As a city, it can be very insular, even moreso than Korea. It's difficult to navigate, sometimes everyone seems to be out to get you, and it doesn't take more than a look at any temple to see the emotional edge behind the influx of tourists. Every place where you're expected to take off your shoes, there is a place for "foreigner shoes" and a place for "Thai shoes." The Thai are a people apart, and they fiercely value their independence.
There is good reason for them to take pride in this, of course, they are the only nation in Asia that has never been colonialized. They struck a deal with the devil during Japan's heyday as "the Lord of Asia" and managed to become an ally rather than a vassal. For the rest, they always managed to play the powers against each other and stay independent. I can respect the burning pride that would come with such a feat, when all around you (even those who are now far richer and more powerful than you), were once lapdogs of foreign powers and you were not. At the same time, the combination of "We're better than everyone!" and "give us your money!" can make you a little uncomfortable if you're the interloper of the hour.
So I spent my morning writing, checked out and put my luggage in the closet, then went to ride the Skytrain.
The Skytrain is a cross between Chicago's El and Disneyland's Monorail, two lines of railway suspended above the city to help cope with the nightmare that is traffic here.
I had intended to ride it the previous day, before I got sidetracked with Mr. John, so my plan was to take the ferry down to where the skytrain crosses the river and board at the nearby station.I stopped to take a few pictures at the free-range fish farm at my ferry stop. Thewet, where I board the ferry, is home to a brilliant setup. The Thais that live there have created a free-range fishery by slowly growing schools of fish, carefully maintaining them and caring for them, then eventually killing them and selling them at the tiny seafood market just in front of the ferry stop. In addition, rather than feeding the fish themselves, they sell the bread to tourists and children using the ferry, and let them feed the fish, only feeding them if they haven't gotten enough food from the tourists.
The bags are only 5 to 20 baht, and the fish are fascinating to watch, so it's a pretty good deal I suppose.When I was finished, I took the ferry all the way down the river to the place where the ferry would let me off just 50 meters from a Skytrain station, and there I boarded the Skytrain and bought a ticket for the other end of the rail.
As you may have noticed in my other photographs, Bangkok has a lot of green for a city. It's actually very healthy and it feels good, However, it starts to feel surreal and uncomfortable after you ride the Skytrain for miles and you can still see green but also scattered skyscrapers and apartment highrises in every direction. Your skin starts to crawl and you imagine a world where a city doesn't end, it just blends at its edges into the next major city, a hellish neverending canyon of concrete with trees wedged between each building and no places left that are empty of people, no places left where you can walk all day and not meet a soul.
It made me glad I was leaving.
I wandered through a small park for a time, then caught the train back a couple of stations to the Victory Monument stop, I'd seen signs there for a luxury cinema, and I'd been so fascinated at the differences of movie theatres in the other places I'd visited them, I figured I'd kill my afternoon here. Unfortunately the only English thing they were showing that I hadn't seen was Ice Age 3, but I had a few fond memories of the first one (especially the insane slide sequences, which were incredible in theatres), so I decided to watch it.
As a side note, I think the Thai have managed to find the sweet spot for theatre costs and dvds. Legit DVDs of the more recent blockbusters run about $7 to $12 US, while older stuff and Thai cinema flicks run about $3 to $5. And movie theatre tickets? About $4. I nearly went nuts and bought a whole stack of things, but I'm trying to restrain myself until I get back to Hong Kong and do all my shopping on my last couple of days there.
The theatre was almost empty, with only perhaps five or ten others there, and they all chose to sit further back than I did. The previews lasted forever, showing the latest American blockbusters and a few Thai films as well, some of which looked really good. Before the show started though, something interesting happened. The screen flashed up a decorative gold and purple background, and a message asked us to "Please pay our respects to his royal majesty the King."
I've been told that the Thai people love their king in a way that cannot be quantified. I've also heard that he's a very good man, and when I was touring the grand palace I remembered reading that in one of the king's residences were inscribed the ten Buddhist tenets of a good ruler, and they were the principles by which all men should live, and which, if your ruler lives by them, earns him the love of his subjects.
So I was only slightly surprised to hear a rustle behind me and realize that everyone else in the theatre had stood. I jumped up as well, and we were treated to a short slideshow of pictures of his Majesty Rama IX as a young man, after he married, and with his children as they were growing up, accompanied by stringed instruments and a nostalgic glow that made it hard not to feel compelled to like the fellow.
It's nothing I'd want for myself, but as relationships between ruler and subjects go, this doesn't seem as ominous and overbearing as one would expect. I was to hear a very vocal counterpoint to this blind admiration from a fellow I met the next day.
In any case, I still don't think I could ever live there as a citizen.After the movie was over, I navigated back through the city by Sky Train and Canal boat, then hiked the last few kilometres. I had a good reason for this, I had to go back through Khao San Road.
Granted, I didn't want to go back through Khao San, but it was the only place in the city I could be sure of finding some good used Bookshops, and I was almost out of books.
So I hiked back there, which I'm glad I did, because it meant I hiked right past Democracy Monument, built in the 1930s to commemorate an almost bloodless coup which converted the government from a straight monarchy to a monarchistic military dictatorship. It might be a funny and mislabeled thing, but it's quite a beautiful construction, and it serves to remind you that even though this country is still fiercely loyal to it's king, it is also governed (off and on, between coups) by men who are democratically chosen. I actually think Thailand is overdue for a coup by a couple of months, but I'm going to hold my breath and hope it can wait until after my birthday, when I'm safely winging my way to Manila.
I found a couple of good books at Khao San, and some excellent street food. Note all the fresh ingredients on this woman's cart. The Kra Prow was awesome. After, I went back to my hotel then caught a taxi to the train station.
4 comments:
Your consumption of street food leaves me very jealous.
Your sentiment regarding Bangkok is the same as virtually every other freethinking individual I've ever talked to who has visited the place - that it is interesting, but capable of sucking the very soul out of you.
Plus, as an added bonus to eating street food... you are not quite as likely to become a victim as if you where hanging out in an area that is loaded with Americans/foreigners. (aka the Marriott in Jakarta that was targeted by a suicide bomber today...)
Holy Cow. That hotel was the $87 one I passed over because I didn't want the long commute into-and-out-of downtown.
Jeez.
It looks like you may have inherited our penchant for "not being in the wrong place at the wrong time"
i.e. the sinking of the Sea Diamond a week after we were on it (including having the only 2 fatalities being lodged in one of the rooms our group used!)
and the TB patient that caused such a stir when he skipped town to Greece -- who was on the same Atlanta based AF flight we took (but a couple of days later).
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