Bangkok is a great city to visit. It has a lot of history and beautiful architecture, but Bangkok is just like any large cities in the world. It has a dark side also. When I was a little kid, I had to get along with the neighborhood kids and had to join their gangs. That was for  good protection. If you were not part of your neighborhood group, who was going to protect you from the gang in the next block? They would  harass you or beat you up when you walked by. They cut up clothes hangars and bent them in a u-shape for their ammunitions. The rubber band was our weapon and was shot with u-shaped wire by putting the rubber band between two fingers. I tell you what.  It hurt so bad when you got hit. I am very lucky to still have both of my eyes. When I was about 10 yrs.old, I decided not to take any part of my neighborhood gang. I got harassed all the time both in my neighborhood and in the school. They slapped me on the back of my head. Thai people don’t like anyone to touch their head. I got so mad when they kept bullying me like that. I decided to do something about it. I asked my dad for some money to buy a punching bag. I told him that I needed to do some exercise. He gave me the money for the punching bag. After I bought the bag, I started practicing Thai kick boxing on my own. I punched and kicked the punching bag everyday after school for about four months. One day at school, one of the bad boys that liked to slap my head came to me to slap me as usual. I told him to stop. He said that he was not going to stop and what am I going to do about it. I told him to find out on Wednesday movie night at the school auditorium. I told him to fight one on one and not to bring anybody else. We both agreed to it. On Wednesday night, I showed up for my school movie night. I had been looking for him and asking many students about him. The word did spread that he and I were going to have a fight that night. To my surprise, he  chickened out. There was no fight on that night.  The next day he showed up for school, and he was nice to me and never bullied me again.  I did fight a few times to defend myself during that age. What I am trying to tell you is that every country  has some bad sections of town somewhere so always be aware of the places you visit.

Bangkok is the best place to eat. The city never sleeps. There is always good food to eat even at 2 or 3 o’clock in the morning. Have you ever  heard about hawker places in Singapore. In Bangkok, they have hawkers in the shopping center on the penthouse of the Mall.  The Thai government is trying to make the city looking better and also  make sure it is clean and healthy for the consumer. Thai food is gaining popularity around the world right now. It is a lot different from the Chinese or American  or European food. Thai food  consists of herbs, spices and curry. Some Thai foods are very spicy and some are not. When you order Thai food, you need to let them know how spicy you want it. They will prepare according to your taste. Most people know Pad Thai very well. It is a traditional dish in most  Thai restaurants around the world. My Papa’ (Dad) always bought Pad Thai for Mama’ and me on the way home from work. Sometimes he bought Lad Na. Lad Na is another well known dish. It is like the Beef and Broccoli stir fry in soy sauce and poured on top of stir fried noodles.  Papa’ bought Thai deserts sometimes like Ka Nom Jeeb, Foi Tong, Kawneeo Sangkaya, etc.

I grew up with my loving parents.  Especially my Mama was always kind and sincerely gave warm love to everybody.  I have been touched by her and I came up with these three phrases :  Doing good deeds, Speaking good words, Showing goodwill.  I told my children about these words.  They love it and will teach their future generations.  I would like all my visitors to pass my good words to the people you know and practice with it.  It is getting to be a long article now.  I will write some more next time.  Bye for now

Mana

I have been telling you about the time that I grew up in Thailand.  It sounds so terrible like the third world country.  That was yesterday, today Thailand is very modern and has one of the strongest economies in Asia.  Bangkok is the capital city and used to be called Venice of the East,  because Bangkok used to have a lot of canals ( Klong in Thai language).  They traveled by boats in canals and rivers like in Venice, Italy,  but today they have to fill them in to make more roads to accommodate heavy traffic.  Thailand is trying to improve the traffic congestion by building more roads, more freeways, sky trains and subways.  Even though they are doing this,  they still have an active floating market.  It is one of the must see tourist attractions ( I highly recommend it).  Floating Market is an open-market where the merchants bring their products to sell on their boats.  They sell just about anything.  You can buy all kind of fruits, vegetables, chickens, clothing, etc.  If you are hungry, you can order a dish of stir fry noodles to eat.  It is a very enjoyable place.  The floating market is located at Damnorn Saduak, just outside of  Bangkok.  You can get there by boat or by car.  I recommend that you ride the boat there.  This way, you can see both sides of Chao Phaya River of Bangkok and also you can go shopping easier once you get there.

