Dusit

Bangkok is huge and sprawling and even though I’ve been here for three months, there are still more areas to explore, so this past weekend I spent some time in the Dusit section. It’s not near a subway or Skytrain stop, so I took the ferry boat to the Tha Thewet pier and then walked. Ferry boats are definitely the way to go when you can – they’re quick, cheap, run often, and you get a break from the heat and the cars and the motorcycles.

At the pier, a vendor was selling bags of crusts of bed, which little kids were buying and using to feed the fish in the river. And the fish were certainly into it – they were all flipping and smacking on top of one another, roiling the water.

From the pier, it was a short walk to the Dusit area. This part of Bangkok was laid out in the 1880s to 1900 – not long after General Haussmann had begun bulldozing parts of Paris and putting in long, wide boulevards there. Thailand was never colonized by a European power but in the late 1800s members of the royal family traveled and were educated overseas and many of the buildings from that period have strong European influences And Dusit reflects those influences – it was meant to be the “New Royal City,” with long tree-lined boulevards and canals, parks, and majestic Beaux Arts government buildings.

The big draw is the Vimanmek Mansion – Vimanmek means “castle in the clouds.” The mansion is the “largest golden teak building in the world and was built without any nails.” (So said the guide. I am assuming they used dowels instead, but couldn’t really ask since the guide’s English was limited and my Thai is worse.)

The mansion was built in 1900 and was once the royal residence of King Rama V. And in typical Empire style, it is way over-the-top – 72 rooms, filled with embroidered chairs and crystal chandeliers and lattice doorways and gilded this, that, and the other. It’s so big it’s hard to picture anyone actually living there, though they did have a number of family photographs that were interesting and gave it a period and personal touch. There was one of one of the daughters who later became the first woman in Thailand to drive a car. I can imagine what it took to maintain that level of pomp and circumstance in the midst of all the heat and humidity. You’re not allowed to take pictures inside, so I downloaded a few from the website. The “trophy” rooms were creepy – filled with elephant tusks and rhinoceros horns and end tables made from elephant feet (!).

And here are a few shots of the outside.

Because it is a royal building – the Queen spends time here each week – you have to dress appropriately. This means, no sandals and no shorts. Fortunately, I had read that in advance so I was wearing jeans. Unfortunately, the very large Australian fellow on the tour had not and they made him put a sarong around his waist to cover his shorts. Not really sure that the end result was more “appropriate” than just letting him in in shorts.

Nearby was the Throne Palace – also very European-looking.

After all this European style and decoration, it was a real change of pace to visit nearby Wat Benchamapophit. This wat is also called the “Marble Temple” because the façade is covered in Carrara marble.

The Buddha statue inside was stunning – the blue background really added to the feeling of serenity.

The wat has beautiful grounds, with canals and statues.

I really liked the expression on this statue. And given its placement, the only way I could get a picture was to include the soda cart in the background – a nice juxtaposition of the enlightened and the commercial. What’s the expression – “Have a Coke and a smile”?

Soi 23

Even though I’ve been in Bangkok for three months now, I’m still struck periodically by how different things are here, even though on a certain level, many things are the same. Our office is in a high-rise building on a typical street in a business district, with cars and buses and taxis going by, and people going to and from work. And there is a subway stop about a block away and a train stop as well. So, on paper, it’s really not that different from working at Liberty Mutual in Boston’s Back Bay, right? But even these small things are different here and I think it’s those little things that add up and ultimately make living here seem so “exotic.”

For starters, crossing soi 23 – our side street – is always a bit of an adventure, as the cars and the motorcycle taxis whiz by. The side entrance to our building leads to a parking garage, and there is usually a policeman there directing traffic.

The fruit vendor is usually already set up in front of the 7-11, as are other vendors. That’s one thing that is certainly different here – the number of places to buy food (real, cooked-in-front-of-you food) on the streets.


