Tags
Bangkok, Canals of Bangkok, Chao Praya River, Golden Mount Temple, Grand Palace, Jim Thompson House, Lat Mayom Floating Market, OSS, Pang Vongtaradon, Thailand, Wat Saket
The Lat Mayom floating market near Bangkok.
”The essence of Bangkok lies beneath the surface and its physical appearance.” Composer/pianist Pang Vongtaradon
The clichés surrounding big cities always have a kernel of truth. But to let stereotype define the home of millions of people, pick any major metropolis you like on the globe, and I think you’ll understand why, to me, hyperbole and sweeping generalizations are cynical or boring, or both. Jumping to conclusions is not great exercise.
I never thought I’d understand Bangkok. At first it is only big and only confusing. There is the cliché of constant tropical heat. Then, and what is often a visual deal breaker for many first time visitors, there is the ever present brutalist transit system. Street level exhaust fumes are epic. Bangkok is a city where crossing the street resembles a pedestrian level version of ten lanes of a freeway in Los Angeles or an afternoon stroll in the Lincoln Tunnel.
And I just fell in love. How?
