By Lawrence Casiraya
INQUIRER.net

ARRIVING in Bangkok past midnight without a hotel booking, I took my chances on Khao San Road tagging along with two French women I met at the airport. I figured it was a lot easier to find a place to stay there. Turns out I had to cherry pick hotels in the wee hours of the morning.

Khao San greeted me with its bright lights, thumping music (Blur’s “Girls Against Boys” mixed with this shalala-la ditty), streetwalkers and all the revelry — exactly like that scene in ”The Beach” as I remember it.

After scouring through every available signboard I laid my eyes on, I spotted one leading to an alley — Sawasdee Bangkok Inn, the familiar purple giving me some sort of comfort after flying Thai Airways thrice in the last two days.

Patience is indeed a virtue, it was the most decent-looking room I found — the rest were either too big or too ratty, depending on your tolerance. D&D Inn (where the two French women were staying — WITH RESERVATION) looked really nice but it was full, apparently a traveler’s favorite. Stay away from Khao San Palace, shitty rooms. O

My room was cozy enough in size, the TV small but an essential antidote to loneliness. Hot shower, check. With breakfast, check. 1,375 baht for a three-day promo, not bad.

Nevermind the not-so-picturesque window view, the al-fresco restaurant downstairs makes up for it. A Continental breakfast and watching the NBA Finals on their big screen TV while I was writing this was a huge plus — and they have wifi.

HERE’S interesting news from Bangkok.

The latest fashion craze? The fishskin bikini, made from the skin of the tilapia fish.

Check out this Reuters video.

Hmm, how about our designers, what are they doing with our tilapia?