There is a coffee stand outside the building and some mornings, when it’s already 80 degrees and humid, I’ll stop here and get an iced coffee on the way to work. I’m pretty sure the two women who work there know me by now, but I still order my “ga-fair dam yen, mai nam-tamg” each time. (It seems rude to just assume that they should understand “iced coffee, black, no sugar.”)


There is also a main entrance to our building, off of Sukhumvit Road. (And yes, there is an Italian restaurant in the lobby, called “Little Italy.”)

If you stand on the steps and turn around, looking back toward Sukhumvit, this is what you see. That big concrete structure is the track for the Skytrain, which runs along Sukhumvit in this part of town.

Immediately to the right of the entrance is an altar –a large and dramatic one. Throughout the day, people stop, pray, light joss sticks, and leave flowers.

Back in the lobby, there is a drugstore and a bank.

And just in case any visiting Americans are feeling a little homesick, there is a Subway in the lobby too. I haven’t tried it yet, but I have noticed that there are never any Thai people in there – except for the ones behind the counter.

So, it’s all “familiar” and “similar” but, at the same time, completely different.

Thinking Ahead in Thong Lor

On Friday, I decided to spend some time checking out the Thong Lor area of Bangkok. It’s not that far from home/work here – just two Skytrain stops away. My plan was to wander around a bit and then go to “Face” on Soi 38 – a restaurant I had read about recently. Face is actually a group of small old teak buildings that have been linked with walkways and staircases and turned into a restaurant. But when I got there, it was closed for a private party – what are the odds? But I did take a quick look around – sort of old-school Thai décor, with lots of carved wood, candles, and Buddha statues – and Thai and Indian food on the menu. Will have to go back at some point.

Thong Lor is an interesting area – sort of like the Lower East Side in that sense of having new, high-end clothing and furniture stores next to old time, Mom-and-Pop hardware stores and markets. Even a bakery – called Sparkles, of all things – selling cookies and cupcakes. (Guess the cupcake craze continues even here.) While I was walking around, I came across this guy. Not sure what he was selling, because the store behind him was shut, but he obviously had had a long day. But you’ve got to give him credit for having thought to bring along a roll of toilet paper as a headrest.

Thong Lor also has some art galleries and bars (sometimes in the same location). This month’s BAM! (Bangkok Art Map!) listed a gallery (Akko Gallery) and another bar/gallery nearby. The Akko Gallery was having a group show. The gallery has been there for 20 years and they were celebrating that fact by exhibiting works from many of the artists who have shown there over the years. Most of it was not my style, but there was one artist – Kaz Orii – who had some beautiful paintings.

Then, went around the corner and down an alley and found “WTF” – a relatively new bar/gallery. Interesting space. Felt very much like being in New York – a long, narrow building, with a bar on the first floor and a gallery on the two floors above. It was also one of those “I’m definitely not in Boston” moments – drinking Australian wine in a Thai bar sitting next to some Japanese customers and listening to the Smiths sing “I Will Always Love You.” Here are few photos.

Prayer Houses

Recently, I went to an exhibit at the Thailand Center for Design. (It’s conveniently located on the top floor of the Emporium shopping center, next to a really good grocery store and several good restaurants. You gotta love the commitment to one-stop shopping – style and substance.)

The current exhibit is called “Spirits in the Modern World” and is about how ancient beliefs have survived in slightly different, and often commercialized, ways.

The focus was mainly on how ancient people feared “the spirits” and the actions they took to appease them. But the point was that those core fears – of ghosts, death, the afterlife, etc – survive today, either in straightforward worship or in transmuted ways, like Halloween and horror movies.

