It's now about 10am on Tuesday. Beth
left for work at 7. As I sit inside "True Cafe", I sip on an iced green milk tea with a
bowl of fruit and yogurt. There's free wi-fi, and my laptop has about 3 1/2
hours of battery left. I suspect I'll spend a few hours a week like this.
Beth and I live off of a main city artery
called Sukhumvit Rd:
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| We drive on the left here, sometimes *on* the roads |
Since the 1970s, this particular street has emerged as a
haven for tourists and expats, both Western (mostly UK, Aus, NZ, and US) and
non-Western (mostly Japanese). Still, I see no more than about 1/6
non-Thai folks when I walk around. So, non-Asians aren't exactly all over the
place, but we're a very familiar sight and do not draw attention. That is a
very nice aspect of Bangkok. People in general here are pleasant when you engage them, comfortable in their
own skin, have no big urge to engage you, but might if you seem approachable.
Off the main arteries are side
streets (still subtantial) called "sois". We live on “Sukhumvit Soi
24”. If you want some context, go to Google maps, and just look at the
city of Bangkok, Thailand. After seeing what a maze it is, enter "Sukhumvit soi 24
Bangkok". You are now zoomed in to our immediate neighborhood, on the SE
side of the city center. The gray rectangle contains many buildings, including
Asa Garden, where we live.
It also houses The Emporium:
This is a large, upscale indoor
mall for folks with money who crave shopping. Still, it’s mostly Thais who are
in there. It also has a really great food court where you can get about a million kinds of dishes, actually cooked fresh in front of you, for about half what you'd spend in the US.
Another important place for me is
the Phrom Phong BTS SkyTrain station:
It’s a 6 minute
walk from home, and it takes one to many, many places in the city. The SkyTrain
is great; it’s totally modern, cheap, fast, and crowded on weekends and rush
hour. It stays cheap because a zillion people use it every single day. They've
been expanding the routes and it’s still growing. Just like the rest of
Bangkok, Thailand, and SE Asia in general.
Thailand has been booming in USA
1950s style for the last fifteen years, and (if the gov't can demonstrate a handle on
flooding in the next few years,) I see no sign of slowing. There's
a big push to raise the minimum wage, Myanmar next door is starting to
open up, and with almost no unemployment, there's a general feel of
vibrancy, including among the regular folk that live meagerly.
But I digress. On Friday, Beth
'walked me' to Sukhumvit. Just walking down our soi to get there is a major
adjustment in itself. Well, ok, every single activity here except maybe
breathing is an adjustment right now. The sidewalks are about 18" wide,
many of them have broken tiles, there are frequent curb dips and steps, the
steps are steeper than I'm used to, there are frequent driveways for cars and
scooters, pedestrians have no right-of-way, and that doesn't include the
occasional scooter approaching you from behind (yes, on the sidewalk). I paint
an unpleasant picture of walking here, but it's pretty accurate.
For a more pleasant walking
experience, we went to Benjasiri Park, a very lovely place indeed:
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| A big "sister cities" project currently under construction in the Park |
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| King Rama IX, head of state since 1946, loved by the Thais |
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| Big stage show soon? |
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| These are everywhere - can anyone identify? |
Lots of
places to explore, sit, jog, stop and smell the flowers, feed the turtles, and
see the occasional park police smile at you. A nod and a smile are common greetings
among strangers, regardless of any real or perceived (is there a difference?) social
hierarchy.
We walked along Sukhumvit for quite
a while. With the non-stop shops, bustling street and foot traffic, and the
Skytrain above you, it somewhat resembles 86th street in Brooklyn (minus the
honking, surprising enough). Much of the buiding and street signage is bilingual
around Sukhumvit, but that changes big-time when you leave the area.
