Bangkok was entirely what I expected, and entirely not. I am finding that is a theme of this trip for me.
I go into a situation prepared for it based on my very western and American cultural bias, because that is all I have to take with me. I find things I expect to find because of my experiences, but in every situation, I also find things that shock me and remind me I am not omnipotent.
Yes, that was a shock to me too. Take a minute to absorb the reality of that. I will wait.
Bangkok is a large city. There is traffic. I was not prepared for the overwhelming extent of the traffic and how obnoxiously slowly everything moved because of it. Obviously, don’t drive in Bangkok if you can avoid it, but we did not/could not avoid it most of the time.
Bangkok is a capital city with millions of people living here. There will be different classes of people and different standards of living here. Entirely apparent, and that was part of the shock. Throughout my travels in Thailand, I simply came to accept people live in wood or tin houses, half open to the world. They eat, shop and live from street carts, and live above the business they work in.
I am ever so glad I do not live above the store. We have rentals above the store, but for my sanity, I need to not be constantly faced with all of that drama. I don’t know how these people do it.
Yet here, there are people living on the street. Expected in today’s world, yes, but given the conditions compared to western culture across the country, I did not think people would actually live on the street. Which is entirely biased and ignorant, I realize. Give me time, I am over 50 and trying to remember how to learn stuff.
There were also a surprising number of disabled people in Bangkok, and they all appeared to be selling lottery tickets on street corners. I am not bashing disabled people. I know plenty, myself included, and they are all vibrant, intelligent, and caring.
I only mention this because that is the only time I noted a disabled person. Selling lottery tickets on the street. There were elderly being helped along by family from time to time, but most of the population, age irrelevant, had no apparent physical issues and were flying around on their scooters. Then suddenly, there was someone in a wheelchair, or sitting on their walker seat selling lottery tickets from a board sitting across their lap. No one else appeared to be selling lottery tickets, or if they were, I did not see them. And there were a lot of people selling lottery tickets.
I have so many unprocessed feelings about that, I am not sure where I will land.
Another aspect of Bangkok I was not expecting, yes, perhaps being from the Midwest this struck me. The people are demanding and pushy. Not all, and if you get out of the tourist areas, it is less obvious, but they do follow you down the street if you simply walk by and do not acknowledge the service they are trying to pedal.
Taxis are especially awful. We walked out of the hotel, and 3 men approached us for rides before the door had closed. When we were waiting for the bus to pick us up, the taxis all repeatedly and constantly slowed down in front of us to see if they could get passengers. We were at a general bus stop to catch the hop on bus after we toured the palace, and people were getting off work from the Supreme court building across the street to get on their public bus to come home, so there were a lot of people around the bus stop.
But the taxis… all kinds from tuk tuk to pink metered, to checkered… I have no idea how civilians drive at all between the taxi’s and the busses.
If I lifted my hand to scratch my nose… “YOU NEED TAXI?”
If I shifted my weight (we were standing there for over an hour waiting on the bus) “YOU NEED TAXI?”
Sneeze…
Watch a pigeon fly away…
Look across the street…
Close my eyes and wish myself back to anywhere taxis do not exist…
Even that… the constant demands of the taxis targeted at tourists specifically, I could put aside after a while. Until the vendors follow you. For example, in front of the royal palace they are pushing tourist pants. They tell you they are required to enter. Knees must be covered.
That is true if you want to go into specific buildings, which is half the point of going to the palace since you really cannot get in the palace, but you can get through the first gate and wander around with your knees showing. The vendors also don’t tell you covers can be rented, or in some places freely given inside.
I was also surprised at the amount of ‘Speak English tour guide!’ people outside the palace. We were just walking along, minding our own business, and they come up to you. Frankly, right into your personal space and start babbling in broken English that they can give you an English speaking tour.
If you are an introvert, have personal space issues, or simply do not like being accosted on the street… don’t come to Bangkok.
In Iowa at least, when I go to church, I arrive, walk in the building, walk out, get in my car and go home. I know Iowa (or anywhere for that matter) offers a ‘typical’ religious experience, but based on my history, when I practice religion, I do not need to walk through a gauntlet of vendors selling me things to practice religion.
I will admit, being able to buy a cold beverage, or ice cream bar on a hot day after finishing with a temple is nice. I will not deny them their attempts at trying to make a buck, but here in Bangkok the whole concept is on steroids. I believe it is impossible to enter any temple without having to walk through a mini village of vendors trying to sell us everything from umbrellas, to tourist pants, to clothing rental for pictures. Water, stuffed elephants, various foods… and they were not in their stalls simply smiling and asking for business, they were in the path, following us and insisting until we blatantly stopped and said ‘no thank you.’ At which point, the next would start in.
I am done with the attention. I am done with answering over and over again that I do not need a ride. I believe if they removed half the taxis from the city there would not be a traffic problem. And tourists would be happier. And perhaps I would use the service instead of avoiding it.
Motorbikes are another thing, and this is SE Asia in general. I mentioned it in Vietnam. I don’t remember if I noted it in Lao because everything was so chill there, but here in Thailand there are a lot of motorbikes. It is, I am told, the only way to get around efficiently, and it was an issue that I was not more open to the idea of taking them instead of cars because they are less expensive and can get places faster.
All true. I understand their purpose and why everyone loves them here. They can weave in and out of traffic and drive on sidewalks, yes, they can get places faster. I still like to sit my butt down in an airconditioned car. It is one of the few times where I will accept a longer commute and higher cost.
Plus we had 2 people. We could have ordered 2 scooters, but that was the same price as one car most of the time. I see the point of them, I simply did not feel the need to partake.
Here in Bangkok, I’m not sure you could pay me to get on a scooter. It is an entirely more polite attitude than Vietnam, but equally as insane.
They drive between busses, they pull onto the sidewalk if they cannot get through. If a car is too close to the curb for them to get by, they pull in front of the car at a stop light, weave between the car and the next lane and generally find ways to snake around traffic to their benefit. I don’t think traffic laws for scooters exist. They create lanes between lanes of traffic and how they don’t hit the cars, or at least bump mirrors is beyond me. Again, I am begrudgingly okay with a car. Not the traffic, but riding in a car.
All of that was rather negative, I realize. Again, I am not fond of big cities so my biases are apparent and revealed.
I did, however find a few things.
The rooftop views were nice. I felt like I was here, part of the culture, yet not tangled up in the mess happening on the street. Yes, the creepy man from the pool was off putting, but our balcony in the room was nice. I am so glad this hotel rose above the din and provided at least that level of peace for our stay here.
There are some interesting things to see. The palace, Wat Pho and even Wat Arun were a great glimpse into the history and the culture, or at least the idealized culture of Thailand. I could have done without the traffic to get to the places, but the places were good.
Having Gabby guide us through an evening of free, low cost activities was a highlight. Seeing the city by water taxi, then by the ferry. Having dinner at a sit down, off the path restaurant. Seeing how Bangkok can be awe inspiring to someone was an important and nice experience.
I need that. Someone to tell me what they see in something to jolt me out of my cultural upbringing. To suggest things are not as I see them, but they are something everyone can experience differently. Again and again, not bad, just different.
But, after everything, I think the best part about Bangkok was leaving it. I was ready to move on from Thailand before we got to Bangkok, but this stop was enlightening. It gave me the experience everyone said I needed to have; a limit on the time I was here so I did not feel ‘stuck;’ and an entirely same yet different view about how people live.
For a night, possibly two, I could visit, but I would not want to live here.
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