Somchai Nitiwanakul was born in Bangkok. At the age of nineteen and with $800.00 in his pocket Somchai came by himself to the United States. That was in 1967 and the city and state he went to was, Seattle, Washington. Small world. He went to Shoreline and Green River Community College while working his way through the restaurant world. He was employed at The Windjammer Restaurant and Lounge, El Gaucho Steakhouse, and 13 Coins Restaurant. The 13 Coins Restaurant caught his fancy and after being in Seattle for nine years Somchai asked the owner of 13 Coins if he could use the name for a restaurant he wanted to open in Thailand. His boss had no objection to his request. Somchai promised it would be a big success in his home country. Today, his first restaurant expanded to restaurants and hotels. There are currently 30 locations in Thailand. What a fascinating story. I was so glad we got to meet each other before checking out. We are headed to the D & D Inn on Khaosan Road, Bangkok.
So, here’s the inside story. Andy just traveled in Japan and everything in Japan is expensive, even a single, tiny, capsule bed was $30.00. That means, we’re staying in a super-deluxe room, no matter the cost. The D & D Inn has air conditioning, twin beds, a bathroom with a shower that has hot and cold running water, all for $12.00 a person. The Inn even has a swimming pool on the roof. We checked in and quickly dropped off our bags to take a taxi to the Chatuchak Weekend Market of 15,000 booths. It’s so overwhelming, so fun, even if you don’t really need to buy anything. It’s a great place to people watch, experience the local culture, and try new food. I’m able to do some shopping at this amazing place because Andy has some extra clothes to mail back home. Lucky for me. We have lunch; a spicy sausage, onion, tomato, cilantro chopped salad, baked chicken and white rice. During the rest of our day we tried Thai Chai tea, coconut ice cream, a coffee smoothie along with an orange and watermelon smoothie.
We spent all day at the market and took the local transportation back to Khaosan Road. It took 90-minutes but was fun and adventurous to take the subway, sky train and river taxi home. When we got off the river taxi, we ended up in a sketchy area that turned into a dead end.
Fortunately, there was a handmade sign that read, “Short cut to Khaosan Road”, just where we’re headed. We go back to our hotel, drop off the bags of souvenirs from Chatuchak market and head out to get some street food. We found a vender making Phad Thai and it was the best Phad Thai ever. There’s just one problem with eating yummy street food, that there seldom a place to sit to eat. You have to find a place to stand or walk as you eat. Tonight, as were walking to find a place to stand we need to cross in front of a group of people. As we’re approaching the group I noticed, one man had a muzzled dog. When I saw this big, mangy, long snouted dog, I thought to myself, “That dog must be mean and that’s a good idea to have him muzzled with all these people around.” I didn’t think or look at the dog again but as I passed in front of the man with his dog, the dog lunged toward me and hit into my leg with his muzzled snout and snarled. It was terrifying. I let out a shrieking scream as the guy pulled his dog down from me. Andy quickly turned around and said, “Was that you that screamed?!” I calmed down with my Phad Thai in hand as we sat on a street curb to enjoy our dinner. Before going for a swim on the roof of our hotel Andy and I enjoyed a fresh banana with chocolate pancake/crepe on the lively, noisy, crowded Khaosan Road.
