On Nut is the end of the BTS (Skytrain) Line. There is a huge Tesco Lotus attached to the station, which is ultra-convenient. The Tesco complex also has a McDonald’s, KFC, Pizza Hut, one of those pretzel places, Dunkin Donuts, and a lot of stalls selling crap that you don’t need. The same kind of stuff you’d find in a lower end mall in the States.
This is the clean, cool (i.e. A/C), consumer experience that I longed for in the Mae Sot. Bangkok has many, many such malls, as well as their gorgeous, glossy, Gucci-ed up cousins. Both types provide respite from the noise, congestion and heat. But the lower end malls, which are the only ones I can afford to shop at, are located in depressing areas. Or maybe the grittiness of Bangkok is just getting to me today. I wandered outside the mall, walked a few grimy blocks, and wound my way back to McDonalds. Where I now sit, nursing a coke at 10 a.m.
Through the window, life outside seems ok. There is a woman selling something resembling pork rinds under the same sunbrella as a guy selling T-shirts. One of them reads: “I am too fabulous. Fashion is my friend.” At least they left the other F word out. Can’t tell you how many t-shirts I see emblazoned with that one.
A couple tables away, a group of teens are hanging out. One of the boys – he is clearly a boy – has on high heeled short boots and a skirt. He appears to be totally accepted by his gender-appropriately clad pals. The fluid relationship with gender, at least for boys, continues to surprise me. No matter how many times I see a man wearing lipstick and a scrunchy or a guy with 5 o’clock shadow in a mini I do a double take. They say that the most beautiful women in Bangkok are actually lady boys. I guess I’m just noticing the less beautiful ones.
In the past 30 minutes I have seen at least 3 fattish to fat, pasty-white men, aged 65+, getting their Big Mac on. These guys may be vacationing but in this non-touristy part of town, at a Tesco no less, I’d wager they live here. Their considerably younger (30s – younger?) and infinitely more attractive girlfriends are no doubt upstairs buying groceries with American/British/German pension money. There is one guy — not a day younger than 60 — sitting with 2 beautiful girls in their 20s. What gives? How do these relationships work? I’ve now lived in Thailand for the equivalent of a year (2004+ these past 5 months) and this issue still confounds me – and grosses me out.
Shifting my gaze outside again, I see the best and worst of this city in one glance. Best = food. Worst = traffic. Let’s start with food: I can see fresh squeezed orange juice 1 liter for $0.66, cut up pineapple/mango/watermelon 1 kilo for $0.66. I see a wok, which means Pad Thai and Fried Rice/Noodles, fried chicken, mango and sticky rice, donuts, fried bananas. I had to turn in my chair a bit but all of that is being sold in my line of vision.
Also in my sight line, 3 buses crawling along, a cement truck, motorcycle taxis weaving in and out, neon pink/orange/blue/violet taxis… The noise and the pollution generated by traffic here is annoying. Add to that the frustration of sitting in a taxi in traffic with a 20 month old hell bent on playing with the power windows (while the cabby gives her a look to kill). I have easily ridden in more taxis in 2 week in Bangkok than in my entire life. Traffic in Bangkok is like earthquakes in LA or rent prices in Manhattan, you endure it because of the good things that the city offers. Or so I keep telling myself.
