As regards the matter of how and why we ended up in Bangkok, I wish I could say that I had some erudite and grand reason, or reasons, for going that far away for what was really a very short amount of time. It took just about 24 hours of actual in flight time to arrive so I must have had some really incredible motivations. I must have been investigating the latest of the Asian Tiger economies, monitoring the tense peace after the recent civil unrest and armed response from the government, or diving into a study of the meaning of Buddhism in a highly, although newly, consumerist society. Alas, I wasn’t doing any of those things. Instead, I had heard from a few people that Bangkok was a fun place to visit, it earned me a lot of delicious SkyMiles and Medallion Qualification Miles more importantly, and Delta flies there every day. So, with those basic criteria met, off we went.
Just Getting There
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As I indicated, it is a LONG flight from Atlanta to Bangkok. 9,739 flown air miles to be exact. Granted, we connected through Tokyo, which does slightly disrupt the “great circle” that one can draw directly between Atlanta and Bangkok, a journey of only 9,158 miles, but really, once you hit the 9,000 mile mark, does a difference of 581 miles REALLY matter anymore? Besides, I don’t know that there is an aircraft flying yet that would cover the total distance without refueling (OK, a quick check tells me that the aircraft we flew to Tokyo, the 777-200 LR actually could do the run, just barely, but I doubt there is enough demand to justify it). That’s a lot of “butt in seat” time, but in my case, the first 15 hours were spent flat out asleep in my sleeper suite and then the next 8 were at least at 175 degrees recline if not the luxury of actual lay-flat.
The Drive to the Hotel
We arrived shortly before midnight and to avoid having to handle sometimes rapacious cab drivers, we had ordered a car from the hotel in advance. It should tell you something about Bangkok, immediately, that the first thing the driver did on our entering the vehicle was to offer us, from a cooler on the passenger seat (which was on the left since the Thais, like the Brits and the Japanese, drive on the left side of the road) a bottle of chilled water and a wet, chilled, towel wrapped in cellophane with the hotel logo printed on it. In other words, Bangkok is a hot city and I don’t mean just in terms of the nightlife, I mean in terms of actual temperatures of the 90s F in late November. I shudder to think what October was like with torrential rain AND temperatures that high. The drive was quick and easy, putting to question the rumors of horrid Bangkok traffic, but then I realized that a) it was late at night and b) this new elevated roadway, featuring golden bodhisattva statues along the roadside, charged tolls and those two factors kept the truly horrid traffic in check. Oh, what is a bodhisattva you ask and why would there be statues of them on the roadway? Well, Thailand is a VERY Buddhist country and bodhisattva (Sanskrit: बोधिसत्त्व bodhisattva; Pali: बोधिसत्त bodhisatta) statues represent, in Buddhism, either an enlightened (bodhi) existence (sattva) or an enlightenment-being or, given the variant Sanskrit spelling satva rather than sattva, “heroic-minded one (satva) for enlightenment (bodhi).” Another term is “wisdom-being.” It is anyone who, motivated by great compassion, has generated bodhicitta, which is a spontaneous wish to attain Buddhahood for the benefit of all sentient beings. I am sure that clears that right up.
Lebua at State Tower
I have to say that the only word for the Hotel Lebua at State Tower is “glam.” You can check it out for yourself at: http://www.lebua.com/en/lebua-at-state-tower/ The SkyBar, some 60+ stories up in the open evening air of Bangkok is a big draw for visitors from all over the city and our upgraded room on the 55th floor exceeded every expectation I have ever had for luxury, with three separate rooms and a balcony overlooking the river. And, because we booked shortly after civil unrest had decimated Thailand’s tourism sector (the largest earner of foreign assets), the hotel booked us in at a rate of approximately $125 a night, which honestly is less than we pay for a garden variety hotel in Kentucky! It was a real steal. So, the travel hint from Matthew today is book into countries with a recent history of civil unrest and armed response because you can bet that tourist room rates will be at an all-time low! Granted airport closures and such are a real drag, but you take your chances. And let me say immediately, that never during our stay did I feel remotely threatened nor did I see or even hear of any disturbances in the country. Sometimes the past really is the past.
