(Note: The below were just some of my observations and thoughts. These may not be the facts and i don't claim them to be so either.)
- Traffic flow
The traffic in Bangkok was TERRIBLE. There seemed to be traffic congestion everyday. To ease the traffic flow, a lot of main roads in the city center had been changed to single direction. Some of the traffic directions were also changed and rendered a strange traffic flow that i had never seen before. For instance, the dual carriageway in the city center had three lanes on each side, but five lanes were for vehicles travelling in one direction, and only one lane for the opposite direction. I found it rather confusing and it must be difficult for people who don't know the roads well to drive in the city.
- Taxicab
There were lots of cabs in Bangkok. At the shopping district, there were even more cabs around. Out of every 10 cars passed by the roads, 6 were cabs. No kidding, really, we did a count. (Oh, and most of the cabs were Toyota. Cars are cheap in Thailand, but the petrol is expensive.)
Not only the automobile taxicabs, there were also the famous tuk-tuks (auto rickshaw) and motorbike cabs. This was the first time i saw motorbikes being used as taxicabs. The motocyclists wore orange luminous sleeveless jackets and carried the passenger in their bikes, manoeuvering through the congested traffic and arriving at the desired destinations a lot faster than any other vehicles on the road. - Air pollution
Perhaps it was because of the traffic, or maybe it was the hot weather (while it was flooding in Malaysia then, unbeknownst to us), we didn't feel any fresh air in Bangkok. I couldn't know for sure but it felt like the air pollution in the city was rather bad. - Elephant
The Thais love elephants so much that the images of elephant were everywhere. We saw people guiding young elephants along the busy streets in the town center. 贝's brother told us that these young elephants were used to solicit money from the public. There was also a building with architecture that looked like an elephant:
As this picture was taken from within a fast moving car, the building appears to be too small in the picture to show that the building even had eyes and trunk to make it really resembled an elephant.
So, how could we possibly visit Thailand without bringing back any ornaments of elephant huh?! 贝 bought some elephant stone sculptures from the night bazaar:
- Temples / Statues of Buddha
There were sights of temples and statues of Buddha everywhere. I don't think it's exaggerated to say that one can see a temple or a statue within every 100 steps. There was a renowned statue of "Four-Face Buddha" that was located at the corner of a traffic junction. 贝's brother told us that there are hundreds of people, local and foreign (including some famous Hong Kong movie stars), paying reverence to this statue everyday. It was said the pilgrims always get their prayers fulfilled and that was what made this statue so famous. - King of Thailand
The Thais revere and respect their King. The way they worshipped the King was almost like the way they worshipped the Buddha. His pictures and sculptures could be seen everywhere, with fresh garland put around the neck of the King's sculpture that was placed on an altar. 贝's brother told us that even though the Thai King doesn't have direct constitutional power, he does have a say in political issues if he exercises his influence on the people. - Foreigners
Bangkok is a city full of foreigners, especially Westerners and Singaporeans -- well, at least at the places where i had visited (shopping malls). I heard that Bangkok is the No. 1 holiday destination in South East Asia for Westerners. From what i saw, i think it's indeed so. As for Singaporeans, i guess Bangkok is slowly replacing Malaysia to become their preferred shopping venue because the stuffs are even cheaper and they can worry less about their safety. And by the way, it's always easy to tell whether a person is Thai or Singaporean from the way they dress, talk and bargain. Heck, you can tell even by merely looking at the things they buy. - Buying power
It was amazing to see how many shopping malls there were in Bangkok. Don't ask me how many; just a lot. More are still under construction, one bigger than another. I guess the growth in tourism is one of the contributing factors in the boom of shopping complexes. But don't be mistaken that the tourists are the main patrons of all the shopping venues. There were lots of locals too. The buying power of the Thais simply amazed me. - Pretty gals and guys
I found that most Thai gals are quite pretty. Some have really fair complexion, but even those with darker skin tone are also pretty. I think it's because they have beautiful eyes. Hmm, the people there spoke to me in Thai, thinking that i was a Thai too. Perhaps that's a hint that i'm as pretty as the Thai ladies?!
As for the guys, well, i didn't really see any hunks but i did see someah-guasissiesless macho guys. (Just to be clear, i have nothing against guys who are less masculine.) I did know that Thailand was rather famous for its transvestite and transsexual cabaret shows. There was even a movie called The Iron Ladies that was about transsexual playing volleyballs or something.
So it shouldn't be a surprise to see these feminine guys. What amazed me was that there seemed to be proportionally more of them in Bangkok than in Malaysia and the society was liberal enough to accept them as they were. Employers seemed to be willing to hire them (e.g. the receptionist at the inn where we stayed) and the public didn't really stare at or ridicule them. In this aspect, i guess the Thais are so much more tolerant than Malaysians. - Reverse parking and toilet queuing
These were the things i need to repent. I noticed that the Singaporeans always park their cars astern and the ladies would queue for toilet in one line rather than in multiple lines in front of each cubicles. I had always thought it was rather strange, especially on the reverse parking. Then i noticed that people in Bangkok parked their cars and queued in the toilet the same way as Singaporeans. So it turned out that it was Malaysians who are the strange bunch. Anyhow, i still maintain that parking front-side-in is better than parking astern, of course unless the parking space is too narrow (e.g. Singapore) or the parking lot is too crowded (e.g. Thailand), then it's not quite possible to park with the front of the car in first. - Nice people
Before my trip, i had heard about how the Thais were nice and friendly people. I must say i totally agree with such assertion. The people were gracious, hospitable and polite. They always greet you ("sawadika") and say thank you with their palms joined. Even their Ronald McDonald were courteous:
Of course, i did come across some less friendly shopkeepers but at least what they wouldn't do was to scold you if you had asked and bargained for a price and decided not to buy in the end, unlike our fellow Malaysian hawkers at Petaling Street who would chew you up in the same situation.
Both 贝 and i would definitely visit Bangkok again, not just for shopping next time but a real trip complete with touring, sight-seeing... and of course shopping too lah!
Labels: travel
