Jim Thompson's house

I've been due a nightmare for a while. Last night I was falling from a cable car, crashing my car and, well, something went wrong with my job. If I wasn't waking up short of breath, I was waking up to the sound of an idiot in the corridor knocking on someone's door every hour.

Today, my final day, I thought I'd pop to Jim Thompson's house on my way to the national stadium, before going home to pack and get an early night. I came out of the subway near JT's house and, you guessed it, was accosted by a tuk-tuk driver. "Where are you going, sir?" he asked, "I'm not sure, I'm just going for a walk," I replied, lying. I felt slightly stupid having to lean into a bus just a few metres away to ask the driver where Jim Thompson's house is.

I'd taken the wrong subway exit so took a footbridge over the road only to be, you guessed it, accosted by a tuk-tuk driver. "Where are you from, sir?" he asked. "The United Kingdom!" I announced proudly; he and his friend, obviously well-rehearsed, gasped and shook my hand with vigour as if I was the last Briton alive. "Where are you going?" he asked. "Jim Thompson's house", I replied, figuring I was so close there was no way I could be offered a ride. "Oh, that's a shame, the Jim Thompson house not open til 2pm today for religious reason." Sound familiar?

"Come with me, sir, there is excellent import/export market just here, everything today only, really cheap, excellent bargain to be had, today only, sir, sapphire and ruby." I obliged and stepped into a very nice 'precious gems' shop while he waited outside. I scanned the price tags: 30,000, 40,000, 50,000 baht. Even if my shorts were so stuffed with cash they were falling down around my ankles, there is no way I would buy anything here. How do I know if this stuff is genuine? Where is my guarantee? I left quickly, mainly due to boredom, and walked past the tuk-tuk driver who directed me to JT's house, which was most definitely open. The time? 1pm.

The meal I had outside his house afterwards was to be my first and last 'posh' Thai dinner in Thailand. It wasn't especially cheap but worth every penny. Nice one, Jim.

Tomorrow I'm off to Delhi.