| A Bit Of
Bangkok |
| Arriving
In Thailand |
| by Doug Rice |
| Thailand,
Sure, I know about it. I saw the movie The King and I, and yes, I know
Yul Brynner is English, not Thai, and that the story is fictional. But
so what, nothing is perfect. I am thinking this as I walk into the terminal
at Bangkok’s Don Muang International Airport.
I make a
quick trip through customs, grab my bags off the luggage carrousel
and work my way through the greeters and touts on my way to the taxi stand.
Then I’m off on a 25-minute ride to a hotel, just off Sukumivit and Ploen
Chit roads in downtown Bangkok. As the nice, new-looking Camry taxi glides
along the outer lane of the Airport Expressway, I watch seemingly endless
rows of office and apartment towers, thinking to myself, “this could
be Houston or Atlanta.” |
|
|
|
|
|
| There they
are, over there, buildings with those gold tipped, pointy spires I remember
from the movie, “Buddhist Temples. They are,” my taxi driver says
in a bored tone. I watched with fascination as this mix of old and new
pass by my window.
“What an
interesting place this Thailand is turning out to be.”
I already like
the “Land of Smiles” as the country likes to call itself. Well,
maybe not as smiley as Vietnam, but as I am to find out, it’s far more
up to date. So I guess there is a trade off of a few less smiles for a
more modernist infrastructure.
Thailand
is a country where modern ways have been successfully blended with
traditional values, allowing most Thai’s time for a smile and a bit of
sanuk (fun) as they continue to evolve.
My Taxi
approaches the center of Bangkok, where unlike my movie experience,
most people are wearing western-style clothes and the women, well... As
a single guy, I mentally establish a new benchmark for style and beauty. |
|
|
| Beyond
the Tai ladies I see that Bangkok is filled with a curious mixture
of old and new, skyscrapers stretching upward dwarfing the numerous Wats,
low rise shophouses, and people everywhere old, young, western looking,
traditional Thai, Indians, Africans and the unclassifiable. There is unbelievable
traffic, which results in even more unbelievable traffic jams. While on
a street corner a man stands watching the goings on with his elephant.
Meanwhile, 35 baht (41 baht=1 USD) buys you lunch from a pushcart
or if you long for a touch of home, a Big Mac from Mickey Dee’s is available.
A humming,
rattling sound from above catches your attention as the Sky Train (
BTS ) passes by, hidden from view by its ultra modern, overhead rail
system. Bangkok, once know as the Venice of the East before its need for
roads necessitated the filling in many khlongs (cannels) to create
roadways. However, it still has an extensive river-taxi system. |
|
|
Offshore Resources Gallery
|
|
|
| I might add,
this is also a good, inexpensive way to tour parts of the city.
The Chao
Pheaya River Express Taxi can be boarded at ThaiWat Ratchasingkhon main
river terminal and ridden out to Nonthaburi. The total route takes about
three hours and costs around 30 baht, that is if you don't get off at one
of its numerous and interesting stops along the way. I stopped and took
a walk through densely packed China town and visited Wat Intharawihan.
Actually it was about at this point that I became Wated out (Wat means
temple, if you hadn't guessed) and was having a running conversation
with myself about how Thai words were created just to confuse farang (Thai
slang for foreigner).
Well, I didn’t
get to see the King, though Thailand has a king whom Thai’s are very proud
of. But it isn’t, nor has it ever been, Yul Brynner. However, I did find
a wonderful, inexpensive, and exciting place to visit. Doug Rice
9/2003
If you would
like to contact Doug Click Here
To read
Doug's article on Vietnam Click
Here |
|
|
Article
Index ~ Thailand
Index ~ |
Copyright 1996 -
EscapeArtist.com
Inc. All Rights Reserved