Eating Thai
We ventured across the street from the hotel to the street food vendor that would pop up every evening about 9pm or so and be there until at least 4am. The food was super fresh, super tasty, and a super bargain with both of us eating full dinners with beers for well under $5.00 total. We would get a late night meal here most every night and eventually I would even brave the “fermented pork in salad” dish, which was most like a type of sausage frankly, hot and spicy, a bit sour, but really good actually. When in Bangkok, leave the restaurants to the suckers and eat fresh on the street at any hour of day or night. Vendors are everywhere, you can see them cook the food in front of you, and it is all super fresh and over the top delicious!
Oh, one more cultural adjustment. Shaking hands really isn’t the thing here. Instead, to indicate thanks or gratitude, or to just be really polite, conclude conversations and business transactions by holding your two hands together with palms and fingers touching, held about face level, and make a slight bow. Everyone does this and it is an easy thing to learn to do as well.
After a great night of sleep in a real bed I was fresh at my usual mid-morning hour. Tim, of course, being a morning bunny rabbit who literally hops out of bed and starts agitating about eating and movement, much to the irritation of those who like to sleep late, checked out the incredible breakfast buffet, which was included in the room rate! It had literally everything you ever though you might eat for breakfast and probably some things you hadn’t considered before. I tried it the next day and settled on the steamed dumplings as my personal favorite along with fresh squeezed watermelon juice. Tim settled on nothing and instead ate at least a little of everything.
Of River Boats, Amulets, and Food
Our destination for the first day was obvious: Ko Ratanakosin. In the day, this area was an island, but you wouldn’t know it today since most of the canals, or khlongs, have long since been paved over. This area is the mega-center for tourists in Bangkok and probably rightfully so. We were located quite a ways south of the sights and we had two choices of how to get there: road or river. To be clear, traffic in Bangkok, while not as terrifying as, say, Cairo, is not for the faint of heart. There is a lot of it and it comes from the “wrong” direction. The river provides a fantastic means of moving about through a city centered on the river, in this case the Chao Phraya. There are tourist boats that charge a reasonable all-day fare and some riverside hotels operate their own river boats, but since Lebua didn’t have a boat and since we like doing things more locally, we used the regular color-coded river ferries that make designated stops along the river going both north and south. Match up the color of the flag on the boat for the service you want, pay your 14 baht ($0.46) and go with the locals and the smart tourists. The mix will be about 50/50 local and tourist on board but look out for the reserved areas for monks (these exist on the SkyTrain monorail system and the Metro Underground as well). When you start walking towards the ferry stop I think one has to notice that despite potential expectations, Bangkok, huge though it is, is very clean. I saw zero litter or garbage on the streets anywhere and the brigades of older women literally sweeping the streets of even leaves with twig brooms (think of the plastic ones used in Paris but these are really actually twigs) helps keep it clean. In fact, most of what the women seem to sweep up is leaves as no one seems to think it acceptable to leave litter in the streets. Some say Bangkok aims to rival Singapore and Hong Kong as the penultimate Asian city and in terms of clean they were working well towards it.
The river boats are fast and reliable and sooner than you would think you have arrived at your stop N9, Tha Chang. Granted this is a bit north of the actual center of activity, but I had a plan to visit some not so on the map locations first. We started with Silpakorn Univeristy and Wat Mahathat. Silpakorn is a fine-arts institution and the Wat Mahathat is a Buddhist university. Both of them provide a respite from the relative madness of the streets. Everywhere you look are people selling everything you can imagine, and probably some things you can’t yet imagine, and two of the most prevalent items are amulets and food. The food is pretty obvious but the amulets might confuse you. Amulets are big with the local Buddhists, primarily men in this case, and they represent various Buddhist and Hindu deities and enlightened ones. This is a HUGE local hobby that is taken very seriously by collectors. You can get cheap amulets for about $0.40 but you can also spend serious money on them too if you really know what you are looking for and you will see everyone from taxi drivers to monks poring over the cheap tables looking for that rare find that is unique and special but also cheap. As you move off the street and on to the plank sidewalks headed back towards the river, you get into the more serious dealers and the tourists die back. There are entire magazines and journals dedicated to these amulets and while I could admire them, I stuck with the cheap ones since I wouldn’t know a rare and special one from the most otherwise obvious fake. It is a fun non-tourist packed ramble through the sometimes flooded alleys of sellers and the food back in here is local, cheap, and fantastic. We think of Thai food as being more high-end that most any other available Asian cuisine in the US I think, but locally, a great plate of excellent quick and fresh stir-fried something with rice, cooked literally in front of your face, goes for little more than $1.00. I really want to walk into my local Thai place and ask why they can’t offer me a competitive deal when they want $15+ for food that isn’t half as good! Oh, and if you didn’t know, Thai food can be spicy hot, and when a street food vendor in Bangkok asks “medium hot?” beware that this is likely to be a GREAT deal hotter than what “medium” means at home. My suggestion is to carry tissues because you will clear any sinus congestion you ever thought you might have. Oh, it is hot, but oh so very, very good.
