Two Things

This is an important street in Bangkok's Chinatown, or more correctly, and important "Soi" or lane.  There are only a few main roads in this part of town.  The rest of the area is criss-crossed with tiny alleys, lanes and walkways that curve, split, dead-end or double back on each other.  Some are quiet and peaceful only to turn one corner and become a produce market like the Soi in the picture above.

Thus, nothing is easy to find in Bngkok, even with an address and a map.  Nothing that is, except the two things that are always very easy to find in Bangkok.

The two things that anyone can find in Bangkok without any knowledge of the city are Tuk-tuks and dog shit, neither of which are particularly appealing.

When I go back to Bangkok, may it be soon, I intend to have a t-shirt made up that says "Tuk-Tuk?  Mai-Chai!!"  No, I do not want a Tuk-tuk.  The noisy and ubiquitous three-wheeled transports are to be found on almost any corner in Bangkok and most other Thai cities.  While they serve an important purpose, hauling locals and local gods all over the town, the Tuk-tuk drivers love to sit anywhere they think a fa-rang may walk by so they can use any of the many variations of "Tuk-tuk?  Too hot my friend.  Where you go?  Tuk-tuk?" to entice one into a far more expensive ride than a metered taxi.  A good Tuk-tuk driver will try to charge a fa-rang 100 baht to go from one tourist location to another close by.  For the same money and a good tip, I can hail a moving taxi (always hail a moving one, never a parked taxi preying on the tourists) and ride across the city of Bangkok for less than 100 baht.

After a few days I was able to say, in perfectly accented Thai, "Mai-chai, mai-chai" which means "No, no" in answer to the Tuk-tuk touts.  Occasionally they would responds with "Mai-chai korp kum krap" which means  "No thank you" but quite frankly after the fiftieth tuk-tuk all I really meant was a firm "No".

The other given in Bangkok is dog shit.  Poochy land mines are frequent and sneaky.  Walking in Bangkok is interesting enough.  While there are an amazing amount of sights and smells and sounds to distract a walker, you will remain distracted at your peril.  First, you are probably wearing sandals or flip-flops which do not offer the greatest protection from street dangers.  Second, assuming that the street will remain firm under foot is a dangerous thought process.  Sewer grates are often missing, as are the tops to catch basins and other holes in the street.  The result of these missing covers are two or three foot deep gaping holes in the street or sidewalk.  The threat of a broken leg and a foot lacerated by sharpness under the street combined with the probability of serious ick should be enough to keep at least some focus on where one is going.

If the uncertainty of the pavement beneath you is not enough to keep your focus when all about you are gleaming golden wats, the distinct possibility of doggie doo squishing around your flip-flops should have you looking down at least once in awhile between photo ops.  Bangkok mutts are everywhere, despite well advertised campaigns to spay and neuter the poor beasts.  There is food aplenty fallen from market stall cutting boards and dropped by stall patrons.  There is no shortage of alleys, streets and lanes to wander.  Some are strays and some are actually pets, but leash laws are as foreign an idea to the Thais as snowmen.  So the mutts thrive, sleep through the heat in any shade, and crap copiously.

For the most part, the Thais don't scoop the poop, they just don't step in it.  Simple.  Until you combine a six foot wide lane, market stalls, scooter traffic and lots of people.  Many things to negotiate or avoid whilst still looking for the hidden canine fecal mounds.

It all just makes a wonderful challenge.  In Bangkok, the things that one wants to find are usually elusive at best, so that successfully finding one's destination unaided is a triumph to be celebrated.  Navigating directly to a Bangkok destination without the use of Tuk-tuks and without soiling ones feet is even more reason to rejoice.