This is a post dedicated to transportation in Bangkok. Its inspired by the fact that the oldest part of town is not on the skytrain, so heading directly there involves:
(A) Walking down our soi to ThongLor and catching a big red hot bus which crawls along just faster than you could walk, always looking to pick up a few extra people (at $0.18 its still worth it), (B) Getting off the bus at the Klong (canal) and walking underneath where the road crosses the klong to find a small raft platform. You stand on the platform and hail passing canal boats. The canals are notoriously disgusting and smell like a night at Dr. Dremo’s wed to a sulfuric explosion. In fact, the boats are long and wide and have a tarp that you pull up along the sides to prevent the warm and zesty sewage water from getting in your eyes. The boats pass under low bridges and thus the roof can be adjusted down. The people that take your money hang off the sides of the boat and where helmets (presumably to protect themselves from the low bridges). Its quite the experience, best done a few times but not too often (again at $0.50 it’s a bargain).
When you dismount from the boat you can either (C1) Get a cab, which defeats the purpose of going on a bargain voyage (C2) get a tuk tuk, which will turn into a heated debate about price- these drivers are terribly hard to deal with near the tourist sites (C3) take a motorcycle- This is perhaps the most adventurous and dangerous form of transportation around Bangkok. Many use the Motorcycles to go a short distance from a subway or skytrain station to their finally destintion. Every major street corner has a bunch of moto drivers standing around, playing checkers and waiting to take people somewhere. While most drivers are reasonable, many are clinically insane (as was the one who ran a red light with me on a six lane intersection the other night..)
My first moto experience was exhilarating, though I later found out that I violated several unspoken rules of motorbike. Apparently you are allowed to ride either side saddle (for the ladies) or regular. There is a place to hold on behind you, which you can grasp with one or both hands (or if you are cool, you can check your blackberry and drink an ice tea instead). Most people don’t wear helmets are they are only going a short distance and generally have a complete disregard for their life (aka trust moto drivers). My first experience I had my ladybird communicate to the driver where I wanted to go and bid her adieu. While trying to figure out how to mount the moto, the driver noticed my hesitation and tried to make a joke which I failed to understand.
Once I got myself situated, I put one arm on the driver’s shoulder, which made him recoil a bit. Not taking the hint I said “lets go” and off we went. As we picked up speed I didn’t know what to hold on to, so I reached around and held onto the driver. He tried to say something but his words were swept away by the wind before they got to me. At the next stop, he gave me an oversized helmet that I strapped on. Its only now that I painstakingly look back on that experience- a tall lanky farang (white foreigner) wearing a lopsided helmet hanging that’s too large holding on to a small thai man zooming through traffic. I’m sure I provided a good bit of entertainment to the Thai nation that day. I haven’t been back to the street corner where I got the moto since…
(A) Walking down our soi to ThongLor and catching a big red hot bus which crawls along just faster than you could walk, always looking to pick up a few extra people (at $0.18 its still worth it), (B) Getting off the bus at the Klong (canal) and walking underneath where the road crosses the klong to find a small raft platform. You stand on the platform and hail passing canal boats. The canals are notoriously disgusting and smell like a night at Dr. Dremo’s wed to a sulfuric explosion. In fact, the boats are long and wide and have a tarp that you pull up along the sides to prevent the warm and zesty sewage water from getting in your eyes. The boats pass under low bridges and thus the roof can be adjusted down. The people that take your money hang off the sides of the boat and where helmets (presumably to protect themselves from the low bridges). Its quite the experience, best done a few times but not too often (again at $0.50 it’s a bargain). 
When you dismount from the boat you can either (C1) Get a cab, which defeats the purpose of going on a bargain voyage (C2) get a tuk tuk, which will turn into a heated debate about price- these drivers are terribly hard to deal with near the tourist sites (C3) take a motorcycle- This is perhaps the most adventurous and dangerous form of transportation around Bangkok. Many use the Motorcycles to go a short distance from a subway or skytrain station to their finally destintion. Every major street corner has a bunch of moto drivers standing around, playing checkers and waiting to take people somewhere. While most drivers are reasonable, many are clinically insane (as was the one who ran a red light with me on a six lane intersection the other night..)
My first moto experience was exhilarating, though I later found out that I violated several unspoken rules of motorbike. Apparently you are allowed to ride either side saddle (for the ladies) or regular. There is a place to hold on behind you, which you can grasp with one or both hands (or if you are cool, you can check your blackberry and drink an ice tea instead). Most people don’t wear helmets are they are only going a short distance and generally have a complete disregard for their life (aka trust moto drivers). My first experience I had my ladybird communicate to the driver where I wanted to go and bid her adieu. While trying to figure out how to mount the moto, the driver noticed my hesitation and tried to make a joke which I failed to understand. 
Once I got myself situated, I put one arm on the driver’s shoulder, which made him recoil a bit. Not taking the hint I said “lets go” and off we went. As we picked up speed I didn’t know what to hold on to, so I reached around and held onto the driver. He tried to say something but his words were swept away by the wind before they got to me. At the next stop, he gave me an oversized helmet that I strapped on. Its only now that I painstakingly look back on that experience- a tall lanky farang (white foreigner) wearing a lopsided helmet hanging that’s too large holding on to a small thai man zooming through traffic. I’m sure I provided a good bit of entertainment to the Thai nation that day. I haven’t been back to the street corner where I got the moto since…
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