Back Home In Bangkok

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It looks like my first entry which tells about my layover in Tokyo was successful, including pictures...not sure how I did it! Anyway, I'm on a roll.

We left off the last entry landing at Bangkok's Suvanabhumi International Airport at 11:00 PM on May 26, 2007. I speak Thai and still can't pronounce this name, so I don't know how others do it. Don Muang, the name of the old airport was much easier. My sister, Carol, and her husband, Steve, were there to meet us. My sister manages the Alliance Guest Home (built by my parents in 1967) in the Sapan Kwai area of northern Bangkok, so that's where we proceeded; going to bed immediately...remember our day started with the Tsukiji Fish Market in Tokyo! I'm so glad I didn't have to try to find a hostel on Khao San Road, like many of the bloggers on this site.

The next morning, Sunday, May 27, we arose early for breakfast, and met friends from the U.S., Mike and Betty, who were joining us for our sojourn around Thailand. After a breakfast of many types of fruit that my kids had never tasted (papaya with lime was their favorite...they later changed their mind after eating mango and sticky rice), we headed to the Weekend Market, formerly on the grounds in front of the Grand Palace, but now just around the corner from the guest home. It's now known as Chatuchak Market; only open on weekends, and where everything under the sun is sold. In the early 1970's when my wife, Linda, and I lived in Bankok, we bought our leopard cat there (we were not as sensitive to the need to protect endangered species then...anyway, it ran away while we were in Saigon for six weeks, so hopefully it lived a long life...we then bought a Burmese and Khorat cat at the market to replace it). Anyway, I had a long shopping list from Linda, so this was a good place to start. By 9:30 AM we had made a dent in the list, and it was getting very hot! Besides it was time to go to church at the Evangelical Church on Soi 10 Sukumvit Rd. My Dad founded the church in the 1960's for the foreign community. It now had over a thousand members from dozens of countries. It was great to be back there, and I even ran into friends who work for World Vision. After the service and lunch at a nearby Thai restaurant (that's almost redundant since we were in Thailand...just assume that when I say we ate, it was in a Thai restaurant from now on), we took the Skytrain to the Paragon Shopping Mall.

This is perhaps a good place to describe my first impressions of Bangkok after having been away for 25 years...EVERYTHING was different...except the weather, which was still very hot and humid, and the traffic, which was just as conjested even after the construction of the Skytrain, subway, and elevated superhighways. Everything was newer, denser and taller. As this was my kids first exposure to such chaos...even worse than I-66 on Friday afternoon rush hour coming out of Washington, DC (where we lived for ten years upon returning from 18 years in Europe)...they were stunned. Linda was right not to join us...her fond memories of Thailand where we lived from 1973 to 1975, would have been erased and replaced by a much harsher version of Thailand.

After the weekend market, the Paragon Mall was at the extreme opposite end of the shopping spectrum. It only has high-end designer stores...Ferragamo, Gucci, Fendi, Burberry, etc. They even had car dealers...Ferrari, Lamborgini, Mazerati...forget about Mercedes and BMW, they were too low class to be included here. The kids appreciated the air conditioning, but not the prices, so we took a taxi to the Marble Temple (Wat Benchmabophit), which I consider to be one of the most beautiful in Thailand. We encountered our first monsoon rain there, so were soaked as we took our shoes off to enter the temple with its huge golden Buddha. This was my kids first encounter with Thais worshipping an idol, which was somewhat of a "Dorothy, we aren't in Kansas anymore" experience. We returned to the guest home for pizza for dinner. Afterwards my sister took my three kids for a Thai massage (I declined although I knew such massages were quite different than those performed in massage parlors).

Monday, May 28th, after breakfast we took a taxi (all now brightly colored and powered by compressed natural gas as compared to the noxious three wheeled tuk tuks) to catch a water taxi on the Chao Praya River, which is the most pleasant way to get to the Grand Palace from northern Bangkok. We arrived there at opening time, and hired a guide to show us around. All royal palaces require appropriate dress, so my kids has to put on long pants and wrap around skirts before they were allowed in. The Grand Palace is the ultimate showcase of ancient Thai religion, royalty, and culture...not to be missed...despite opinions to the contrary in support of Pat Pong or Khao San Roads. We saw the Temple of the Emerald Buddha, the beautiful murals telling the Ramakien story on the walls enclosing the temple courtyard, the king's throne rooms, including the one where Anna Leonowens (of King and I fame) was presented to the court. The kids were very impressed.

