Ballin in Bangkok – Where Colin Goes

January 2021

FOOD
SHOPPING
ART, ARCHITECTURE, CULTURE

So great to be out of quarantine and able to eat, explore, and socialize again. While I have been to Thailand twice previously, I have spent little time in the world’s most traveled city. Because of Covid related travel constraints, and an application for an education visa that will allow me to stay in Thailand for six months, I will be spending a few weeks here and it certainly is an interesting place to be.

FOOD

I will start by sharing one of my favorite things about being in Thailand, the AMAZING food! It is also extremely affordable, most delicious dishes cost around $3.

For my first meal out of quarantine, I was really wanting some vegetables. This picture is not the best example of it, but the produce is phenomenal here.

Bubble tea is very popular here, and I love tigers, so this was an easy sell.

I have had street fish for dinner a few times already. It is delicious and you eat it inside a lettuce wrap with other veggies and some spicy sauce.

Street food feast!

Watch out McDonald’s, BK is coming in hot. (This is not a legit BK, it’s way better)

This is a popular Japanese supermarket, Don Don Donki. You can get all the best Asian foods in Thailand.

You can pick out food and prepared meals in the grocery store and then take it to a restaurant in the back and they will prepare it for you and serve you warm food. You can also just order from the menu. This ramen was delicious.

Felt like I was eating a sea monster.

This beef and noodle soup is a pretty typical Thai breakfast.

You can also see portraits of the present and former king across the street. You see the Royal Family everywhere. The present Royal Line, the Chakri dynasty, has ruled Thailand since 1782, when it was the Kingdom of Siam. It has since changed boarders a bit and became Thailand in 1948. I was surprised when I learned the King of Thailand, King Rama X, has an estimated net worth over $40,000,000,000. In addition to the wealth of the Royal Family, the Thai government financed over $1,000,000,000 last year in expenses for the Royal Family.

Some sweet and salty treats. You can find all sorts of goodies walking down the streets.

This Korean/Thai restaurant is incredible. They even give you a comfortable face mask with your meal. It has a Korean flag and a Thai flag on each cheek.

I liked this restaurant so much, I retuned the next night for a hot bowl of Bibimbap. Now I have two Korean/Thai masks.

SHOPPING

I have actually spent more time in malls this past week than I have in the past few years. The area around my first hotel has some very nice malls around it and malls are popular in Asia. The Royal Family owns many of the malls here. While the luxury malls are pretty great, the street markets are even better.

Awesome Apple store in Bangkok, I am actually creating this post on a MacBook Air I got there.

The Chatuchak Market is perhaps the best street market I have been to anywhere in the world, with the central market in Marrakesh being the chief competition. Many of the stalls were closed because of covid, but there was still a lot of great stuff going on.

You often see Buddhist shrines around marketplaces, it is a place to pray for good fortune. Different shrines in different areas offer different kinds of blessings.

I was actually stopped for an interview by a Thai documentary team just after taking this picture. The last time I was in a documentary I was driving a tank in Budapest. They asked me questions about what I enjoyed most in Thailand. My highlights were the friendly people, amazing food, and beautiful nature.

I was in desperate need of a haircut having delayed it in the USA and coming out of a 15 day quarantine. I stopped by to get a fresh cut from Monowa. Never has anybody tried harder to give me a good haircut and I am happy with the result. I paid 4x her asking price, which was still 1/4 what I normally pay. She was so happy she gave me a hug and asked for a picture. (Her mask only slipped in this picture, people are very mask conscious here)

The Thai economy is very dependent on tourism and Covid has greatly effected it. I am bartering less and tipping more to try to help out. At times it has been difficult to convince a Thai person to accept more than the asking price. Even overpaying here you still get incredible value. A bag of fresh cut pineapple for $0.70, yes please.

Flea market

Siam Paragon, one of the nicest malls in Thailand and owned by the Royal Family. The Siam region of Bangkok has a lot of nice shopping and restaurants. This is perhaps the nicest mall I have ever been in anywhere.

Never saw this collaboration coming. Wonder how many winter jackets they sell? Right now it is January and 90 degrees outside.

I really liked this ad and store, you can learn more about Jim Thompson below.

I had a good time in the toys section, as always.

So many sparkles!

Pretty much just me and this robot in the mall. She looks like a high roller.

Lots of restaurants and shops around Siam Center, it is a popular hangout place for young people.

Grab is extremely popular here for ride sharing and food delivery, you see it everywhere. Grab bought out Uber in Southeast Asia in 2018 and Uber got a 27.5% stake in Grab and a board seat. This is looking like a good deal for both, especially Grab.

