Bangkok, Thailand                                                                    March 24, 2000

After an action-packed few days in Chiang Mai, we flew 300 miles south to Bangkok, known for having the world's worst traffic.  Surprisingly, the new toll way and the new Skytrain seem to have eased traffic some, and we got to our hotel in unexpectedly good time.  We stayed at the Amari Atrium, a lovely almost-luxury high-rise hotel sporting 3 good restaurants.  Unfortunately, it's about 30 minutes from the center of the old city and the river, requiring a taxi or bus ride to get anywhere.

Still, one could get a sense of Bangkok, a city of huge contrasts, just by looking out our hotel window.  First the smog and haze are ever-present, so the background scene quickly fades into greyness.  It's only when you look up that the sky is a dusty blue.  The poor air quality is likely due to automobile and motorcycle exhaust, as opposed to smoke from planned burns as in Chiang Mai.  Our hotel towered above the street below, which was edged with squat, 4-story, rundown attached buildings covered by tin roofs.  These shop houses have mom and pop businesses on the ground floor with the family living above.  Just visible over the swimming pool below our window is a large dirt yard landscaped with clothes lines and run-down cars.  The street itself is quite busy and is divided by a barrier fence that prevents pedestrians crossing; pedestrian overpasses are spaced every few blocks. 

Behind the shop houses is a Buddhist temple complex with its unique architecture, narrow spires, and gold and red ornate decorations.  A bit further away is the railroad track, lined with the makeshift homes of the poor, who fmake a place to call home where they can.  And finally, looking farther out into the landscape, there's the elevated expressway and the modern high-rise apartment and office buildings.  Along the back side of the hotel is a canal, with boats full of people traveling up and down. These boats were apparently not intended for tourists, as we saw no information about them.  It's clear that there are many different Bangkoks.

Bangkok is one of the "Venices of the East".  It's 200 yard wide river is bustling with barges, river taxis and river boats, which come in three varieties, local, express and super-express, depending on the number of stops.  We got on a local boat at the world famous Oriental Hotel (#1 in the world on most hotel surveys).  We checked it out and can definitely confirm that the rich lead a lovely life.)  The river boat was crowded, and lots of people got on at this stop.  As usual, we wondered how it works; should we have bought a ticket in advance?  As we soon discovered, it works like everything else in Bangkok: you pay by distance.   A uniformed conductor walks around looking for new arrivals.  We showed her on the map where we want to get off and gave her some money; she gave us our tickets and change.  No need for her to to speak English; no need for us to speak Thai.  Going home we found the same procedure works on the bus.  (A hotel business card works as a means of communicating where you want to get off.)   But you need to know which bus you want.  There are hundreds of routes and nowhere did we see a route map.  Luckily we asked the concierge which buses to look for before we left, so we saved the expense of a cab ride.

Aside from being a religious, cultural and industrial center, Bangkok is also the home of the King.  King Rama IX has been on the throne for over 50 years and is much revered and loved.  Like the Buddha, you must speak of the King with respect.  There are dozens of 6 ft by 20 ft pictures of him on the main road in Bangkok and his photo appears everywhere.  (However, the photo display above is from Chiang Mai.)   As might be expected, the King lives in a palace, the Grand Palace, many parts of which are open to the public.  It's a truly magnificent place, with continuous reconstruction and frequent renovations keeping everything glittering and looking new.  Check out the multiplicity of buildings and spires above.  As you get close to each building, it seems more awesome than the last. 

The contrasts in Thailand are huge, making it an interesting place to visit.  But if you want to live in Southeast Asia, Singapore is the place.  Modern, safe, clean, industrial and well planned.  Dick wrote up our visit.

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