Red shirts...

So, my one dive. To be honest, I thought I was going to die at first. Water in my nose mouth and eyes. I needed out and real air. I survived and made it through a one hour dive where I did see some cool things. But I don't think diving is for me. I'll stick to snorkeling. 
After here we caught a flight back to KL. Had a great afternoon there with some shopping and bargaining. The next morning I was off to Bangkok. 
Arrived Bangkok on the 12th of may. 
Off the bus I met a French man and a Thai lady. With them I found a cheap place to stay. Not the best but not horrible either. The Thai lady showed us around quite a bit of town. We took the boat down the river and unfortunately I forgot my camera. We went to shopping centres and walked right through the red shirt territory. At first I felt a little apprehensive but at this point things were calm. Just a guy talking over loud speaker with screens all over to show it to everyone. People clapping at what was said. Free food being given to people others buying it from the numerous stalls. You could get everything you needed without leaving the zone. 
It was quite interesting and we didn't feel threatened or in harms way. 
The following day lots of walking. Yaya, the Thai girl took us all over. Surely walked more than 10km. We were in Chinatown where you can you find everything you need and then some. We went to a nice park where people were doing aerobics, running, playing badminton. They was different cardio and weight machines for free use in the park. Nice. Oh can forget the Thai chi and dance lessons. :)
The next day was more of a quieter day. Did my own thing. Which included me meeting a Thai man who told me i should leave the country immediately. Sent me in a tuktuk to a gov't travel agency that wanted to sell me a package trip for a week to the islands costing 9500baht. That's over 300$. No thank you. Then I argued with the tuktuk driver who wanted to rip me off. Next thing I know I have agreed for another tuktuk to take me to some temples and a shop so he could get his free gas coupon. After 2 temples we went to the shop. Jewelery. Sure it's beautiful but 500$ for earrings isn't in my budget. Yes they were gold with rubies but no. Next he wants to take me to the bloody gov't travel agency. No take me to the next temple. I went in and did my thing. When I came out the guy was nowhere to be seen. And someone told me that he left with other people. Jerk. I wasn't to far from my hotel so headed back walking. Hey, I didn't end up paying. Went and bought a ticket for ko samui.  
That night Pierrot, French guy, had met a Canadian and I joined them for dinner. Then we walked around in the streets went to a bar for a bit and chatted with lots of people. Debated who was a real lady and who wa a lady boy. It is really hard to tell. Good night though late. 
I met up with the Canadian guy yesterday and did a couple temples. On facebook I saw that an old friend was in Bangkok and ended meeting up with him after 11 years. Changed my bus ticket for today and went for dinner and a couple drinks. He was off to Tokyo today.
Today the weather isn't great. Rained this morning and is still overcast. Could rain again. So at 6 tonight I'll be on my way south on a night bus. Hopefully I will get some sleep. Island beaches for the next 8 or 10 days for me. 
And I'm caught up now. Wow it has been a long time since I have done that. Hehe. Hopefully I will be better at it now. Wifi is common so it's easy to write on my iPod and post a little later, as I'm doing now. ;)