One Last Bit of Thailand

A few of my friends here in Ashikaga are going to Thailand in a day or two, which reminded me I had one last post waiting. It's a bit late, but the pictures are pretty good, I promise.

The last cool place that I went in Thailand was probably the most stylish. It's the Jim Thompson House, and it's awesome.

Jim Thompson was an American stationed in the Bangkok OSS office after World War II. He is credited with helping to revive the Thai silk industry. Thompson mysteriously disappeared in Malaysia in 1967. His house is now a museum showcasing his extensive art collection.

The house is actually constructed out of several Thai houses from different places that were disassembled and all combined together on Thompson's property.

The house was probably the most tourist friendly place I visited while in Bangkok. There were free guided tours in multiple languages, and I found the staff to be very friendly and helpful. The little cafe's food was great, and the classy gift shop was air conditioned. I wouldn't mind living in that house for a week or four.

Pictures aren't allowed inside the house, but there were several pieces outside that were enjoyable.

This was used to makes prints on silk. Parts of the wood are removable so that a different color could be added to them.

I think that's all I have to report on my trip. What a great country.

Thailand Part 7: Movie Time

Mike and Allison left for Hong Kong the day after we returned from Hua Hin. Clarence and I still had a day or two after that to mop up the last few things that we wanted to do.

I went to the first class cineplex at Siam Paragon Mall and watched a movie in style. It was all pretty slick. At 600 Baht (about $16.50) the tickets were more expensive than the normal screens available, but there were plenty of benefits for the money. First there was the private lobby with couches and coffee tables. It was a nice quiet place well removed from the bustle of the masses outside. There was a bar and waiters taking orders. My ticket entitled me to a small soft drink and some little cookies. I sat and flipped through a magazine while I waited for movie time. I think there might have even been electric massage chairs in another room.

The lobby had curtains like a harem.

The theater itself was small in a good way, with a maximum capacity of only 25 or so. I think there were two different types of seats. One was a larger love seat kind of thing. The one I picked had an electric recliner in it. As I sat all stretched out with the provided pillow and blanket, a guy came around to take my order. I said something along the lines of “John commands that you bring him a large Sprite and a caramel popcorn posthaste!” only much more politely.

Thailand seems to release movies when everyone else does, as opposed to months behind like Japan likes to roll. As a result I had trouble deciding what movie to watch. The Day the Earth Stood Still? "What the heck is that?", I wondered to myself. It was like being released from movie exile. I ultimately decided on Transporter 3, which wasn't bad. Perhaps the coolest bit of Thai culture I received from the whole experience was the playing of the national anthem before the movie began. It wasn't just a little song either, it was accompanied by some nationalistic tribute to the king. I read in a couple different sources that “everyone stands up” for the anthem but a large portion of this money-wasting audience was foreign, so I'd say participation was around 50 percent. Super dramatic and emotional, by the end even I was just about teared up and I didn't even understand what the heck was going on. Propaganda at its finest, I guess.

I'm gonna say this is the first and last picture I've taken in a movie theater. (Oops, that's a lie. I took a few in the Chinese Theater in Hollywood). Sorry about the blurry shot, it was dark in there. You get the idea though.

Thailand Part 6: Hua Hin

The last new city I went to is called Hua Hin.


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As you can see from the map, I was very close to Burma. I briefly considered a little day trip across the border. After a bit of reading, though, Burma didn't seem like the happiest place to visit, and I decided against it.

My travel buddies and I went to Hua Hin on a crowded bus. I really enjoyed the experience: the ticket buying conversations at the bus station, worriedly parting with my luggage so that it could be stowed below and hoping that nothing got stolen, gazing out the window at nothing while cruising through the countryside. It was a bit rustic and nothing bad happened. What more can you ask for? There were three employees working on the bus: one guy was like the crier who would simply announce what stop was next and in how many minutes in a loud annoying voice, a rough looking lady collected tickets and money and stuffed them into a large metal cylinder, and the driver, who might've also been the guy who stuffed our bags under the bus. It was quite an operation.

The second we hopped off the bus, Mike and I were giggling about the police. Several that we saw had large golden arches on their vests.


No, it's not the drive-thru window. Its a police box, brought to you by McDonald's. Thailand has mini police stations everywhere just like Japan does. Their strategy is a bit different, however. In Japan, the police are meant to be seen to act as a deterrent and to give directions, etc. In Thailand the windows of the boxes were often tinted as in this picture. I assume it's meant to make people unsure if an officer is inside or not, and keep people in line even when vacant. An interesting approach.

I spotted one of those bag sodas I mentioned in an earlier post.

Hua Hin is touristy beach resort town. However it is popular with Thai vacationers as well which I think helps it avoid completely turning into a foreigner theme park. We spent a few days here, but it was time mostly spent chilling out without any strenuous exploring.

Clarence and I took care of the Bangkok hotel arrangements and Mike and Allison did Hua Hin. Those two were a bit more budget minded so I wondered about what kind of hotel they would choose. I imagined some sort of beach shack with hammocks inside but the place they picked had even nicer rooms than the Best Western in Bangkok. There was a little kitchen and the shower was so big it must've been designed for someone in a wheelchair.

A plate of brightly colored sweets had been placed on a dresser. The woman who showed us to our room explained that they were a gift from the hotel to celebrate New Years.

