Tao Mahaprom. From then on, the project went smoothly.

As a god of kindness, mercy, sympathy and impartiality, Than Tao Mahaprom became the object of veneration among the many Thai people. In time, the shrine became a place of pilgrimage. A story often retold is about a woman who pleaded for a husband, with a promise that if her wish were granted she would come back to dance naked.

She got what she wanted, and true to her promise, she indeed came back to dance in her birthday suit. It became the talk of the town, prompting the government to discourage such vows to avoid scandalising the religious shrine. A foreign visitor need not belive the shrine’s power to grant favours, but still it is a great place to visit.

Day tour for less than 100 Baht.

Why would anyone go through the trouble of traveling kilometres away for a piece of pottery? It doesn’t make sense, especially if you take a forty Baht skytrain ride to Sapan Taksin for a boat trip to Nonthaburi. That almost half of the sixty or so passengers of the boat you took were all headed for Nonthaburi - and ultimately to Koh Kret, the pottery island - made it all the more mind-boggeling.

But the boat ride itself makes the trip compelling. The fare is a mere ten Baht - too cheap for the one-hour-and-a-half Chao Phraya River cruise. It doesn’t have the trappings of a luxury dinner cruise that usually comes with seafood buffet, a batch of traditional Thai dancers and a live band. But just the same it gives you a great sightseeing opportunity - of picturesque temples, markets, stilted Thai houses on the banks of the majestic river, etc.

Nontaburi is the final stop of the boat. But Koh Kret - fantasy island to the constant trickles of tourists who visit the place daily - is still kilometres away. From Nonthaburi, there are private long-tail boats to take you direct to the island. But they are a little expensive, charging from 600 to 800 Baht per return trip for a group of three to eight people. So why the heck then, for only 15 Bath per passenger, a van can take you to Wat Sanam Nua in nearby Pak Kret town where you cross a river into the island on an aging ferry for just 2 Baht.

What striks you about the island is its community of potters who have lived here for around a century or so. Originally from Myanmar, these ethnic Mon families have dedicated their lives to perfecting their art, the manufacture of terracota ceramics. Over the years they have transformed their sleepy atoll into one of Bangkok’s hidden treasures.

From the flimsy Koh Kret pier, you pass through a quiet food market to start your island exploration. Turn left for the narrow, winding lanes that take you deep into the Mon village. Souvenir shops burst out of unassuming wooden homes. Redbrick kilns sprout from the earth like hobbit-houses. Old ladies tinker away in their workshops, joyfully ignorant of modern technology, where the ancient tools of string and plank shape their mud-colored raw pots. Not only pots, in all conceivable shapes and sizes, but terracotta turtles, fish, elephants, monkeys - the whole ceramic menageries! Silently they wait for their turn in the ovens, from there to the souvenir stalls, and from there to … who knows … maybe a shelf in your home.

Such is the charm of these pocket-sized and inexpensive creations that few tourists can resist stocking up. You may wish to tour this leafy labyrinth for hours, seeking out that perfect salad bowl or melodious wind-chime, but don’t forget the tongue-tickling delights of the food marked, where the aromas of Thai and Mon cuisine compete for your senses. (Order a glass of nam pao or chai yen in advance as the spices may curdle your taste-buds!)

Turning right at the landing pier will take you up to the steps of the island’s temple, stuffed full with Buddhist antiquities. After that unwind along the shady river banks, where Kho Kret’s notorious landmark, the lop-sided white chedi stands, - totters, to be more precise - proudly over the Chao Phraya River.

When you’ve had your fill of terracotta trinkets, its back to the steamboat and the delights of a modern day Bangkok. Ten minutes back on the mainland and Koh Kret is already slipping into the stuff of daydreams and fairy-tales, and all for less than a hundred baht!

Silom - Surawong - Sathon
From end to end, these parallel streets are full of big blocks of multi-story buildings, housing many banks, finance firms, insurance companies, export-import houses, hotels, airlines offices, restaurants, shopping arcades, department stores, and entertainment establishments. This area is busy not only in the daytime, but also in the evening, when people come to eat, to meet buisness friends or to seek enjoyment.

