Bangkok: A recording of what I came away with in the three days I visited
Bangkok served as a tiny sample of a large and diverse country. I saw a mix of cultures and people all identifying as Thai, similar to what I see in New York City, in America. Thailand's history is complex and I barely understand or remember the full extent of the conflicts, harmonies, trade, and royal lineages.
There's a Little India and a Chinatown to name just two communities that formed within Bangkok's diverse and busy city bounds. My father and I walked through Chinatown, hoping to find some lunch on our way to see Wat Pho (prounounced Po, not like the Vietnamese noodle dish). In Chinatown in NYC, you can find people speaking a wide array of Chinese dialects. In Bangkok, any dialect was surprisingly difficult to come by, even though many people looked Chinese (Han Chinese).
We came by this corner, open-air eatery with Chinese dishes. After pointing at a duck over rice dish on a sauce-covered menu, we took our seat in a corner, a strategic spot to allow me to better soak in my surroundings.
I saw groups of middle-school aged kids getting out of school, talking amongst themselves with bottles of soda or ice cream bars in their hands.
A small elementary student shouted gleefuly as she ran around the tables in the restaurant with her grandmother rocking a baby in a stroller in what also looked like a good full body exercise. There was a strong smell of incense burning from the elaborate gold shrine set up like a center-piece.
All these actions came to center around a quiet man sitting diagonally from me, savoring every bite of his noodle soup. He was eating when we got there and he was eating when we left.
