Sitting almost underneath the Skytrain tracks at Chong Nonsi lies the remains of Bangkok’s spookiest and atmospheric cemetery. As I reported previously on the blog, much of it has already been destroyed and the bodies disinterred and transferred, to make way for construction of a glitzy condo tower that will be come Thailand’s tallest building (seemingly a  prime scenario for one of the horror movies the country pumps out so enthusiastically).

But the Chinese cemetery is still there, usually behind locked gates. I happened to be passing at midday though and the gates had been flung over to make access to an impromptu foodcourt in the carpark. It was a good opportunity to look around.

The site must have very poor drainage (not great for a graveyard, surely?) because much of it was flooded, lending it an even eerie, forlorn atmosphere. I was a little nervous too as I had heard it was a notorious haunt for stray dogs -and sure enough I saw a pack of about a dozen of them dozing on a sunny grave.

Other than them, the Skytrains whizzing by and the laughter echoing from the nearby foodcourt, I had the graves all to myself.

Wasps nest?

Gallery H is a privately-run art gallery housed in an airy old wooden house, one of the few left in Sathorn. I went to see a small exhibition of contemporary Zimbabwean artists (something we would never get  in Hong Kong – not commercial enough). The work was actually really interesting, much of it utilizing “found” and “recycled” materials (as does much of the Southern African art I have seen). I was even tempted to buy one piece, a stunning, wire bead and duct tape hanging sculpture by artist Moffat Tadikawa for fifty thousand baht.

I have nowhere to put it though.

Regular readers of this blog will know that I have a soft spot for the Thai pop singer Palmy. For her new single, she has recorded a series of mini-videos, featuring different subcultures (rockabilly, hip hop, lindyhop and disco). The various dancers all appear in the final video at some point too. Its an odd, jaunty, harmonica-driven ditty – apparently the lyrics say “throw you stress and your worries to the crows”, hence the crow references.

And here is the video in full:

This is a whole other side of Bangkok. Across the river is the city’s swampy “green belt” of Bangkrachao, a loop in the sluggish Chao Phraya river within sight of downtown skyscrapers but almost entirely undeveloped. Here, amid jungly canals, villages on stilts and waving palm trees, an amazing new hotel has been developed. Opening just this week, the Bangkok Treehouse is an eco-lodge composed of simple but luxurious “pods” linked by walkways at the canopy level of the nearby trees, (although unfortunately one of the biggest fell down in the flood-causing rains just months before the building’s completion!)

The building features glass floors (in some units), private rooftop terraces (with the view in the photo, above) and an innovative chlorine free lap pool that uses lotus-like aquatic plans to filter the water naturally. An organic restaurant, on a bamboo landing by the river, is to open next month.

But the greatest thing about the hotel is just its incredible calm; birds twitter and the noise and business of Bangkok quickly fade away. Guests can tour local fruit orchards, hire bikes to explore the countryside, or see the two hundred year old chapels of the littleknown local temple. Or just – relax. I’m looking forward to a weekend here before too long.

To get there, take the Skytrain to the new Udom Suk station then a taxi to the pier. From here. you can either hire a longtail boat to take you across, or wait for the half-hourly motorbike ferry which taxis across locals and their bikes.

Thai heartthrob Dome Pakorn is currently starring in this Australian-filmed commercial showing on the Bangkok skytrain. The sexy singer DJed last month at the one-year anniversary of  the Mansion7 haunted mall (having made a tacit admission of his lack of vocal prowess with a mid-career change to celebrity DJing).