THE HEART GOES BANG
Horrified first impressions can change quickly in the Land of Smiles
home: Bangkok is a sensory overload. There’s the smell of smoke and sewerage; humid air against the skin; people bumping into you; the sound of cars and hooters; so much unfamiliar to look at.
The walk from your hotel to the lush greenery you’ve spotted on the horizon is about 500m in distance and 10 minutes in time. You’re jostling for a place along the pavement, waiting for the appropriate time to cross roads and gawking at inviting food stalls.
Outside Lumpini Park is a vendor selling coconuts. You part with 20 baht (R8) and sip the fresh, cold juice straight from the fruit through a straw. There’s relief as you enter the park. The sun is beginning to set and the park is filling up with locals, jogging, walking, relaxing, chatting, rollerblading, weight-lifting. Most, though, are seemingly there to participate in mass aerobics classes. With scant regard for what others may think, young and old sway their limbs in time to an instructor.
You reach the other end of the park, where a night market is being set up. Hungry, you grab small eats from several stalls. It’s your first taste of Thai food and it’s living up to expectations. The green papaya salad is spicy and sour; the barbequed squid is smoky and rich.
You sit on a stool and wash it down with a Singha beer. The air is cooler and even the traffic seems to have eased. Interactions with the food vendors have been pleasant and you’ve used your Tinglish (used when foreigners and Thais speak to one another) for the first time.
You think back to the beginning of the day and it seems an age ago. Not ready to head back to the hotel just yet, you stroll over to one particular stall, exchange a genuine smile with the proprietor, and order yourself another Singha.
Bangkok is often personified: from an aloof, cold stranger, she has the capacity to turn within hours into an engaging, endearing acquaintance.