Thailand is located in Southeast Asia, it is one of the few countries in the world that have never been colonized. Bangkok its capital (whose full official name is Krungthepmahanakhon Amonrattanakosin Mahintharayutthaya Mahadilokphop Noppharatratchathaniburirom Udomratchaniwetmahasathan Amonphimanawatansathit Sakkathattiyawitsanukamprasit) is the most visited city in the world. It is a country of smiles, where English speakers are easy to find, and people willing to help you on every corner. It is also a country of turmoil, of refugees, terrorism, a rampant sex trade, on the border of the golden triangle, and one of the top countries in the world for sex changes. All in all it sounded like an interesting country to visit.
So this fall break I was able to go to Thailand with a great group of friends I have made in China. Thailand almost instantly became one of my favorite countries I have visited. The people were nice, they spoke English, it seemed exotic but still comfortably recognizable, the food was good, shopping was cheap, and everyone smiles. My schedule was packed with something to do each day from shopping, site seeing, boat rides, eating, to spending time with exotic animals.
Day 1, 2
The first night we were there we took a Tuktuk food tour. Tuktuk are trikes (three wheel vehicles where a driver sits up front and two or three people can sit in the back). They are a blast to ride around in. The drivers will often talk to you, however if you are alone they will often try to talk you into visiting their friends shops (or prostitutes if you are male). The people seem to have a local inter-dependency in recommending each other businesses to milk tourist dry. Anyways the food was simply amazing. Thai food is made fresh and is often cooked on the streets. In China I do not feel as if the street vendors are clean or safe to eat at, but that was not the case in Thailand. We ate chicken, mangoes with sticky rice, pad thai, etc… To top it off the food was also very cheap, only a few dollars for a whole meal. Later we were able to stop by the flower market. Large bags full of flowers were being opened with the locals weaving them into shapes and bouquets. The flowers are often sold and used at the many temples around the area. I was amazed at how cheap they were, mere dollars for intricate designs or bouquets. To top it off we saw it at night when it was mainly closed. Near the end of our tour we stopped by a vendor selling edible insects. I ate a rather large grasshopper. Not too bad, crunchy with not much taste.
On the second day we went to the Chatuchak weekend market. It is one of the larger weekend markets in the world. It was a small vendor after small vendor stretching out to over 8000 small shops in all. Occasionally it makes the world news due to people selling illegal exotic animals there, but we saw none of that this time. It was large and was like a maze once inside. Within minutes I lost all my friends and spent hours shopping by myself, and bought plenty. One US dollar equals 35 Thai Baht so my money went far and items were pretty cheap. I finally bought clothes, as I did not bring enough when I moved to China, I bought a tea set, gifts for friends and family, lights, small statues, etc…. In fact I ended up buying a new suitcase so I could take everything back home to China with me!
Day 3,4
The next next couple of days we went site seeing in Bangkok. This included going to the Emperor’s Palace and the Wat Pho. While Thailand is extremely poor they have spent millions on the Palace and the temples in the area. They stand out in stark contrast to the people living in the areas surrounding them. Now while this extreme difference could be seen as detrimental to the local people, I see this as still beneficial. The reason I would claim this is due to the fact that these temples bring tourists which then bring money to the economy. The palace is not routinely used and is mainly for tourism, but there is one building cut off from the public so the government could work in. I also visited the Reclining Buddha in the Wat Pho. The sheer size of it is mesmerizing.
In Bangkok we also took a cooking class. We were taught to recognize the different ingredients and were taught step by step how to make several Thai dishes such as pad-thai, green curry, sticky rice, and tom yum soup. I was amazed at how simple and quick these dishes were to make (except for the green curry). I now understood how the street food vendors could make it so quickly and well. It all starts with the right ingredients.
We later went to the ancient capital of Ayutthaya where we were able to walk around some ruins and learn more about the history of the place. On another excursion we tried to see the floating market. However instead we ended up going to a tourist version of a floating market. We ended up here after asking a tuktuk driver, who then called his friend who had a van, who then took us to his friend’s touristy floating market. I was a little disappointed as I wanted to see an actual floating market that locals go to, but it was still nice, and the boat ride was relaxing. To end our trip in Bangkok we went to the sky bar which is on the roof of the building 63 stories high and where they filmed part of the Hangover II. It was quite amazing as we could as Bangkok in its entirety from over 800 ft up. The suit I am wearing I had custom made while in Thailand. I picked out the fabric and the style and went for measurements and one fitting and the suit was delivered to my hotel within two days. The total price for this was $150. Expensive for Thai and I am sure I could have gotten a better deal, but the suit feels very comfortable and the craftsmanship is amazing. So while this was expensive in Thai I felt like it was a steal, as in America doing something like this would have costed a fortune. So expensive yes, but totally worth it, like the trip overall.
Sensei Cuso 