Recently, Eddy and I had a brief stint back to Bangkok for a friend’s wedding. The last time we were there was probably more than ten years ago, but the diesel fumes made Eddy very ill (and me somewhat under the weather also). This time, the air on the streets looked clear and that kind of cheered us up as we drove from the airport to our guest house on Sukhumvit.
As soon as we got out of our Grab though, the heat practically seared the skin off us! I have not been to Bangkok in June before and now I realise why it isn’t a peak time to go to Bangkok. Our guest house, Padi Mahi Guest House, was a comfortable shop lot kinda space, with an interesting rooftop. The reception and the staircase leading to the first guest rooms was decorated with interesting Tintin collectibles.
The rooftop of our guest house gave us a clear view of their public transport, and also the street below. What I found interesting this time around was that vegetarian and vegan food wasn’t that hard to find! In fact, you could practically find it everywhere, which wasn’t the case about ten years plus ago!
Another thing I noticed was the how the Thai society was accommodating the Muslim community, something I hadn’t noticed before. There were mosques everywhere, and places to pray were clearly marked in shopping malls and in the airport.
However, sadly even though the air looked clear, it was still pretty heavy with diesel exhaust fumes. Luckily, neither one of us fell ill.
One fun thing both Eddy and I did the last time we were in Bangkok was to go visit novelty shrines, and because of that experience, I will always think of Bangkok as the city of shrines. They are all over the place, and so colourful.
And even though Thailand is predominantly Buddhist, their brand of Buddhism is so steeped in Hinduism that you see Indra, Ganesha, Brahma and a host of other Hindu deities along the street in their own shrines.
Aside from that, we didn’t really get to see or do much because we really were just there for the wedding. We did go down to the shopping area but honestly shopping malls are not our thing.
Still, it was a good respite from the usual routine of work life and I actually did enjoy myself overall. I am glad we got to go to Bangkok. Hopefully, we’ll get to go to Chiang Mai soon.