Thailand: it’s kind of like Japan, only hotter, sweatier, and with more hippies.
As in, it has any hippies.
It’s really quite surprising how much this place reminds me of Japan. I’m really wondering if, during the “tiger” boom days of the 80’s and 90’s, some Thais went to Japan, took a bunch of photos, and then decided to copy them in Thailand. The buildings here are completely the same: peaked wood frame houses, soulless concrete block apartments, tiny fenced gardens. The kids wear anachronistic school uniforms. There are even manga cafes – something I don’t think I’ve seen anywhere else. There are loads of Japanese-style convenience stores, open 24 hours and stocking everything from snacks to toothpaste to socks to entire meals. There’s even Family Mart!
Yes, Family Mart. For anyone who has not spent much time in Japan, you need to be made aware that Family Mart is your hero. It is the absolute apogee of convenience-store technology. It’s simple amazing. It stocks everything. It even carries a large variety of food that you would actually enjoy eating (yes, in a convenience store. I am not kidding)! It is so cool, it sells action figures of its clerks. Even Darth Vader Likes it:
If it’s endorsed by the Sith, it’s gotta be good.
Anyway, on to what’s been going on. I arrived in Bangkok yesterday morning by sleepless bus at the ripe early hour of 6AM. Within the hour, I wandered across some sort of community organization gathering in a park where monks were chanting. I was promptly adopted by an English speaking elderly lady who proudly regaled me with the mission of the community group (a sort of neighborhood watch), gave me some free breakfast (score!), and set me up in the giving line to hand the Buddhist monks their lunch (good karma for me!). It was quite nice. If you wander around town at this early hour (when it’s only very hot, not yet steaming), you get to see a lot of Buddhist monks out on their morning begging rounds. They carry a bowl and stop by shops, food stalls and houses, where people have the monks’ breakfast and/or lunch ready for them. Begging helps destroy a monk’s ego. Giving to a monk helps with the good karma. The monks give any leftovers to others who need it.
Since then, I’ve napped and walked – a lot. I covered about half of town in the rain yesterday, and it’s a pretty good-sized town. Of course, a significant portion of my shoe leather was expended searching for an umbrella. That’s another very Japanese-like thing about this place. You don’t see anyone carrying an umbrella, but once it starts raining, they all have one! What makes the Thai case curious, however, is that I can’t seem to determine where they buy them… I searched the streets and no fewer than 3 five-floor shopping centers from top to bottom looking for a damn umbrella. I looked for over 2 hours. I finally spied a shop in Chinatown that was literally in the process of closing as I stumbled across it in an alley. It’s like umbrellas are a controlled substance around here.
No, strike that. I had somebody try to sell me hash on the street yesterday. Umbrellas are harder to find than controlled substances, which I wasn’t even looking for!
I wanna go to Family Mart and ask them to sell me a new family.
Bangkok must be nice this time of year. All the cildren in thier school uniforms. I’d love to visit.