Other states, other lives, other souls

I thought I made up this title, but, alas, it is a book, a gay hotel, and probably many other things I have never seen nor read.  I used to call it Sodom and Gomorrah, but Babylon Bangkok has a better ring to it. Besides, there is a newish Netflix series—Babylon Berlin—that is very well done. Since I have never been to Berlin, especially in 1929, I will leave that saga to others.

I have been to Bangkok a total of 13 times, between 2005 and 2010. It was always a weekend layover on my way in and out of Cambodia where I was doing clinical training. Sometimes it was a stopover before adding a vacation in Vietnam or Laos after the work weeks. So, 3-4 days times 13 equals about a month or two in Bangkok.  At first I traveled with a work partner who was an old hand on Thailand, having served in the Peace Corps there before attending medical school.  He spoke Thai and prided himself on successful bargaining with taxi drivers coming into town from the beautiful Suvarnabhumi airport at midnight.  He also knew where the party was happening on Saturday nights.  Since we always flew back home on the 6:30 am Sunday flight and had to get up at 3:30 am to get to the airport in time, he always wanted us to stay up and hit a club or bar.  Since I am old enough to be his teenage mom, I often demurred.  One time we tried two-for-the-price-of-one blue blender cocktails at a happening place.  Not a good idea. When we missed the 3:30 am alarm and the flight, my companion, a psychiatrist familiar with pharmaceuticals, decided we might have been roofied. Luckily he was Delta Platinum, so we were rebooked within 3 hours.

Despite that hiccup I soon realized that, like many big international cities, Bangkok is tourist friendly, even if you don’t speak Thai. And like many international cities, the center city is relatively small and traversable by transit, tuk-tuk, taxi or foot.  Soon I was squiring my husband and son around or other work colleagues, and then I was going there by myself.

I love Bangkok because it is an authentic city with a long history and some of everything. Beauty, wonderful food, amazing hotels and restaurants, relative safety, appreciation for multiculturalism extreme modernity, and extreme traditionalism side by side. It is affordable for the middle class tourist or backpacker but elegant at the same time.  They have high quality medical and dental services, such that medical tourism is a thing. But they also have a godlike king and religious superstitions that belie its apparent sophistication.

I am not a fan of debauchery, but Bangkok has got it if you want it.  .  When I first took my husband and young adult son to Bangkok, we walked around after dinner one steamy evening in the Sukumvit area, which is a relatively prosperous neighborhood with many embassies and hotels. It is also home to a lot of the sex worker trade.  I was surprised and insulted that both men were approached brazenly by prostitutes on the street, buzzing around them, and ignoring me. They were surprised too. Later I told my work partner about it and he said: They must have been Kathoeys—transgender women—because traditional Thai women sex workers are much more demure. OK, you could have fooled me.

Some sources explain the gedogen (the Dutch word for technically illegal but officially tolerated) attitude toward prostitution and non-binary gender identities as a result of several indigenous factors: the inferior view of women under Thai Buddhism, greater empathy for the poor due, perhaps, to previous karmic sins, and a history of state-sponsored prostitution. Also, homosexuality is not viewed negatively in Buddhism. The exogenous factor is foreign men coming to Thailand because of its reputation for access to child and adult prostitutes, beautiful women, and bar girls ready to act interested in paunchy, pale-faced, middle-aged white men. Not a pretty sight, I assure the reader. A cash cow for Thailand.

Enough of Babylon!  Here are some wonderful experiences I have had in Bangkok.

1. Raja’s bespoke tailoring shop Just off the main road in Sukumvit is this well-known shop.  Its walls are plastered with photos of American generals, politicians, and other glitterati unknown to us.  We nobodies were treated with the same attention and expertise as they must have been.  We were invited to sit down on rattan chairs and enjoy a gin and tonic, while we waited our turn for owner Bobby Singh’s attention.  When it came time, Bobby himself asked us questions, showed us possibilities of fabrics and took detailed measurements of my son and husband. Bobby is a tall, slim attractive man with the signature Sikh turban. My husband ordered several handmade dress shirts (he was still working at the time!), each $25.00. Louis, who up until now preferred Grunge and Hiphop styling, ordered a complete suit—pants, vest and jacket in a tropical light Italian wool.  We were to return in one week to pick up the items on our way out of town. Louis’ suit would change his style of dress permanently. Not that he walked around the McGill campus in a tropical suit, but he definitely upped his fashion game after that. Later, back in Montreal and working, he was able to fax a new request for shirts to Bobby. His measurements were on file and the next time my husband was in Bangkok, he picked them up. Classy!
2. Pet à Porter Once with time on my hands alone in Bangkok I came upon a poster in Siam Square, the primary shopping district, advertising a dog show. I loved the title, a take on French ready-to-wear clothing—prêt à porter. I decided to go.
   

   

   Little did I know that Thais can go gaga over pooches. Here are some pictures of just how gaga they go: strollers with baby bottles, dyed pink poodles, Scotch plaid suits.  Not very dignified, I must say, but a hoot.

