Ok, so I realize I have not been good at posting the last two weeks. But in my defense the islands in Thailand's Gulf Coast charge an astronomical rate for Internet time and I am ashamed to admit it but these posts usually take a while. And we have been having way to much fun to sit inside at anInternet cafe for more than ten mnutes. But I didn't want you all to feel that you hadn't been getting your weekly Lyze fix. (Read I want to be sure you are all still jealous.) So here's the latest update:
We left India as I mentioned and flew straight to Bangkok. For the first few days we absolutely loved it. The transportation systems are great. We got to take water ferries, the sky train and even the city buses without any trouble, and for relatively little cost. We saw the Grand Palace, stunning, and went to eat at the food courts at MBK mall. We even went to see a movie. Which made Justin, and me, very happy.
The best part about the movie was the Thai National Anthem, which they play before each and every film, and sometimes just randomly in the mall. When ever the anthem is played everyone is expected to stand at attention and remain silent with their hands by their side. I was super excited about, since you know I love nationalism. And Justin told me after the movie that he had never seen me move so fast. He said he had no idea what was going on but the next thing he knew I had jumped out of my seat and had a shit eating grin on my face. While the anthem is playing they show amazing still shots of the King doing kingly stuff, like gettin' bowed to and cuttin' ribbons, inspecting infrastructure. You know the usual. I loved it. The Thai's really LOVE the King. I mean I thought Canadians liked the Queen, and Americans like Barrrrrrack, but they have got nothing on the Thai devotion to the King. Everyone, and I am not exaggerating, has framed portraits or pictures of the King in their shops and homes.
We also went down to Patpong, where they have a night market much like Canal street in NYC and is also where all the sex shows and clubs are. Justin and I went out dancing two nights while we were in town. And surprise surprise I was even brought up on stage to perform in the drag show. ( I have totally accepted that these things are always happening to me.) It was so much fun. We met some really great people in Bangkok as well. An there were so many beautiful ladyboys
But it was definitely not all fun and games. Bangkok is currently besieged by rural Thai protesters known as the red shirts. They have taken over the main shopping district near Siam Square. There are four separate malls in that neighborhood and all of them have been closed for weeks because of the protesters. They are also camped out in the Banglamphu area, near Khao San Rd at the democracy monument, quite close to where we were staying. And as the week progressed the situation began to deteriorate. Some much so that the PM actually called a state of emergency while we were in town. It seemed at first to have relatively little impact on our touring and partying but two days before we left the violence actually got quite intense.
One night, after Justin had been told earlier in the day to go back to his hotel by a shopkeeper, advice we of course heeded, we came dangerously close to being caught in the fray. We had laid low all day but in the evening it seemed to have quieted down so we went for a post dinner stroll, and turned a corner and found ourselves face to face with a violent stand off between protesters and police. I could hear gun shots and could see and feel the tear gas as we retreated back towards our hotel. But it being Bangkok it was almost not surprising to see people not 10 meters away from these horrific scenes of unrest drinking beer and gawking.
Unreal! Anyway we spent the next day and a half hanging out at rooftop pool of our hotel. O yea did I mention the rooftop pool? Well we had one. AnyIHadARooftopPool we were pretty ready to get going after all that excitement and we left last Sunday morning for Koh Phangan...
highlights of Bangkok
DJ Station, our gay club of choice
@Richard's our gay bar of choice - we were very gay
The Grand Palace - where Justin's outfit was too revealing and he had to rent long pants
city transport and general ease -as compared to India.
MBK Mall and Date Night starring Tina Fey and Steve Carell
pool
Lowlights of Bangkok
Not getting to see some of the sights we had hoped to due to the unrest
The unrest - needs no further explanation
The ladies who nearly stole our laundry
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