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 3^rd 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 5^th 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.

We’ve been in Bangkok for six days already. We’re actually leaving tonight, which means its one of those waiting/lets-kill-some-time days, which is why I finally have a chance to write. Bangkok has been non-stop since we arrived. And while I’m on the topic, I need to write a little bit about arriving. Last time I was in Thailand I spent the majority of my time building a rural village on an island in the Andaman Sea, with only a day in Bangkok. So it was with much surprise that we arrived in a vibrant, thriving, modern city. I’m not sure how Thailand is classified from a development perspective, but Bangkok is first-world all the way. The bus from the airport was the nicest one we rode since Turkey, the roads are immaculate, and everyone’s driving what looks like brand new cars. The culture seems to be much more liberal than anywhere we’ve been since Greece, although I’m unsure if that’s intrinsic to Thai culture or Western influence.

One of the first things we noticed upon arriving was the king. We arrived the day before his birthday and the city was just electric. The gangways at the airport had photos of him and phrases like, “Long Live the King” or “Happy Birthday to Our Beloved King.” Riding into the city, it seemed that just about every building displayed a large photo (or billboard on the larger buildings) with flowers and shrines. Most people were wearing yellow polo shirts too (yellow symbolizes Thai royalty), although some were wearing pink polos (apparently the king had recently made his first public appearance, after a long hospital stay, wearing a pink shirt). The city was decorated with golden gates, giant flower arrangements, water fountains, and dozens of song/dance performances dedicated to the king. We walked around our first night and enjoyed the festivities with the thousands of other Thais that flocked the streets; watching the light and water shows, admiring all the decorations, and snacking on street food. That’s another thing we really like about Thailand- so much good food. The street stalls sell everything from your basic pad thai and noodle soup to Joylani’s favorite breakfast mango with sticky rice or desert banana pancakes (both of which are topped with a sugary coconut syrup). I’m also a fan of the red pork, whether in a bun or atop rice, as well as the plethora of kebabs- chicken, pork, beef, sausage, etc, etc.

food stalls, where we eat every night

all the wats have roofs like this and most buiildings have similarly shaped architecture

The king’s birthday is a national holiday and Bangkok was just crazy all day. Many streets were closed and other roads were consequently parking lots. We took a morning walk to a park near the Royal Palace and took in the madness. Dozens of stalls filled the park, giving free box lunches of rice/noodles/meat to lines of hundreds of people. I guess some organizations were just sponsoring all these stalls, so we joined the thousands of other Thais for some free grub. Oh, and everyone was still wearing their yellow polos, although today everyone was also carrying Thai and Buddhist flags. Those that weren’t eating lined the streets to wait for the king’s motorcade to pass. We thought there was going to be a parade, based on the crowds lining the streets, but they dispersed after the small motorcade passed into the palace. We explored a little bit more of the city later, heading to city center of Siam Square. Besides being the transportation hub the city’s buses, taxis, SkyTrain, and Metro, it’s a shopping Mecca. We found everything from small clothes stalls to the upscale mall, Siam Paragon, filled with stores like Hermes, Armani, and Versace- I think I’ve only seen knock-offs of all those brands since we were in Milan. Movie theaters, auto showrooms, food courts, and anything else you could want can be found in Siam Square. Our visit to Siam Square had me thinking that Bangkok is more modern than most US cities.

7-Elevens are everywhere and are all open 24/7 to accomoddate the city that truly never sleeps

the infamous Khao San Rd.

We returned to the park near our guesthouse and the Royal Palace that evening to take in the festivities. We watched the king give his speech and the monks chanting on giant screens set up all over the city. Then we stood and ate our kebabs and pad thai as we waited for the kings motorcade to pass on a circuit of the city. We saw the king as the lights were on on the inside of his car. We later learned that people come from all over Thailand just to glimpse the king as we had…Then we just looked up and watched the fireworks explode above us for about 30 minutes. It was really cool because they were being shot off not too far from us and they were exploding right above us. If I’m any judge, it seemed that the king had a pretty good 80th birthday.

birthday decorations all over the city

people in the streets to sing to the king and watch fireworks

this guy must’ve partied too hard…couldn’t help taking a photo
Our third day was spent exploring the area between our guesthouse and Chinatown. We took a river ferry down to Chinatown, which was quite interesting. Joylani enjoyed seeing all the fruit, while I liked the meat/seafood. We walked around for a couple hours, including exploring a giant indoor market that sold everything you could ever need. We didn’t buy anything, but we did have to make way several times for motorcyclists who were driving through the market- some things will never make sense to me. Afterwards, we headed over to Wat Pho to see the wat and largest reclining Buddha in Thailand. Quite a sight, although I much prefer to just admire the Thai architecture of the temples. Sorry if my Bangkok run-down is more of a list of the things we did, but it was quick week and I’m just trying to recount what we did. Hopefully more observations and reflections will follow. I guess my realization that day, since we explored a lot of the city, is that food and shopping can be found anywhere in the city. Street markets and food stalls are absolutely everywhere- its good to be here.

Day four was a productive one. Joylani got her stomach checked out at the hospital in the morning, before we headed to the Southern Bus Terminal to buy our ticket to Ko Samui. After getting our ticket, we took a bus to Lumphini Park in central Bangkok. We hung out at the park for a few hours, seeing among other things, meter-long monitor lizards catch foot-long fish in the pond and hundreds of Thais showing up for a daily aerobics class in the evening. Afterwards, we spent a few fruitless hours wandering the thousands of stalls at the enormous Suan Lum Night Bazaar. We got a little lost on the buses on the way back, but managed to get back okay. The next day was much the same, first visiting the weekend-only, sells-everything, dwarfs-any-market-you’ve-seen-in-your-life Chatuchak Market in the morning. Afterwards, we got lost on the bus system, but ended up taking the Metro, SkyTrain, and bus back to our guesthouse. If you’re wondering why we went to so many markets, its because we’re ditching much of our belongings in Bangkok and need some warm weather clothes. So two days of shopping and getting lost- not something I want to repeat anytime soon.

Anyways, we’re off tonight on a night bus/ferry to Ko Samui. Bangkok was a pleasant surprise coming from South Asia. Developmentally, it feels like home. And while it’s a city, there are still a lot of things to see and do. The food has been good and the people helpful. I do miss three things so far though: English, chai, and shaves. Nonetheless, Bangkok has been great and I’m ready to explore the rest of Thailand and South East Asia.