AN INCONVENIENT TRUTH: Living in Pakkret, Shopping in Bangkok

It is perhaps, somewhat mundane to do another post about shopping - except that we really haven't do anything else since we've been here. Besides, I know most of you go through the day wondering 'What would an average trip to the mall be like for Kaddi and Shane. How do they do it?" Well, gather 'round l'il chit-rens and I shall tell you a tale of our recent trip to buy a ballet outfit for Meg and soccer shoes for Jake. A trip to one of the biggest malls in Southeast Asia - Mah Boong Krong...because a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.

Step #1: Getting a taxi

Since we live in a galaxy far, far, away from all public transportation and we do not have a car, getting around will be somewhat difficult. We are going to buy bicycles soon, which will at least allow Kaddi and the kids to get to their lessons or friend's houses. But for now we have to rely on the transit system within Nichada Thani.

Taxis are not allowed to drive within Nichada Thani unless they're bringing someone in or picking someone up. Whenever we want to go anywhere outside Nichada, I must first go down to the security guard booth at the entrance to our complex and notify the guard that I need a taxi. He then radios to another guard post at the entrance to the community, which happens to be nearby the queue of motorcycle taxis. A motorcycle taxi then rides out to find a taxi and leads him to our apartment complex where I am waiting.

Motorcyle Taxi fee: 20 Baht (sixty cents)

Step #2 Explaining the destination

This can be more complicated than it seems, especially if you're going somewhere that no one has heard of before - like the Asia Airport hotel where we stayed for four days. Sometimes the driver has no idea where it is. Sometimes he knows exactly where it is and refuses to go there and drives off leaving you with nothing to do but flag down another taxi. This morning we were on our way to the nearest skytrain station called Maw Chit. What could be simpler than that, everyone knows where that station is located. So, when we got in the taxi I just told him 'We need to go to Maw Chit.'

As we driver down towards the city I had a sinking feeling, and it wasn't just because we had Puke Skywalker in the backseat turning a little blue (and no empty plastic bags). The route we were taking just didn't feel right. But I didn't bring it up with the driver because I didn't want to look like an idiot checking the destination over and over again. Instead I looked like an even bigger idiot when we end up at a busstation instead of at the skytrain platform. As luck would have it, 'Maw Chit' is also the name of the Northeastern Bangkok bus terminal that services people traveling all around the country. This is also something I should have remembered from my days as a missionary, but of course I didn't. With my stupidity out in the open, the taxi driver remarked 'I was wondering why you guys were headed upcountry with no luggage!"

Taxi Fee: 120 baht ($3.75)

(Real men wear pink shirts? No, real men ride in pink taxis. Next time I'll wear my pink polo shirt in the pink taxi. It'll be like camouflage. And maybe...the driver will forget I'm there and I can ride for free.)










Step #3 Riding the Skytrain.

This is probably the fastest and easiest part of the journey. The skytrain has revolutionized travel in Bangkok, it's just a shame it doesn't branch off into more districts. After arriving at the station and paying the taxi (I didn't have right comibination of bills and had to ask another taxi outfit for change), we ascend to the skytrain platform. It is exactly like the BART system in the Bay area (or probably any L-train or subway in North America). You find your destination, pay the required fee, feed your ticket in and quickly make it through the turnstile. We've only had one incident, and that was when we were exiting. We fed Meg's ticket in and she momentarily froze, missing the moment when the turnstile was open. So, we used Kaddi's ticket to get Meg out and then Kaddi was stuck inside without a ticket. I tried to convince her to just jump over the turnstile since I could easily take down any security guard who might try to intervene, but she insisted on maintaining her dignity. So, we left her there alone with her 'principles' and went to lunch.

(The Skytrain speed into a relatively empty Maw Chit Station. You can see Jakob is dangerously close to the rails. That yellow line is all the separates him from certain doom. I suppose a concerned parent would be ensuring his safety instead of taking a photo, but...)








Of course, I jest. I notified a security guard about what had happened and he let her out a special exit door. Since then I've tried to get her to use that story several times, but she insists on paying. Anyway, we were fortunate that the MBK mall has a skywalk way directly from the 'National Stadium' station into the mall. Otherwise, it would mean flagging down another taxi or even worse - a bus ride. I'm still debating whether I could even get Kaddi on a bus in Bangkok. It took her two years to get on a bus in Madison.

Skytrain fee: 135 baht ($4)

Step 4: Finding Yourself in MBK

It's hard to explain what the MBK mall is like to people who haven't been to Asia before. It's sort of like being at the state fair on a Saturday night, if the state fair were indoors and had eight floors. It is a labyrinth of kiosks, department stores, and counterfeit merchandise. Kaddi found a 'Coach' handbag for less than thirty dollars. It was our first time in the mall, and we weren't sure if we would ever find the store we were searching for. I stopped to ask two mall workers for directions and both told me that this store wasn't in the mall and I should go out down the street looking for it (just like looking up a referral as a missionary) despite the fact that I had just handed them a the store's business card with a big 'MBK' printed on it. Fearlessly, we pressed on and somehow ran into the ballet store accidentally. In actuality, it wasn't so much a store as a street display.

(Bangkok's finest purveyor of ballet clothing and accessories. What started as a trip to purchases some ballet shoes turned into an orgy of consumerism - shoes,a skirt, a leotard and tights. By the time Kaddi was finished it took three paramedics to stop me hemorrhaging money.)

And Meg's ballet outfit was merely the first of several destinations. We had to find some bedding, soccers shoes and shin guards for Jake, and somehow locate a restaurant with a odor pleasant enough for Elk Grove's most discriminating diner. And, once we had managed to accomplish all this we had to repeat the above steps to travel back home.

Cost of a day at the mall: Indeterminate

Lots of Taxi drivers hang Buddhist medallions (called 'phra' from their rearview mirrors. They usually consist of engraved pictures of either the Buddha or a well-renowned Thai monk.

Getting through a day of shopping without Jakob puking in a taxi: Priceless.