They came highly recommended on Tripadvisor.com. They measured Adam and had him put green push pins in the material that he liked…then in one week, bam, handmade suits. We will come back and see them in September when we fly through Thailand before heading to Singapore for a final fitting. Adam ended up ordering a beautiful charcoal suit, a khaki colored suit and a nice striped shirt. We strolled around this sort of town and people watched. It seems this area is full of older foreign men with Thai women. Adam and I were talking about how many different people come to Thailand and for so many different reasons…well here, the older white man (from many backgrounds and countries) fall in “love” or are accompanied by young Thai women.
Way across town, we went to the Cotton House inside of the OP shopping area near the oriental hotel to order me some handmade dress pants and a nice dress as well..no suit jacket…maybe I should have, but just nice pants are what I need, being short and womanly 🙂
We once again hopped on the river taxi and took it farther up the river to Phra Arthit in hopes of finding Kho San Road which is a Road…similar to a flea market and foreign center combined. So, we followed the foreigners off the boat and headed pretty much straight through back roads of bars, hostels, restaurants, massage centers and juice shops and found Kho San Road.
This road is supposed to be the “mecca” of backpackers…it is where everyone gathers, relaxes, drinks beers, socializes, and meets other travelers. I will say we saw tons of foreigners, tons of shops, tons of men touching Adams shoulder asking to make him suits and just tons of everything. We walked down the road, looked at some shops and then looked down more roads and more shops, and all we bought was a few postcards. I had seen a great skirt that I wanted, but didn’t pick it up when we saw it and then, I never found the stall again. Adam went on search for a bathing suit, but they were all way too big and way to super flashy for his taste. We found a street of silver where there were just tons and tons of earrings, necklaces, rings, body jewelry stacked up in these plastic drawer type containers…lining walls and hallways in shops, it made me think of all the shopkeepers back in america and the great upmarking they do on their goods.Then we saw the wedding street and it made me want to drop everything and get a beautiful Thai wedding dress…but I didn’t.
then aerobics class started and we jumped right in. In the middle of the park, filled with people, about 50 or so Thai men and women…and two foreigners…did awesome techno aerobics in the park, to a great remix. We had a blast, but it got way too complicated for us so we packed up, took the water taxi back and made it to our hotel.
We did spot a collection of “rockin cars” outside at the Ritz which Adam spent a good 15 minutes taking pictures of.
We were exhausted (or I was at least) and had some food in the hotel lobby and then crashed. Today, I have no idea what we are going to do…which is half the fun…except being such a planned person, this is something I am still learning about. We are not sure if we are going to take a day trip out of the city or leave for good and come back early Tuesday morning in time for our flight to Koh Samui!! (wedding time people!) I guess that is all part of the fun of backpacking.
We are really at the point of leaving 3/4 of what we took with us behind so we can take only 3 days worth of clothing with us, it is so easy to just wash whatever in the sink and wear it in 2 days when it is dry…not sure what we are going to do.
expenditures of the day:
Public transportation 30, 35, 30, 35, 20, 20, 28, 28 = 226 baht
lunch 205 baht
7-11 99 baht
dinner 230 baht
total for the day – 760 baht (my math is bad, if i made a mistake, dont tell me 🙂
total in $ – $23.60 -definitely within budget!
PS …make sure to check out all of our Bangkok pictures in the album on the right!
More from Asia
Intentionally and incrementally. Most families who live this way did not leap from conventional to adventurous overnight. They built remote work capacity, paid down debt, tested longer trips, and had increasingly honest conversations about what they actually want from their lives. The leap feels bigger from outside than from inside.
Different for every family. For some it is long-term travel. For others it is weekend adventures close to home. What connects them is intentionality about how time is spent and a preference for experiences over accumulation. The version that fits your family is the right one.
By finding stability within the adventure rather than treating them as opposites. Routines, rituals, and family rhythms travel with you. Familiar foods, bedtime routines, and predictable family dynamics provide stability even when the location changes. Kids need consistency in relationships more than consistency in geography.
That people are fundamentally similar across cultures in what they want for their families. That comfort zone is a smaller circle than it feels from inside. That the things worth having in life require effort and discomfort to get. And that time together doing hard interesting things is the most reliable source of family closeness.
By getting clear on why you made the choices you made and returning to that clarity when the outside noise gets loud. Most families living unconventionally describe an initial period of explaining themselves that gradually gives way to just living the life. The explaining becomes less necessary as the results become visible.
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