At one point I noticed that we had a visitor. The little guy seemed to be pretending he was invisible, as it didn't move an inch while I was in the room. It didn't crawl in my mouth while I was asleep, so I'd say we are pretty good friends.

We spent some time chilling on the beach. There was a long line of little restaurants, one of which we stopped and had a relaxing dinner. The four of us started the new year on the sand, with fireworks being set off near and far.

You wanna know whats way better than a market? A night market. They were selling pretty much the same stuff as everywhere, minus the possible heat exhaustion. My shoes didn't really fit my beach bum lifestyle, so I bought a pair of super cheap flip flops. I think that was my only purchase in Hua Hin.

I took advantage of our large amount of unstructured time and went on a fruit eating rampage. I got some advise from my local grocer about what to buy, bought a large knife, and then I did some chopping back at the hotel room.

I'd say the star of the night was the mango. They were so sweet. I think this is my new favorite fruit.




These little guys are longans. They are pretty much small lychees.


Wikipedia says they are also known as dragon eyes, which makes a lot of sense now that I think about it. These are super good. My only complaint is that they are so small that it takes a whole lot of peeling to get a decent amount of fruit.

Those two were the big successes. But I took a risk buying a bunch of stuff I didn't understand, and the experiment wasn't without its setbacks.

I think this is a pomelo. It was pretty much a giant grapefruit with a really thick skin. It tasted awful. Wikipedia thinks that the US is the top producer of pomelo, yet I've never seen one for sale. I think I know why.


I think this is a green apple guava. I don't know if it just wasn't ripe or what, but it also tasted really bad. The Thai word for guava, farang, also means "foreigner". I don't know what that's about.

When it was time to return to Bangkok, we had some issues obtaining transportation.

This picture is the Hua Hin train station. It's old and a pretty big deal. I don't recall exactly why we decided to not take the train. I think it was just too long of a wait until the next train to Bangkok. We ended up just taking a taxi. Yes it wasn't very exciting, but it was direct and not incredibly expensive when divided four ways.

Thailand Part 5: The Grand Palace

We went to Bangkok's Grand Palace after our morning spent at the floating market.

The palace has a strict dress code that not one of us was ready for. In the end we were forced to rent some really unfortunate pants from a little store across the street.

And then we were in. This is the probably the pointiest, shiniest place on earth.

Mike, Clarence, and I in our rented pants. I was still refusing to part with my adventuring hat purchased earlier on the river.








My favorite part was this very long mural of an epic mythological battle. The apemen, pigmen, birdmen, demon guys, giants, and humans all duked it out battle royal style. It was all very Lord of the Rings.




A dog faced gentleman getting sorted out.






I laughed out loud when I turned the corner and spotted this guy. He is actually just touching up the faded spots, but he still looked out of place. A well negotiated bribe here might have landed me a cameo in this painting. Just add my face on that guy with the six beefy arms, please.








Chakri Mahaprasad Hall is a bit apart from the other buildings. It feels much more stately and classy: you don't need to cover a building in glitter to convey a sense of grandeur.


We were totally hat twinkies!

Next are a few random things.

These are common condiments used in Thai dishes. These came with a plate of pad thai. The first two are pepper based. That I can handle. The third one, though, is straight sugar. I didn't mess with that.

Some dried tamarind that I picked up at a convenience store. Although this fruit looks like something a dog might have left in a park, it is actually pretty good.


The hotel was a few blocks into a residential neighborhood, which was a nice chance to see a bit of everyday life. That life includes packs of wild "soi dogs" that roam the streets. One particular night there were quite a few of them. I even had a group of them following me for what seemed like an eternity. I didn't dare stop or look back, but I could hear their many toenails clicking on the pavement. I found myself pondering the best course of action if I was attacked by them... run or fight, run or fight. How many stray dogs could I fend off before being devoured, or at least slightly delayed?

Thailand Part 4: The Floating Market

My most cherished day trip of them all was our time at the Damnoen Saduak floating market.



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After a taxi ride a couple hours out of town, we boarded what looked like a canoe with a motor on the back, and got down to business. The first bit was similar to our earlier little boat trip: lots of zooming past people's houses, except now the houses were more comfortably spaced and there was a canopy of trees overhead. I wonder if these people have any roads at all... I didn't see much evidence of any cars or motor vehicles other than boats.

The boat ride itself was awesome. Our driver was super nice. His English was such that with some careful listening over the buzz of the engine we could usually understand what he was saying. Just the experience of shopping from a boat was really novel and fun. After buying something I could just plop it down in front of myself in the boat, not needing to lug it around all day. Unfortunately most of the stuff for sale was just too touristy for me. Lots of useless little knickknacks and things that none of us wanted to buy. The interesting part for me was the food. There were many nice old women paddling around in boats laden with cheap fruits never before seen. Others were actually cooking things in their little canoes. Everything tasted great.

I have no idea what this is. The lady selling them advised me that they were tart, and she was correct. The nice thing about the people selling food is that they aren't as aggressive with prices. They seem to give everyone the same low price, which I really appreciated.


Allison procured this interesting dessert. I think its rice pudding cooked into little balls.


My main inedible purchases were 6 identical little wooden boxes with elephants on them for the English teachers at my school, and this little wall hanging that now graces my bathroom.