There is a small area in this district which, for about 30 years, has been very well known to foreign visitors for its bars and nightclubs. Known as Patpong, this famous place offers various kinds of entertainment - wine, beer, music, dancing, etc. In this area, there are both skytrain and subway stations.

Siam - Ratchadamri
This is the biggest and busiest shopping district in Bangkok, which is accessible easily by skytrain, where almost all kinds of goods are on sale, including cloth, clothes, jewelry, handicrafts, books, antiques, etc. There are several large department stores located here, and also several shopping acades and countless smaller shops as well as a dozen of cinema theatres and mini theatres. So you can satisfy all your needs if you stay in one of over a dozen first-class hotels in the area.

The Pratunam Marked next to the Indra Arcade, though not a high-class shopping centre, is worth visiting if you want to broaden your vision and to see more about the ordinary Thai. It is also the marked of garments for export.

Sukhumvit - New Phetburi
Sukhumvit Road is one of the three longest roads in Thailand, leading right up to the Cambodian border in the east. But what concerns us here is the section from the inner city down to Sukhumvit 63 (Soi Ekkamai). The cream of this district lies around the entrances to the lanes (soi) off the road, where there are numerous fashionable residences, hotels, apartment buildings and guesthouses, and also a large number of really good restaurants.

In the section from Soi Nana (Sukhumvit 3 and 4) crossroads to Soi Sukhumvit 21 (Asoke Intersection), there are many shops catering to foreign tourists, where jewelry, leather goods, ready-made garments and suouvenirs are sold and tailoring and other services are offered.

To the north of Sukhumvit Road is the extension of Phetburi Road which, at night, is brightened with colourful neon signs and enlivened by people going out to enjoy themselves in dozen of entertainment places scattered along the street. And there are both skytrain and subway stations as well.

Royal City Avenue (RCA), a 2.5 kilometres street between Rama IX Road and New Phetburi Road, features several pubs, discos and restaurants. It was once the hottest spot of entertainment in Bangkok. It has attracted teenagers and stylish people to seek amusement in pubs. Though its popularity is reduced, nightlife here is still lively.

Ratchadaphisek
The name Ratchadaphisek refers to the short distance between the Lat Phrao Intersection and the Rama IX Road Intersection, which is a busy commercial district containing several big department stores, office buildings, hotels and a large number of restaurants and nightlife establishments. A little way off the road is Thailand Cultural Centre, where shows and exhibitions are held from time to time. A subway station is also available here.

Old town - Chinatown
The old town is the original area of Bangkok when it was first established as the capital over 200 years ago. Here are located the Grand Palace, the Temple of the Emerald Buddha, the Temple of the Reclining Buddha, two universities and several ministries. The town was formerly surrounded by walls. Now only a few sections are preserved as historical sites. It is from this side of the Chao Phraya River that one takes a boat to visit the Temple of Dawn and the canals nearby.

Chinatown is located just to the southeast of the old town. It began to take shape at the same time of the establishment of Bangkok, when the Chinese inhabiting the old town areas were moved outside the city walls. The goldshop street named Yaowarat, and the temple of the Golden Buddha are in Chinatown.

Bang Lamphu - Khao San Road
Situated near the Chao Phraya River and close to Sanam Luang, Bang Lamphu is a lively commercial area where cloth, clothes, food and other goods are sold at a bargain. Not far from the shopping area is the famous Khao San Road which is a premier centre for backpackers and tourists on low budsgets from all over the world. The street is not very long, but it is full of inexpensive guesthouses and restaurants, and stalls selling clothing, shoes and handbags, souvenirs, etc. It is also a good place to enjoy nightlife.

Pin Klao
The area is located on the western side of the Chao Phraya River, and has become one of the most newly developed areas in Bangkok with several department stores, many restaurants and nightlife establishments. The wide road starting from the Pin Klao bridge leads to such tourist spots as Samphran Elephant Ground & Zoo, the Rose Garden, Nakhon Pathom, Phuttha Monthon, the Thai Human Imagery Museum. Along both sides of the road are numerous fashionable residences.

