I stayed in Bangkok almost 2 weeks. As I wrote in my previous post, the initial scheduled dental procedures only took a week. But the last procedure was to have two wisdom teeth extracted on Thursday night and they wanted to see me Friday night to check on the healing.

So let’s back up to my arrival date and my time in Bangkok. After my appointment Friday (the day of my arrival), I watched the sunset over Bangkok from the rooftop garden and met Chris who told me how much he loves living in Bangkok. I found the W District open air food court he told me about and had a yummy Pad Thai. You can get Pizza or Mexican or Greek or BBQ in the food court, but I am in Thailand! I want to eat Asian food! I slept well that night after not sleeping on the red-eye flight. My next appointment wasn’t until 3 pm, so I went for a morning swim and meet Grace and Jill enjoying a morning dip. They are retired and travel each year during the Australian summer. The last few years, they have spent four months in Chiang Khong, a north Thailand town on the Mekong River. There is a new bridge to Lao (Laos) near the town which expanded Chiang Khong from a local market town to an international border crossing in 2013. They spoke so fondly of the people that have befriended them there and their many activities helping with children’s reading programs and women’s projects. They had stopped over in Bangkok for some dental work this year but were anxious to get on the bus and out of the big city!

Hotel Search

It had been my plan from the beginning to stay at Dr. Sunil’s boutique hotel a few nights and then look for a budget hotel. The boutique hotel room was only $45 a night so very reasonable, but if I could save a little more then the overall cost of an international dental trip goes down. 😉 Neil did some research and gave me a few leads close by. I spent the morning walking to look at some hotels, then brought the BTS Skytrain back one stop from On Nut to Phra Khanong; the BTS is very modern, clean, and fun to ride! Right under the stairs as I exited is a small hotel, The Mix, that wasn’t on my list. I walked in to look at the rooms: clean and bigger than the one I was staying in but not as new or gleaming white. I inquired about price and availability and was told it would be basically ½ the price of what I was paying but they were booked for several more nights. Time for lunch and a rest from the heat.

When I got back to the hotel, I was handed a letter on Dr. Sunil’s letterhead that there would be a ceremony in the lobby from 1 to 3 and we guests were invited. Some of us dressed in our black clothes (of course that is all I had, ha) and went downstairs to the main building lobby. When nothing was happening there, we went back to the 5^th floor hotel wing and in what I would have called the common room was a Hindu pujari (priest) preparing for a ceremony. We watched the color and patterns evolve for a while but then I had to leave for my clinic appointment. I was later told the ceremony started about 3 with much chanting and clanging cymbals.  The beautiful colorful patterned art was still there for me to appreciate when I got back. [I never learned what the ceremony signified or honored.]

That Saturday afternoon, I had two root canals and then my teeth whitened. The teeth whitening is the one procedure I could have, should have, skipped. My thought was that it might make my teeth match the one front tooth cap/crown I got when I was 17. Didn’t really work and it was actually more uncomfortable than the process of getting the root canals. There was no pain during the root canals because I was well numbed and relaxed while she drilled and dug in my mouth doing two side by side upper left molars. Afterwards they handed me three drugs I could take: pain killers, antibiotics, and one for swelling. I didn’t take any; didn’t feel the need. I had clove oil diluted with coconut oil which I would put a few drops on cotton and sleep with the cotton against my gum for pain and antibiotic. I also took turmeric capsules and ginger tea for swelling. No problems.

Sunday exploring

At dinner that night in the food court (I had soft Indian dahl, yum), Grace and Jill asked if would like to join them for an outing the following morning. The clinic is closed Sundays so we had the full day. They were heading to an English language bookstore that served organic coffee. Their plan was to have breakfast and browse. We took a taxi the couple of miles to the bookstore along the road with the BTS track overhead. It is very efficient construction with broad pillars in the center of the street separating the traffic and the track elevated overhead. It utilizes the existing thoroughfare and doesn’t take any real estate away from buildings. There are lots of cars on the road but probably almost equal number motor scooters! I later observed that scooter drivers with orange vests were registered taxi scooters.

The bookstore only had a coffee bar and no breakfast. We ventured a block farther to find a local restaurant with a plate lunch buffet. They handed us a plate and let us spoon on our choices. Then she came to the table and decided how much to charge for the amount taken—60 baht which is less than $2 for oh so good food! Now satiated with brunch, we returned to browse the 3 story bookshop. It clearly caters to the expat community and has a good niche market with English and other foreign language books plus a small espresso bar.

We walked to a nearby high-end grocery store where you can find imported products. I got some chocolate and Grace got them a loaf of fresh rye bread! Then we covered a couple more blocks to the EM Quartier Complex, one of the many upscale multistory shopping malls in the downtown area. It’s interesting to look at the architecture and the variety of stores even if there was nothing I needed to buy. One thing that impressed me about Bangkok is the love of plants and greenery. Even in the concrete and paved city, there were plants everywhere the residents could put a planter pot. Many rooftops had gardens and potted trees growing high above the streets. When space was limited, they designed vertical planter walls. We found the Quartier Water Garden on the top floors of the mall with indoor and outdoor sections allowing you to meander through a variety of habitats. The Mall is integrated with the Phrom Phong BTS station so it was an easy three stops back ride to our neighborhood.

What to do about housing?

I was feeling mixed about moving from Dr. Sunil’s hotel because I had friends now in our little community, however, I did want to economize. I was already emailing with Grace and Jill to coordinate meals and getting together, so my logic was that staying at a place in the local area would still allow me to hang out with friends. (It did work out that way all week!) I walked over to The Mix Monday morning and they had a room opening up after all. I went back and packed, check out of The Bloom, and moved to my new hotel for the next week. My first night was VERY noisy from the street noise (even with earplugs) but they were very accommodating and moved me to the garden side room on the same floor the next day. I had a mini fridge, an electric kettle to make tea, free wifi, and the Craft Café right downstairs. I had found my little haven in Bangkok.

Text and Photos by Nanette Harter

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