bangkok - land of tout, monks, buddahs ...

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click here for photos of Bangkok

click here for photos of ayuthaya

click here for photos from Japan

Hmm, it looks like the travelblog site may still have some problems. Click the above links for my photos. Ok, I've been in Thailand, well actually Bangkok now for almost a week. Hopefully today I will get the heck out of Dodge and start heading somewhere. Here are some quick observations so far:


Touts - I haven't seen so many touts in such a long time. A Tout for those non travelers is, "a person who frequents heavily touristed areas and presents himself as a tour guide (particularly towards those who do not speak the local language). In a similar fashion a tout would be someone who, acting upon his own initiative, loads or unloads the baggage from a bus, then demands payment for his services from the passengers. Some touts operate in holiday areas on behalf of local bars, restaurant or hotels, being paid to direct tourists towards certain establishments".

The touts are everywhere and persistent, not just your typical tuktuk driver, or cab driver or guy outside a shop. Everywhere in the street someone will come up to you and say something like, " where you from?" - "the United states", "I love the US" (first lie). I would like to practice my English with you (right). Or Hello, "where are you going ", (I am wanting to say - "none of your $%!&(MISSING)* business"), oh that is closed today, you want to go here it is better and i can get you a special price (like 3 times what it should cost). There are even people in the bus stations with official looking badges that will come up to you and ask where are you going, oh those buses are full, this official agency has tickets to go there (at an inflated price) ....

Now none of this doesn't bother me (well maybe a little when it is 100 degrees outside), and it can actually become quite fun playing their game. What it does though is make you suspicious of everyone and as a result, I am probably going to miss the one opportunity to interact with the one local who really wants to practice their English or whatever. The one person who isn't going to try to scam me for anything.

Buddah - there are Buddhas and temples everywhere. Hopefully I won't over due it in the picture taking category. Speaking of over doing it, i will try to keep the pictures of monks to under a 1,000 or so.

The King - The Thais love their king. You don't have to even ask, they will tell you. Maybe they have to since it is punishable by death to say bad things about the king. His picture and the queens' pictures are everywhere. This last Sunday was the Queens birthday and there was a huge celebration here.

Food - Good and cheap - spicy too! You can get a great meal from a street vendor for about a dollar. For example, tonight I had a spicy chicken with rice dish. The street vendor was kind enough to warn me that it was spicy. Luckily for me, there was a woman selling drinks across the street from the spicy chicken vendor. next to the spicy chicken vendor was a woman selling pad thai (sp), noodles with veggies for $.50 a plate. Not bad

Taxis - Plentiful, cheap, good vehicles and cold air conditioning!

Down pours! mother nature just reminded me of this one. it is the rainy season and sometimes it can just pour buckets as they say.

well that is it for now. I hope you are well.

cheers

David F O T O S B Y D A V I D.C O M

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Photos

monks
a national geographic moment

monks
a national geographic moment

monks
oops not a monk

buddha
ok, got to warn you, this is the first of 1,00os of buddhas. i am already buddha(d) out.

japan
one of these capsules was my hotel roomin tokyo my last night. notmuch for $35

Comments

[KP1958]

Death for saying bad things about the king?
Sir, I beg to set you straight. In Thailand there is no such thing as death penalty for lese majesty. The actual punishment is between 3 to 10 years imprisonment. In reality, the courts hand down punishments only in rare cases where the offenders clearly act with malicious intention. One recent example is the case of a Swiss man who was guilty of splashing black paint over the king's portraits along Chiangmai streets. Following the verdict, however, he was almost immediately pardoned by the king and deported back to Switzerland. Eventually, anyone who is convicted normally can be put on parole or have his punishment reduced if he admits to or shows remorse for his deeds, or has never been found guilty of a similar offense before. Social critics and academics do occasionally give fair, reasonable criticisms or advices over the king's or royal family's matters. Although in some instances lese majesty suits may be filed if the police or state's attorneys feel the words offensive enough, those critics are seldom found guilty by the courts.

[elisa]

Curiosity
Hi Dave, I know all about the overwhelming 'attention' foreigners get in Asia.However, what a lot of people don't or too little realise is that this asking about where one is going and where one is coming from is a true difference in culture. They do this too between themselves, this is part of a social communication that is really different from ours. (as you know, because as you said our reaction being from the more individual west is: none of your business) If we could speak their language we would understand this much more about these (for us sometimes) intruding questions, and if we go with their flow we can really enjoy and appreciate it even. Of course, being really hassled is not great, but rather understandable too, I think. Have fun, and smiling is indeed the best, and you're good at it!! X elisa

[suzie]

Good work Dave!
Hey Davie, Delighted you are still traversing the planet, its great to see that with a bit of thought and initiative one can keep on travelling and learning! Lovng the blog by the way, tis real interesting! Are we gonna get on it some time soon? I.e are you going to be landing in Sydney? Let us know would be great to see you! Ciao amigo Suz