3. Foodland Just off Sukumvit in the other direction from Raja’s is a diner called Foodland.  It is across from an international hotel and near several middle-eastern embassies. It looks like an old-fashioned Walgreens soda shop, with bar stools facing the fry kitchen. I was confused about how to order, but it soon became apparent.  A worker comes around the back of the stools, the customer picks among a few dishes, the worker writes it down on a ticket and adds it to the ticket queue.  I watched as the expert cooks flew through the orders. Rather than Western food, they were quick cook Thai dishes.  When mine arrived I took my first small bite: delicious!! And very inexpensive; an in-between stop between a restaurant and street food.
4. Sky Bar  Not far off one of the Sky Train stops is a highrise hotel named Lebua.  At the top, 820 feet in the air, is an open air rooftop bar with vertiginous views of Bangkok. If you are there before dark, you can look out and hear the sounds of construction and another highrise going up in view. Like some tropical plants that can grow an inch in an hour, so grows Bangkok. The bartenders at Sky Bar are perched on a corner column inside a circular bar. Customers ordering drinks walk around to the bar along a waist high glass wall that prevents you from plunging to your death.  The first time I went there I saw a wonderful jazz singer with a small band playing.  I am pretty sure the woman was a well-known Minneapolis local, Diane Witherspoon (or her sister Shirley)!! Very romantic.  Warning: There is a dress code, clearly stated on the website.  The second time, when I brought my husband and son, we were turned away because they violated several elements of it.

1. Thai massage No new age music, hot stones, or aromatherapy. This is the peoples’ massage.  For $10 US (back in 2010) the masseuse or masseur will work your tired muscles relentlessly for one hour. Slip out of your clothes and into the equivalent of short legged scrubs. Thais seem to be fond of the one hour lower leg and foot massage.  I soon chose this focus too when my legs and feet became swollen and tired from walking miles in the tropical heat.  No appointments necessary in the many street level shops in the Siam Square commercial district.  (A decade later, be sure to check for changes in all this information).
2. Hotel breakfasts When Americans stay at midrange hotels and motels offering free breakfasts in our country, we have come to expect a sad, small counter with cold grocery store muffins, soft bread with hard butter or “strawberry” jam, dry cereal, coffee, orange juice and milk out of spigots. All the plates and cups are Styrofoam and the silverware plastic. The more exciting ones include overcooked scrambled eggs, greasy sausages or bacon, and some kind of waffle batter with super sweet syrup in a small plastic throwaway cup. From coast to coast, it’s the same. Sometimes in the South you will also have a choice of white flour biscuits with gluey gravy, a salute to southern cooking. Breakfasts I have had in Bangkok have left me dazzled.  I sit at a cloth-covered table with glass plates and real cutlery. A server comes to pour delicious coffee into a glass mug.  There is a buffet in the center.  It is gigantic, offering high quality items that reflect the tastes of people all over the world.  Want noodle soup for breakfast? Khab khun kha!   Want a personal omelet made to order? Merci!  Cheese and dark bread?  Danke!  Captain Crunch out of a spigot? Sorry, madam.
3. Taking a water taxi up and down the Chao Phraya River. This river takes you past the oldest temples and some fancy old hotels. An all-day pass is 100 baht or about $3.00 US.  The last stop on the Sky Train drops you near the river where you can hop on and off a water taxi at will.  Watching the sunset along the water at the Imperial Hotel is fun and during the day you can visit the various royal palace grounds and temples as long as your feet hold out.  This is a heavily touristed area, so there are also scam artists at work ready to take you off some place in a tuk- tuk that you may not want to go.
4. 

   Chatuchak Market

   

   Flower Market

   Outdoor markets Endless: flowers, Chinese, Chatuchak weekend market. These take stamina on a hot day. Pick one, followed by the one hour leg massage. Chatuchak is huge and has many valuable as well as inexpensive items.  You can also get there on the Sky Train.  Get a map. It is easy to get lost and turned around among the warren of covered markets.  Maybe in the GPS era, it is less challenging.  One can buy gem stones, but you need to be an expert to know what you are really buying.  I am a big fan of Thai silk, the rough kind, in myriad colors.  They make lovely curtains.

5. Songkran This is the famous New Year celebration combined with the Water Festival in mid-April. We were caught a bit unaware on one trip. My husband and I were staying in a small hotel. As we passed by the hostess in the morning on our way to breakfast, she came up close and gently pasted our cheeks with damp flour.  Happy New Year!!  For many young men and women, it is a license to run around in the back of a pickup with a barrel of flour and a water hose to dowse anyone in their path.  A bit like Mardi Gras in New Orleans, but messier and less alcohol.  That same year I read that Premier Hun Sen of Cambodia tried to outlaw the practice because his wife was having her silk dresses ruined.

This is just a sampler of off-beat and mainstream things to do there.  Just go if you can. Note that in 2014 Thailand fell to another military coup. The previous decade had seen warring political parties and corruption within the ruling party leading to the coup.  The King has played a moderating role over the rough democracy during his long life, but recently died.  The beat goes on for tourists, as there has been little violence, but there is hope for a return to democratic elections in 2018.