Thailand – first impressions, again

My flight from Hong Kong arrived around midnight in Bangkok, and this time there were no lines at the passport control desks, and I went right through, getting the usual one month permission to stay.  When I walked out of the airport building I got my first reminder of Bangkok – the hot moist air, in the dead of ‘winter.’    Then the driver wanted 500 baht for the trip rather than turn on the meter, and I knew I was back.

If Hong Kong is designed  to encourage pedestrians, to make it easier and safer to walk, Bangkok has taken the opposite approach, with uneven, or non-existent, sidewalks.  Hundreds of electric wires hang from concrete poles, which are stuck into the middle of the sidewalks.    Sidewalk vendors take up some more space, as do the outdoor restaurant – stalls.  It’s all a big wonderful mess.

Behind the carts on the streets are the buildings, many of them housing very expensive shops and malls.  Cars, motorcycles, and taxis all compete for the roads while the skytrain runs two to three stories above the street.  I prefer the skytrain, and I know the areas around the stops the best.

After one day in the frenzy of Bangkok I travelled by bus and mini-bus first to Kanchanaburi (2 hours) then to Sankgklaburi( four hours) where I was met by my Mon friends.   Now I am in my friend Saikamar’s house, getting used to eating sitting on the floor, the neon tube lights, the roosters in the morning, the squat toilet, the lack of a sink, the exposed wiring, the motorbikes, the dogs…  Yet it all seems so familiar, so friendly.

The nights are cold – two blankets – and the days are warm.  I’m sitting wearing a light shirt while my friends are wearing sweaters, scarves, jackets – I guess it all depends on what you are used to.  And there is wi-fi internet access here – real progress.