Chinatown Take Two

Coming out of Ban Baat – aka, Monk Bowl Village – I had two options – either retrace my steps and head back via the khlong boat or continue down Thanon Boriphat and head back home through Chinatown. Since I’m on my “farewell tour” I decided to enjoy another onslaught of the crowded and frenetic world of Chinatown and head back via the subway.

Further down Thanon Boriphat, the wood stores ended and were replaced by stores selling auto and motorcycle parts.

But, then I turned the corner onto Thanon Charoen Krung – the main drag – and ran into full-on Chinatown – curb-to-curb traffic, tiny shops crammed into every available square foot of space, people selling cell phones on the sidewalk, etc.

But even in the middle of the non-stop commerce, there were still moments of quiet and color.

After about 15 minutes I popped out of the crush at the opposite end of Charoen Krung and into the relative calm of Hua Lamphong Station, where I could get the subway and where this kid was trying to drum up an audience for his breakdancing.

Monk Bowl Village

Since I’ll be leaving in a few weeks, I’ve only got a few more weekends to explore Bangkok. One area that I still wanted to visit was the Monk Bowl Village – where you can buy the bowls monks hold when they beg for food. It’s supposed to be interesting and “real” and it had the added bonus of being somewhere that would mean taking another trip on the canal boats.

Traveling by canal boat is genuinely different – and fun. The boat pulls in quickly, people jump on and off, and the attendants walk around on the outside of the boat and collect the fares. Not sure how they keep track of who just got on, but they do. Plus, I’m not really sure it makes all that much difference – the fare is only 9 baht – about 30 cents.

And the view from the canal is interesting – a different perspective on Bangkok life.

From the canal boat stop, the Monk Bowl Village is a short walk down Thanon Boriphat. As is true in so many parts of Bangkok, most of the shops on Thanon Boriphat sell the same thing – in this case, wood. Carved letters, signs, doors.

Monk Bowl Village – “Ban Baat” in Thai – is a warren of small streets and alleys. This is the only remaining place where people still make monk bowls by hand – most are now made in factories.

Making the bowls is a multi-step process. They start with eight pieces of steel, which they solder together. Then, they hammer the bowl into the right shape and to make it smooth.

Finally they lacquer and decorate them. Here are a few pictures.

The few families who still do this live in the area and are “eager” to show you around – and to convince you to buy. The alleys were pretty grim – cramped and narrow, with clothes hanging everywhere and little kids asleep in cots.

I came across a grandmother with her grandson. As I walked by I nodded toward the baby and said, “Narak mahk-mahk,” which means “very cute.” Once I said something in Thai, she smiled and asked “Puut passad Thai dai mai?,” which means “Can you speak Thai?” To which I replied, “nit noi” – “very little.” She then insisted that I take a picture (a “ruup”) of her grandson. He wasn’t into it, but here’s a picture anyway. It really is true that even a limited bit of the local language can help you make a connection.

One my way back out to the main street, I was “pounced on” by a lady at the end of the alley. She kept pulling bowls out of her house and showing them to me. I told her I had already bought three, but she was so insistent that I caved and bought another one. She was very proud of her work and had a little book for me to sign and date. She read my name and tried to pronounce it, so I asked her name – it was “Allie.” I asked to take her picture and she said yes. And she made sure that she posed next to a picture of the king.

Kanchanaburi – November 25, 2010

I am in Kanchanaburi – a small town about 2 hours north of Bangkok. I am here to attend the end-of-the-year BDM meeting. BDM stands for “business development manager” and there are about 30 or so BDMs working for LMG Thailand. They are sort of like regional sales managers, except that they essentially run mini-companies, managing not only sales, but also underwriting, claims, and finance. It’s a very interesting business relationship – we supply office space, staff, and systems and they generate income for the company. Many of them have been with LMG Thailand – or one of its predecessor companies – for many years.

Tewtip and I drove up together. On the way up, we stopped at a temple. (I think it was called Wat Prathong, but not really sure.) It was an interesting temple because it was essentially just one very large golden chedi, with small shrines and statues ringing its circular base.

There were some beautiful old murals and a reclining Buddha.

There was a lot of activity at the temple – people praying, putting money into monk bowls, buying lotus flowers, etc.

Also a large pack of Thai boy scouts on a field trip – who seemed genuinely surprised to see a “foreigner.”

That was one thing that struck me – we were only about an hour or so north of Bangkok but I noticed people looking at me. In Bangkok there are lots of Westerners and most Bangkokians don’t even bat an eye as we go past. In fact, it’s more likely to be the Westerners who catch each other’s eye. But here, people seemed surprised and weren’t shy about staring.

The other thing that struck me was that much of the activity in the area was due to the annual “winter festival.” Winter?!? Please – it was 96 degrees! One of the reasons I went on this trip was because I was told that Kanchanaburi is in the hills and that it would be cooler. Well, it is in the hills – at least the start of the hills – but it was definitely NOT cooler. Though it was nice to see some actual topography – Bangkok is flat, flat, flat.

We eventually made it Kanchanaburi and to the Felix River Kwai Resort.

That’s another reason for coming here – this is the site of the famous Bridge Over the River Kwai.

The bridge itself is less impressive than I expected, but the story behind it – of the hardships and atrocities inflicted on the POWs who built it and the railway – is compelling. We made a stop at the Kanchanaburi War Cemetery, where almost 7000 POWs are buried.

On a happier note, today is Thanksgiving. But like I said, it was 96 degrees today so Thanksgiving was not in the air. And no turkey for dinner – had a very tasty sea bass in green mango salad instead. And there was “entertainment” during dinner – a lounge act. A Thai man and woman singing, with a guitar. And for some reason, they seemed to be singing mostly American songs. You haven’t lived until you’ve heard a Thai lounge act sing “Bad, Bad Leroy Brown.” As a duet.