Ramkhamhaeng
When Ramkhamhaeng University was founded on Bangkok’s eastern outskirts as Thailand’s first open university in 1970, the area was rather remote and underdeveloped. However, as the university’s yearly enrolments increased rapidly, the area soon became a new satellite city of Bangkok with ever-increasing shophouses, apartment buldings, restaurants, cinema houses, department stores, hotels and places for entertainment. It is most frequently visited by students and other Bangkokians.

Rama III
This area is going to be an excellent location for business premises as it is close to busy business areas such as Sathon and Bangrak. There are several department stores, office buildings and huge blocks of flat along the Rama III Road which stands in parallel with the Chao PhrayaRiver. Though the area is rather quiet, nightlife here is interesting as there are plenty of restaurants with delicious food, beer, music and live entertainments.

Bangna
Situated on the eastern outskirts of Bangkok, Bangna is an industrial area and also the gate to the eastern provinces of Thailand, including Pattaya and Rayong. There are several big department stores for shopping. And at 1 kilometres of Bangna-Trat Road, Bangkok International Trade & Exhibition Centre (BITEC) has been voted one of Asia-Pacific’s top venues.

A golden brownish leaf floats in the early morning breeze from a teak tree towering high above the road that climbs through Khao Yai National Park. I watched it drift; its graceful descent to the tarmac caught by sunlight filtering through the trees. Its descent became my marker. Could I speed up just a mite to catch the leaf before it touched the tarmac? I didn’t, but in those few seconds I knew why cycling, of all sports, fascinates me the most. You concentrate on small matters, like finding the strength to round the next bend or climb a mountain road. As you travel in slow mode a destination shares its secrets.

On this particular morning, a multitude of birds presented an unending chorus. There was the sound of a startled animal retreating fast into forest cover as I rounded a bend in Thailand’s largest national park. Monkeys called from the trees. I noticed the wind changes, the rays of sunlight reflecting on trees, the sound of streams and waterfalls. The park was alive with nature’s industry. If I had chosen to roar up the winding road in a car or bus, I might have assumed that the park was a pretty ordinary forest, perhaps even on the dull side.

Khao Yai, the nearest national park to Bangkok, represents a challenging 30-kilometre morning ride, climbing from the southern gate at Prachin Buri to the hilltop plains and the park headquarters. Just a few kilometres beyond the park’s lodges, rolling hills and grass-covered plains give way to a series of hairpin bends during a steep descent to the park gates at Pak Chong. Your cycle will appear to take on a life of its own as it takes you on a breathtaking descent at speeds of up to 80 kph., before you eventually screech to a halt at the park’s checkpoint. Its an exhilarating way to conclude a 5 kilometre excursion.

At the gate, cycles are stacked on the car’s roof rack for the short drive to Chokchai Farm, located on the main highway to Bangkok. We almost fall over ourselves to get seated in this popular ranch-style restaurant where we order juicy steaks and ice-cold beers to round of a perfect day in a national park just 120 kilometres north-east of the capital.

There are a few logistics to this day-ride such as having a minibus drop you off at the Prachin Buri gate and wait for you at the opposite gate for the drive back to Bangkok. Better still have the driver stop at various points to replenish the water supply. The climb will require at least four 500 millilitre bottles even during the cool of the morning.

Another option is to spend a weekend at one of the small resorts that line the road that leads to the Pak Chong junction on the outskirts of the park. This allows more time to explore the off-road trails that criss-cross the park, and enjoy the luxury of a few pit stops at various waterfalls. Many of the resorts rent mountain bikes and even organize outings in the park. Mountain bike clubs also organize outings to the park, that include one- or two-night stay at a resort, and two exhilarating rides in the park over the weekend. Khao Yai’s steep rising mountains are the nearest you will find to Bangkok, but there are other less strenuous cycling options all within an easy transfer from the park.

