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| The first thing I couldn't not notice upon arriving in Thailand is the constant plastering of imagery of the king. That guy can't get enough of himself, or they must really love him or fear him. Every 2 feet there is a portrait of him sometimes surrounded by what looks like worship material. And I really think the companies are scared not to spend their profits to advertise his face and 'Long live the king' instead of their own business. Not sure how they profit at all. He is plastered on every piece of money, sometimes even with his camera like the photo to the right with his confused expression. And there seems to be some kind
of rule that the citizens are required to wear either a red or yellow shirt? |
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| (Left) Another thing that seems to be plastered up every 2 feet are these election looking posters. Almost looks like gas prices on the side of the road with lau au photos. Speaking of which, when you do see the gas prices (below) you'll jump out of your shoes before you remember the exchange rate is 32:1! China has a lot of bicycles, but Thailand has a lot of mopeds. Mopeds for everything, like the BBQ moped (below) and the refrigerator moped, and they squeeze through the tightest of traffic with these awkward bikes. I'm still trying to figure out what those strange antennas are hanging from underneath the back of cars. |
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| This temple had a buddha (left) that appeared to have wire tracks across the room. I was waiting for the buddha to come flying over my head. In Bangkok, there seems to be a lot of huge malls all connected by a network of raised walkways (right) above the middle of busy roads. You walk up stairs as if to go across an overpass, but it just continues down the center of the street and has exits for different stores. In Pattaya, the taxis are pickup trucks (below) with a roof over the bed. They just stop along the way like a bus and you jump on the back like a fireman. Also, there are taxi mopeds. 2 people can get on the back with the guy! |
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| These guys were harassing everyone who went inside this temple (above). They would take your picture upon entering, and quickly run across the street with the digital memory stick and print up a pin with your photo and try to sell it on your exit. A lot of buildings had their little shrine for the king I presume, that looked like a little doghouse (above) somewhere on the corner of the property. This crazy guy (below) has obviously been screwing around with dangerous snakes a little too long judging by his hand. He pokes and prods at a heap of snakes for fun. |
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| There were plenty of wild animals roaming free that you can touch without cages (above). The fresh papaya salad was amazing, they made it right on the sidewalk. The shacks that people lived in (above) were crammed in between modern buildings similar to China. And that's a lot of eggs (right), better hope there are no pot holes! Much of the Palace contains gold buildings (left), many lined with jewels. These people pulled up alongside of you on the river (below) on their little boats and tried to sell stuff. Check out this guy soliciting his dirty ass (below). |
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