Thailand.. a welcome break from Korea

On December 30, 2006 I boarded a plane to Bangkok, Thailand to have a break from the Korean winter in the tropical 90 degree climate of Thailand. It was a well deserved vacation. I think it was the longest stretch of time I had ever worked without a break since I usually only work for 4 months in the summer before returning to school. But this was a solid 5 months of work without a vacation! There were two places I had planned to visit in Thailand, the first stop was Bangkok, the capital.

Thailand is a very religious country, with the majority of its citizens prescribing to Budhism. Statues such as this one in front of my hotel are quite common and people walking by often turn and give a slight bow to the statue.

This is a famous weekend market in Bangkok. It is famous because they say you can find almost anything here. It covers the same ground as ten football fields. I was told that you could even buy monkeys at this market, but after a lengthy search, I was empty-handed and monkeyless. Maybe next time. Although, I still found some very good deals, such as t-shirts for $3.

I really like the picture. It reminds me of old meets new. A peddler trying to make a day's wage tries to dodge rush hour traffic in the middle of Bangkok.

A view of the market from one of the busier walkways. Looks like everyone in Bangkok is looking for a deal!

Lucky for me, I found a deal! This nice big coconut full of coconut juice to keep me cool during the hot day.

As it turned out, I would be spending New Year's Eve in Bangkok. Unfortunately, there were a series of carbombs during New Year's Eve day that disrupted many plans for that night, including Bangkok's equivalent to New York's Times Square party. It also made people a little edgy, but that quickly wore off after a couple drinks. This picture was taken on Khaosan Road, a haven for foreigners and the biggest street party in Bangkok on New Year's Eve.

I forget what they were doing, but I'm pretty sure it was funny at the time.

This is the local 7/11 On Khaosan Road. It is hard to discern, but there is a large mob of people waiting to get inside in order to purchase their drinks of choice to celebrate the new year.

I love Thailand! You can drink anywhere. Even when I was feeling hungry and went to the local Burger King I was able to enjoy a beer while waiting in line.

Some more people enjoying themselves on Khaosan Road. I mentioned that some people were a little edgy after the carbombs during the day. Shortly after this picture was taken, there was a loud noise similar to an explosion on the road. This sent even the drunkest people running for their lives in the opposite direction. It turned out to be a false alarm, but it shows how uptight people were on the drunkest day of the year because of the events earlier in the day.

The best way to recover from a New Year's Eve party is to take a relaxing boat tour through the city of Bangkok. This way you get to see many interesting sights without having to move much.

This boat looks like a building.. or does the building look like a boat?

Another one of those boat buildings. They can really cram the people on one of those things.

A nice looking building with some Chinese architecture. Please don't ask me what the building is or what it's for.. I have no idea, but it looks good!

This is the entrance to an old fort in Bangkok. It was the first line of defence in the case of an aquatic attack back in the day. It still has 5 or 6 cannons there if you look closely (though I doubt they are operational).

More strange buildings with the classic Thai design. They often have what looks like flames coming up from the roof at about a 45 degree angle.

I think contrast fascinates me because this building was mixed in among the other pictures seen above and I find it very interesting. While all the pictures of Bangkok have been of nice big buildings, it still has many people living in poverty as can be seen here. Whoever lives here can get flooded out of the first floor of their house if the water level rises another foot (and this picture was taken during the dry season).

Some sort of religiousless significant place. I don't know what purpose it serves but these types of places seem to be everywhere.

That is one tall statue!

A closer look of the statue. I'd guess it to be close to 5 or 6 stories tall. Notice the tiger in the middle of the picture. Don't worry, it was plastic!

Some more Thai buildings. Could the intended purpose of those flame-like spirals coming from the roof be coat hangers for giant statues like the one in the last 2 pictures? Think about it...

Crikey! It's a croc. Take a look at the teeth on this one. There was a crocodile farm on the boat tour.. the question you have to ask yourself is, why NOT stop?

Look carefully, there is another croc. Don't get too close, this one looks a little angry and he may feel the need to defend his territory.

Oh no! This man has foolishly walked into a pack of wild King Cobras. I hope he knows what to do!

He showed those snakes who the boss is. Who's draining who's venom now? The snakehandler was really good, but too many close calls!

Finally back on the boat with no snake bites to speak of. I'd consider this a lucky day.

Straight ahead and finally back on land after almost 3 hours in a boat!

If I wrote this blog early, I might have remembered the name of this place. But I do remember that it is one of the more famous places for tourists to visit and you will see why in a few pictures.

Hey Look! Something shiny! I think I will stand in front of it... these were my thoughts at the time.

Who looks tougher.. me or him? Be honest...

As it turns out, there were many of those spiral things. Many, many, many....

This is the head of Buddha. This is a famous statue of Buddha lying down. The height of his head alone is about 3 stories tall.

I felt like I just ran a marathon, but these are his feet about 100 feet away from his head at the other end of this enormous building.

The bottom of his feet are made from some rare material and so no one is allowed to touch it. IT certainly had an intricate design.

Oh yes, there was a recent military coup in November that overthrew the government. I had almost forgot. There is still a significant troop presense on the streets in Bangkok, but it was business as usual in most parts of the city.

The hotel room view from the 14th floor overlooking Bangkok.

Look down below, it's a pool. The bad news is that it was almost always shady due to the way the building was shaped. Oh well, it looks nice though!

One more picture of Bangkok and now that it's Tuesday, January 2nd I am flying further south to Phuket Island.

It's a whole different way of life in this part of the country! Time for some parasailing!

Getting higher... getting higher.. OK that's high enough!

Some views of the beach...

They never seemed to have cloudy days here.

Hmmm.. jetski.. ocean. That gives me an idea! It was a little overpriced, $30 for half an hour, but I've always wanted to try it!

Remember, whenever in Thailand, you have to ride a bull!

Some views of the beach from a little higher in the moutains at a restaurant overlooking the beach.

And another.

This is a hard picture to see, but there was a boxing stadium in Patong Beach, where I stayed. The guy on top of this truck is the current champion so he was driving around with his belt on advertising for the stadium.

Oh no. How did I get way up here? I want to get down!

I guess this is the only way!

Just follow the person bouncing on the giant elastic band.

Still bouncing...

Is it over yet?

Finally, solid ground again! This was called Jungle Bungy jump because it is set up in the jungle just outside Patong Beach. It was a decent price, for the jump, a t-shirt and pictures came to $60. Definately worth it for the experience. I even got a certificate of bravery!

I also did some other things that I wasn't able to catch on camera, such as going to a shooting range and finding some very good deals on t-shirts, sunglasses and I even picked up six seasons of the Sopranos for $45. All too quickly, the week was over and it's back to work for another 7 months before I have anything more than a long weekend off. I hope I can handle it!

Coming next: Getting back into the Korean life after vacation.