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Published: March 8th 2014
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After pulling an all-nighter in Hong Kong, I arrived in Bangkok at about 16:30 on Saturday afternoon. I was pretty tired, so decided to take a “nap” when I got settled in my hotel, around 19:00. Unsurprisingly, I woke up from my “nap” at 02:30 :D Since it was Saturday night, and I was staying near some of the major nightlife areas of the city, I figured I'd head straight out to survey the scene.
Every characterization I have heard of Bangkok is merely an understatement compared to the real thing (Ok, maybe not the Hangover II, which I felt compelled to watch just now). The city is huge, varied, crowded, chaotic, in-your-face, and laughably inexpensive. There are enormous numbers of Thai prostitutes here congregated in the red light districts. There are a lot of old men from Europe who are constantly in the company of young Thai women. There's a lot of drug/alcohol excess. There's a lot of poverty.
All of these things have varying levels of manifestation. From seemingly hopeless disabled homeless teenage mothers with small children, to the enterprising poor who are scraping through garbage, collecting cans. From 70 year-old expat retirees cruising around at 2am
with a teenager on each arm, to 40-something expats happily married with children to Thais women maybe 5-10 years younger. From girls who must be hopped up on meth, coke, or some equally powerful stimulant working at the high throughput “BJ bars,” to women who have service industry jobs and will turn the occasional trick here or there if/when/with people they feel like it, to pad their income.
One of the most memorable things I've seen here was a robed monk (there are actually quite a few monasteries and many monks living within Bangkok) out at 04:30 around Nana plaza (one of several red light districts in the city) taking alms (i.e. asking for food), and watching prostitutes fill his bowl. The monks are basically nobility here (more on Thai Buddhism in a future post).
I've wondered at times what it's actually like experiencing life (socially!) as a young beautiful woman. Of course I have some kind of idea from my observations as a 3rd and sometimes 2nd party. But in Bangkok I got some first person experience (no, I didn't join the ladyboy lineup :P). In certain venues I felt like the center of attention. The approaches
were nonstop, multi-pronged, and sometimes quite aggressive, such as getting grabbed by the forearm in a difficult-to-escape vice grip (beware, this a strong ladyboy tell). It was quite flattering, but of course they weren't after me because of my looks or personality, but instead were seeking satisfaction from my Western wallet. While the pushy salesperson types were out there in droves, nevertheless, some are rather more reserved, very nice, down-to-earth people. I didn't want to be rude to these types, but there are simply too many! In these situations, many beautiful women draw on a repertoire of suave brush-offs that extricate themselves from conversations while leaving their suitors feeling reasonably good about themselves. I've yet to master such escapes. One time I flat out ran away from a drove of ladyboys :D
I'm still having a hard time squaring the seemingly large % of women who have come from the more rural areas, often in the North, and become prostitutes in Bangkok. The thing is, traditional Thai culture is quite conservative. Outside of Bangkok it's not really acceptable to exhibit pubic displays of affection, at least between opposite sexes. Despite the heat, it's not even really proper for Thai
men to remove their shirts in public. So how exactly is it that these small-town girls from the conservative north come in huge droves to Bangkok, and one way or another make their way into the sex industry? Economics obviously have a lot to do with it, but I don't think that quite cuts it alone, as that factor is there at least as acutely in many cities of the world, and they don't all become Bangkok.
Prices
If you subsist off of street food (I did, and highly recommend it), you can eat pretty well for $6 a day in Bangkok. A good main is 30-50 baht ($1 = 32 baht), and maybe you supplement that with a piece of fruit for 20 baht and/or a satay for 10. Of course, if you were to cook your own food, you could probly go much cheaper. I'm currently writing this from a guest house that I'm paying $6 a night in for a private room, very near to tourist mecca of Khao San Road. My 3-star hotel near Nana was pretty close to the nightlife and 1000 baht ($31) a night. I took a 40 minute taxi ride for
120 baht ($4). I took a 2 hour Thai massage on the my 2nd day here at a very nice place (Health Land Spa, Asok) for 500 baht ($16). It was the best massage I've ever had.
I decided to explore the vision-correction surgery options in Bangkok while here, as it has a reputation for a medical tourism destination, offering quality care at prices much cheaper than the West. I went in for two 4-hour evaluations at the top places I could find here - TRSC and Rutnin. They both OKed me for surgery, but warned me that my pupils were towards the upper end (diameter in the high 7mm) of the permissible range, and that that raised the risk for glare, starbursts, halos, and other night-vision problems. However, since my correction was relatively small (-1.75) that lowered my risk. I already have some level of light sensitivity and glare at night, and found out that the lasers they were using only had a 6mm optical correction diameter, so all-in-all, I didn't think it was worth the risk to do the procedure. There supposedly exist places that will correct and 8mm diameter now, but I didn't dig
that deep here. Anyway, the cost for the 4-hour evaluations were 1200 bht ($40) and 1500 bht ($50).
Culture
Bangkok is more modern than I had assumed it would be. Mobile tech is pretty ubiquitous, even in the hands of those whom you couldnt possibly fathom how they could afford such. The older generation seems pretty enamored of sappy soap operas, with a splash of reality TV here and there. Many street vendors have managed to get TVs situated next to them on the sidewalk to dull the boredom.
You may know that Thailand is a monarchy. I had figured it would be a monarchy kind of in the sense that the UK kind of still has a monarchy. It's much more actually a monarchy than that though. I'm not 100%!s(MISSING)ure on the extent of the king's real/implied powers, but he is basically a cult figure, with huge portraits of him all across the city, in all Thai houses, all businesses, on every single coin and bill. The people genuinely love him though; it's nothing like the nonesense going on in North Korea.
You may know that Thailand is a Buddhist country. It's not
merely predominantly Buddhist, but it's interwoven into the government. Critiques of the Buddha/Buddhism are often censored. This isn't all bad though. The people have a genuine kindness and willingness to help out those in need, that has roots in Buddhist generosity/metta/merit. Often I was walking down a dead-end alley in Bangkok when one or several of a chatting group of workers would stop their leisure or work and try to warn me of this, even with the very little English they possessed. At the airport a woman was selling hotel bookings, and asked me where I was staying. I was hesitant to answer, thinking that she would use it as launching material for a pitch, but when I did she merely told me how exactly I could get there by public transport. The people have also adopted the ethos of Buddhist equanimity. It's considered a social faux pas to become visibly upset or angry, and violence is usually completely out of the question. I personally love this. While I'm here, there have been very extensive and determined political protests going on, but despite walking through many such encampments, even late at night, I never felt the least bit of hostility
or previolence in any of them. The total absence of over-testosteroned roving male teenager bands looking for trouble is also notable. I've never lived in a big city where I didn't run into such.
There's a lot more to say about Bangkok, and maybe I will in another post, but at the moment I have too much interesting stuff to do.
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