An Incredible Day in Bangkok

Some days everything goes right.

 

On Thursday (21 March 2013), Pati and Beebee no longer had the services of a tour guide. They decided to see just what they could accomplish on their own, benefiting from their experiences with their tour guide, Leang.

 

First, they slept in until 7 am, which they had not been able to do yet in Bangkok. After a leisurely breakfast, they decided to visit the large mall Siam Paragon. (Pati needed to buy another memory card for the camera, having filled up two 32-gigabyte cards so far and working on a smaller 16-gigabyte card, while Angkok Wat is still to be visited.) This mall is located on a SkyTrain route, but the SkyTrain does not go through Chinatown, where they were staying. They also wanted to experience the SkyTrain, so they decided to take a taxi to the mall and afterward ride somewhere on the SkyTrain.

 

They arranged with the reception staff (on the second floor of the hotel) to get a taxi to the mall. There is a travel office on the first floor of the hotel building, but it is actually not associated with the hotel. The process is for a receptionist to use a walkie-talkie to call hotel staff that waits on the first floor (street level) to greet arriving guests; this staff flags down a taxi. The street level staff person explained to the taxi driver, who spoke very little English, that he should take us to the mall. Pati and Beebee got in the back seat of the taxi. Beebee observed the taxi driver turn off the meter. She told him to turn on the meter. He touched the meter, it flickered, and went back off. Beebee told him again to turn on the meter. He turned it on finally. (Fares tend to be lower when the meter is used. Otherwise, if a fare is not agreed upon before staring off, the driver can demand a very high fare at the end of the journey.)

 

The driver then asked if they wanted to go to a floating market. They said no, they wanted to go to the mall. He then asked if they wanted to go shopping (he knew a place...). "No need to buy, just looky looky" (he really said "looky looky"). They said no, they wanted to go to the mall. He continued to drive. Beebee got out maps of Bangkok from her purse and opened them, intending to track where he was going. Fortunately, he gave up trying to sidetrack them, and drove finally to the mall.

 

On the way, he took some interesting shortcuts through a police facility and through Chulalongkorn University (fans of Jack Shepherd will recognize the university). For these shortcuts, he first accepted a card from a guard post, drove through the facility, and then surrendered the card again before exiting.

 

Upon reaching the mall, he said get out here. They did.

 

Siam Patagon is an upscale mall with many pretty things to look at but nothing worth lugging around the world. Pati found the memory card he needed in the electronics department of the major department store in the mall.

 

The mall contains a huge theatre complex. All of the movies showing were in English with subtitles. Pati and Beebee decided to watch Olympus Has Fallen. Their two tickets cost about $12 total. In this theatre complex, movie goers must select their seats. As Pati and Beebee sat in their plush seats waiting for the previews to start, it seemed that everyone would be sitting in Row D with them, but eventually Row C and other rows began to fill. All the movies previewed seemed excellent; some of the previews were for movies not in English (that probably won't make it to the US).

 

As the previews finished, a video began (not in English) that featured the current king. Immediately, everyone in the theatre stood up and remained standing until the video ended. It seemed to highlight the good works he has done as king. He is currently 86 years old and in ill health. He has reigned for 68 years, and is listed in the Guiness Book of World Records for the length of time as a ruler.

 

Olympus Has Fallen is an excellent movie.

 

After the movie, Pati and Beebee found their way to the SkyTrain and bought one-day passes. They decided to find Lumpini Park, since it is featured in some eBooks they are reading (Jack Shepherd fans will recognize this reference). It was two stops south of the mall, so they got off there and wandered through the park for an hour or so. Jack Shepherd calls Lumpini Park, near the Dusit Thani Hotel, the one green lung of Bangkok, and he goes there regularly to run. He stays frequently at the Dusit Thani. Upon entering the park, they saw a large group of military officers in riot gear. Fortunately, it was only a training exercise.

 

While in Lumpini Park, Pati and Beebee heard Gangnam Style in the distance. As they walked toward the music, they saw a large group of people in exercise-type clothing performing various routines to peppy music. They learned later that this happens every day at 5 pm.

 

After completing a long circuit around the park, they returned to the entrance. While they were standing there, consulting the map to find the way back to the SkyTrain, a man approached and offered help. He was an American living in Bangkok, he said; it was his home. He lives in Bangkok so that his sons can study languages there, with fees much more affordable than they would be in the US. He explained how to get to the SkyTrain and left when they seemed to understand. As they walked toward the station, he stopped and came back, saying he would lead them there; it was his exercise. He went with them as far as he could, showing them the exact stairs and direction to take. He said the best way back to Chinatown would be by water taxi (the express that Pati and Beebee had taken with Leang on Tuesday) and told them approximately how to find it and where to get off.

 

Three stops after getting on the very crowded SkyTrain, they were off again and found the water taxi. Using another map they were carrying, they figured out which stop to get off on, and barely got off the boat before it left the dock (the press of people getting on made it hard to get off).

 

Consulting the map again, they struck off walking north toward Chinatown. It was dusk when they started walking, and quickly became dark. They were unsure exactly where on their street the hotel was, although they thought they knew where the street was, and it was not a very long street. As it turned out, their map was not up-to-date considering the new construction for the subway, so they became unsure and consulted their map again. At this point, an elderly Thai gentleman stopped and offered help. His English was good. He knew where the street was, and said he was going in that direction. In fact, he passed his real destination (an office) and led them to within one block of their street.

 

Soon Pati and Beebee were back in their own hotel. It had been a good day. They went to Cotton (the hotel restaurant) for their last dinner before leaving. Because they were later than usual, the live band was setting up to play. There were three members: one played clarinet, saxaphone, and mouth harp; one played guitar and was the lead singer; and one played bass. Their performance was excellent, and Pati and Beebee stayed for several numbers after they had finished their dinner. There were only three couples dining during the performance, but the band appreciated the applause they got.

 

When Pati and Beebee finally got up to leave, the clarinet player wai'd Beebee (the wai is a Thai greeting in which a person bows slightly while pressing the hands together as if in prayer). Beebee responded by wai-ing the members of the band. And then they all at the same time wai'd her. It was a lovely moment.

 

And then to bed because the flight to Cambodia was the next day.

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