Bangkok: The Coolest Hot City in Asia.
Written: Apr 29 '09
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Product Rating:
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Pros: The temples, food, shopping, friendly people, fun, and much more.
Cons: One week isn't enough.
The Bottom Line: If you want to visit the best big city in Asia, go to Bangkok!
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| Ironcladd's Full Review: Bangkok |
Bangkok During the State of Emergency: The Coolest Hot City in Asia.
By
James Zaworski
I just returned from one week in Bangkok with my girlfriend, and it was a fantastic trip. Just prior to going, on April 21, 2009, I had been weighing whether or not to go, due to the political protests of the red shirts, and the recent history of political unrest. Bangkok was in a ‘state of emergency’, imposed by the government to restore order. We decided to go anyway, and take a little risk in life. This was my girlfriend’s first trip outside of the People’s Republic of China, and I felt that it was an important trip for her to gain some international perspective. What follows is my review of Bangkok, and what we did for what seems to be a very quick week.
1. The Major Sites: a.) Temples.
(Note well that not all of these sites are near to each other, and I am only chronicling what places I visited on my trip.)
Bangkok has over 400 temples, from small and modest, to imposingly grand and exotic. The dominant religion of Thailand is Buddhism, and more specifically, Theravada Buddhism. Thai people are very spiritual, and overt forms of religious worship are evident on virtually every street corner. On our first day, just looking around from the sky train platform in Sukhumvit, we watched (and photographed) a street corner mini-shrine with hundreds of worshipers on a major intersection in a very modern and commercial section near the shopping mall called Center World.
Since we only got in later in the afternoon, we didn’t have time to go to the downtown section with the Grand Palace and grand ‘wat’ temples, as they would be closed by the time we arrived.
The next day, up bright and early, we navigated the sky train to the end of the line and took a taxi to firstly Wat Pho, with its huge reclining golden Buddha. During our taxi ride, we saw some of the damage from the protests the previous week. Wat Pho is right across the street from the Grand Palace, and Temple of the Emerald Buddha.
Wat Pho is the oldest and largest temple in Bangkok. While not imposing like the Forbidden City of Beijing nor the Great Pyramid of Khufu in Egypt, Wat Pho is elegant, beautiful, modest, grand, gaudy, stark, and holy all at once. What I like about this temple is that you leave the hustle and bustle of modern Bangkok, and you enter a place that is a functioning and living building. You step back in time, to a time of peace and tranquility that we have lost in our lives. You suddenly have time to look around, to look up, to ponder, to reflect, and to just be. The reclining Buddha, for example, a huge gilded statue inside the first building you see upon entering Wat Pho, sets the tone for your trip: relax, take it easy, and just “be”. I particularly loved the paintings in the reclining Buddha building, that depict both historical and mythological scenes of the great Thai kingdom going back hundreds of years. Scenes of elephant warfare and enlightened Buddhas stretch up the walls and onto the ceiling, reminiscent of the Sistene Chapel in Vatican City (and done about the same time, with similar artistic prowess, though we don’t know the name of the Thai Michaelangelo). And yes, you can take photos when you visit the golden reclining Buddha, but need to remove your shoes, hat, and chewing gum in homage.
The Grand Palace and Wat Phra Kaew (Temple of the Emerald Buddha), are architecturally and stylistically very similar to Wat Pho. The temple is no less grand than Wat Pho, but the Emerald Buddha is much smaller than the reclining Buddha. No problem, however, as the building that houses the Emerald Buddha is spectacularly decorated, and endowed with a splendor perhaps unmatched in other temples in Bangkok. Remember, you cannot photograph the Emerald Buddha, so don’t try, someone will stop you from doing so. The Grand Palace itself is the former home of the monarchy, and it is a place fit for a king, literally.
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We visited the above two sites in one day, and it was a scorcher of a day, 38 degrees Celcius! I got a sunburn but had plenty of water with me, so it was ok. The advantage of such a hot day is that the tourists tend to stay away. I have heard of huge and congested crowds in these temples, but on this day, it was so hot that people stayed away, so we had the temples almost to ourselves!
When we went to China Town, we stumbled upon a very lovely, old temple. I don’t know the name of the temple, but accessed it from a parking lot around the corner from a market. It is another multi-building complex, completely hidden from view by the store fronts and modern apartment buildings surrounding it. It was another lovely surprise.