Grand Palace and Emerald Buddha With An Attempt to Explain Buddhism
After eating and sweating, we were ready to brave the main attraction, which is clearly the Grand Palace and Wat Phra Kaew, home of the Emerald Buddha which figures huge in Thai life as this figure of Buddha is dressed seasonally by the King himself. To even begin to understand Thailand you have to understand that it is a monarchy and that the King and royal family are highly revered. Not only is it bad manners to speak ill of the King and his family but it is also illegal, and while visiting Western tourists in jail is now a tourist attraction (mostly Europeans convicted on drug trafficking charges, US citizens are sent home for prosecution, Thai and US jails being considered equally hideous as punishment), I didn’t want to find out personally about conditions in local jails, and besides, I have no beef with the King anyhow. His birthday was approaching and as he is about 80, his continued birthdays are a big deal. Preparations were underway literally everywhere with shrines being built with his photo displayed. The second thing you have to understand is that Thailand, unique among Southeast Asian nations, was never colonized, although surrounded to the west and south by British Burma and Malaya, and by French Indochine to the east and north. Thais are very proud of their long time independent nation status although I wouldn’t say that they have ever been particularly nasty about their nationalism. Despite a long history of proud nationhood, it is also the case that the Thais got their butts kicked by the Burmese in the late 18th century. This defeat was the reason the capital moved to Bangkok in the first place and the Grand Palace was built in the early 19th century as the home of the monarchy and the home of the Emerald Buddha, the most revered image in all of Thai Buddhism.
And now comes the point I have been trying to avoid but realize I can’t, which is that I have to account in some way for Buddhism beyond the pretty statues on the freeway and that, frankly isn’t that easy to do. I am going to cheat and take a definition from others:
Buddhism (Pali/Sanskrit: बौद्ध धर्म Buddha Dharma) is a religion and philosophy encompassing a variety of traditions, beliefs and practices, largely based on teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, commonly known as the Buddha (Pāli/Sanskrit “the awakened one”). The Buddha lived and taught in the northeastern Indian subcontinent sometime between the 6th and 4th centuries BCE. He is recognized by Buddhists as an awakened or enlightened teacher who shared his insights to help sentient beings end suffering (or dukkha), achieve nirvana, and escape what is seen as a cycle of suffering and rebirth. (My note here, however, Buddha is NOT actually worshipped as what we in the West would consider a divine being or god, rather he is always viewed as a human who achieved spiritual greatness, just as any other human can if they try hard and long enough).
Two major branches of Buddhism are recognized: Theravada (“The School of the Elders”) and Mahayana (“The Great Vehicle”). Theravada—the oldest surviving branch—has a widespread following in Sri Lanka and Southeast Asia, and Mahayana is found throughout East Asia and includes the traditions of Pure Land, Zen, Nichiren Buddhism, Tibetan Buddhism, Shingon, Tendai and Shinnyo-en. In some classifications Vajrayana—a subcategory of Mahayana practiced in Tibet and Mongolia—is recognized as a third branch. While Buddhism remains most popular within Asia, both branches are now found throughout the world. Estimates of Buddhists worldwide vary significantly depending on the way Buddhist adherence is defined. Lower estimates are between 350–500 million. However, when including Chinese religion which has traditionally consisted of forms of Mahayana Buddhism alongside Chinese folk religion the number would range from 1–1.6 billion.
