Air Asia was certainly an interesting experience. From what I could tell with the reviews it all goes one way or the other. You will either be fine or pretty unfine. I put place ours experience in the latter. The flight took off late because all the check in machines had broken. The regular economy seats did not have enough leg room but we had gone even cheaper and were in super economy. Ten out of ten for perseverance can be awarded to the guy in front of me but he never did manage to recline his chair. Obviously there was no food, very little in the way of all the safety announcements (at last) and however bad the turbulence got the pilot didn't see the need to put the seatbelt lights on. He must have been a realist and was of course right. What good is a lap belt (not even a 3 point harness like it cars) going to do you when you are doing 600mph + at 32,000ft? I think it just there to make it a little easier to identify whose remains belong to whom. Anyway let us get back on track.

Whilst we had not ear marked any hostel in particular we knew that we wanted to stay on the Koh San Road as this is the famous backpacking area. The bus from the airport was our first experience of being on the road in SE Asia and I feel that during my time here I am going to add a lot of knowledge to my over taking repertoire. This now includes the biggest time saver ever and my personal favourite - why wait at the back of a queue for a red light when the other side of the road only has light traffic on it?

When we got to the Koh San Road we were naturally attacked by people asking us if we "want to go guest house" but we said we had one booked and headed down the road. I had been hoping that since we had flown considerably further south it would be a little cooler. I hadn't counted on the extra humidity and smog which in fact makes Bangkok the hottest city year round on earth.

The first day we were there we went to get some tickets booked to get up to Chiang Mai but were delighted to discover there was a full moon party coming up in a few days so were glad we didn't book an onwards flight. We did a complete u-turn (literally) and decided to do the 12 hour journey south instead of north. This also gave us ample time to check out Bangkok before we would need to depart.

That very first evening we made friends with a bunch of guys from Quebec and once the beer was flowing (80p a pint!) we decided we should plunge in at the deep end by heading to a ping pong show. We were in a large group so agreed everyone stuk together what ever happened. This was not because we were expecting anything dire, just often when you leave they try to slap on a whole load of extra charges. We found 3 tuk tuks (they more found us) to take us and the journey was free (the drivers get a cut from the club). We asked them to race to race to which they kindly obliged - it was terrifying.

The ping pong show was impressive. I am not going to go into any graphic detail but ping pong tricks were surprisingly among the least impressive of the 20 part show and even free beer was laid on. It was a great night until when we eventually tore ourselves away and found we were not missing someone but something. Whether my camera was stolen or fell out my pocket (I think the former) I do not know but it was not the best end to the night. I replaced it like for like the next morning and also bought a clip so it could be attached to my belt loops when it was in my pocket. You can have that tip for free. I suppose you always have to look on the brrightside. The old one had never been quite as good since it's soaking on Franz Joseph as dirt or moisture had got deep inside and was ruining videos and zoomed in shots.

Apart from the camera incident I was pleased to see that things were about to get cheaper. I think Thailand will be one of the most expensive places we go in SE Asia but even so you can get air conditioned private rooms for as little as £5 each, nor is it unreasonable to expect the hostel to have a private pool as well. You can also eat off the street vendors cheaply and although you might need to order two lots to fill yourself its still going to come to only about £1.

Through out the week we got through most of the stuff we wanted to do. We got our haggling skills dialled never paying more then half what tuk tuks and taxi fares started at often less. Olli scored the best one though paying 250b for something that started at 1250b. This happened in Pat Pong night market, a weird and wonderful place.

It had been one of the original red light districts catering to the soldiers on R&R during the Vietnamese war. Since then though it has become more of a tourist destination for the curious. You can go in and have a drink and people watch without getting frisked down for money. In some of the other districts that have popped up since you are expected to leave with a girl. If you don't you can expect to pay some pretty hefty tips before you leave.

As said this area caters for those that just want to have a look and the market makes it quite family orientated with mum keeping one eye on the children and one eye on dad as girls try to shamelessly drag him off into the bars. After we had got some odds and ends in the market we went into a place called Kings Castle I. We had to make it quite clear as soon as we sat down that we were only there for drinks and once we could relax without being harassed we sat and watched the carnage.

The dynamics of the teddy bars are a little weird. Essentially there are a lot of girls dancing in very little on a stage in the middle and at anytime you can nod to one and they will come down and join you for a drink. You of course buy them drinks (very often without seeing the bill till the end) and they get a cut of this. There is also the madam who is looking for punters eyeing any girl more then the others and they will get that girls attention by flashing a laser pointer in the girls eye and then at the guy so they can head over. The ultimate goal is that they pick you up and you leave etc etc.

Organised prostitution is illegal though so I am not sure exactly sure how it happens. Perhaps a blind eye is turned but from what I could tell to get around the illegality you paid the madam to compensate for the girls time away from the bar she is working in. Anything after that does not count as illegal because it is a private arrangement.

What makes it super weird though are the social dynamics behind it. It's the way the girls try to pick up the guys. They come over and act all interested, "what you do for living?" "where you come from" and try to strike up the sort of conversation you normally see in reverse when guys go to clubs or bars to hit on girls. Its great fun to watch but I am not sure why bother with all the bull. At the end of the day it's a money transaction. In Amsterdam for example you just go up, knock on the door, pay and then, well, knock again.

Another market we went to was called Kanchuka Market and I will have to double check my facts but I think it is the largest in the world with over 16,000 stalls catering to about 200,000 people a day. From it you can pretty much purchase anything under the sky and with so many vendors the competition is fierce keeping the prices well down.

