Chasing Dreams and Curries: First Glimpse of Bangkok

Sunday, September 25, 2011

First Glimpse of Bangkok

After a 17 minute connection to make my flight from Beijing to Bangkok (with lots of chaos running through security with Immigration shouting at us in Chinese), another 5 hour flight and two lost bags, I am in Bangkok. My host Rotarian picked me up at the airport and was incredibly nice. Driving through Bangkok to the hotel, I had my face pressed against the glass, trying to see the tops of the amazing brand new skyscrapers equip with neon lights that surrounded the area and lit up the sky.

Night Sky in Bangkok

I check into the hotel, drop my backpack in the doorway from exhaustion (at this point it is 1:45 am Thailand time and I have been travelling now for over 22 hours and several time zones), and run straight to the panoramic window on the 27^th floor of the hotel that overlooks the Bangkok skyline.

J They say Thailand is the Land of One Thousand Smiles…and if this is true, then tonight there are 1001 big big smiles J

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What You Didn't Know about Thailand

#6: An estimated 300-400 babies are born in Bangkok each year in taxis and tuk-tuks en route to hospital because of slow traffic.
# 5: Longest Name: Bangkok currently holds the Guinness record for having the longest name of a place. Apparently “Bangkok” is just the short version because the city’s ceremonial name is “Krung Thep Mahanakhon Amon Rattanakosin Mahinthara Yuthaya Mahadilok Phop Noppharat Ratchathani Burirom Udomratchaniwet Mahasathan Amon Piman Awatan Sathit Sakkathattiya Witsanukam Prasit.” Say what?
#4: Paparazzi: According to the Thai media, the estimated public gathering of 1 million people on 9 June 2006, to celebrate HM The King’s 60th year – was the largest public gathering in history to celebrate a royal event. Take that William and Kate!
#3: Flower Power: The Orchid is Thailand’s best flowering export. Exports of the Orchid are valued at US$250million per annum.
#2: My Kind of Greeting: The Thai greeting “sawatdee” was invented during the Second World War. Before that, people greeted each other by asking if they had eaten yet.
#1: Hot! Hot! Hot! Bangkok was named the hottest city in the world by the World Meteorological Organization. It may not be the hottest city in the world every single day but you can be sure it’s pretty consistent!