Major Sites b.) Monuments.
There are many monuments in Bangkok, and the ones that we visited were the Victory Monument, Monument to Democracy, and also an old fort. When we went to the Victory Monument, I was under the impression that this was a monument to commemorate the victory over Japanese forces in World War II. However, I was wrong, the monument was to commemorate the Thai victory over the French in Laos in 1939. It was also the focal point for the protests last week.
The Monument to Democracy was another that we visited. This one is near the temple sites, and is situated in a circle. Thailand has one of the most interesting styles of democracy around (well, constitutional monarchy), and with all of the political protests, elections, coups, and changes in leadership and the government, it is a funky system, but somehow it works.
The old fort (Phra Sumen) dates to the 18th century, and protected the city from invasion from the sea. It is an interesting site with its canons, and seems to be out of place in this city of peace.
2. Shopping.
My God, Bangkok is a place to shop! From the ultramodern Central World Shopping Mall to the street vendors in Khao San Road to the wholesale markets of China Town, Bangkok has it all! Be prepared to haggle and never pay full price. I scored a demon mask carved from a coconut, a nice little wood statue of Ganesha, an Obama t-shirt, two nice cotton Chinese shirts, a Bob Marley CD, souvenir gifts for my colleagues including some Thai snacks, some post cards, jewelry, and my girlfriend got lots of inexpensive and beautiful clothing ( a feat to think that the clothing is much cheaper than in China). Many things are produced in China that are sold in Thai markets, but they sell at a cheaper price than in China itself, which is interesting. One of the best areas for outside markets is around the Victory Monument.
3. Food.
Thai food is incredible! Everything from street food to the posh restaurants such as Mango Tree and Ana’s, I think I gained 4 kg on this trip! The street food is really the way to go, it’s cheap, clean, and delicious. Outside of Wat Pho, we had some fantastic curry and pad thai noodles. I had the best Satay I’ve ever had in my life on my last day, just after I checked out of our hotel. You can get any food in Bangkok, from incredible Thai food to five star fine French and Italian restaurants. The night before we left, we happened on a Swiss restaurant, and had some very elegant veal bratwurst with sour kraut and white whine from the Rhine area. For the gourmand, Bangkok is the place to be!
4. “Fun”.
We stayed in a hotel in Sukhumvit, primarily because of price and a last minute change just prior to leaving. We intended to stay down town, at the Ramada, for the first three or four days, and then maybe move to another hotel. However, where we stayed as a place called the Royal President Bangkok, and it turned out to be rather comfortable, but in Bangkok, you are never really too far away from anyplace because of their skytrain and subway system.
Unbeknownst to me, Sukhumvit is also a place of the curious sex tourism trade, where you can see lots of courtesans, and some of the loveliest are ‘lady boys’. Sukhumvit proved to be a bit of a surprise in that respect, as I had expected these places to be out of the way and relegated to a particular district. My girlfriend was taken aback by these sites, but soon it became a passing curiosity.
We went to Khao San Road on two occasions, both in the evening. Khao San Road is a place specifically for tourists, where you can get a taste of Bangkok, from shopping to food, to beer and live music. I took dozens of photos of this place, and we had a genuinely fantastic time here. The diversity of people in this place is endlessly fascinating.
Thai massage is not be missed. We got a foot massage at a local place near our hotel, and it was splendid and cheap. Thai massage is wonderful.
While we were there, the state of emergency was lifted. The only indication that I could see that there had been trouble was some broken windows, and some soldiers on the street corners (posted at night time), in the down town area. What will happen in Thailand in this time of global economic crisis, remains to be seen.
All in all, my first trip to Bangkok was wonderful. I found that the city, though old, is very clean. The people are friendly and beautiful. There is air pollution from the many cars in Bangkok, but it’s not as bad as China, where I live and work. It has everything you want in a holiday destination, food, fun, shopping, culture and history, and it is inexpensive to boot. Thailand’s economy depends on tourism, so consider going to Bangkok on your next Asia odyssey.
Recommended:
Yes
Best Suited For: Couples
Best Time to Travel Here: Dec - Feb
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Epinions.com ID:
Ironcladd
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 - Top 500 |
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Member: James Zaworski
Location: Shenzhen, China
Reviews written: 509
Trusted by: 158 members
About Me:
I am an English teacher, Archeologist and Anthropologist.
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