Home / Joe Wise / Thailand / Everyday Life 23
- Longtail boats
These things are pervasive on the Chao Phraya River. They are called Longtail Boats because of the long driveshaft with propeller at the end. They're a little bit ridiculous. They're basically a V8 on a stick. An oversized, usually turbocharged motor is mounted on a gimble on the back of the boat with a long driveshaft and prop on the back end. The operator pivots the entire engine to properly position the prop in the water for turns, etc. These boats are generally for private hire, similar to a water taxi. - Chickens in the Street
Bangkok is a weird combination of cosmopolitan life and developing country encounters. It's a city of about 15 million, one of the fashion centers of the east. Yet you can buy chickens in the street. - Paragon mall sign
Paragon and Siam Center is the largest shopping complex in all of Asia. And they even have their own prayer rooms. - Khlong boats
Bangkok has been described as the 'Venic of the East' because it's riddled with canals or 'khlongs'. Here, you can see a khlong boat working it's way through the city. It's quite an experience. These boats are essentially buses on the water, but, with Bangkok traffic, they can be the fastest (and cheapest) way to get around. They cruise down the khlongs with no real concern for anything like wake effects or erosion. They only slow down to stop at stops, when they pass each other going in opposite directions, or, to lower the roof for a low bridge. If the water is high or a bridge is too low, everybody inside ducks, and the roof is collapsed forward a bit to clear the bridge. - Khlong boats
Here's a khlong boat at a stop. - Market
Thai people buy most of what they need in markets. Anywhere that there is an open space and foot traffic will spawn a market or street vendor. This is actually a market in Chinatown. Yep. There's a China town in Thailand. - Effects Kit
It's a horrible picture, but, I've never seen a light effects kit on a bus before. - Slums
Bangkok is a metropolitan city, but there are still slums. These were on the side of the railway on my way to ayuttayah. - Thai Bathroom
This is fairly representative of most bathrooms I encountered in Thailand. The box on the wall next to the shower head is the water heater which heats the water for the shower, as there is no 'building wide' hot water. You'll notice that there is no discreet shower area; the whole room is tiled and there's a drain in the floor in the corner. Everything gets wet when you shower, so, you have to remember to take the toilet paper (if any) out before you shower. Which brings me to my next point. The object on the wall next to the toilet is the butt sprayer. Generally, you'll find this instead of toilet paper. You may notice that it is not connected to the water heater. The logical conclusion here is that cleaning yourself after a bm is an eye opening experience. - Cab Window
This sticker is on many taxi windows. The sticker indicates that it's a VIP taxi with video recording. It also says that smoking, pets, drinking and durian are prohibited. Durian is a fruit about the size of a coconut (with the husk on). It's lobed and very spiny. Durian is one of those things you either love or hate. And it's hated enough that it's prohibited on my forms of public transportation. To me, it smells like fruit that's just on the verge of spoiling or maybe a black banana. Other people find the smell to be horrifying and putrid. Tastewise, it's ridiculously rich. I liken it to eating a stick of butter. - Street Food
Generally, most of my meals were eaten on the streets. In addition to markets and street vendors, there are also street restaurants. Every day, they set up everything they need: Cooking stations, tables, chairs, plates, silverware, etc. This particular restaurant was on the sidewalk in front of Siam Center, the largest shopping complex in Asia. It was kind of weird to walk out of a mall with high fashion stores like Gucci and Prada and eat street food. - Fish
This was the fish I had at the street restaurant outside of Siam Center. - Tuk Tuk
There are thousands of these guys tooling around Bangkok (and all of thailand for that matter. They're basically taxis. - Buddhist Monk
There are many many Buddhist monks in Thailand and you see them all the time. This one was in the train station. - Pastries
I walked up to this display case expecting a bunch of rich pastries but found alot of things I'd never heard of, such as chicken sausage roll and shredded pork bun.