Breaking Baht

Khao San Road.
     The busiest and most well know road in Bangkok. Dirty, smelly, loud, and most of all money hungry.
For my first eight days in Thailand I was subjected to the sights and smells of down town Bangkok. Khao San was my sanctuary. The other westerners drew me in, English speaking folk like myself... and of course the nightlife. Every night I found myself ending up on Khao San whether it was with a group or by myself. And every night I somehow found myself back at the same watering hole. A live guitar wailing out a broken English version of "Wish You Were Here", an outdoor patio, lanterns, a hookah and a much more laid back attitude than most of the other bars. Here there was no club music or 18 year old foreigners looking for a ping pong show (look it up). The same few bar tenders worked every night and everyone was looking for a place to unwind or simply chill. A large Chang beer was 90 Baht which is equivalent to about 3 USD. This was the cheapest price I had seen and other larger clubs were likely to charge 120 to 160 Baht.
     My 7th night at this bar, I sat down and ordered my usual: a large Chang beer. I sipped my beer and listened to the guitarist belt out "Wonderwall" by Oasis and thought about how amazing Thailand already had been. I relished the smell of the hookah at the next table and graciously accepted the offer to take a toke. I smiled at the Europians in appreciation and went back to my Chang and watching the guitar player. I finished my beer and calmly reflected on how much I had already learned about this place. I marveled at how amazingly genuine everyone seemed to be and felt like the luckiest person in the world. At that moment, the server came to me asking if i needed another beer. I responded no, and he smiled a squinty eyed smile and almost excitedly replied; I owed 60 Baht.
Alas!
 Local prices.