"Thai-ing" It On Part 1: Bangkok

Let me first put this romantic notion of mine about Thailand out there. I absolutely love the old movie, "The King & I" - the music, the costumes, the story...What a fascinating land. And growing up, our family had the album, so the soundtrack is imbedded in my brain: The March of the Siamese Children, Shall We Dance, Getting to Know You, Hello Young Lovers...And Deborah Kerr and Yul Brynner dancing - it was all so foreign to me and so beautiful. I've seen the movie many times.

Fast forward to 2024, and our experience with real-life Thailand...

We arrived in Bangkok on a Sunday evening. This was a business trip for Paul, and we were fortunate to stay in a very nice hotel in the heart of Bangkok. I had to muster up some courage for our stay because for Paul, this was very much a business trip - which meant he mostly wouldn't be with me as I traversed the city. Kind of scary, I will admit. Nevertheless, I forced myself to sign up for tours and put myself out there. After checking in, we had a late dinner at a nearby Thai place that was recommended by the concierge. Best Pad Thai ever and boy was it cheap. Nice start.

Day 1: Excursion #1 was to the bridge over the river Kwai (accurately spelled and pronounced "Quay"). This trip was a total boondoggle for me.

It was a 10-hour tour - 2.5 hours there and 2.5 hours back - complete with a 1.5-hour, open-air train ride through the Thai jungle (yes, there were monkeys hovering near the tracks), longboat ride along the river, museum tour, cemetery tour, lunch and shopping.

It was an exhausting day - but truly fantastic. This tour was especially interesting for me because my dad served as an AAF bomber pilot in WWII, so I'm always interested in things related to that war. My personal background, coupled with having seen "Bridge Over The River Kwai" countless times, made it a "must see" for me. Are you whistling "the Colonel Bogey March" as you read this??? '

I learned what it was like for the POWs who built that bridge - and the 6,500+ who died doing it. The conditions were miserable. The area surrounding that bridge today is a bit of a tourist trap as you might expect. Still, it was very moving to be there and see with my own eyes what they built despite the incredibly inhumane treatment they endured.

My tour guide was a character. I knew her whole life story by the end of the day. She also told me a few things that I later found out were not true, like Thailand is the #1 tourist destination in the world right now (it's not), and the Thai king that died in 2016 served longer than Queen Elizabeth (close, but she served longer by several months). Anyway, that evening, when Paul returned to the hotel, we had a delicious Belgium-themed meal with a colleague of his at the rooftop restaurant of our hotel. The view was beautiful.

Day 2: Excursion #2 was a tour of Bangkok's three most famous temples, The Grand Palace & Wat Phra Kaeu, Wat Arun, and Wat Pho.

They were astonishing to behold - the enormous reclining Buddah, the 500-ton, solid gold Buddah, the intricate art, plaster and pottery work, the architectural feats...

We toured the Bangkok canals via longboat too. In the 7 hours I spent with my guide, I learned a lot about Buddhism, its beliefs and customs, as well as the history of the Thai (formerly Siam) monarchy. It was a great day overall. That evening after Paul returned, we ate at another Thai place. Yum.

I must pause here because at this point in the blog, I feel compelled to interject some observations that were beginning to shape our Thai experience:

• Everywhere we went, no matter the time of day, we would see older Western men (average age 65-75) walking arm-in-arm with beautiful Thai women (average age 20-30). The sex trade is still alive and well in Bangkok - and it's not just limited to the heterosexual variety. All versions of humans are welcome and can be easily seen engaging with one another on the streets of the city. We were told that prostitution isn't near what it was compared to decades back. All I can say is if what we witnessed is a diminished industry, then it must of been something else in the 1970s and 1980s. To sum it up, it is a permissive and promiscuous place - "not that there's anything wrong with that," to quote Jerry Seinfeld.

• Pot became legal in Thailand two years ago. Someone shared with us that it has changed the flavor of the city, bringing in a whole new type of tourist. There are cannabis shops everywhere, and people smoking it on every street corner at all hours of the day and night.

• The streets and the river are nothing short of filthy. That can be said for all the areas I saw outside of the city as well. And the filth is not only nasty - it stinks. Literally. In addition, there was a considerable amount of air pollution. A smoggy haze blanketed the city every day we were there. Needless to say, we looked forward to "washing off Bangkok" once we left. More on that in Part 2.

Day 3: I was on my own this particular day so after working out, I ventured to a nearby mall to grab some lunch and see what it was like. My tour guide told me that malls in Thailand are thriving. And there are a ton of them, open 365, from 10 am to 10 pm.

She said it's because the Thai people love only one thing more than food: shopping. Amazon has not influenced in-person shopping in this country. It's here to stay. The mall I went to was akin to Water Tower Place in Chicago (the 1980s version) - only five times bigger. It was a sea of humanity, and catered to the lunch and dinner trade with two full floors of restaurants.

After lunch, I decided to head in the opposite direction of our hotel to see the sights. I got about five blocks in when found myself in an area called Nana Plaza (perhaps the Thai equivalent to Boston's Combat Zone?). It got seedier with every step I took (and this was about three in the afternoon), so I turned around, went back to the hotel, and took a nap. By this point, I was nearing my fill of Bangkok. When Paul returned from his meeting, we ventured out for dinner, both of us craving ANYTHING but Thai food. A fantastic Indian restaurant was recommended to us, so we headed there and had arguably the best meal we've eaten since starting this Asian adventure (though the walk there and back was super unsettling given the surroundings).

Day 4: Paul didn't have to work on Thursday. We had to check out by 11, but our flight to Phuket wasn't until 6:30 pm, so we decided to get in our steps by roaming around town. The concierge suggested a route that included two parks, two temples, and a street market - all within about a 5 mile radius. The parks were nice, but then we mistakenly veered off the suggested path into unknown territory. There were no tourists in this part of town - and I was anxious to get out of it. We finally made our way back to civilization, and eventually our hotel, eager to take in the fresh ocean air of Phuket.

So to summarize our trip to Bangkok, I would say it was absolutely worth it. I saw some truly astonishing things, learned a great deal, tried all sorts of interesting food (the mango is incredible) and got a good sense for this fascinating culture. That said, I have no interest in returning. For me, this was a "one and done" destination. Next up: Phuket.

Until then,

sa wat dii (goodbye in Thai)