The old and the new.
Sigh of relief. And amazement. Bangkok is awesome. I admit, even though I was super excited to get here, I tried to have low expectations—probably the result of Matt retorting, “What did you expect? This is the 3rd world,†each time I would complain or freak out at the general mildew and bugs in guesthouses, and general rundown atmosphere of inefficiencies we were experiencing throughout India and Nepal. He warned me that this is what the rest of our trip would probably be like (probably just trying to keep me more realistic and not trying to dash my hopes). Well, he was wrong. Bangkok is nothing like India. I guess that’s obvious; different country, different region. But beyond the obvious, some things really stand out. [In general] people aren’t loud, lines get formed, shoes get removed before going inside, even street food appears more sanitary…did I mention there’s not too much shouting? Like I said before, Bangkok has been a sigh of relief.
As we rode on the shuttle from the airport to downtown, I was amazed by the city that surrounded me. It reminded me a lot of Honolulu, only bigger, and fresher. So many buildings looked new. And serenely standing in the midst of housing, hotels, and businesses both downtown and through out the city are dozens of wats behind walled compounds, their fiery roofs sparkling in the sun. All the roads were smoothly paved, and at the sight of big familiar cars cruising along the highway, I thought to myself, “Oh look, they even drive on the right side of the road.†Only they weren’t. After another minute’s observation, I realized that traffic was still flowing down the left. After months of seeing Indian-made Marutis, Ambassadors, and an assortment of 3-wheelers, the sight of Hondas and Toyotas (real trucks!) had tricked my mind into thinking the flow of traffic was normal*—that, and the lack of livestock on the road, the increased speed, presence and use of lanes, and the absence of incessant honking…Traffic wasn’t the only orderly thing in Bangkok.
On December 5th families clad in yellow shirts roamed Bangkok in celebration of the king’s birthday (also father’s day). As evening fell, Matt and I walked down one of the main roads in the direction of our hotel. We noticed people had started lining the side of the street. We stood on a bench behind the crowd to get a glimpse of what was going on. It seemed they were awaiting the king’s motorcade, as indicated by the approaching vehicle on the large tv screen nearby. To my complete astonishment, about a minute before the cars arrived, the crowd went completely silent. If I was a blind person walking down the sidewalk, I would have had no idea that there were thousands of people lining the street. Forget about the 0% likelihood of that ever happening in India, I haven’t ever seen anything like it anywhere. As the motorcade passed, the crowd responded with a polite cheer (cheer, not shouts) and lit candles. While the Thais were satisfied to have gotten a glimpse of their king, I stood there amazed at the calmness of the crowd. Silence in the midst of thousands of people was just so strange.
Silence.
When it was over the people slowly began to disperse, and Matt and I continued our way down the street towards our hotel in hopes of catching the fireworks along the way. We weren’t exactly sure where they would be shot off from, but decided to follow the crowd and stopped walking when everyone else did. Soon the show started. We heard them go off before the explosions hit the sky—dthoom, dthoom, dthoom. The explosions came in sets of 10-15 each time. The whole show was like a finale, except for the actual finale which was just a few smiley face bursts. The spot where we stood was just under where the fireworks were going off; it was exciting to watch the sky light up above us. Thankfully we weren’t too close to the launch site though. In the middle of a set, I exclaimed, “Oh my gosh, the fireworks are falling on the people!!?!†Some of the fireworks seemed to be exploding prematurely. From where we stood it looked as though some of the sparkles were going into the crowd. We watched the show a little bit more attentively, and brushed some ash out of our hair. I liked the combination of order mixed with a little bit of chaos. Some things in the States are just too sterile—they’ve lost a sense of adventure and spontaneity in the fear of being sued.
Fireworks in the crowd.
Some things Matt didn’t mention—the king’s picture is everywhere in elaborate displays of affection and nationalism. He’s the world’s longest reigning monarch and an element of stability in a country that has seen many coups in the last several decades, as recently as 2006. It seems that everyone loves the king. From what I know, he seems like a nice guy. One of my favorite pictures is one where he has a slightly concerned look on his face, camera strap around his neck, and a bead of sweat dripping off the tip of his nose. It’s quite a different shot from those posed pictures of royals were conditioned on seeing, and definitely gives the air of, “He’s one of us. See that sweat? See the concern?†They really did a good job with the whole campaign, it’s got me sold.
*Normal as in normal flow of traffic in the States.
Tributes to the king.