Tag: Bangkok
Photo of the Day 6/7
by Sean on Jun.07, 2009, under Photos, Switzerland
Victory Monument in Bangkok, Thailand
The Victory Monument located in the center of Bangkok was erected in 1941 to honor the glorious Thai win over the French in Indochina that gave them back land ceded in the late 19th century. This small-scale war lasted only a month, and resulted in few casualties. Nonetheless, the Thai military commander was so enthralled with getting the land back that he had the monument built.
The reality is that the Japanese forced them to end the war, as France and Thailand were both it’s allies, and it was preparing to fight in the Second World War. Having its allies fight each other meant they would be unable to help them.
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Photo of the Day 5/22
by Sean on May.22, 2009, under Photos
Bangkok, Thailand
When I took this picture I was crossing the street via the above ground footpath. I thought to myself, “people in America probably assume that Thailand is like the poorer parts of China: farmland and no buildings.” Well, I think it’s important for people around the world to realize that not all of Asia is as undeveloped as they’d like to believe (or be told in school/by the media).
Most of Asia is developed and beautiful, like Bangkok. It’s quite clean and the people are friendly. Of course, you will have those sections of town which have been neglected, but for the most part it demands respect, and acknowledgment that Asia is better off than we’re told.
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Special Thailand Update
by Sean on Sep.05, 2008, under Thailand
Okay guys, so I’m now back in China in the city of Shenzhen. Tomorrow evening we will take a train back to Wuhan (ticket was 280rmb, or $40). I will upload all my pictures and videos this weekend.
Enjoy the post I hid from public view while I was in Thailand:
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Went to Railey Beach ( a 10-minute longtail boat ride to the east of Ao Nang, around a little mountain. We found a nice spot in the shade near a ton of rocks jutting up from the water. We swam and relaxed for a few hours before a storm rolled in. We took the boat back around 3:30pm and had to walk 15 minutes in the rain to get back to the hotel. Me and Nick jumped into the pool at the hotel to get the sand off and met 2 germans and 4 Americans. I got really burnt on my neck and shoulders, so today I have to wear a shirt when we go to the beach.
Side note: the day we left Bangkok, thousands of protestors stormed the prime minister’s compound in an attempt to provoke a military coup. Thailand has a constitutional monarchy with a King and Queen, but the Prime Minister has all the power. Thaksin, the previous PM, was corrupt,so the military took over Bangkok and took over the government (the King endorsed this). During this time the PM was overseas, so the coup was easy to get away with. The PM stayed in exile. The military ruled the country, and had elections for a new PM. The same political party won by an overwhelming amount. The next PM was in the same party as Thaksin, and he is corrupt as well. This is why people are trying to provoke another coup. We found out about this on BBC because internal news won’t talk about it.
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Things not sold in Wuhan that I freaked out and bought when I saw them in Thailand:
gummy bears, pepperidge farm cookies, twix, reeses.
What I miss about home:
Lucyia; speaking Chinese; eating Chinese food; my friends; and people who speak to you just because, rather than trying to sell you something.
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In the end, the country of Thailand held a referendum, and the result is that the PM will not be resigning.
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Not Stuck In Thailand :)
by Sean on Sep.02, 2008, under Thailand
Okay people, you need to start watching the international news, PRONTO. There is a huge situation in Asia that I can’t specifically mention for reasons stated a few posts ago. What I can update you on is that we are back in Bangkok now with a flight on the 5th to China. The flight might be cancelled, though I can’t be sure (not my doing).
Last night we took a bus from Krabi to Surat Thani, got off there and got a different bus up to Bangkok. We had to do this because the main road was closed. During the night, the staff of the bus stole all the money they could find from every passenger. Matt lost 15,000 baht (3,000 RMB, or $500), Nick lost about 10,000 baht (2,000RMB), and Fei lost 6,000 baht (1,500 RMB). Thank god Qi and I didn’t lose anything. I can attribute that to me having my wallet in a side pocket full of change, so any attempt to open the pocket would wake me up (even though this was an afterthought).
So we arrived this morning to our original hotel (which was nice for what we were paying). We found out about the money when we took out the wallets to pay for the room. We tried changing our flights to China for today, but AirAsia was charging 800rmb to do so (and the flight cost us 600rmb to begin with). Not to mention the airport was closed so we would not have been able to go anyways.
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Bangkok Nightlife
by Sean on Aug.23, 2008, under Thailand
So yesterday we got to our accommodation (an apartment). For 4 people it costs 2100 baht per night. We only have 3 people with us right now, since the other two were stuck in Shenzhen last night because of a typhoon.
In the afternoon we got schwarma (I had 2, Nick had 2, Matt had 1) and mango milk shake (each had 1). The schwarma cost 60 baht each ($1.77) and the mango cost 40 baht each ($1.18 each). So we spent 420 baht at one place ($12.39). We made the arab man VERY happy).
After lunch we went down to Nana Square (on Sukhumvit Road, one of the longest roads in the world) to where all the expats and foreigners hang out. While there we saw an elephant walking on the road and paid 20 baht each to feed it and pet it (don’t worry, got pictures and video of it 
). One thing that’s very interesting (and mildly annoying) is that sex is everywhere. It’s not hidden in Thailand. Every bar we drink in, every street we walk down, there are girls (and ladyboys) hooting and hollering at us. This is because Thailand is a service country (and not the good kind). Most of the foreigners come here for sex, they call it Sex Tourism.
I find it easier to deal with people in Thailand when I tell them I’m Canadian because all of the stupid Americans come here and pay ridiculous prices for everything, and tip people too. The Thai people try to screw us really bad everywhere we go because of the idiot tourists. They try to sell a shirt for 900 baht (about $25) that should really be sold for about 80baht ($2.20).
Last night we went to an Indian restaurant, and ended up getting 3 meals (Butter Chicken, Chicken Korma, Paneer [Indian Cottage Cheese with vegetables], and Naan (like pita bread). Total cost was 1135 baht (or about 220 yuan, or $11 per person). It was very expensive because we got charged 30 baht per water and 70 baht per rice, plus a service tax of 10% and a 7% VAT tax (which will be returned to us when we leave Thailand).
Later that night we went to a Go-Go bar. We bought 10 balls, each ball is worth money in tips, and we had to throw the balls to the girls we liked. I tried to throw a ball to one of them but some girl next to her snatched it. I got the girl I liked to come off the stage and I handed it to her, in which she then sat on my lap. Turns out she had just turned 36 a few weeks ago, but she looked a bit younger.. lol. After a bit we left because they saw how generous we were and started exploiting us by having the girls on stage come surround us and sit on our laps and chat with us, and started ordering drinks on our behalf without us offering them. Oh well, we spent about $30 in total!
Later in the day I tried to text Lucia but hadn’t set my phone numbers to be +86.. so the text didn’t go through. It wasnt until this morning I realized that it’d work if I’d only set my contacts numbers to have the +86 
Went to bed around 11pm because this morning we went out to the JJ Weekend Market (one of the largest and most famous in the world). At the market I bought some sew-on flags of the different countries I’ve been to (and ones I will see very soon) and had A&M Root Beer for the first time in many months. Tried to buy a pair of shorts for a fair price of 250 baht ($7.50) but the guy decided to renege on his deal.
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