General Satisfaction In Bangkok

We live in an enclave that runs off the third street in 'The Neighborhood of General Happiness'. We've been here about three years, in Pak Kret, Nonthaburi, about 20km North of Bangkok CBD although where the city begins and ends remains a mystery that we are well within. Its a giant thing, Bangkok, or Krung Thep Mahanakorn. The ancient design was that of a Mandala but now is more like a pine tree, a tree that looks in part as if its falling. It's a place that takes years to know. I'm proud of the things I know: That it's best not to try to get into the CBD on a Friday at the end of the month because the roads will be jammed tight for hours, many hours, because this is the time of month when people get paid.

So, if you have to get into town, you try to get the taxi to take you to Mo Chit BTS and from there get the Skytrain into Siam/Ploenchit etc depending on where you need to go. If you want to get to Chinatown, well, you can take the BTS from Mo Chit or the MRT underground from Chatuchat Park (which is also Mo Chit) and that'll take you through to just near Yarowat and you can get a tuk-tuk from there, although some wont want to take you; its only a 10 minute stroll from there anyway.

Sometimes its very hard to get a taxi around 2pm because its driver-change over time. If you're in a taxi with a reluctant driver he may well , mid journey, say 'no. I cant do it.' and he'll wave down another cab and then 5kms along in the new cab, the driver might say 'no, I cant do it.' and he'll flag down your third cab.
Some drivers just dont know where things are, which is fair enough, because its such a giant place. Sometimes you cant change directions for 20 minues or so , thus if you take a wrong turn, well, it may take you 20-40 minutes to get back on track.

The road sysem is very odd and resembles nothing so much as a big plate of one-way noodles; some that dont actually seem to connect to any others.
The joy of the Skytrain and the MRT is that you can get to most places in the city fast and economically and if you have an understanding of where things are, well, you can get on at Ploenchit, go to Asoke, go to On Nut, or do the run to Thaksin Bridge -National Stadium, and the mysterious and heady steamy mixture of sex and international diplomacy of Sala Daeng etc.

Motorcycle taxis are really the best way to get around at street level because you can go on footpaths, through lobbies, down train tracks, across prohibited land etc in the most creative of journeys.
Motor cycle deaths happen about once per hour in the city so this form of rapid transit has its issues, but whilst you are alive, you certainly know you are even if at the destination you note your elbows and knees are sore from whacking into various parts of moving cars.

It's very satisfying to know your way around, that's for sure. Sometimes the great thing about a journey is that you proved yes, it could be done; or you have suffered enough by trying and you know a little more about the Giant that is Bangkok, Krung Thep Mahanakorn. The City.