Thailand

January 3rd, 2024

Bangkok was once famous for its canals and floating markets and was referred to as the Venice of the East.  Unfortunately, many of Bangkok’s canals are being filled in to create roadways and there are less and less of them. Instead of taking a taxi or train to the Giant Buddha, we opted to take a canal tour and experience how people lived and travelled before the automobile.

Although most of the boats on the canals were taking tourists around, the locals still use the canals as well.  On previous trips to Bangkok, I don’t remember seeing Asian Water Monitors, but I seem to be seeing a lot of them on this trip and they give me the creeps.   We also saw turtles and plenty of catfish.

After stopping at the Giant Buddha, there was another boat driver that was having problems getting his boat started.  He had tour tourists who clearly annoyed and confused.  Our tour guide asked if it was OK if we spent a few minutes trying to help them and we said it was fine.  Our driver couldn’t get the engine of the other boat started and when we took off, he said that he was having problems steering the boat. Continue reading →

January 3rd, 2024

The Giant Buddha was under construction the last time I was in Bangkok pre-pandemic.  I wanted to see the 230 foot tall (20 story building) buddha.  It is now the biggest Buddha in Thailand.

The Wat Pak Nam temple has a beautiful stupa called Phra Maha Chedi Maha Ratchamongkol and it has five floor containing a museum of Buddhist artifacts.  The top floor hos the Emerald Green Pagoda. I have to admit, it was impressive to see. I felt like I had been transported to another world.  The lighting and colors were amazing.   Sophon did his prayers and we moved on to the next part of our tour.

January 2nd, 2024

Lumpini Park is the central park of Bangkok.  We decided to go early to get some exercise during the cooler part of the day.  “Cooler” is a relative term, this is one of the cooler months of the year and the cooler part of the day is around 80 degrees Fahrenheit, in the afternoon, the temps will climb into the 90s.

There was plenty of wildlife in the park including feral cats, turtles, egrets and Asian water monitors.  I am not a fan of reptiles and although the Asian water monitors are not known to attack humans, they reminded me of the Komodo dragons. They are fascinating to watch from a distance but didn’t want to get anywhere near them.

It was a really nice and it felt good to get into a park and to get some exercise!

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January 1, 2024

It is a Thai tradition to visit a temple on New Years day, we decided to go to Wat Traimit, home of the Golden Buddha.   The Golden Buddha is my favorite Buddha, the story of the Golden Buddha is that the golden statue was covered with clay to protect it from Burmese invaders back in the late 1700s.  In 1957, they went to move the clay Buddha only to discover that the clay Buddha was actually a golden one.

Not surprisingly, the story of the Golden Buddha has become a metaphor for discovering who we really are and how that we need to chip away at the layers of mud that develops as we go through life. It is a great story with a great message.  It also fascinating to look at, it is the world’s largest gold statue.  I jokingly call this Buddha the C3PO Buddha.

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December 31st, 2023

We decided to have New Years eve dinner at the hotel.   The Courtyards in Bangkok are a lot nicer than the Courtyards in the states and they go all out for Christmas eve and New Years eve dinner buffets.   It was an international buffet with a lot of good food but I especially liked the sushi and sashimi.  Consistent with my previous experiences, the staff went out of their way to make it feel special.  Similar to the Bustaraunt, there was a saxophone player playing along with music along.   I wondered if this was a trend here in Bangkok.

After dinner we went for a walk to see the Christmas lights.  The hotel we are staying at is close to three major malls called Emsphere, which just opened up, EmQuartier and Emporium.  I have watched Bangkok change over the years and Bangkok now has some of the biggest and best malls.  The food courts take up multiple floors with restaurants from around the world.   Gordon Ramseys has two restaurants in Emsphere.  Although Thailand is a Buddhist country, the malls go all out with Christmas decorations.

When we returned to the hotel, the doorman asked if we were going to go back out to see the countdown and the fireworks.  I thought to myself that if I were to ring in the New Years in a public place with fireworks,  I should probably do it in a place like Bangkok where it is 80 degrees as opposed to Times Square in NYC.   A younger version of me wouldn’t have missed this, all I wanted to do was to go bed! Continue reading →

December 30, 2023

We went on the Bangkok Bustaurant, a double decker bus that has been converted into a restaurant with a kitchen downstairs and a dining room upstairs. This was a unique upscale dining experience complete with a live saxophone player.  Thai dishes were served as we circled through the bustling streets of Bangkok for two hours.  I was surprised at just how fun this was.  As we passed through the crowds in Chinatown, I remember walking through those crowds and here I was was above it, with a bird’s eye view, in a an air condition fine dinning restaurant that moved through the streets  of Bangkok.

I wasn’t going to get great pictures of the local attractions and decided that I wasn’t going to try and focused on enjoying the event as opposed to capturing it.   It was some of the best Thai food that  had eaten.  It was fun and unique experience and noticed that as we passed through various areas, there were many curious onlookers pointing at the bus and waving.  I would definitely do this event again. Continue reading →