To answer your question of what the title says (and probably mine when I read this a few years down the road), the title's pronounced "khob-kun-ka", which is Thank You in Thai.
Just came back from a short getaway to Bangkok, Thailand, with my family, and thought to jot some thoughts about the trip down before I forget. It was my first time on a budget airline and I loved how fuss-free the whole experience was (one of the smoothest airplane landings I've had, maybe because the plane is smaller?). Anyway, am definitely a fan now. :D
My memories of Bangkok, or the city area we were at, are filled with bustling streets, stalls and malls. The streets are just a mixture of cars honking, Thai chatter, and stalls blasting Thai songs. The first impression I got of Bangkok while taking the sky train to our hotel was that it reminded me so much of Malaysia, in terms of how everything looked like, the city's infrastructure and way of life, just that everything's written and spoken in a different language. But funnily, that made me feel not-so-far from home and Singapore.
We spent a good 4 days shopping. With Bangkok's reputation for cheap wholesale shopping, plus the malls situated all within walking distance from our hotel, it's too good an activity to refuse. And yes, they didn't disappoint - the wholesale mall was packed with stalls similar to those of Far East Plaza or Bugis Street, and goods were priced at a reasonable fraction of similar items on sale in Singapore. All in all we scoured Platinum Mall, Central World, Siam Square, Terminal 21 and Chatuchak Market, and I'm thankful for my sister and her systematic way of shopping (really, even shopping can be an 'organized' activity!!), if not we'd just be lost in the sea of shops.
After 4 days, I'm so numbed to all the walking and shopping, and feeling tired every day (now I kinda understand what they mean by 'shop till you drop'). On the contrary, after 4 days my happy sister proclaimed that Bangkok will be her "annual pilgrimage", haha goodness I hope she's kidding.
One thing though - throughout the whole shopping experience, we couldn't help but notice the stark contrast in the city - while some of the malls were squeaky clean and Singapore standard, they're kind of like a cocoon, shielded from the much messier city beyond the walls of the mall. There were many beggars along the roads, and streets sometimes carry a stench similar to that of the old Singapore river (verified by my parents). And again the realization of how privileged we are hit home, especially when we arrived back in Singapore. Earlier in the day in Thailand we were navigating our way around uneven streets and flagging taxis that could potentially scam you, and being in a city area with relatively fewer greens, and then in a few hours back home we were coasting along the organized expressway, with trees and flora EVERYWHERE. And I really do appreciate what we have here, and how far our small country has developed, in just a short few decades. There's something charming about Bangkok and the little street stalls though, even in all its chaos, so if redevelopment eventually does happen, I don't know how much of these special features will remain, and I don't know how there'll be an eventual balance between keeping the old versus bringing the country forward for the welfare of the people.
Anyway, my parents tried their luck with tailoring some clothes for themselves, upon a friend's recommendation, and it was a first seeing a transaction at the tailor shop. And it is really quite cool. We could order a piece in the morning, and have it all ready and done by the evening. The outsourcing of labour and all that (I think) makes it that fast.
I used to think that those shelves of cloth looked so boring but now I think it's amazing how tailors or seamstresses can transform them into elaborate pieces of clothing! It's a good skill to have, would love to learn to use a sewing machine properly one day.
On to the food - it was insanely cheap! Food court prices are normally under S$2, or even less than S$1.50 even, for a rather decent portion (though slightly less than usual Singapore servings). Literally cheap thrills, haha. The food courts there have much more variety, but the food's slightly saltier and sweeter than local fare. My family loved the custard apples (so cheap and so sweeeeeet, and somewhat like mango) and mangosteens there.
Other than shopping, we didn't really do other activities, except visit the Grand Palace. I'd love to go back and visit their floating markets one day though, feel like I haven't seen the authentic side of Bangkok/Thailand yet. So much to explore!
Anyway yes the Grand Palace – it was an architectural beauty. But there were hoards of people there and upon arrival at 9am we got scammed by a friendly local guide that the Palace grounds would only open at 11am because of prayers, and so we got recommended this alternative - a tuk-tuk ride to the pier for a 1 hour boat tour along the Chao Phraya river and its surroundings, which we naively fell for. Because when we got to the pier, we were quoted quite an exorbitant price for the boat ride.
The silver lining was, we got to squeeze onto a tuk-tuk and experience Bangkok's unique form of transport - only for 100 baht (~S$4) in total (thankfully we found the same driver when we tried finding some transport back to the palace)! So the scam was in a way still worth it because we'd probably have been quoted crazy prices for a tuk-tuk ride if not for this (they might probably all be in cahoots with one another in some way).
At Wat Phra Kaew, a temple in the outdoor section of Royal Enclosure of the Grand Palace. The temple literally glitters under the sunlight because of the elegantly polished orange and green tiles embellished on the roofs.
This is the Grand Palace, with a style distinctly different from that of Wat Phra Kaew, with its European-inspired designs and architecture. For the lack of a better word, it's really... grand. :)
Other interesting sights of Bangkok include the interior of the malls. Terminal 21 is a relatively new mall that has themed levels. Designed to look like an airport, each level takes on the theme of a different country, so while shopping there you get a taste of different countries around the world, like Tokyo, Paris, Rome, Istanbul, San Francisco. It was really interesting, especially the toilets, hahaha.
That's pretty much our experience in Thailand. I'm looking forward to go back there one day to explore the other parts of the country, like Chiang Mai or Phuket/Krabi!
And well, I titled this post 'Thank You' for a reason. While my mum was waiting for her dress to be done at the tailor’s, she had a conversation with the tailor (he’s from India) and found out that he worked 7 days a week, every day from about 9 to whenever they can call it a day (usually 9-10pm). He knows many languages and deals with international clients, like the States, France, etc. where people order suits in bulk. But he’s never really got the chance to travel much due to work and to keep the business going, and remarked to my brother how lucky my brother is to be able to travel. And yes, I’m really thankful for my parents, for them working so hard and giving to us more than we can ever give back to them.
I'm glad to have had this time with my family. Glad that my parents are able to enjoy themselves much more than when we were young, because they need not worry so much about us, our health, hygiene and all that. Growing up's quite a wonderful thing. And I hope that growing old (though my parents will still remain youthful in my eyes) is beautiful in one way or another for them too :)
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