day5
hm. can't remember what happened beyond finally managing to wake up at 10am instead of some early ungodly hour. caught another sleeper train to Bangkok. we got bottom bunk beds this time. definately more spacious.

day6
Chatuchak market!!! wanted to get there early (9am) so that we can be first customers and be able to drive hard bargains etc etc. walking to sky train station when this cab said that he wld get us there for only 20baht, as long as we waited for him to get petrol.... or something like that. so we get on, n he drives us aimlessly ard b4 bringing us to this jewellery export centre. apparently taxi drivers get 5 free litres of petrol for bringing in tourists that stay for more than 15 mins or buy some jewellery.... definately a bad choice to bring us man.... perhaps seeing our jewel-less state the taxi driver surmised that we were def in the market for some? anyways. so we didn't stay long enuff so he didn't get his petrol. so he brought us to a different jeweller(!) and said he wld get us to chatuchak for free if we got him petrol. I guess gas prices being at ard 20baht/l, it's def a gd deal for him..... wah cor i didn't know this kind of scam existed in Bangkok.... although this has good milking potential.... we cld go ard offering ourselves as petrol-obtaining accomplices for free taxi rides....?

anyways. finally got to the market. wah it was HUGE. selling everything. was wandering ard when we noticed that all the shopowners were kneeling on the floor, facing towards the walkway. really weird. then all this commotion started and we realised that some Thai princess was visiting the market. A whole bunch of ppl walked by, accompanied by guards, soldiers, policemen etc.... caught a glimpse of the princess. very normal, wearing a blue suit. was a bit disappointed. but then again can't really expect her to go ard in traditional ceremonial dress, right?

so. she finally left the market, n all was back to normal. i got jeans, t-shirts, a backpack etc etc etc. completely depleted myself of the 2500baht i brought out. thank heavens i didn't bring out more money, else also sure gone. saw the cock fighting section. hhm. the fighting was ok i suppose. never seen cock fighting b4... but it seems pretty cruel to fight them for sport. saw other cocks in cages, most of them were nursing battle wounds... at least i kill mice for some obscure purpose that can be sort of rationalised. next we saw the puppy section. OMG they were SO CUTE!! *grin* really paiseh jostling with the little kids to pet n play with the puppies.... but Hey, cldn't resist.

finally got back to the hotel, went out in search of a club. went to Khao Sun rd, suppose to have night life. yar i guess got lar, but it's all bars n ppl watching soccer. no dance floor. went to Suan Sorn(sp?), near the infamous PatPong area, to try again. Still no luck, cannot find dancing. only saw stuff like 'Pussyfoot club' or 'Go-go Bar', subheaders like 'our exciting hostesses will bring u to the moon' etc etc. all very enticing i suppose but ah... not what we were looking for.

day7
bus to Koh Samet, 124baht. quite high class bus, fare inclusive of biscuits n coke n water n pirated vcd screening of King Arthur in thai. 3 hrs later, catch ferry to NaDan, then Vong Duern beach. ferry cldn't land on beach, so this little floating thing ferried us over, 10baht/person. fine. we land on beach, this official sez we're in a national park. entry fee 200baht/person. WAH COR. qiao za!! esp to poor folks who spent all their money at chatuchak, really hurts! no mention AT ALL in the guidebooks. *grumble* *mumble* *rant* *complain*

explored the beaches, quite nice. sand very white, n fine. picked a place for seafood. not too bad, but somewhat far frm our lodgings. went to Tak's Bar. quite a happening place. many ang mohs. then had to get back. in the dark. no streetlights. was pretty nervous. 7th mth some more. got lost for a bit, didn't know how to get back without scrambling across rocks n potentially falling into ocean.... finally found a track through some undergrowth... Kelvin was leading, and used Sumin's camera for light. he wld occasionally take a picture, just to use the flash. Man Oh Man i always expected to see longhaired women in white standing just in front of us..... *shudder*. dat was the longest walk i ever took. Ever. finally made it back though. decided to switch accomodations to be closer to the night life, so we won't have to do that ever again.