On the left side of the main highway towards Samut Prakarn is an awe-striking image of a three-headed elephant almost the size of a football field. The new structure, said to be as tall as a 14-story building, is creating a stir among people in the province and in nearby Bangkok. But the stir has nothing to do with the distinct honor of having the world’s biggest elephant relief sculpture. Or with the fact that it is home to a vast collection of priceless arts and antiques built over the years by one of the country’s most avid antique collectors, Mr. Lek Viriyaphant, otherwise known as founder of Ancient City, another awe-inspiring cultural shrine located further down the road.

So what’s so special about this place, officially called the Erawan Elephant Museum, that thousands of worshippers flock to on certain days to offer flowers, garlands, fresh fruit and incense?

The answer is simple. During the early stages of the shrine’s construction, a young girl visited the site on Sukhumvit Road, Samut Prakarn, to make a wish to win the lottery. The next day she got her wish and the story made it to the local papers. From then on, the shrine has always been packed with people hoping for that extra bit of luck on the two days before the twice-monthly lottery draw. On other days, however, the area is more or less deserted.

The museum is a welcome addition to the tourism profile of Samut Prakarn, a thirty-minute ride away from Bangkok. Apart from the Erawan Museum and the Ancient City the province is also known for its crocodile farm and safari attractions.

The construction of the imposing shrine began in 1994. The idea cropped up while Mr. Lek was hosting a visit of a Westerner friend. The friend, awed by Mr. Lek’s extensive collection of artifacts that included chinaware, vases, Benjarong ceramics, musical instruments, statues, etc., suggested that he build a museum where people can view them openly. The museum, he proposed, could be in the form of an apple which, according to western belief, played a crucial part in the shaping of human destiny.

Mr. Lek welcomed the idea but went on building something more reflective of eastern traditions. He thus decided on the heavenly elephant Airavat of Hindu mythology. But he wanted his three-headed elephant to be more than just the vehicle of the god Indra. He wanted the elephant to be the symbolic center of the universe and spiritual heart of the land housing precious relics.

So, he designed, the huge copper elephant sculpture stands on a stained-glass dome which bears the map of the world. The elephant sculpture is hollow. Here Buddha images and other sacret objects are on display. The lowest level of the museum represents the underwater world. It’s the exhibition area that tells the background of the creation of the museum and showcases antiques and works of art from Mr. Lek’s collection.

Mr. Lek, who have made his millions as exclusive Mercedes Benz dealer in Thailand, died three years ago, long before the shrine’s completion. But his heirs have made a point to strictly follow Mr. Lek’s wishes as far as the museum is concerned.

Decorations in the museum were meticulouly chosen for their symbolic meanings and to hightlight Thai artistry and craftmanship. The stucco decorations, for instance, were done in Petchaburi, a province known for its stucco skills. On the other hand, the metal-plated pillars bearing the religious messages are the work of neillo craftsmen from Nakhon Si Thammarat. To give it an international flavour, the heirs awarded the conceptualization of the dome’s roof to German artists.

]]> http://www.seansite.net/thailand/bangkok/elephantine-museum-in-samut/feed http://www.seansite.net/thailand/bangkok/asias-first-dental-spa http://www.seansite.net/thailand/bangkok/asias-first-dental-spa#comments Thu, 17 Feb 2005 03:55:59 +0000 Administrator http://www.seansite.net/?p=37

The cosmopolitan capital of Bangkok is home to Asia’s first dental spa offering aromatherapy and relaxing foot, body and head massage in an avant garde spa-style setting as part of the dental treatment package. Most patients shudder at there mere though of a visit to the dentist. Time spent in the waiting room is an anxious and traumatic experience. The monotone whirring and hum of the dentist’s drill typically heard in the waiting room heightens the element of fear as patients vividly “re-live” memories of their last session in the dentist’s chair.

A new generation of avant garde dental practitioners is working to change this by re-defining the ambience of dental clinics. In Bangkok, the Bangkok Dental Clinic has risen to the challenge of making visits to the dentists, a more pleasant experience. As visitors approach the reception area, the tranquil setting of the spa-style interior dècor helps nurture positive feelings.

