6 Months in the "Land of Smiles"

It’s now been over 6 months that I’ve been living and working in Bangkok, Thailand. I can communicate at a bare-bone level in Thai, I can convince a vendor to give me the Thai price at least 8 out of 10 times, and I can teach an entire class of thirty-six 7 to 9 yr-olds how to do long division. I have gotten food poisoning only once, but felt homesick countless times.

I have stayed in bungalows where I step out of my bedroom and onto deserted, white beach. I have kayaked through caves in some of the most stunning cerulean waters on the planet. I have ridden on elephant-back through a jungle to get to the incredible Namuang Falls, and ridden on another elephant's neck, feeling its thick, coarse hairs on my legs while I made my way with her through a monsoon rainstorm. I have seen 8-yr olds hoolah-hoops lit on fire and shared cocktails out of sand buckets. I have been witness to impromptu break-dancing shows, impromptu lady-boy shows, and live music that taught me to appreciate the Thai language even more. I have fed massive giraffes two inches from my face, held a baby tiger cub, and had an intimidating Asian elephant stepping lightly on my back. I have been kissed by an orangutan AND a dolphin, and seen rats the size of cats feasting off sidewalk scraps.

I have ridden bikes through some of the oldest ruins in Thailand, witnessed the harsh yet beautiful evidence of Thai history up close. I’ve crossed through grid-locked traffic – of elephants – and been continuously surprised at the detail of my local temples.

I have seen just the tip of the iceberg in flood devastation, families trying to clean the diseased river water from their homes and bloated animal bodies floating past flooded restaurants. I have seen pervasive Thai smiles despite poverty to levels of absurdity, and seen more adamant religious faith than ever before.

I have grocery-shopped alongside saffron-swathed monks and seen a few handfuls of bums use the sidewalks as personal lavatories. I have been waied by a chubby 3-yr old Thai girl in bright orange suspenders, and I have waied countless elders, administrators, and friends. I have found friendships with Thai bar owners, sushi chefs, coffee-stand owners, security guards, students, and teachers, and lost more friendships with state-side folk than I’d like to admit.

I have been frustrated, furious even, with lying salesmen, cheeky taxi drivers trying to steal an extra ten baht, and the entire cultural difference of Asian lifestyle in general. I have also been amused by Thai cultural idiosyncrasies, moved and motivated by random acts of Thai kindness, and come to truly love living a lifestyle that challenges, surprises, and astounds me every single day.

The past six months has been a whirlwind of cultural experiences for me, mixed in with the realities of becoming an Aunt for the first time and building a serious relationship while living abroad together. Where the next six months will lead is still a mystery to me, with some pretty huge decision to make up ahead. For right now, I am taking each day as it comes, enjoying the freedom of independent travel and the daily struggles of life and work out here in this crazy country. Everyone is asking where I will go from here, but to me the mystery is one of the best parts. If you don’t know where you’re going… the options are endless, right?

Here's a quick slideshow with some of my favorite shots from the past 6 months... enjoy!

Created with Admarket's flickrSLiDR.

Yahk by Thanon Chan, rayo rayo!

Living in a city of 13 million people continues to be a source of amazement and curiosity to me. How do so many people manage to make their way through the maze of noise, buildings, food-stalls, shopping malls, wats, and more?? Even more so, how do 13 million people handle the chaos, congestion, and entirely overwhelming experience of Bangkok traffic? The answer is seen darting down every hidden soi, and zig-zagging in between bumpers in a grid-locked thanon. As I am car-less and forced to explore other means of getting to and fro, I thought I'd share a bit on the eccentricities of Thai transport. Enjoy.

Metered Taxis

Metered taxis tend to be the most economical route to take in Bangkok, as the meter starts at only 35Baht, roughly 1USD. The meter climbs slowly and if you split the cab ride with a few friends, even a more expensive long-distance ride is a great deal. The cabs are all brightly painted, especially in a bright pink -- The King's color. 

       Taxis are the pits in grid-locked traffic, and if you get in one at the wrong time (anytime between 4:30 and 9:00pm), you can expect to be sitting in the overly AC-ed cab for close to or sometimes ever over an hour. 

