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Published on November 10, 2007

The Sukhothai Bangkok has recently added 18 brand-new, top-of-the-range Mercedes Benz S320 CDI sedans for its guests and anyone else who'd like to use the service. They are an impressive sight: a sleek fleet in storm cloud grey and silver livery.

You can be picked up anywhere you like, and taken anywhere you want - the airport, around town, around in circles. Who cares? You won't want to get out. 

My friend and I were invited to "test" one. We were met by a polite young man called Poonsak wearing a crisp, white uniform. He removed his cap and wai-ed. We saluted in unison - and were ushered into the cavernous back of the vehicle. It was like turning left on a commercial aircraft; two individual seats of first-class comfort.

Like small children arriving in a hotel room, the first thing we did was flick every switch on offer. Window screens popped up, trays slid out, arm rests disappeared, lights blinked and the seats even gave massages - all in complete silence.

What's this? Don't touch it. Why not? It's the airbag.

The S320 CDI is a "post-limo" vehicle. There is no bar, no mirror on the ceiling, no little revolving disco balls. That would be tacky. It always was tacky. This is a top-end service from a high-ranked hotel. 

"The entire fleet," says the press release, "is equipped with a Map Point Asia GPS tracking system, a Gamins Navigator Mapping system, allowing point-to-point navigation for all journeys, and iPod plug-and-play courtesy of the new Harmon/Kardo," which was impressive enough to get us into orbit.

But in truth, I did not understand a word except "iPod" - and neither of us had one.

 I couldn't begin to tell you what's under the bonnet of this beautiful and luxurious vehicle, but then nobody looks under the bonnet anymore because they know it's a pointless exercise.

But I can tell you the S320 is an inviting, indeed astonishing mix of technology, comfort and class. It has interplanetary headlights and one can't help but be intoxicated by the broad horizons of polished wood and hand-stitched leather.

Where would we like to go? What a question.

I suggested we could perhaps drive to a village called Compton Pauncefoot in Somerset, England, because I left my suitcase outside the post office there in 1984. This was politely rejected, so we headed up Sukhumvit Road, cocooned in class, did a U-turn, went to my studio, picked up some CDs to "test" the system and headed out to Suvarnabhumi Airport. This car purrs at any speed.

The press release also maintains the drivers are specially trained "to handle the cars in all situations" - and I have no doubts they are. But I never quite figured out what that could mean in a city like this. Patience, certainly. A cordial salute during a difficult manoeuvre, perhaps.

Or would Poonsak suddenly don some orange shades, turn around to us with an evil wink and say, "Lets see what she can do!" and then slam the gear shift into turbo warp and reach Pattaya in 35 minutes flat?

Or would he suddenly decide that the best way to free us from gridlock would be a sudden, Bond-like swerve onto the hard shoulder of the freeway, shifting into sixth, and deftly tilting the car to a 45-degree angle, balancing on two wheels and disappearing over the horizon at 260kph?

No. But I bet he would if he could.

But we did ask Poonsak to stop outside the Arrivals Hall at Suvarnabhumi so we could, well, pose.

On the way back into town I mused on how our young friendly driver might have reacted if a lighted cigar, tossed nonchalantly from a Skytrain platform, had landed on the passenger seat, leading to smoke that might cause Poonsak to cough, blink, swerve and roll down an embankment into the path of a train carrying fireworks past a temple holding an open day for blind students?

But this wasn't a day for making up fantasies. We were already being driven in one - and my only problem with the new S320 is that I don't have one.

Hiring the S320 costs Bt1,200 an hour, minimum two hours. That's Bt1,200 each if you take a friend - which you should. It's the price of a fancy candle at the Emporium.

And let's keep some perspective: This is targeted at hotel guests, and for those who would like to treat someone special to something special in something special.

 

To get rolling, call the hotel's public-relations manager, Chutima Limpasurat, at (662) 344 8888, extension 5120, or on her mobile at (66 81) 845 4968.

Roger Beaumont

The Nation