it began with a jolt: it had been so long since i.d been back that theyd changed everything including the airport. and straight from the plane i found myself in a totally different side of the city, it.s seamy underside. so three words of advice for an evening.s soujourn in patpong: bargain harder (the price will be as much as double), dont stand in the middle of the street for too long (with the kind of speed the vendors pack up with, youll either get hit with a metal pole or be run over) and never, never, go upstairs (though you will certainly be invited to but rumour has it you will be overcharged, stuck with huge tabs and dubious entertainment and never come back).

of the rest of the days, i found that wat arun glows golden at sunset and the skytrain is crucial to the strategy of evading the traffic, the monkey don.t (usually) bite and the shopping is the best EVER. my lovely fried Tao showed me around her town of Petchburi and we found a white stone palace on top of a mountain and a quieter pace of life. /going to the temple with Lek and doing all sorts of luck-bringing activities--lighting incense placing gold leaf on buddhas, pouring oil on a long row of candles, and giving water and instant noodles to the monks; releasing a turtle into the dark olive waters of the chao praya river. /enjoying the the balmy nights with my brother and dad, with the barely stirring breeze that the thais know as cold because in bangkok its apparently "winter".
^^^^
if you want to note anything significant in bangkok you should see that this is a country where (!shock!) people are not only content with their leader, they are genuinely devoted to him and more he does things unheard of by most other leaders like looking out for the people.s happiness, practicing buddhism with dedication and creating his own artwork. They will volunteer their hours to cover the city in yellow and pink and white lights for his birthday and so i joined the throngs of thousands in yellow, waving yellow flags and wearing yellow hats and yellow armbands and eating yellow bean cakes, pressed to the sides of the streets for a glimpse of the king in his motorcade. strange to be cheering (not jeering) but nicer this way.