       The taxi driver's here are exceptional at getting thisclose to each other (and everything else in their way) without hitting anything. The first few weeks in Bangkok, I did a lot of wincing... but after a while you realize just how competent these drivers are. 

An excellent representation of the car:taxi ratio on the roads of Bangkok.

 Tuk-Tuk

Probably the most famed form of Thai transport, and definitely the one I utilize the least. Tuk-tuks are motorized three-wheel carts that are open on the sides. The drivers are usually spastic, at best, and terribly eager to rip you off. Admittedly, riding in a tuk-tuk is pretty damn fun. The jolting and heaving and racing down roads is a definite way to get your heart pumping. But unless you know exactly how much it should cost you to get where you are going (and you aren't afraid to barter/argue in Thai), I don't think they're quite worth the price.

 The Motorbike Taxi

Motorbike taxis in Bangkok are easily the most accessible and most convenient way of getting around the city, especially in heavy rush-hour traffic. They are also easily the most dangerous form of transportation here, but coincidentally the form I take most often. The taxi-men work in little colonies, donning brightly colored vests over their clothes to signal the company they work for. They can be found in little posses at pretty much every street corner, hovering outside of apartments and gathering at the base of the BTS stations, waiting for customers. 

      I love motorbike taxis because they are usually incredibly cheap -- usually between 20-60baht for a one-way trip -- and equally as convenient. When you need to get somewhere in a hurry, a motorbike taxi can dodge, dive, and daredevil its way in between cars. Shooting around turns and driving a hairs-width from other vehicles, these drivers usually have me saying prayers by the time we reach our destination. But there is no denying the exhilaration from being on the back of a motorbike flying down the road, especially after doing some hard negotiating in Thai to get a fair price. True assimilation. :)

A typical clan of motorbike drivers, waiting for customers

The Bangkok Skytrain (BTS)

Bangkok's elevated rail system, the Skytrain, is one of the most ueseful ways to get around central city. With a central station located at busy the Siam shopping district, and two lines to travel on (Sukhumvit and Silom), it is the choice of transportation for over 400,000 people every day. This can make for quite a sardine scenario in the evenings, but trains come by about every five minutes, so it's never an inconvenience to wait for the next one. Fairs are extremely reasonable (between 10 and 40B) and flying high above the traffic during rush hour is reason enough to hop on often.

Songthaews

In Thai, the word songthaew translates directly into “two rows.” Fitting. Songthaews in Bangkok are essentially just red, covered pick-up trucks that have two rows of bench seating planted in the bed. Thai commuters use them as shared taxis, especially for shorter distances. Songthaews are great for such shorter jaunts – at only 5.50 Baht (30 Baht to 1USD) they are beyond even the best bargain – and a true “Thai” experience. The drivers rarely speak English and the songthaew routes aren’t marked at all, so it’s really only smart to take one if you know exactly where its headed. In other parts of the country, you can wave down a songthaew and just tell the driver where you want to go. If he happens to be going that direction, he’ll nod and you can hop on board. If not, he’ll drive off and you simply wait 5 minutes till the next one comes along. 

I often take a songthaew to get to yoga, as I usually have time to kill before the 6pm class starts, and the trucks move quite slowly. When the trucks get packed there is usually only standing room, and you may need to even hang off the back. But this, like with most of Thai transportation, is just as fun as it is dangerous.

River Taxis

Something I didn't know about Bangkok when I first moved here is that it was once coined the "Venice of the East." The reference makes sense to me now, of course, as I've become familiar with all the various klongs (canals) and the grand Chao Praya River -- main arteries in Bangkok's transportation system.

       One of my favorite routes to take visitors on when they first visit, is the songthaew jaunt to the Saphan Taksin BTS station, which is directly adjacent to the Sathorn river taxi stop. There, you can hop on an express river taxi and ride it up or down the river as far as you want for only 16Baht. Stops include popular tourist locations like the Wat Arun and Khao San road, as well as a variety of more localized, hidden gems. The river taxi gets you breezing past grid-lock traffic for a fraction of the price. . . and who doesn't like to spend some time on the water?

Living in Bangkok can definitely be daunting, especially for someone who spent a few too many years living in barely-there Richland, WA. But with the various forms of transportation at my fingertips, it's been anything but a dull experience to find my way around the big city madness.