Buddhist schools vary on the exact nature of the path to liberation, the importance and canonicity of various teachings and scriptures, and especially their respective practices. The foundations of Buddhist tradition and practice are the Three Jewels: the Buddha, the Dharma (the teachings), and the Sangha (the community). Taking “refuge in the triple gem” has traditionally been a declaration and commitment to being on the Buddhist path and in general distinguishes a Buddhist from a non-Buddhist. Other practices may include following ethical precepts, support of the monastic community, renouncing conventional living and becoming a monastic, the development of mindfulness and practice of meditation, cultivation of higher wisdom and discernment, study of scriptures, devotional practices, ceremonies, and in the Mahayana tradition, invocation of buddhas and bodhisattvas.
OK, are we all clear on that? Buddhism can be terribly complicated but in reality I think it is easiest to think of it as a practice that is intended to relieve one, ultimately, of the cycle of reincarnation and the pain of the earthly life, a state known as Nirvana, which the Buddha achieved. Buddhism is very personal in that in most traditions there is not a professional priesthood and no intermediary for the spiritual work each person has to do on their own. Support of monks and nuns may help you to achieve enlightenment, but you can’t buy your way in. Detachment from the earthly, including possessions and mortal people, is generally considered the core of the path as is respect for all living things since even an ant could be your great-aunt who didn’t quite make it to nirvana her last time through. Meditation at revered sites and making offerings of food and incense may also feature prominently in an individual’s path to enlightenment, but for each the path will be unique, there is no recipe to get there, no set number of rites or sacraments to ensure that you arrive at the intended destination. You keep doing the mortal life with all its pains over and over until you achieve whatever enlightenment is for you. It can be complicated, but also as simple as: “wanting what you have releases you from the pain and suffering of mortal wants.” And it intrigues me how a culture founded on a religion of denial of worldly wants is finding its way as a newly consumerist society with mega-malls featuring Dior, Dolce and Gabbana, etc etc etc.
And when you see the Grand Palace and the Wat Phra Kaew (“wat” translates loosely as temple and appears frequently in this discussion) you have to at first struggle to get the connection, or rather the disconnect between leaving the earthly behind and the sheer luxury of literally tons of gold, gems, and ornate decoration. And the only answer I can give is that these decorations in their ornateness and intricacy are actually objects of meditational reverence instead of desire. You are intended to lose the self in the contemplation of the sheer number of mirror pieces, tiles, and all the other minor details that make up each segment of each wat. Gold and gems are offerings to those who have detached: Buddha doesn’t want or need gold but the offering of it indicates the importance of his achievement of freedom from want. It can be paradoxical, as can many things about most branches of Buddhism, but that is the mystery you meditate on and from which you might, eventually, find your own liberation.
You will see lots of monks about Bangkok in their variations on saffron colored robes. It is common for young men to spend some time as monks although it is only a few who make a life out of it. The nuns are the women in white robes with shaved heads. They are not as common as monks but you will occasionally see them. Monks and nuns are revered in Thailand so treat them with courtesy, give them the right of way, your seat on the train, and offerings for their support and for that of their brothers/sisters are always appreciated but certainly not required. Tim gave a rather surprised monk at the airport a hefty donation of baht on our return, earning him at least some good graces for selflessness.
The pictures say it better than words ever could about the ornateness of the Grand Palace and its grounds. One has to contemplate its mysteries for themselves I suppose, but you have to be properly dressed to do it. No bare legs or arms above the elbow for either gender (if you are not dressed properly you can rent a sarong) and NO SHOES either inside the wats and furthermore, no open toes on temple ground period, so no sandals or flip-flops allowed!
To fully understand the elaborate artwork, murals, and statuary would probably require long study in Buddhist art, but one relatively simple thing to learn is the different meanings of the poses of the Buddha. When standing he is defending the weak and helpless, when sitting he is teaching, and when reclining he has reached enlightenment, or nirvana. The Emerald Buddha, for example is sitting, whereas the appropriately named, and unbelievable enormous, reclining Buddha is laying down in Wat Pho, just south of the Grand Palace.
