If You Lose Something in Bangkok...

On Saturday night I went to Bangkok with two German guys that just arrived. They wanted to watch their football (soccer) clubs at a German Bar in Bangkok.

To get to Bangkok in a speedy fashion and at night, it's easiest to take a taxi. The three of us bought road beers at 711 and grabbed a taxi. The traffic was bad so we took the tollway (120 baht). Our driver was very pleased about this and got us to Bangkok in record time, at least in my experiences so far. We cruised at a comfortable 86 mph.

The bar was called "Old German Beer House." We watched the matches, which occurred simultaneously and drank some good German beer. Then we took a tuk tuk to Khaosan Rd. It was my first tuk tuk experience. Basically, a tuk tuk is a motorbike with a little hut on the back of it. At Khaosan we went to one of the many bars and drank San Miguel beers. I am quite fond of San Miguel after my summer in Spain so I was pleased to be reunited. Around 2:30 am we bought some deliciously questionable street food and decided to head back to Rangsit.

We negotiated a flat rate of 300 baht with the taxi driver. En route to Rangsit we all dozed off intermittently. The taxi driver had no idea where we needed to go, despite saying otherwise. We were in the neighborhood but still a few kilometers from the apartment. Eventually I got my bearings and directed him to the apartment turn by turn. He kept asking for more than 300 baht so I gave him 310 baht and got out. As soon as we got back to the apartment I realized that I didn't have my cellphone. Drunkenly we tried to find out how to call the taxi company, but I knew it was a lost cause.

Once I got to my room I tracked my phone on the "Find my iPhone" app on my computer. I declared it lost so the phone would be locked. It allowed me to remotely display a message across the phone. I google translated "Please call" into Thai and left the number to my apartment building. In the event that he would actually call, one of the Thai ladies would answer and possibly work something out. In the morning the taxi driver actually called and left his number!

Knowing that I wouldn't be able to any negotiating, I talked with my Thai friend and described the situation. She immediately asked for the number and worked it all out for me. I met her last night and got the phone back. It only cost 400 baht; well worth it. I am so grateful that she is my friend. I don't know what I would have done without her.

From backseat of tuk tuk

With road beers

Tuk Tuk