Brief encounters in Bangkok

My flight from Singapore to Bangkok mid-week was half-empty (after the Erewan bombing). Checking seating the previous week (before the Erewan bombing) had shown the flight was completely full. Hmmm. A friend reported Soi 4 to be quite deserted. Lunch on Saturday at Central Chidlom's FoodLoft was enjoyable, not least because, most unusually, the place was only half-full. "Too close to Erewan" was the agreement around the table from the knowing ex-pats.

I used various Apps to make contact with the (not very many) money boys online - mostly Cambodian and Vietnamese. The boys claimed extreme poverty as "no customer" in the various gogo bars where they work (a common tale even in the high season, however). I had a massage in a Soi not far from Sathorn. I hate those trips up steep, narrow staircases in shophouses, so that may well be my last in that sort of establishment.

The local FILTH (http://www.acronymfinder.com/Failed-in-London,-Try-Hong-Kong-(FILTH).html) seem intent on letting the side down - suit and tie, including jacket, riding the MRT and wearing trainers!!! [attachment=0:3mwa30e2]LettingTheSideDown.JPG[/attachment:3mwa30e2]
The other piece of (mild) amusement was a new wrinkle on Thai pricing. You know the usual thing: fewer customers = higher prices. Uber occupies a grey area in Thailand - supposedly illegal but reasonably available. They have a pricing model where they charge a premium when business is busy, known as "surge pricing". In Bangkok on both Friday and Saturday around lunchtime, firing up Uber, I was advised that surge pricing of 1.5 times the normal price was currently in effect "so as to encourage more drivers to join Uber". WTF?

[destiny]

KOMMENTARIAT (odd handle, BTW ^^), if you want to book a private car, you can now use GRABTAXI too. They have a GRABCAR section added, and if you choose to order a private GRABCAR instead of a regular metered cab, you will learn how much you will have to pay before the trip, same as UBER. Grabcar offers economy cars or Deluxe Cars. I was having lunch with a group of friends at a Sukhumvit Hotel recently, and we ordered the Deluxe car, as there were four of us. It cost us 110 Baht from Suk 2 (yes, near Erawan shrine) to go to Rama 4 near the Tesco / Carrefour. Car was a big Toyota Sedan, driver was female. Only bad thing was that it took her almost 20 minutes to arrive, as she obviously still had another PAX on board when she accepted the order. Otherwise it was hassle-free. Hope you can speak some Thai, though....

[francois]

KOMMENTARIAT (odd handle, BTW ^^),...

Perhaps not so odd a handle. Spelled with a C it is commentariat; a collective term for those broadcast pundits who comment on everything. Know-it-alls.

I'm aware of GrabTaxi but prefer something I can use all over the world, that knows who I am, and doesn't need me to carry cash. As I recall if you want to register with GrabTaxi you have to use the execrable Facebook

[fountainhall]

. . . the execrable Facebook
Couldn't agree more!! Loathe it!

[marti]

I must acknowledge that the use herein of the word execrable has been a learning experience for me. I never had heard it or seen it used before. Thank you.

As the sun set rapidly on the East I bade a fond farewell to a very hot Bangkok, and caught (finally!!) an Uber (Black not X) to Swampy. No surge pricing; they have a fixed rate of 1,000 baht + (they estimate the) tolls the driver will need to pay between pick-up address and airport and that's the total price. My driver didn't speak much English but I'd be prepared to wager he worked for one of the local limo companies, and I rode in one of their cars. Once checked in I fired up Uber again; there were three or four Uber cars available for immediate hire to the city for the same fixed price, unlike the useless AOT service

And my flight? Practically empty, maybe 20% of capacity

I left on a note of curiosity - why are there fewer money boys on the Apps on a Sunday? Many more were available on Saturday, Monday and Tuesday

[Smiles]

" ... I must acknowledge that the use herein of the word execrable has been a learning experience for me ... "
However, you still can't seem to get your head around the word "herein".
And even worse ... I have received no such acknowledgement for my use of the word "execrable" in regards to many/most of your posts.
Thank you.