Several elements work in tandem to quickly de-stress patients. The scent of therapeutic lavender and lemon grass essential oils drifts through the corridors and renders an instantly calming but uplifting effect. Moodscape music plays in the background. The calming effect of water, a naturalforce, is also harnessed for it’s tremendous healing effect on mind, body and spirit. The sound of flowing water has a subtle, hypnotic effect and is relaxing. Finally, the “healing touch” trough massage terapy completes the sensory “experience”.

The virtues of massage therapy are well-documented and it’s effectiveness is particularly visible and beneficial, pre-dental treatment. As massage therapists work their magic with their nimble fingers, gently kneading tense and knotted muscles, high-strung patients gradually feel the stress and tension melt away. Dental spa patients are therefor in a much better state of mind by the time they settle into the dentist’s chair. The dental spa is a welcome offering and is very well-recieved, particularly among patients who need to undergo extended courses of dental treatment spread over a week or a fortnight. In the last months, the Bangkok Dental Clinic has been welcoming a steady flow of patrons from aboard who travel to Bangkok for dental care and treatment. Catering to the individual needs of these long-haul VIP paients, the dental spa also offers massage therapy that relieves jet lag.

Massages are also offered post-treatment. This is particularly beneficial for patients who have had extensive dental work performed. Post-dental treatment massages ease stiffness and tension as a result of being in a fixed posture for a lengths time.

To date, Bangkok Dental Clinic has a proven track record and experience in providing superior dental care service to patients from abroad. This has inspired confidence in the dental spa clinic which is seeing an ever-increasing number of overseas visitors returning for cosmetic dentistry as well as standard treatment offered. The dental spa clinic also receives a significant number of referrals from existing patients, attesting to the clinic’s achievement of the highest international standards in dental care and treatment, on par with such services being offered in the United States, Europe and other renowned healthcare centers in the cosmopolitian capitals around the world, but without a doubt, more competitively priced and offering greater value for money.

For more information, visit the following web sites: www.bangkokdentalspa.com, www.yourdent.com and www.dentalspaasia.com

Bangkok Inside Out was co-authored by Daniel Ziv (a seasoned peripathic) and Guy Sharett who has managed to sit still long enough to put down some roots in Bangkok. It was released in 2005 (Equinox Publishing, ISBN 979-97964-6-6) and is printed in Thailand.

It is a collection of illustrated essays, arranged alphabetically like a guide book, and that is about as close as it gets to the usual tourist oriented guide to Bangkok. The authors state in their Introduction and Rules of Engagement that “This book isn’t really a guide to Bangkok. There’s no map in here or sections on where to stay and how to get around. Instead, it’s a street level snapshot of a twenty-first century South-east Asian city bursting at the seams. Our approach is raw and cheeky and irreverent at times, but we think of it at as honest and real.”

The bulk of photography in the book is through the lens of Croatian Sasa Kralj who manages to impart the urgency that is a part of Bangkok. A still photography ‘cinema verite’ that I found particulary appealing. The Contents include such subjects that do make up Thailand and Bangkok, but ignored by the mainstream guidebooks. Comics, Fakes, Fortune tellers, Gambling, Hi So/Lo So, Krating Daeng (Red Bull), Motosai, Pollution, 7-Eleven, Soi dogs and even Yaa Baa are featured.

At the back of the book there is an amusing episode called My Grace Hotel Weekend, and whilst it is a humorous interlude, I would have preferred more subjects being dealt with by the authors. Mind you, it is difficult to imagine just what subjects were not covered by the energic pair of writers!

This is probably the most authentic Bangkok book that you will see on the shelves. It is a paperback you can send overseas that will try and explain just why we all live here. The madness, mayhem and melee that makes up Bangkok today. For those who can remember Bangkok 30 years ago, they can see what happened in the three decades - the music might be ended but the malady lingers on, brilliantly caught by these two young writers. The book is truly a snapshot of Bangkok, a slice of time, and I know of no better book to give to disbeliving friends who think that your tales of life in the capital are all anecdotal fairy tales. You can now reply, “You see, it’s all true, page 53 even describes Bangkok as a real-life movie set, and I am a bit-layer (along with eight million others)!”