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December
2005
Updated July 2006
Bangkok
Mini Vacation: Soi Convent, Bangkok
(Hot
Time Summer in the City)
Article
Summary: Soi Convent is a good place to take a break
from Bangkok without actually leaving the city. The
author, a Bangkok expat, describes quiet afternoons
spent people watching at La Boulange Cafe and the
peaceful atmosphere at Baan Ruan Nuat, a traditional
massage place.
Sometimes
going out of town for the weekend is more of a headache
than it is worth. Travel hassles, delays, hotel
check-ins, reservations, getting used to a new place,
etc can create massive energy expenditure making
your holiday more tiring than your normal life. One
alternative is to stay in Da Big City but
find a cool spot that makes you feel some of the
holiday spirit without the hassles. Soi Convent
- a tree-lined shady soi off Silom Avenue in the
heart of Bangkok – is one of my main choices for
a Bangkok mini-vacation. The soi derives its name
from Saint Joseph 's convent, its most famous occupant,
but there are good restaurants, people-watching
venues and massage places as well.
Soi
Convent
For people-watching, the soi provides a good cross-section
of foreign residents in Thailand along with some
interesting Thai people. The nuns from the convent
traipse up and down the soi, sometimes carrying
backpacks over their habits. Then there are the
chubby rich children attending the international
school. The international flavor is provided by
visitors to the French bakery and the Irish pub,
and the various other farang -oriented
establishments. You have the hard bodies and wannabe
hard bodies from the gym (“California Wow”)
up on the corner of the soi and a few stragglers
from the party street on the other side of Silom
Road, aka Patpong Soi 4. Soi Convent is like an
upscale Khao
Sarn Road. It's a good place to relax and have
a cup of coffee in the morning. I usually do this
at the French bakery called Le Boulange, sitting
in the cafe and watching the crowd goes by.
La
Boulange is the right place on the right street.
There are baked pastries, daily specials, unpronounceable
entrees and of course, coffee. The place reeks of
authenticity, particularly apparent in the menu,
in which every item except the American Breakfast,
is printed only in French language. It's like saying,
“ If you can't read French, tough shit, who
do you think you are, Stupid American, do you think
the whole world revolves your around shallow
war-mongering TV and McDonalds culture?"
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