Why Not to Buy Clothes In Thailand
Compared to other places I have been, Bangkok is refreshingly free of the really aggressive sales touts, with the exception of men hawking various sex shows featuring, inexplicably to me at least, ping-pong balls, and the drivers of the motorcycle taxis known as “tuk-tuks.” If you are local and can negotiate in Thai, a tuk-tuk can transport you and your stuff, including even mattresses apparently based on what I have seen, but if you are a tourist, a “farang” or foreigner, you are a big and probably by Thai standards, fat, target for the scam. You are promised a drive anywhere you want for only 10 baht, less than 50 cents, but really you end up at a jewelry store or questionable tailor. And nowhere will you find tuk-tuks like you do around the Grand Palace. We left them alone and are the richer and better off for it.
I have to mention here something about even considering buying clothes in Thailand. If you are at all body conscious or sensitive about your size, don’t attempt it. Thais in general are small people and their clothing sizes reflect this. For example, I bought a pair of silk shorts and my Western waist size is generally 34. In Thailand, that translates into XXXXXL.
Big Finish at Wat Arun
We finished our day at Wat Arun which predates the Grand Palace compound and was the site of a Hindu shrine that indicated to the Thai King just beaten by the Burmese that this location was where to rebuild the new capital city. It is impressively huge and more Hindu than Buddhist in nature. Really, I don’t have it in me to explain the differences; you can look it up for yourself if you really want to know. But one obvious thing is you can climb Wat Arun (DO NOT TRY THAT in the Grand Palace) for great riverside views, but beware that the steps are extremely steep and the last flight has no hand rail either. Wat Arun struck me as a colorful and miniature version of Borobodur in Indonesia, discussed in the 2009 Cruise narrative. Again, really only the pictures will do this justice.
Whew! That is quite a day and nothing ended it quite like a big tall glass of watermelon slushy prepared fresh from real fruit and ice blended street side.
After Darkness Falls
Bangkok nightlife is legendary and (in) famous. Sex tourism is big business in Thailand and the sheer numbers of single men being accompanied, suspiciously I always thought, by young Thai men and women was astounding to me, even though it really shouldn’t have been. To be honest, I don’t have a fascination with ping-pong balls, even though I know from Priscilla, Queen of the Desert (an Australian film of 1990s vintage) what they do with them and I really didn’t want to shop for people by number, so that part of Bangkok is something I just can’t tell you much about. But if you go there, it won’t be hard to find.
The Biggest Weekend Market Ever!
Our next adventure would be the Chatuchak Weekend Market, a sight that literally has to be seen to be believed. Think of the most oversized outdoor flea market you have ever seen and then forget that because it will no doubt pale in comparison size-wise with what we are talking about here. This place is huge, hot, and chaotic, but it is also where every day Thai people go for everything from school uniforms, to a pet snake, to furniture, each roughly divided section specializing in different things (meaning some rats and bunny rabbits are meant as pets and others are meant as food for a pet…think about it). I doubt that there is anything that you could want that you can’t find here and for the faint of heart there is now a multi-floored indoor air-conditioned section as well, which I found very boring by comparison. Did I buy anything? Of course I did! A frankly fake opium pipe for example, amongst some other priceless tourist treasures. In this case, I wanted something obviously fake so as not to arouse grief when arriving home! While there is much that a tourist could want, make no mistake, this market decidedly exists to serve the hometown team, which makes it all the more fascinating and place to just look and of course to eat as well. I didn’t know rice noodles could be that fat or that green, but there they were, tasty nonetheless.
Getting “home” involved both the Metro Underground train and the Sky Train Monorail, efficient, spotless, and speedy. These systems don’t for the most part go places we were interested in, but if you are fond of mega-malls that look, to me at least, much like those at home, albeit with MUCH better customer service, then these systems will suit you mightily.
Rubies Anyone?
