Thailand – Bangkok

Remembering all those episodes of “No Reservations”, I felt particularly smug sitting on a tiny plastic stool and sweating over a steaming bowl of noodles in a dim Bangkok alley.  Like Tony Bourdain, this city has a way of making even mundane activities seem adventuresome and cool.  “I went out for a walk.  Then I got kind of lost and there were no other white people around.  But then I found a place that sold food.  And I ate there.  And it was good.  And it was cheap.”

Pork and Wonton Soup

Spicy Tom-Yum Soup

After a six week separation through Nepal and India (except at the trustworthy 5-star Taj Rambagh Palace), my arrival in Bangkok has me and meat reunited (…and it feels so good).  The street food scene here is glorious, with pad thai, fried chicken, meat kebabs, grilled fish, and noodle soups of roast pork, duck, or fish balls all available for about $1 USD.  Between meals, skewers of watermelon, pineapple, and mango and Thai coffees, Thai teas, bubble teas, and tropical fruit smoothies have kept my blood sugar levels and my spirits up.

Grilled skewers being served up at Jatujak Market

Thai Tea Time

Thin discs of fortune cookie dough with marshmallow cream and sugared-and-spiced fruit pulp. When I asked the lady what it is called, she looked at me like I was an idiot and stated the obvious: “Pancake.”

Thailand’s frequent political drama has flared up again since I arrived.  The history leading up to it goes something like this: in 2006, then-Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra got crosswise with some influential folk and was ousted in a coup d’etat.  In 2008 he was convicted of political corruption during his term and fled Thailand to avoid his jail sentence, but somehow remained popular and influential.  Between 2006 and now, many of Thailand’s Prime Ministers have appeared to be puppets that Thaksin controls from abroad, including the current PM (his younger sister).  When his sister’s political party recently introduced an amnesty bill that would pardon violators of political offenses (including Thaksin), 9 senators resigned in order to organize protests against the government as civilians.

In an embarrassingly deficient display of survival skills, it took me three encounters to muster the curiosity to figure out what the heck is going on.  First, on the ride from the airport my taxi driver informed me that we would have to re-route as we passed streets blockaded by razor wire and armored police.  Second (the following day), after growing impatient from sitting motionless in traffic I abandoned my taxi to walk home, promptly took a wrong turn, and had an awkward stroll as the sole pedestrian on a half-mile street lined with around 300 police officers.  Third, while weaving through crowds cheering at a passionate speech taking place at the Democracy Monument I wondered obliviously ‘what is this guy yelling about and why are all these people blowing whistles and standing between me and my tom-yum soup?’  The speaker was one of the resigned senators, Suthep Thaugsuban.

Luckily all the protest activity has been peaceful allowing me to wander freely.  Thailand is a Buddhist nation and Bangkok holds some of its most famous temples.  Wat Phra Kaew and Wat Pho are incredibly glitzy, decked out with shimmering tile roofs, gold trim everywhere, and giant multicolored spires soaring into the sky.  Not to mention the treasures within: an enormous gold-covered Buddha at Wat Pho and a little one carved from green jasper at Wat Phra Kaew.  No wonder the young monks at Kopan Monastery who make pilgrimages to Thailand come back calling the city “Bling-kok”.  Wat Arun is similarly impressive for the hundreds of statues carved into its single spire; it’s gold is all concentrated in one chubby statue that greets you at the entrance.

Stupas at Wat Pho

Reclining Buddha at Wat Pho

Wat Phra Kaew

Wat Arun

“Welcome to the city of good old Wats”

Like the variety of the street food and the gold in the temples, the shopping scene here is seemingly limitless.  I had my camera lens cleaned in Pantip Plaza, a 5-story shopping mall of only electronics stores, and then crossed over to Platinum Fashion Mall where half the shoppers were toting suitcases behind them.  I never go shopping with such high hopes, but why shouldn’t I?  Feeling relatively confident that they are meant to be worn by men-dressed-as-men, I bought a couple of sports shirts by the Thai brand “Lady’s Boys”.  In a sign of the times, I had to tango my way through crowds filling the labyrinths of retro and hipster clothing booths around Siam Center and in Jatujak Market, but found myself virtually alone in the aisles of vendors selling religious statues.

If you someday find yourself exhausted in Bangkok after a day of temples, shopping, street food, and swimming at your hotel pool, I recommend stopping into your neighborhood spa for a rejuvenating Thai Massage.  In addition to the usual muscle kneading, it involves stretching and a few back-cracking twists and turns.  For one hour, $7 USD.