Bangkok: Big City of Contrasts II

by Richard L. Weaver II, Ph.D.    

At the end of essay one on Bangkok, my wife and I were touring “high-end” stores so our tuk-tuk driver could get “gas coupons.”  When our tuk-tuk tour ended, we gave our driver 60 bahts rather than the 40 negotiated at the beginning of our trip.  Still, at 60 bahts for over 1 1/2-hours of travel, the cost in U.S. dollars was less than $2.00 (about $1.86 to be exact).
    
Back at the Grand Palace (once the official home for the Kings of Siam), which was our original destination when we left the Four Season’s Hotel in the morning, our intent was to see the Emerald Buddha located within the Palace walls.  I’m not quite sure why our focus was on seeing a wide variety of Buddhas; however, that was what was happening.
    
The admission price to the Grand Palace and museum was about $10.00 U.S. (350 baht), but we discovered, in retrospect, that it was well worth the price.  We shortened our self-guided tour, however, because of the excessive heat and humidity.  There was bright sunshine, and in walking the grounds of the Grand Palace, we were continually in search of shade.
    
An Internet essay, “History of the Emerald Buddha,” offers a short explanation of the Emerald Buddha which we heard repeated several times by tour guides we overheard at the Palace: “According to reliable chronicles, lightning struck a Chedi in Chiangrai province of Northern Thailand in 1434 A.D.and a Buddha statue made of stucco was found inside. The abbot of the temple noticed that the stucco on the nose had flaked off and the image inside was a green color. He then removed the stucco covering and found the Emerald Buddha which is in reality made of green jade.”  The explanation we heard for the stucco covering was to protect it.  It was applied by people who knew the stucco would be unattractive to uninvited plunderers whereas the green jade would be stolen at once.  The Emerald Buddha stands less than 18-inches tall.
    
To get to the Reclining Buddha (Wat Pho) — our next Buddhist destination — which was located next to the Grand Palace, we had to walk around half of the large, walled enclosure, but, fortunately, we walked in shade under trees and vendor umbrellas.  There were at least 100 sidewalk vendors along the route from the Palace to Wat Pho.  “The word “Wat” means “place of worship.”  We moved rapidly among the locals, and there was never fear nor anxiety, even though we saw no other tourists and no other Caucasians during this long walk in the heat and humidity.
    
Also, just before getting to Wat Pho and the Reclining Buddha, we walked to the edge of Chao Phraya River which flows through the heart of Bangkok.  At the website, Virtual Tourist, it says this about the River: “[The] Chao Phraya River plays a main role [in] Thai life. Some of [Thai] history can be traced within [its] sprawling river banks. [There are] Old Temples, palaces, and [many] communities . . . along the river.”
    
Beside the river and looking out over it, we found the S & P Restaurant where we “enjoyed” a spicy cream/chicken/artichoke soup that I ate with tears coming to my eyes.  My wife had a spicy tomato/beef/curry soup that was not as spicy, but spicy enough!  Traditional Thai food is very spicy, and locals tend to use white rice to mute the intensity.  I used all of the white rice we were provided — both mine and my wife’s!
    
Although we had many opportunities to eat from sidewalk vendors or in numerous local restaurants (especially in a “Food Park” at a mall close to our hotel, we ate all our breakfasts (3 total) in our hotel room with locally purchased bakery items), and we had entirely “safe” food (also cheap!) at a McDonald’s and a KFC.  (You can find many of the well-known, fast-food, brand name restaurants in Bangkok such as KFC, Burger King, Dunking Donuts, McDonalds, Pizza Hut, Dairy Queen, Starbucks, A&W and so on.  (YUM! Restaurants, Inc., [owner of KFC] operates over 32,500 restaurants in more than 100 countries and territories in the world.)
    
Getting back to our walk from the Grand Palace to Wat Pho, you may wonder why we wanted to see the Reclining Buddha?  At the website, “Into Asia” there is a description of it: “The highly impressive gold plated reclining Buddha is 46 meters long [151 feet] and 15 meters high [49 feet], and is designed to illustrate the passing of the Buddha into nirvana. The feet and the eyes are engraved with mother-of-pearl decoration, and the feet also show the 108 auspicious characteristics of the true Buddha.”  If you ever think you’ve seen enough Buddhas, or that you’ve seen them all (there are over 1,000 images of Buddha in Wat Pho alone!), and you’ve missed the Reclining Buddha, you have missed a remarkable sight.
    
After our 2 ½ days in greater Bangkok, we were ready to head to Laem Chabang (the port that is two hours away, board our ship (the Diamond Princess), and begin traveling to Singapore (with over 2,600 others).  The words “greater Bangkok” are important.  According to the very short essay,“Thai Traditional Ways of Life in Bangkok” the writer claims we never saw “the real Bangkok.” “Bangkok is very much grounded in modernity,” the writer says.  “It is a fast and furious city of business and commerce with a pace equal to that of any capital in the world. Despite this, Thailand’s capital also has a quieter, gentler side. The real Bangkok can be found in the backstreets and ‘Sois’ (small roads) where people live in communities that have not changed much over the years.

Obviously, getting out of the city centre is the best way to find Bangkok’s traditional way of life, but even in the centre a short walk away from tourism and business areas will find people sitting in the street, eating, chatting, listening to music and enjoying Thailand’s clement evening weather.”  The point the writer is making is simple: There are even contrasts that those who visit Bangkok will miss if they don’t get out of the city center.  
    
Despite not getting out of the city, however, we noticed the contrast between the traditional and the modern.  For us, one of the best symbols of this contrast was seeing one of the women sidewalk vendors toting her wares in bamboo woven baskets, attached to a bamboo pole, carried over her shoulders, then selling her wares on the sidewalk beneath a large, modern, skyscraper.  Where else in the world but Bangkok?
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At this tourist website, there is a brief history of Bangkok.  I found the following paragraph the most interesting one in this essay: “A century ago, Bangkok had many river tributaries and canals until it was known as "Venice of the East." As modernization steps in during the past 30 years, more and more roads were built with the sacrifice of these canals.  Small and mega-buildings replaced the rice paddy fields and agricultural farms. However, Bangkok still retains its charm by portraying the combination of old and new and is one of the most attractive cities to visit.”

At One-Stop Bangkok, the essay states: “The bigger size of Buddha statues can also be seen in every temple in Thailand. Bangkok boasts many exquisite temples which are regularly visited by pious Buddhists on special religious occasions. The most famous one is the Temple of Emerald Buddha (Wat Phra Kaew), situated within the Grand Palace. The emerald Buddha acts as a sacred symbol of the Rattanakosin. Thai people always go to the temples to offer food, candles, incense sticks and lotus flowers to the Buddha statues and also give money to make merit to the temple and monks. Some also receive blessings from the monks which they believe will bring good fortune and prosperity.”
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Copyright March, 2011, by And Then Some Publishing, LLC.