Another thing we checked off our list was go to a cinema. It killed two birds with one stone as we also got to see Fast Five. Whilst they have moved away from the previous formats which were very much geared up to car boffs interested in components and technical specifications they have made up for it by creating one of the best action films I have ever seen. Go watch it!

Whilst going to a cinema may sound like a slightly mundane thing to do, something which could wait until we go home, going to a cinema in Bangkok is a must. They do have the same sort of sardines packed into a can theatres as we do at home they also have the VIP screen as well. These tickets are expensive even by our standards at £16 a seat. However you have a large electric reclining chair, pillows, blankets etc and there are only 20 people in the room. Oh and by the way did I mention that before every film starts they play a rather odd film in which the king is going around talking to poor people etc (as they do) and then everyone stands and sings the national anthem. Very surreal.

Tuesday (17th) was our last day in Bangkok, we would be leaving on a sleeper train that evening to go overnight to koh Phanganfor the full moon party. I was at a loose end in the after noon so decided I would go on one of the tuk tuk scam rides.

These normally follow this format. You ask to go somewhere and the helpful tuk tuk driver informs you it is closed but he knows a different market you can go to, or perhaps you would like a temple tour while you wait for something else to open. It can also be initiated by a friendly passer by on the street or you can simply say to one of them you want to go somewhere for free and he can take you to some of the shops on the way to get commission.

In my case I went wondering knowing sooner or later a local would stop me to give directions. I said I wanted to go to one of the markets, it was of course closed as it is a religious holiday but I was very lucky. For one week every year the ministry for trade and ministry for tourism (something like that anyway) collaborate and all tuk tuks are heavily subsidised and the 179% tax on good is removed for all tourists. And on top of that all tuk tuk drivers will take you anywhere at a discounted rate as they collect the fares from the government as long as we stop at approved government shops on the way for him to pick up his petrol coupon. Would I like to maybe go on a temple store instead of going to the closed market? Sure ok. And with that he called a tuk tuk driver up and away I went. Now if you think that was elaborate it gets better.

When we got to the first temple a guy (looked local) was sitting on the steps outside. He said I would have to wait to go in as they were praying so I would have to wait. Next he strikes up a conversation - where am I from etc, do I like football (most of the people with good English are scammers and they always want to talk about football once they know you are from England). I let him lead the conversation and he said he was from Malaysia and worked in Australia for his embassy. He comes to Bangkok every year to take advantage of the trade week (had I heard of it?). He went on to show me some of his receipts that he has kept. Since he always goes to the same place it means he can get more discount. One of the things he always buys is a copy of the sapphire jewellery that Princess Diana wore on her wedding day. Without the tax he only pays 150,000b (£5,000) for the full set and then sells it back home for about £10,000. Even if I do not have that much I should look into something a little less expensive. Anyway it doesn't look like they are going to stop praying anytime soon so he is going to make a move. My tuk tuk driver has appeared and said it is also time to move on.

Next we need to make a stop at one of the ministry approved outlets so he can get his token. I should have a look inside as it will take about 10 minutes to do the paperwork. Hey though you will never guess. It's the same place where the guy got his jewels to sell at home from. Damn here is a chance to make some serious money, get back on budget. Perhaps dad will lend me some money and he can take a cut of the profits after I have paid him back?

I stall for time in the shop but do actually see something I quite like and haggle it down so much that it is completely irrelevant that it is not actually solid silver. To be honest though it is hard not to get wrapped up in it all. It goes without saying that the tuk tuk driver had arranged for the guy to meet me at the temple but he played his part very well and was convincing. The shop itself looked like something you could find on one of London's most expensive streets and was full of beautiful people and plenty of security. Certainly when I was in there I saw another westerner making arrangements to buy over a thousand pounds worth of jewellery (which will be worth £20 when he gets home) but what could I do? I would have liked to have told him it was fake but not at the expense of getting my head kicked in.

We left and headed onto the next place that the ministry stipulated he had to take me to. A ministry approved tailor. I said I had no interest in buying a suit to which he smiled knowingly and said that's fine but could I spend 10 mins in there anyway so that he could get his token?

Bloody hell this turned out to be difficult. They were extremely pushy sales people but also very good. I could not find a single objection that they were not able to overcome. Even when I said I didn't have enough money a phone appeared out of no where - they didn't mind me making an over seas call to speak to get some money off my parents. However I prevaricated over what I wanted, changed from fabric to fabric every two seconds and eventually managed to escape. The tuk tuk driver dropped me off at another temple and in all fairness this one was very impressive.

I had probably been there for about an hour and surprise surprise he had gone. I was going to look for another tuk tuk back to the hostel when a genuinely friendly local helped me. They said there was no way I was going o find a tuk tuk in that area that was going to take me straight back as they were all on such large cuts from the shops. I would be better off walking. Despite how long he had been driving me around for I hadn't clocked that we had never been more then 15 mins walk from where I started. Well played

As I hope you have guessed everything I had been told naturally was a lie. There was no such special trade week and the shops were not government approved. The jewels were all fake and although it was a genuine tailors and I am sure they make good suits I have checked around other areas and this one was well over priced even at their starting level. This is why Bangkok is considered one of the worst city's in the world for getting scammed.

After the afternoons adventure there is not much left to tell. We squared away our stuff before grabbing a taxi to the station and heading off to the full moon party.