Bangkok is the city that never sleeps...

I can’t sleep and it’s 3:21am, but the great thing about being a nocturnal writer I do my best writing at this hour. It’s actually the same time of the night that I started writing my novel.

I thought it might be an appropriate opportunity to discuss what I’ve learned about how Bangkok works in the month that I have now lived here. Being the hour that it is, you'll notice that these points have little to do with one another (nothing, in fact!), but I'm sure you can forgive me because I've got Britney Spears "3" playing over and over in my head and I can't bloody concentrate. Nevertheless, they are each interesting points in their own way.

Firstly, I’ve learned that Bangkok happens at night. There have been days when I’ve spent an entire day sending out e-mail after e-mail, and receiving no response in return for my efforts (seriously, not one!), I drag my frustrated self out to have a drink with a friend, and in less than an hour, I’ve met someone who knows someone who can hook me up with whatever it was I am looking for. If you don’t go out at night, you don’t meet people, and you don’t make the vital connections needed to survive in this city. It’s the great paradox of working life in Bangkok that you have to clink glasses in the eve if you want to step up a rung on the working ladder during the day.

Secondly, I’ve learned that Bangkok is absolutely chocked full of fascinating people. Everybody’s got some kind of crazy story to tell, and usually a pretty interesting reason for being here. I always love meeting new people, but I have been thrilled by how many of these people I could easily consider to be friends after just a few encounters.

Thirdly, I’ve learned that if you add the word “ka” to any English word or phrase you say, as long as you say the entire phrase with a Thai accent, you can fool many a taxi driver into thinking that you speak Thai. Whenever I get into a taxi, I put on my best Thai accent and say “Phaya Thai BTS, ka” (I live right next to this skytrain stop). Without fail, the taxi driver will look at me in the rearview mirror and say “Oh!! Speak Thai!”. “Neet Noy,” I reply (which means a little, which is a total lie because I know about 15 Thai phrases, which I don’t think even qualifies as ‘a little’). But then I add “meter, ka?” and as long as you say this, making sure to put the “ka” at the end, they will put the meter on. If you do not, they will take you for a ride like they love to do to foreigners and try to charge you 200 baht for what would have been a 60 baht taxi ride.

Those are just a few things I’ve picked up. I’ll keep adding to the list and maybe one day I can use it in my book. I mean…what? Night!

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