The Fam Part IV: Bangkok

Early on the morning of December 27th, the fam, Shanti, and I headed back to the beloved Pochentong International Airport to go to Bangkok. It was my first time leaving Cambodian soil in over five months. Though I had heard from several people that going to Bangkok for the first time was a shock to the system - especially after being confined to Cambodia for five months - nothing could have prepared me for what Bangkok was actually like.

The airport itself was a spectacle. Not only massive, but beautifully designed in a modern style, complete with all the efficiency and technology one might expect in a large American airport. Though the airport was impressive, there were far more seemingly mundane details about Bangkok that caught my attention. The fact that there were efficient and cheap metered cabs - Phnom Penh barely has taxis - that drive across the superhighways criss-crossing Bangkok boggled my mind. The road out of the airport and into downtown Bangkok was wider (twelve lanes), smoother, and better constructed than any road I had been on in Cambodia. In fact, on the way to our hotel we easily went much faster, by land, than I had at any time traveling around Cambodia. Moreover, the skyline, although it should have been unsurprising, caught me off guard. In Phnom Penh, the tallest building is a mere fifteen stories tall. Bangkok alone has at least ten buildings of fifty (that's 5-0) stories or more. I quickly learned that Bangkok is also home to a dizzying array of chain stores and restaurants. There is a 7-Eleven on every corner, McDonalds, Starbucks, Marriot, Armani, etc. Cambodia has none of this...yet (KFC is planning to open a branch some time this year, but that's all there is - not that I wish there were more).

So even from the half-hour ride from the airport to the hotel I was a bit wide-eyed and overwhelmed. We checked in to our hotel, The Davis, and relaxed a little. And it was a good place to relax. We had an enormous amount of space, comfortable beds, bath robes (any hotel that provides bath robes is a winner in my book), etc. Relaxed, we set off for a tailor. While my parents got measured for suits and my sister for pants, Shanti and I wandered around. We immediately realized that Bangkok was even less "walkable" than Phnom Penh. The sidewalks are clear of debris as well as vehicles, but the city is so sprawling that it doesn't really make sense to walk anywhere, especially with cheap cabs, a subway, a sky rail, and even public buses. Nonetheless we wandered, stumbling upon a beautiful, green park. People were jogging, biking, doing judo, etc. Though Phnom Penh does indeed have a nice array of parks, they are overly-manicured and not suitable or large enough for running.

We had a delicious dinner at a Thai restaurant (how could we not eat Thai food?) down the street from our hotel. The food, especially the spring rolls, were universally good, though much spicier than anticipated, even though we had requested that it be mild. My sister, a devoted foodie who enjoys Thai food in particular, was in heaven.

The following day, and our only full day in Bangkok, we managed to sleep quite late for the first time. Once up, and having missed breakfast at our hotel, we went to a nearby supermarket to get a snack. From there we caught a taxi to the riverfront Shangri-La Hotel, where we planned to take a boating tour of some of Bangkok's canals. One hour, seven kilometers, and a mere $3 later, we arrived.

We hopped from the docks to a wooden longboat with a loud lawnmower-like motor. The operator was a relaxed, young guy, perhaps thirty, sporting board shorts and aviators. Already south of the downtown area, we headed further south down the main river, the Mae Nam Chao Phraya, as Bangkok’s skyscrapers faded behind us. After about fifteen minutes of passing apartment buildings, ports, and hotels, we turned into a canal. While we waited to be transported from the river to the lock to the canal itself I admired the small shrines at the bow and stern of each of the longboats beside us. Now I’ve never been to Venice or Amsterdam, but I sort of imagined that Bangkok was Southeast Asia’s version of these two European cities. The canals were narrow, perhaps thirty feet wide, and wound all across various parts of the city. For the most part we passed houses, but sprinkled in were apartment buildings, factories, shops, and pagodas, which were much less prominent than those of Phnom Penh.

Snaking our way back north, we passed some of Bangkok’s larger and more intricately decorated pagodas, Wat Arun and Wat Kalayanamit. We finished our two hour tour at the docks by the Royal Palace. As we walked toward the entrance, a swindler tried to convince that the Palace was closed for a special ceremony and that we wouldn’t be admitted anyway in shorts and sandals. However, we pressed on to find that the Palace was in fact open and that there were complimentary sarongs and pants for those dressed inappropriately. As soon as we entered, I regretted it to an extent. A sea of tourists flocked from building to building within the enormous complex, immediately overwhelming me, the small-town Phnom Penh boy. Though the various structures within the Royal Palace complex were certainly beautiful, the crowds - and the size of the massive complex - made it a bit harder to appreciate them. It was hard to take a step without bumping into someone or blocking a photograph. As we wandered through, the crowds dispersed a bit and we took some amusing pictures with the Palace guards.

From the Palace we managed to catch a taxi to Jim Thompson’s House as long as we stopped at two tourist depots along the way. By making quick stops at these massive retail outlets, we were able to get the taxi for a mere $1.50 and the cab driver, who seemed nice enough, got coupons entitling him to gasoline. Jim Thompson was an American entrepreneur who famously brought Thai silk to Western markets. His “house” is now a museum and a shop of very high quality (and very expensive) silk goods.

Following a brief fitting at the tailor, we grabbed a bite for dinner and called it a night. The next day, we were off to Koh Chang (Elephant Island), off of Thailand’s southeast coast.