Phil Snyder Travel Journal: Day 1: A Stroll in Bangkok

I used today to become more comfortable navigating Bangkok. I took the Skytrain from Lat Krabang to Ramkhamhaeng and from there wandered the streets to get a better feel for the lifestyle of the average Bangkokian.

Coming from a relatively big, American city (Seattle), it's somewhat surprising how little diversity there is in Bangkok. 95-99% of Bangkokians are (or, at least, look) Thai, while maybe the second largest demographic group are Islamic Malays. This made a blonde, white kid wandering the neighborhood streets a very strange sight, I'm sure. Thai neighborhoods are unlike American neighborhoods in many ways. Soi's wind around like snakes. Stray dogs lie in the streets and there isn't much distinction between residential housing and businesses. Even when I accidentally walked down a dead end, residential soi, I saw food carts set up along the side of the road. Busier roads will have a fair amount of food carts. The food is dirt cheap and delicious (so far).

A 35 THB, 0.98 USD meal (10-15% of the price in the US)

7-11s can always be found within a 10 minute walk of each other, sometimes 2 or 3 on the same road within walking distance. There are also many roadside machines which will let you fill a small bag with water for 1 baht. I'd rather splurge on a 13 baht ($0.36, also about 10-15% of US prices), 1.5 liter water bottle from 7-11. Can you tell I go to 7-11 quite a bit? 7-11 was also the only place where I could find trash cans. I have no idea what native Bangkokians do with their trash.

Many more people are outside during the day than in the US. The tropical temperatures allow it, but perhaps the lack of interesting things to do inside relative to the outdoors encourage it. Thai's spend a lot of time talking. The standard of living of most Thais is lower than in the US, but they seem occupied and happy. Often times large, expensive houses with multiple cars sit across the street from apartments that would be public housing projects at best in the US.

Traffic in Bangkok flips the traffic law paradigms of the US on their head. Motorbikes weave in and out of traffic locked cars. Pedestrian walk signals are non-existent. So are right-turn signals on traffic lights (Thais drive on the left-hand side of the road). Traffic lights in general are exceedingly rare. Whereas in the US it's the responsibility of the instigator to make sure their actions are safe (checking before changing lanes, speeding up, slowing down, etc.), in Bangkok it's an interplay between both instigator and everyone else on the road. If a motorbike cuts you off it's your fault for giving them the space to pull off the maneuver. Bicycle lanes appear wherever there happens to be a bicycle. Though it seems chaotic at first, it feels very safe after a while. Where in America we assume that everyone will follow all the rules all the time, therefore we only have to pay attention to our own driving, in Bangkok anyone can be expected to break the rules at anytime. As a result, drivers seem much more alert and willing to be flexible in their driving style as to accommodate motorbikes, bikes, pedestrians, and other cars on the road.

I could add more observations -- the birds are smaller here, the locals are as friendly as they say -- but this is getting too long and jetlag is catching up to me.