First Full Day in Thailand
Not sure how much sense this entry will make since I am feeling a good buzz from dinner this evening. It was happy hour at the Irish Pub I stopped in; there was a group of guys at the bar, from Chicago, and I had a few beers with them after dinner. They had come to Bangkok for their first time and were having a celbration on their last night. They had been here almost two weeks spending time in Chain Mai, Ko Sumi, and Bangkok.
They had gone to the Celebration in Chiang Mai that ended on January 31, 2007. I have read a couple of articles in the Bangkok News about the closing of the festival, the major question was what do with the site now that the celebration is over. A lot of locals want the site to remain open beyond the January 31 closing.
Today I spent most of the day riding on Bangkok Sky Train as I went to two differetn sites; after my moring blog post of course.
The first stop was, “Suan Pakkard Palace“. There are five teak houses that were moved to this location in 1952 by Prince and Princess Chumbhot which were the grandchildren of King Rama V. There are collections of music instruments from across Asia, Khmer artifacts, and jewlrey that the Prince and Princess collected and felt should be displayed to the public. They did not believe that the collection should remain private.
The second stop, in the afternoon, was another site with teak houses, “The Jim Thompson House“. Jim Thompson is credited with the revival of the Thai silk industry. He first came to Thailand at the end of World War II as an officer of the OSS (predecessor to the CIA). Thompson mysteriously disappeared in the Malaysian Cameron Highlands in 1967.
The site comprises six teak houses, some over 200 years old. I visited this house the last time I was in Bangkok and returned due to its beauty, especially the teak houses which are intricately put together to make a large multi room home. The only downside was that I was unable to take any pictures since my camera battery was dead. Yes I had carried two spare batteries but they were locked up with my backpack in the locker since they did not want people carrying bags around the site. I could have returned to the lobby and taken the again with a new battery, but I had to return to the tailor for my first fitting; fortunately I took pictures the last time I was here and things have not changed.
I returned to the hotel, showered, and changed into slacks and dress shoes so I would be able to check the pant length at the tailor. Then I walked down the street for my fitting. They had finished the shirt and one pair of pants (to one of the suits) and I tried those on first. They fit very well.
Theny I tried on the suit jacket (in a very rough liner form) and the head seamster pinned and marked where changes needed to be made. After less than 30 minutes the first fitting was over. I am heading back tomorrow afternoon for the second (and final) fitting.
One pleasent surprise this time in Bangkok has been the weather. Last time it was late February (early March) and I remember the constant sweat marks on my clothes and the need for multiple showers each day. This year the weather is in the 80s instead of the high 90s and I can walk around during the hottest parts of the day and not be covered in sweat.
Another surprise, not as pleasent, is the fact that the Bangkok Sky Train is no longer used only by tourists and the middle class. Now the trains are full and you have to push your way on during the busisest parts of the day. I do agree, however, that this is a good thing for the locals, and it has definitely reduced the number of cars on the street, though it is still extremely busy as I saw during my ride in from the airport a few days ago.
Today I have scheduled my Thai Cooking class for the afternoon, during the heat of the day. Since the weather has been much cooler than that last time I was here.
