Thailand: Bangkok & Phuket

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Arriving into the airport was a fairly polite affair. We noticed straight off that Thailand / Bangkok was very tourist friendly indeed; providing city maps & tourist information guides galore. It was hot and sticky, both of which we were to get in hefty doses over the coming days. All roads lead to Bangkok as they say, and after an easy ride into the city by bus, we found ourselves downtown looking for somewhere to call home for a few days. A ½ hour later we were sorted, having found a lovely little place down a backstreet called Wendy’s Hostel, near the MBK shopping complex; a pleasant and friendly place to park up for a few nights.

Bangkok

Bangkok is a major hub in the Indochina region - better known as the South East Asia region. Thailand, a fabled country, and the Mekong’s most popular destination; the country gets over 6 million visitors a year. In contrast to Laos where we had just come from, Thailand sweeps away its past in pursuit of modernity and its people have swapped their local dress for western style clothes. Bangkok was to become a fantastic wallet-friendly landing-pad for two jaded travellers for the next couple of days.

A revolution in 1932 ended absolute monarchy and in 1939 Siam (as the country was formerly known) was renamed ‘Thailand’. While Thailand sided with Japan in World War II, it sided with the U.S. during the Vietnam War, fearful of communism spreading through the Indochina area. Over the years Thailand has got a head start welcoming visitors - always maintaining its independence, while other countries in the region suffered various forms of incarnations because of war, from isolation policies, to being colonised by western forces who marched across the globe in the 20th century. Rapid economic growth took place here during the 1980’s but in 1997 during the Asian financial crisis, the local currency called the ‘Thai Baht’ collapsed leaving the region and the country shattered. A once roaring Asian tiger became a whimper when it suddenly had its claws clipped.

Thailand has had its fair share of military coups over the years, the latest (the 18th coup no less) took place in 2006, which over threw the prime mister. Not a good sign for a country which is supposed to the shining light of democracy in the region.

The capital, Bangkok, is one of most frenetic and congested cities we’ve visited. Though saying that, it is also an exciting and colourful city, where a theatre of culture is played out on the streets; all jostling for space, with the dynamism of a country undergoing economic busts and booms. As modern Bangkok has grown, so too has traffic congestion; the lack of road planning has left the city streets constantly grid-locked.

Religion and monarchy are regarded as divine, with Thai’s appearing staunchly nationalistic. The national anthem is played a couple of times a day on trains, and we also got a blast of it when we went to the cinema, and to a Muay Thai boxing match. Thai’s seem to love their king, king Bhumibol Adulyadej, who is the world's longest-reigning monarch, sitting on the throne for the last 63 years. There is absolutely no criticism of the king allowed (a jail-able offence), and sizable pictures of him are proudly displayed all throughout the capital on buildings and billboards.

Theravada Buddhism has a strong influence on attitude and behaviour. Its tenets comprise of the three pillars of morality, meditation and wisdom, supported by the basic principles of tolerance and non-violence. Buddhists believe in perpetual reincarnation, where each life is influenced by the actions and deeds of their previous one - a cause and effect philosophy known as karma. Enlightenment is the only state that will end this cycle of death and rebirth. To reach this, Buddhists try and develop the above attributes.

The girls running the hostel were master chatters with a shopping list of questions for all the guests, where nothing was off limits; from how much do you weigh, to how much do you earn? - common questions for Thai’s to ask. All activities in Thai society appear to be measured on the fun scale, whereby Thai’s seem to make fun and playfulness part of their jobs and daily chores.

We had our own shopping list of sites to check off and we needed to get started. We went to see a real Muay Thai boxing match (expensive but worth it for the ringside seats!) for a few hours. We picked our fighters to support, drank some beer, and afterwards went for a seafood dinner, before heading out for few more drinks.

We spent some time wondering about the famous Khao San Road. You’ll need your camera ready or you’ll miss it - "It" being the life that’s happening every moment all around you. It’s the main backpacker ghetto, with lots of cheap tasty food and drinks. The menus are similar throughout the street, written in English and complemented by sample pictures. The street is lined with shops, bars and the every present “frog ladies”. They are dressed like women from hill tribe villages (perhaps some of them actually were!). They walk around with wooden frogs and small wooden sticks, also carrying baskets of bracelets, trinkets and hats for sale, all identical to the next ladys merchandise! They stroke the wooden stick over the grooves on the frogs back, to create a croaking noise, in order to attract the attention of unsuspecting tourists (that being me!). The noise strangely enough did add a certain ambiance to the evening. They roam the streets in droves, and stopped at ours and every other table continuously, interrupting conversations - shamelessly and yet hopeful. I think I was the only one who patronised them in our vicinity!

Other heavy weight tourist attractions we took in were the Grand Palace (a superb sight), the Reclining Buddha and the Temple of Dawn (to watch the sun set oddly enough!). In addition, we took in a short ferry on the river, and also got to spend several hours in the Myanmar (Burma) embassy - as somewhat reluctant tourists, filling in complicated and bureaucratic forms; but they delivered the goods i.e our visa’s to go to Myanmar (Burma)….so it was all good!

Bangkok is a fantastic place for picking up cheap clothes, and we spent some time perusing the shops looking for the best bargains! If you need a suit, look no further! “Suit sir?” is a common question you’ll be asked by the touts, who always have an ever watchful eye on everyone, sussing out who are the latest newcomers in town. Several other queries you’ll get asked while you’re here are; “tuk-tuk?”, “massage?”, “ping-pong show?”. It just becomes funny after a while, with the same never abating phrases being posed to you all day long.

And what would a trip to Bangkok be without at trip to the infamous Patpong area, the world’s most notorious red light district (…what was it like I hear you say?). Originally these infamous ‘go-go bars’ sprang up to satisfy airline crews and GI’s on leave, during the Vietnam War. These days a night market filled with stalls, gives the area a thin veil of respectability. We went there out of intense curiosity rather than to indulge in any flesh-trade, but we can’t speak for all the other suspicious looking characters lurking about!!!

With all its westernisation and its aim to please tourists, you could mistake convenience for a lack of adventure, or think Bangkok has a diluted culture and sold its soul - not so! Bangkok is a nexus of Thailand’s past, present and future colliding; quite a compelling city and a superb subject for the urban connoisseur.

Phuket

After Bangkok we spent a few days relaxing in Phuket, We stayed in the main beach area, chilling out, and taking in the finer side of Thai culture. Unbelievably it was cloudy while we were there, and we only spent about 2 hours on the beach over the duration of our stay. Never mind - next time!!

Thailand’s more outrageous side is shamelessly on show here, and stereotype ideals of young Thai girls wrapped around “sweaty-Johns” is the norm, rather than the exception. There are entire books written on this somewhat misunderstood subject, many of which are on sale here. Simply put, you can buy yourself a beautiful girlfriend or companion, who is more than happy and willing to spend her precious time with you, all day, everyday - for a price that is!! - who would have thought?

All in all, we had a great time in Thailand. It's a fast developing modern country, which is simple to navigate for tourists. We would liked to have had more time here, especially to go up north to Chiang Mai, and also to have visited some of the wonderful islands off Thailand's coast - next time maybe! For now, we must push on with our world adventure...next stop Myanmar (Burma).

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Photos

Shamelessly, this is me!
and yes - they are real Iguana's!!!

The Temple of Dawn
(Wat Arun)

The Reclining Buddha (Wat Pho)
46m long and 15m high

One of the many funny t-shirts on sale
(on Khao San Road)