MBK Center

After checking-in at my airport hotel, I took the free hotel shuttle back to the airport to take the Express Rail-Link back in downtown Bangkok.  I was going to go to the MBK Center which is the most visited mall in Bangkok.

However, before going there, I stopped near the Saen Saep Canal which is right near the mall.  A portion of the canal is used for public transport by boat service. The canal is lined with concrete walkways on either side in many areas where people stroll despite the foul smells of the canal, and in other areas the heavily polluted water oozes into adjacent properties, especially after heavy rainstorms. The canal is connected to many other canals in a large network, though most of the other canals do not have a regular transport service.  I did not get a chance to ride it do to time constraints but would have liked to.  But I stopped here just to see what it’s like and waited for a boat to go by to take some pics.  Pics below.

After this, I walked back to the mall.  Why would I want to go to a mall?  Because of MBK Wednesday Night Fight Night!  It’s Muay Thai fighting, free, right outside the mall’s entrance.  Pretty cool.  Muay Thai is a combat sport from Thailand that uses stand-up striking along with various clinching techniques.  It is Thailand's national sport.  I thought it would be cool to go see it.  I actually don’t think I’ve ever seen any type of boxing live; certainly not Thai kick-boxing.  It was pretty interesting and pretty crowded.  The mall is near a large intersection and there’s elevated walkways to traverse the intersection so you could watch the fights from up there too though, again, it was crowded.  I think there were like 6 bouts total and it started around 6pm and ended around 8:30p.  I watched about 4 fights.  In a couple of them, the announcer announced a couple of American fighters in separate fights and both won which I was kind of surprised at.  Near the ring and mall were tents where vendors were selling knickknacks, clothes, and food.  I got some good vegetarian eats (using chopsticks out of a bag) which were very good.

This was my last night and I would catch my flight the next morning to Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam which was altogether a different kind of animal…