Bangkok SkyTrain Leaves Asoke
November in Thailand has been quite notable for me in a number of ways. Its seen the start of the cool season, I have renewed my Thai Drivers Licence to get a full five year licence and of course I have spent a great week in Bangkok courtesy of the Tourism Authority of Thailand. It has also seen normal water pressure return to the house taps enabling me to have a decent warm shower again.
The weather after the heavy rain at the end of October has certainly changed with a North Easterly air flow bringing mostly clear skies and cooler temperatures, this was particularly so in Bangkok, where wearing long trousers and more dressy gear was not the issue I thought it might have been. Given my more normal relaxed style of dress in Prachuap. There has been no rain this month and I wonder, despite the return of tap water, if more rationing is around the corner. I even heard today that the local temple is going to sink a bore hole for the village. Talking about monks reminds me of a slightly odd sight I saw while biking yesterday as two monks and several labourers worked away creating a spirit house near our housing development.
Five Year Thai Drivers Licence
Getting my five year Thai drivers Licence proved very easy once I had prepared the paperwork, with plenty of attention to detail. It took all of ten minutes and it now means that I have a recognised Thai photo ID which is easier to carry than a passport.
Hopefully it will help me continue to get the Thai price at the various attractions we visit.
So what about Bangkok and my familiarisation trip as part of the Medical Tourism Blog Contest. Well its the first time I have been to Bangkok for over a year so I was quite excited to spend some more time in the capital.
Loy Krathong Bangkok
Staying six nights in luxury hotels, eating at top class restaurants and experiencing Loy Krathong on the banks of the Chao Phraya River are certainly things that I will remember for a long time. It was also nice to meet fellow bloggers from around the world, visit lots of different medical facilities in Bangkok and get some free check-ups and treatments along the way.
In fact the trip really brought home to me the importance of regular health checks and the consequences of neglecting your health in retirement. The sum total being that I need to get my blood pressure and cholesterol levels down! So thanks to the doctors at Bangkok Hospital I am now embarked on some lifestyle changes that it would seem are long overdue.
Siam Niramit
The trip also gave me an opportunity to visit some non-medical venues with the performance at the Siam Niramit being particularly memorable. All these activities have meant that I have somewhat neglected my personal blogs and indeed commenting on my favourite Thailand blogs too.
In my defence can I just say that the trip to Bangkok was quite tiring since sometimes we didn’t get back to the hotel till 10pm and I was too exhausted to blog. Anyway I’m back on track now and despite the additional load of writing up my trip reports I have also managed to move my photo-blog to WordPress.
Top commenter? You guessed it, Martyn, from Beyond the Mango Juice, well done and thanks for all your contributions.
Finally, just to remind me that I am truly back in rural Thailand, I have just had to break off from writing this post to remove not one but two Green Tree Snakes from the garden since Duen and Ge-ep(neighbour)were going ballistic and calling for their(the snakes) blood. No photos I’m afraid since its hard to handle the snakes and take pics since my partner was hiding in the house, click on the link to view a picture of these truly beautiful snakes 
Can’t believe I just wrote that, I really have changed my attitude towards snakes in my time here.
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