Went to the nicest dentist I have ever been to for a cleaning and Invisalign consultation. Turns out Invisalign would cost well over twice as much here as Smile Direct Club in the USA, so decided to wait to fix my very minor issue.

Happened to walk by the Stock Exchange of Thailand, could not go in because of Covid.

There is an absurd and ridiculously unnecessary amount of single use plastics throughout Southeast Asia. I believe it is a combination of their desire to be clean and a lack of understanding of the negative impacts plastics have on the environment. Unfortunately, environmentalism is sometimes seen as a luxury not everybody in the world can afford. People value convenience so highly. I think the solution is a sustainable replacement for plastics and great progress is being made in this direction. A man in India has invented a cellulose based plastic-like bag that can also be used as fertilizer. I am grateful there are so many smart people all over this big beautiful world of ours.

This art is one of the few statements I have seen about plastic use here and a pretty cool display. The global issue of plastic use became most apparent to me after my first trip to SE Asia in 2018. Ever since I have become a monthly donor to 4 Ocean, which is a company that helps clean plastics out of the ocean and support wildlife impacted by plastics. You also get a cool bracelet in the mail every month. I think it is great marketing.

Nice movie theatre.

They certainly have some Christmas spirt here.

Koh San Road is usually pretty wild, not so much these days.

ART, ARCHITECTURE, CULTURE

Bangkok is the most travelled city in the world, over 22,500,000 people visited in 2019. It is so easy to have so much fun here, see interesting things, and meet friendly people.

There are many Buddhist shrines throughout Thailand. People come to pray, make offerings, and receive various kinds of blessings. The praying style is like manifesting your desires and I do see value in thinking about what you want. There are different shrines for different desires and different sorts of offerings are recommended at each. Incense, candles, flowers, sweets, and drinks are common offerings.

This shrines was right next to the one pictured above. I did not want to take a picture of it because several people were praying to it at the time.

There are many waterways though the city and a variety of boat taxis for getting around Bangkok.

For my first week out of quarantine I stayed at the Baiyoke Sky hotel. It is the tallest tower in Thailand.

Night view from the top of my hotel.

Different angle and day view. Bangkok is a huge city with a population over 10 million. For reference, the population of New York City is 8.4 million and Los Angeles is near 4 million.

Wood craftsmanship is well respected here and this is a pretty wild wood carving in the hotel lobby.

Just some photo props at the top of the hotel. This hotel is also a tourist attraction. I am one of the few tourist in Thailand right now.

Off to distant lands.

I have seen this kid juggling TP (much more difficult than a ball) in two areas of the city. He is raising money to go to a European soccer school.

Some street art I like.

The Bangkok Art and Culture Center

Painted currencies from all over the world.

Donal Trump on display. I am glad they can make fun of our politicians. He deserves every part of this.

Eating less meat is in the best interest of our personal health and that of our planet. We slaughter over 77,000,000,000 animals a year for consumption. It also requires huge amounts of energy to produce meat, move it, and keep it cold. In fact, each protein calorie of meat requires approximately 10 times as many fossil fuel calories as is takes to produce one plant based protein calorie. To produce just one calorie of grain-fed beef requires 35 calories of fossil fuel energy. Fortunately, there are companies making some pretty tasty plant based alternatives, such as Beyond Meat.

Tanks made of China. This is a reference to Tiananmen Square.

One of the great advantages of crypto-currencies and block-chain technologies is its traceability, which helps to prevent corruption.

Tosakan and me.

Saw my favorite player represented. Ray Lewis 52! T-Sizzle 55 was a few jerseys down.

The force is strong with this one, and his commitment to all black in 90+ degrees.

Still waiting for that audition call back.

Maybe I’ll have better luck here.

This is the Jim Thompson house. He was a wealthy American who was stationed in Thailand at the end of WW2. He fell in love with the country and moved here at the end of the war. He started a silk business that is still going strong today. His house is now a nice little museum.

Taming the dragons.

Pretty wild wiring.

Old fortress by the Chao Phraya River.

Stopped by a nice temple. Many amazing temples throughout the city. I keep a shirt in my backpack for such occasions, it is more respectful to cover your shoulders.

This 69ft swing was built by King Rama I in 1784. It was used during a festival where men would compete to obtain a bag of gold dangling high above the ground. King Rama I was the first in the line of the present day Royal Family.

A Chinese temple on a Thai street. There is a significant Chinese influence throughout Thailand and SE Asia.

Stopped by the Bangkok City Library and came across the life story of the present King.

The Bangkok National Museum is pretty awesome.

Traditional Thai instruments, played while sitting on the floor. It also used to be common to eat meals while sitting on the floor, but most people now use tables and chairs. Sitting on the floor is more common in northern Thailand.