The first thing that comes to mind when prompted “favorite museum or landmark within the city” is the Bangkok Arts and Cultural Center. I’ve only been once, and I really, really enjoyed it. It’s a free, huge building in the middle of Bangkok, and contains 9 floors of art galleries, tiny shops, and small crafts vendors. The art itself was typically modern art or photography, which is what I enjoy, and it was incredibly interesting to see social commentary from a totally different perspective from the Western values that I’m used to. The main example of this, that has stayed with me quite a bit, is a painting of Lincoln, Ghandi, Che Guvera, and 2 other revolutionary figures that I didn’t recognize. For me, it was very interesting to see the 5 faces painted together, and I found it fascinating that those 3 revolutionary figures were put in the same picture, and that this part of the world views Lincoln as the most revolutionary figure in American/Western history (according to this artist at least.) The rest of the BACC was very well designed, very interesting, and had a lot of social commentary pieces. There was a gallery with a few videos, where you put on headphones, sit on a bench, and jump into the middle of whatever was playing. The one that I happened to see was a bit disturbing, and a little hard to follow, but still an interesting form of art.
There was also a great coffee shop at the entrance of the BACC with easily the best coffee that I’ve had in Bangkok (it’s frustratingly difficult to find good coffee here.)
Another landmark that came to mind from this prompt, that is seemingly insignificant but nevertheless impactful, is a light pole, in the middle of a patch of grass, surrounded by 3 statues of deer, on a main road in Salaya (the suburb in which we live.) To get to our apartment from Bangkok, you have to reach this pole, and it’s the signal that the next left is the way home. Every taxi ride that I’ve been in from Bangkok back to Salaya has, upon reaching this pole, led to someone in the taxi telling the driver to Liew Sai (turn left.) It’s a landmark that lets us know that we are on the right track, we know how to get home, and we are almost there. In a place where you don’t know the people, the language, and the environment has yet to be familiar, this light pole became a beacon of familiarity and safety during the taxi drives were we could only hope that the taxi driver understood us and knew how to get us home.
The field trips here have been incredible so far. The first weekend we went to Pattaya, a city further south that used to be a haven for western soldiers serving in Southeast Asia. It was an odd choice for a school trip, as it’s known for being a sex slavery and drug trafficking center. However, our school (obviously) didn’t take us to those regions, and we stayed closer to the more family-friendly tourist hot spots. We went to a floating market (unfortunately not a legitimate one, as it was very heavily catered towards tourists, and was very gimmicky,) had an incredible lunch (one of my favorite meals so far, several seafood dishes that I had never previously had,) and saw a drag show at one of the most well-known places in southern Thailand. The trip was quite touristy, but still a good intro to Thailand, and provided an opportunity to get closer to the other students on the trip.
CIS, the American program that brought us, has also taken us on a few trips. The most notable so far was a weekend in Chiang Mai, a well-known and international hub in Northern Thailand. Myself and a few other people went a night early and explored the city a bit, went for a few hikes and explored some temples. The next day, we went to an elephant sanctuary, and fed, rode, and bathed elephants. It was an unbelievable experience. I’d never previously been up close to an elephant, and spending the entire day with the same one was incredible. They’re very bright animals with a lot of personality, and it was incredible to learn that throughout the day. The next day, we had a cooking lesson and then explored a few markets (which were very incredible, the best place to buy gifts for friends and family.) This field trip was also a bit touristy, but the activities are almost standard for anyone coming to Thailand, and their tourist-catered nature didn’t take away from the feeling of authenticity of what we learned, nor did it take away from our enjoyment of the experiences.