However, by 10 AM the heat was oppresive. Rather than walking over to Wat Po, we had ice cream in an air conditioned restaurant, and then caught the water taxi to the area around the Oriental Hotel, where most of the European trading companies has their offices and several old embassies and churches are located. We had lunch at the Oriental where fried rice costs more than most backpackers spend on food for a week...sorry about that! After lunch, we took a taxi to the Bangkok Nursing Home (BNH), where I was born in 1949. Now it is an ultramodern tourist medicine hospital...the original hospital where I was born is behind it and is now a school. We were greeted at the door by nurses enquiring what medical services we wanted. As I am rather portly, they jokingly suggested the maternity ward for me. Now Thai place great importance on "face," but somehow making comments that may embarrass someone doesn't add or diminsh that person's face, and I don't get it. I declined their kind offer, but my daughters wanted to know about removing moles and other offerings in the plastic surgery category. I had to get them out of there fast, although getting a tummy tuck did enter my mind.

We walked over to Pat Pong Road, which is appears to be more of a market than a flesh pot on the surface. Will got a $20 Rolex. We proceeded to Jim Thompson's Thai Silk store at the far end and around the corner, where we made much higher quality purchases of silk products. Jim Thompson was an OSS officer during WWII, who following the war introduced Thai silk to the world of high fashion. My father helped him find the remote villages where silk weaving was an ancient art. In 1967, while on vacation in the Cameron Highlands of Malaysia, he disappeared. I happened to be going to high school there, and we skipped classes for three days to look for him, without success. As a reward for our efforts, his company provided enough Thai silk to cover our school yearbook for 1968 (about 400 yards). Another monsoon shower resulted in a mad dash down Pat Pong Rd to the Skytrain, and a ride back to Sapan Kwai. On the way to our guest home my sister, kids, and I had to stop for a Thai massage. The girl asked where I hurt. I pointed to very part of my body, which she proceeded to pound, twist, and bend every part for 90 minutes ($6). When I tried to stand, I was so "relaxed" that I collapsed on the floor. After some tea we were able to walk the rest of the way home. I don't remember eating supper.

Tuesday, May 29th. was our last day in Bangkok. We took a tuk tuk to Chitralada Palace, the present home of the Thai royal family, and toured the all-wood Victorian-style Vimanmek Palace built for King Chulalongkorn in 1901. The king and queen are highly respected by the Thai people. Les majeste laws are strictly enforced. 2007 was the 60th anniversary of the the king assuming the thone. Nearly everyone wore a yellow polo shirt, yellow being the king's color as determined by the day on which he was born, Friday. Posters of the royal family were on almost every street corner. We then proceeded to the Siam Square shopping district, where we stopped first at Jim Thompson's Thai House, which is now a museum of his life and collections of Asian art...not to be missed. Then it was time to shop...specifically the MBK Mall. This was what the kids were looking for! Floors and floors of knock off designer items...UK and European league football jerseys for Will, Coach handbags and purses for Tamara... We ate ate the food court on the top floor which had every kind of food imaginable. We ate Thai. We headed home mid afternoon to get ready for a special meal that evening. We ate at a very popular Thai restaurant located across from Sam Sen railroad station. This Thai style home used to be our home from February 1973 to February 1974. We ate in our former living room. I was able to show my kids all the rooms in the house and described what life was like for us then. We had a maid who cooked and did laundry by hand. Every monthly anniversary, I gave Linda another peice of jewelry, we visited my parents every day at the guest home which was about 5 minutes away. Of course, when we moved back to the states and I got home from work and asked for supper, Linda's response was "You fired the cook!"

The next day we headed out of Bangkok...

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