A Few Bangkok Observations

I have been in Bangkok for several days now. I have some observations of a city for which I am developing quite a fondness.

Yellow Shirts. My first day of walking in Bangkok happened to be a Monday. I didn't know that Mondays=Yellow Shirt Days. I felt like I was in a parallel universe because hundreds of thousands of people were wearing the exact same yellow polo shirt. It was only later that I found out that every Monday people wear yellow shirts to show their admiration for Thailand's King. What I wouldn't give to be the owner of that yellow shirt factory....

7-Elevens. They have 7-11's everywhere here. I don't know why there are so many in Bangkok, but the city must have several hundred of these Slurpee-dispensing establishments. They tell me--no joke--that everybody goes to 7-11 to pay their home phone bills. Who knew?

Food Carts. Sorry grandma, but I've violated (repeatedly) the cardinal rule of traveling, "Never Eat Food Off the Street!" I know I am playing Russian roulette here, but its impossible not to get food from the street vendors. Imagine the best pad thai you've ever had. Now imagine it costs 45 cents. Now imagine you are starving. Now you know what its like to be a pedestrian in Bangkok.

Plastic Bag Drinks. This is perhaps the most confusing thing that I've seen in Bangkok. Yesterday I bought a bottle of Sprite--from a street vendor of course--and the guy whips out a plastic bag. I told him that he didn't need to wrap it up for me and that he should instead save the plastic bag. He ignored me, proceeded to dump a handful of ice in the bag, and then poured the whole Sprite out of the bottle and into the bag. I wish somebody took a picture of me at that moment because I was almost in shock. A few questions leaped to mind: Why the hell did he just pour a perfectly good bottle of Sprite into a possibly dirty plastic bag? What happens if I want to save the Sprite for later? How can I set my drink down if I need both hands? Am I on candid camera? Ever since, I have noticed people drinking bagged sodas everywhere.

Prostitution. When I first got to Bangkok I thought it was cute that all these middle-age Western men were bringing their Thai wives back home for a summer vacation. How naive. I quickly realized that all these hundreds of men and their companions--strolling in parks, eating in restaurants, going to the movies, grocery shopping--were sexual tourists with prostitutes. Unfortunately, I have been walking around Bangkok by myself and I look 45 years old (and a little bit sketchy too), so naturally I have been propositioned by everybody in the city: cab drivers wanting to drop me off at "massage parlors", pimps working their section of sidewalk, even the clerk at 7-11!

I fly to southern Thailand tomorrow for beaches and scuba diving. If you don't see any blog updates from me in the next few days its for good reason...