Back to Boston – December 16, 2010

Today is my last day in Bangkok - I fly back to Boston at midnight. It was a little sad to leave LMG Thailand yesterday, knowing that chances are good I probably will not be back. It’s an odd feeling to walk back here and have a sense of “well, I won’t be walking down this street again.” But, you never know. Maybe I’ll be back for a follow-up visit at some point next year.

So… since this will likely be my last post, I thought I’d write down a few things I’ll miss, things I won’t miss, and maybe a few things I learned along the way.

Things I will miss:

• The food. It’s been consistently good – whether at a high-end restaurant or at a street stall. Went to the Chinese noodle shop yesterday with Tewtip, Jaray and Fon. One last serving of “ba mee haeng gai” – noodles with chicken, no broth. Very tasty and I expect that having Thai food in Boston will be a bit of a letdown by comparison.
• The people. They are genuinely friendly and helpful and gracious. Thailand markets itself as the “Land of Smiles” and Thai people truly can smile better than any other group of people I’ve met.
• The street life. I’ve tried to capture the sheer density and level of street life here in Bangkok but I don’t think pictures really convey the level of activity. There are people EVERYWHERE – selling food, clothes, cell phones, amulets, etc. It’s all cheek by jowl and informal but it still seems to work.

Things I won’t miss:

• The weather. It has been 90+ degrees every day since I arrived, with humidity levels to match. And today is no different. Just relentless. People at work were saying how they don’t understand how we cope with the cold and the snow, but honestly I don’t know how they cope with the heat and humidity. The cold is no fun, for sure, but it ends and then we have spring and summer and fall. Here, it’s hot and humid all the time.
• The traffic. Again, words and pictures can’t convey the craziness of the traffic – with bumper-to-bumper cars and taxis and motorcycles on the streets and the sidewalks. It can take you 45 minutes to go a mile on Sukhumvit Road in the evening. But the Thais just seem to accept it and not complain.
  
  

But, it has been a great experience and opportunity. It’s gratifying to know that you can travel halfway around the world and still make a life. It’s probably been as close to the “immigrant experience” as I’m ever likely to get. Especially today, with email and Skype, and especially for a middle-aged, middle-class white guy from America.

I thought I would post a few last pictures – ones that sum up being here in Bangkok. While the temples are certainly spectacular, it’s the day-to-day life that I remember the most and that feels most foreign.

And one final image. I took this photo of a father and his two sons negotiating a ride with a tuk-tuk driver in Chinatown one Saturday afternoon in August. Dressed all in white, they stood out from all the surrounding chaos and colors. It captured a moment for me – that sense of being someplace so foreign and, at the same time, an example of how people can still connect with each other. Both how big the world is, and how small.