title	A Working Trip to Bangkok, Thailand - 2nd-4th October 2004
intro	Another work trip to the Far East commences with a stopover in Bangkok for a couple of days. There's a day of work-related stuff, but it leaves an evening and a whole day to roam around the heaving, smelly and very hot city. This features an entertaining run around the city in a Tuk-tuk, visiting various temples until the inevitable 'my cousin's shop where tourists get government subsidy' diversion at which point the Tuk-tuk is ditched in favour of Shanks's Pony. [2015 update: the bombing of the Erawan Shrine triggered a 're-mastering' of these photos as well as an excising of some repetitive 'building' photos and the introduction of some new ones]
img_0020	Just around the corner from the hotel, the streets are full of night markets and mystery food
img_0023	Chillies abound, and mysterious bags of vegetables wait to be sold
img_0024	Bangkok street scene
img_0026	A cheerful woman sells various forms of meat on a stick
img_0031	Evening market stalls
img_0032	A stroll down a side street
img_0034	Elsewhere, there are lots of mobile scooter-driven food stalls
img_0040	Tourists and locals give offerings at the Erawan Shrine, dedicated to the god Phra Phrom
img_0042	A scene of incense and candles
img_0044	Some traditional Thai dancing occurs
img_0049	An offering of fruit and flowers to the god
img_0050	Erawan Shrine
img_0056	The Thai instantiation of a Hindi god
img_0057	More smoky scenes
img_0059	Thai dancers
img_0101	Massive wooden elephants with gold foil on their heads
img_0104	Nosher's dinner
img_0105	Next morning, getting on a river taxi is an adventure in its own right as the boats stop for only a few seconds
img_0111	A hard-hatted river pilot keeps an eye out
img_0113	Riverside houses
img_0115	A woman with baskets of fruit roams around
img_0116	The temple of the standing Buddha
img_0118	As part of the ritual, status are covered in thousands of squares of gold foil
img_0123	A massive standing Buddha
img_0126	A back-street scene
img_0128	Over the rooftops
img_0141	An incredibly-ornate temple building
img_0142	Another gold-leafed status
img_0146	A woman and a wheelbarrow
img_0147	Nosher's tuk-tuk driver makes some running repairs
img_0148	Some crazy wiring
img_0151	The impressive Wat Benchamabophit - the Marble Temple
img_0155	Massive lilly pads
img_0168	Another western tourist looks at statues
img_0172	A couple of old dudes play chequers outside a cafe
img_0177	Every car is a taxi
img_0183	Views from the top of the Golden Mount - Phukhao Thong Wat Saket - looking over Bangkok
img_0185	Bangkok City
img_0192	The view down to the river and the needle boats
img_0193	Fake plastic Buddhas
img_0196	Pinnacles at the top of the Golden Mount
img_0199	Nosher in the required bare feet
img_0201	Another self-portrait in the Filipino Barong shirt
img_0208	It's not hard on this street to see where the world's mahogony is going
img_0211	More wheel-based shops
img_0213	A woman with a sack-barrow
img_0214	Down by the riverside
img_0218	One of a million tuk-tuks heads off up the street
img_0219	Plastic-wrapped Buddhas
img_0225	Back on the river in a packed river taxi
img_0227	The needle boats of Bangkok
img_0228	Another taxi steams up the river
img_0235	The impressive, but oddly deserted, foyer of the hotel
img_0242	The traditional "view out of the hotel" photo
img_0245	Later on, in the company of one of the local business contacts Nosher had met up with, there's a trip to a huge night market with music
img_0247	More Thai-pop randomness with an umbrella
img_0248	Back-stage fruit sellers at San Luam Night Bazaar
img_0249	Bright lights, hot city
img_0252	Nosher's hotel room