Normally, jewelry shopping is akin to death in my list of interesting things to do, but Thailand is the source for quite a large amount of the world’s rubies, sapphires and emeralds (Myanmar next door is a large supplier as well) and for just sheer visual appeal we decided that a visit to a reputable dealer, well known and patronized by the US military along with Hillary Clinton, wouldn’t be amiss, and that is why we made our way to Johnny’s Gems. Johnny, a Thai Catholic of all things, has been in business for a long time and unlike most jewelry emporiums in Thailand which are set up to scam you of cash, Johnny enjoys an enviable reputation. Once buzzed in to his unprepossessing shop, you can feast your eyes on the bling and on the photos of the satisfied customers of fame and repute, especially if you are familiar with big-wigs of the US Far Eastern Command. Did I buy anything? Yes, a wooden elephant caught my eye, but I don’t really wear gems per se, even though I know some who do. In terms of gift buying, well it wouldn’t be fair to say now would it? Maybe we did and maybe we didn’t, only Santa will know!
About the Chinese and LOTS of Gold
From Johnny’s we walked into Bangkok Chinatown. It might seem redundant to have a Chinatown in an Asian city, but recall that Thai does not equal Chinese. In the most obvious of differences, language and religion aside, Thai people eat with fork and spoon, NOT with chopsticks unless eating a Chinese meal. The food server will furnish the correct utensils and you are not being given flatware just because you are non-Thai. Thin noodles, a Chinese import, will usually come with chopsticks whereas Thai-origin food will not. Approximately 50% of Thai people have some Chinese ethnic heritage and this is sometimes a subject of sensitivity in Southeastern Asia where Chinese people are often merchants and sometimes seen as exploitative of local peoples. This has led to great violence on occasion in Indonesia, for example, as well as places more far-flung including some South Pacific islands like Fiji, and in Thailand there is occasionally some distress perhaps at the influence of the Chinese in cultural matters such as foods or in business, but overall the relations are more peaceful. Chinatown therefore is a distinct neighborhood, which predictably perhaps, was more crowded, noisier, and dirtier than the other parts of the city. I don’t know that a great deal recommends it per se, but you really have to brave it to see Wat Traimit and the Golden Buddha. The Golden Buddha is the sort of surprise you really want to have in your life. The statue is 3 meters tall (about 9 feet) and consists of some 5.5 tons of gold (do the market calculations on that one!) and this was completely forgotten until about 50 years ago when the statue was being moved to its current location and it dropped from the crane! This fractured the plaster cover that had been applied during the Burmese invasions of the 18th century to hide the gold from the plundering forces and then forgotten about. What a find that must have been! The Wat itself is fairly new as you might have guessed and isn’t that interesting itself, but you have to see that much gold to believe it.
Wrapping Up and the Long Road Home
Our last day was a mellow one consisting mostly of a revisit to the amulet market so I could paw about and pretend I knew what I was doing, but ultimately so I could fill bags with the 20 baht ($0.60) versions and so we could have one more fantastic riverside meal amongst the planks and local Thais with no tourists in sight, topped off with one more fantastic watermelon slushy. When we landed in Thailand, the Delta crew told us that if we were returning with Delta that we needed to check-in 3 hours in advance, so dutifully, for our 5:30am flight to Tokyo, we left the hotel around 2am. The hotel boxed our breakfast for us in a classic display of world class style. Granted, we donated both of them to a bemused but seemingly grateful airport maintenance worker, but still, the thought was nice. As it turns out, 3 hours was required despite what one might have believed. EVERY passenger has their passport information HAND-WRITTEN at kiosks before proceeding to the computerized check-in counters. Why this is the case I do not know but I can only attribute it, plus the mandatory by hand secondary screening of all bags along with a pat down, to the TSA rulings that believe that non-US airports can’t do security correctly. Whatever the cause, it was massively time-consuming and didn’t leave me feeling one iota safer in any case having explained to the screener what the wooden tusk of a wooden elephant head was and that I wasn’t likely to storm the cockpit with it. All told, it was a stressful morning with Tim suggesting I might be a drug addict coupled with the worst international business lounge ever (I am spoiled by the Sky Club in Tokyo Narita…FABULOUS!). But that is another story, along with the massively snoring passenger, thankfully bound ultimately for LAX and not Atlanta, all of which paled in comparison to my horrible sore throat and newly found cold with which I left Bangkok. The deal was sweetened by that lie-flat bed on the flight from Tokyo to Atlanta and in the end, nothing could mar the marvelous experience of Bangkok and Thailand, a country I would decidedly keep on the “visit again someday” list.