I rode the river taxi up the Chow Praya and got off around China Town. While I was wandering around a guy walked up and pretended to be a friendly Thai citizen helping a foreigner. (more on this later). He offered to flag a tuk tuk driver down “for me” and ask him to take me to some buddha sites (temples etc) and also a special wholesale shopping area. The shopping area was a special for me as it was a buddhist holiday and he should add something in to my sightseeing tour due to religious requirements.
I went along with it and hopped into the Tuk Tuk. The driver was very patient and waited for me at all the major sites while I wandered around and took pictures. He was on his way home which was about an 8 hour bus ride so I was his last fare and he wasn’t in hurry. Anyhow I saw things like Wat Pho, the golden mountain, china town, 15 meter buddha, reclining buddha, wat saket wat phra kaew, wat mahatat, wat intharawhan, wat chanasongkram and a bunch of the surrounding area. Along the way we stopped at the special shopping area which was a shop where they hard sell tourists to buy a tailored suit. Since I was on to the game I walked in and tole the guys I’m not buying anything so don’t waste your time. They gave up on me after af ew minutes and I hopped back into the Tuk Tuk and finished my tour.
Now, when you wander around Bangkok friendly thais will walk up and innocently ask you what you are doing, where are you from, have you seen Bangkok, etc. It is a ruse and there is a tuk tuk nearby, working with the friendly stranger that approaches you. They normally have a map or ask you if you have one and outline all the fabulous sites they will arrange for you to see out of the goodness of their heart and love of tourists. What he really wants is to get you into a store where some high-pressure salespeople can drive you crazy trying to sell you something. Be wary while in Bangkok as these guys are expert as pretending to be your friend and they are very good at it.
Wizard of Where