I recently just arrived back from Bangkok in order to discover the nuisances of Thai dining. BGF just opened up an amazing Thai joint and we also took the head chef so that he could also learn the correct flavors in a Tom Yum and a Tom Gah Gai. Bangkok is one of the strangest places that I have ever been to on earth; it is an interesting mixture of hilarious Asian customs and a very modern city with advanced transportation systems that would rival any city in the USA. One thing that was great is that the food is dirt cheap and delicious. Thai food is so good because it is known for using the freshest ingredients and top-notch seafood and made to order. I would have to agree—the produce that was available was incredible and the prawns and seafood lying around in the markets were the cheapest and freshest that I have ever seen.
Who is to thank for all of these wonderful ingredients available to the Thai people? The answer is the King, and in Thailand, the King is the most revered and respected people on the planet to an extent where it is almost comical. One of the policies of the royal family in the 1970s was to build a vast infrastructure of rail to connect farms and fishing harbors to major cities in Thailand. Interestingly enough, Thailand was also the only country to resist the perils of Western imperialism that Hong Kong, Japan, and all of the colonies in the 19th century fell victim to, making it very unique in comparison. The Thai people must be very grateful because every store, restaurant, and corner market all have pictures of the king proudly displayed in the open. When dining with a couple of ex-pats a conversation about the king arose and they told me to be careful. They explained that they have heard stories of people lamenting about the king in public and then the next day they would be visited by royal officials and asked politely to stop.
Above is a picture of the king that resided in the 10-story shopping mall called MBK. Just to prove that I am not making this king thing up. Another really surprising thing in Bangkok is how little English that all of the people were able to speak. Even at five star resorts such as The Peninsula and The Mandarin Oriental (which have both rated the best hotel in the world at some point in the last decade) lacked English speakers. Not saying that this is a terribly bad thing, however it made for some interesting conversations and a lot of bargaining to be made by writing numbers on paper or in calculators in the markets. Bangkok is also known for its terrible traffic. The city is completely accessible by overhead trains (Sky Train) or underground subway, but taking a taxi is usually unbearable. In fact, if traffic gets too tough and you are in a cab, the taxi driver will kick you out and leave you stranded. This happened one day when the cab driver did not feel like driving us to a restaurant that we wanted to go to. We ended up having to walk to the subway.
Part II talks about our adventures in the markets and eating copious amounts of Thai food. Part III will show some of the touristy stuff we did. Stay tuned.
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