One of the items in the exhibit was of a prayer house –

I see these all over Bangkok so today I asked Noon, my Thai instructor, about them. She said that people build prayer houses outside homes, office buildings, hotels, etc – any place where there was a previous building on the same property. The idea is that the prayer house gives the spirit of the previous owner a place to live, so they will be pleased and won’t haunt the new building. Often, people leave offerings – fruit, water, drinks – for the spirit. I have also noticed that people leave small toy animals – elephants, zebras, lions, etc. – to further appease the spirit.
Typically, you see these prayer houses at the entrances to buildings. Also, many people “wai” as they go past a prayer house. “Wai” is the Thai term for pressing your palms together in a praying gesture and then bowing forward. Not everyone does, but most do.

So, I decided to pay attention to them today and to notice how different each one is. Here are a few photos of several in my neighborhood.

And a few detailed images --

Coconuts and Mooncakes

Every Thursday, there is a fresh market at the end of Soi 23 – the side street that the LMG Thailand office is on. Many people from work go there at lunchtime to buy fresh fruit, vegetables, flowers, etc. A few people in the office were talking about going because they wanted some coconut juice. They were amazed that I had never had coconut juice – coconut milk yes, but not coconut juice. So, Xianyu said she would buy me one since she was going to pick up several for herself. (Puk and I were going to the Chinese noodle shop for lunch and not the fresh market. Puk really wanted to go for Chinese noodles and I like the “ba mee haeng gai” there – “ba mee” are long, yellow noodles, “haeng” means I want it “dry” and not the soupy version, and “gai” means with chicken. I need to remember to bring my camera the next time we go. The place is classic Chinese noodle shop – no frills, plastic stools, no menu (you just write down what you want on a piece of paper) and if you don’t get there early, you’re basically sitting on the street in between parked cars.)

So, we get back from lunch and Xianyu has a coconut for me. (Those are Xianyu’s hands in the photos, by the way.) Evidently, in order to get coconut juice, you need young coconuts, not the hard, brown ones that we think of when we think of coconuts. Fortunately, the coconut comes with the top cut almost completely all the way around.

You just lever a knife underneath and pry it off entirely. Then, there is a flap of soft coconut flesh and below that is what looks like slightly milky water.

Typically, you just put a straw in and drink the juice that way. But, since I wanted to see what it looked like – and so I could take a picture – I poured it into a glass.

I have to say that my life would have been complete had I never tasted coconut juice. Not my favorite – at all. I had a few sips and to me it tasted like lukewarm water with a little bit of salt and a little bit of sugar in it. Xianyu was surprised so I asked her to taste it – maybe it was just a bad coconut? Nope, she said that’s what it was supposed to taste like. Thanks for the effort, but “pom mai chorb” – “I don’t like.”

(Funny how most of the Thai I remember revolves around food. Go figure.)

This week was also the Autumn Moon Festival – September 22 to be exact. It is an especially important holiday in China, but it is celebrated throughout Asia. Basically, it is a celebration of the Harvest Mooon. One of the traditions associated with the festival are mooncakes. Mooncakes are small, round pastries – about the size of your palm – and they are typically filled with lotus seed paste. Besides lotus seed paste, mooncakes also come filled with black sesame seeds, chestnuts, durian, and red bean paste. They can also have a hard-boiled egg yolk in the middle – meant to symbolize the orange harvest moon. Typically, mooncakes are cut into small wedges and eaten with Chinese tea.

Short history lesson:
The legend is that the mooncakes played an important part in Chinese history. The Chinese were ruled by the Mongols in the thirteenth century. But, the Mongols did not eat mooncakes so the legend is that the Chinese used mooncakes to pass along plans for a rebellion. People were told not to eat the mooncakes until the day of the Moon Festival, which is when the rebellion took place.

Tewtip brought some into work this week and I have to say that the ones filled with lotus seed paste were very tasty. I don’t like eggs, but Tewtip knows that so she made sure to give me one with the egg already cut out. (Because Thai people like to put a fried egg on top of many of their lunch dishes, I made sure to learn the phrase “mai sai kai, krap” – “don’t put egg, please” – early on in my Thai lessons. It rolls off the tongue easily and has come in very handy.) They also served up quite a few in the lobby here at CentrePoint. Here are a few photos.