Bangkok, I don't understand
you. The sun relentlessley beats down upon you but within minutes,
the sky opens to pouring rain only to return to its prior state just
as rapidly. You embrace materialism at the utmost of luxary even
when the most decrepid and crumbling existences are within sight.
Today, I even saw a roach eating a roach. Every imaginable mode of
transportation – and I mean everything spanning automobiles,
scooters donning two or even three people, and bicycles to old
lady-propelled all-inclusive cooking stations, tuk-tuks, and
open-topped flatbed work trucks loaded with so many people one has to
wonder how the stationary vehicle ever initially broke inertia –
floods the streets like salmon in an Alaskan stream during the spawn.
And it never slacks, there is no down time, nor are there rules.
Bangkok defies the common logic that works in other cities where
taking a taxi is a quick, efficient way to get directly to one's
destination. No, not here. That pathetic little salmon stands no
chance of swimming up, down, left, or right in hopes of getting to
any destination in a timely fashion. Save yourself the stress and
just take the BTS Sky Train; a monorail that runs on an elevated
track through the city. In typical Thai fashion, it doesn't go near
the major tourist attractions though. Be prepared to walk.
I'm not done yet. Your
written language. What? How? I'd like to optimistically think that
I'll grasp some aspect of it in the future, but I probably won't.
During my time in Korea, I came to the realization that stylizing the
alphabet makes it incredibly difficult to learn. We take it for
granted because it's something we're so familiar with but there are
an infinite number of fonts, even some with or sans serif. When
you're forced to diligently study each mark in hopes of learning the
skill that is basic communication, you'll understand what I mean.
Your currency. To put this
in perspective, $1 roughly equals 34 Thai Baht. Conversely, 1 Thai
Baht is $0.028. That's essentially nothing. Pointless, right? Well
confusingly enough, there exists the Satang. There are 100 Satang in
1 Baht. They actually mint 25 Satang coins. During my short time
here I haven't studied the status of the economy but I can offer a
suggestion that'll help no matter what it is. Stop creating currency
that is valued at less than the metal it is made from! That doesn't
even take into consideration the workers' salary or the cost of
powering the machinery either.
Finally, your men –
specifically lady boys (do NOT perform a Google search for this at
work!). I haven't been here nearly long enough to delve into this
counter-culture yet, but more on this to come in due time.