Thai people are friendly people, nice and polite.  They are always smiling, maybe that is why they call Thailand-The Land of Smiles.  Tourists love to visit Thailand because they feel welcome.  It is easy to communicate with Thai people because the majority of them speak English.  Thai people love to speak to them too because they want to practice their English also.  There are many interesting places to see and visit.  I recommend two places to see.  One of them is Wat Pha Klew ( Wat means Temple ).  This temple has an Emerald Buddha and has a good history behind it.  The temple is one of the most fascinating architectural sights.  The temple wall is full of a Thai Epic mural.  The painting is so good in detail. This painting on the wall has been repainted since it was constructed about 200-300 years ago ( older than U.S.A.).  The other place to visit is the Royal Grand Palace which is located next to Wat Pha Klew.  This Royal Grand Palace is the welcome place for the high rank foreign visitor nowadays.  When you visit Bangkok, you should take a dinner cruise along Chao Phaya River.  The food on the cruise is excellent and  has a reasonable price.  The shrimps are as big as the lobsters.  There is a tour guide on the cruise to tell you the history of each building or temple in English.  It is a very enjoyable cruise.  There are many things to see and do in Bangkok.  What I just told you are only a few suggestions.

Next you should make a trip to the northern part of Thailand-Chiengmai.  Chiengmai is one of the provinces that has a lot of Thai hand crafted products.  They have many hand crafted teak wood pieces of  furniture.  It is a very detailed hand craft, very delicate and beautiful. Teak wood is a very hard wood and heavy.  This hand crafted teak wood furniture  will last for many generations to come.  By the way the price of the furniture is very reasonable compared to American or European prices.  The most beautiful Thai silk is from Chiengmai also.  You should visit a Thai silk factory when you go there.  They do have men tailor made suits  and women tailor made dresses at the Thai silk factory.  What ever you want to purchase, you need to bargain the price.  Don’t buy the merchandise at the price they tell you on the first quote.  Always bargain and start at half of what they ask for.  For instance, if they start asking for a price of $10, bargain them for $5.  It is the way that Thai people buy and sell.  Wow! I did not realize how long this article was.  Well let me tell you some more next time.

Mana

I would like to tell you about my drinking at early age.  In Thailand they didn’t have the liquor law like in America.  The legal age in U.S. is 21 yrs. old.  Papa’ gave me some money to buy a bottle of whiskey in the neighborhood.  I was only seven years old.  They sold it to me.  When I was four years old, I was running late for my school bus that morning.  Mama’ was calling me  because the school bus had arrived.  Hurry up the school bus is waiting, she said.  I ran to her to say goodbye and I grabbed her drink.  I drank it in one swallow and ran to catch the school bus.  Next thing I know, my Mama’ ran after me and checked to see if I am o.k. or not.  She told the teacher on the bus to keep an eye on me because I just drank her whole glass of whiskey.  Mama’ always drank  a glass of Chinese tea with her meal.  But this morning she felt like she needed a shot of whiskey.  I tell you what all the teachers at my school kept asking me how I felt all day.

Bangkok is one of the best entertaining cities in the world.  Most of the military service men decided to stay in Bangkok instead of coming home to U.S..  They really like the easy life and fun time.  Thai people always smile and are happy.  Americans call Thailand the land of smiles.  Thai people always Sanook ( means Happy Fun in Thai ).  There are many night clubs, massage parlors and bars in Bangkok.  It is very easy for Thai teenagers to get in because there is no one to check their i.d..  It is a very bad influence for Thai teenagers, but it is one of the big tourism businesses of Thailand.  Some foreign businesses prefer to have a business conference in Bangkok.  I know because one of my brothers always partied a lot with his friends.  I will tell you more about Bangkok and other cities in Thailand later.  Let me tell you more about my drinking at an early age.   One day when I was eleven years old, I went with my Papa’ to the U.S. commercial liner.  He went to see the captain and first engineer to have them sign the invoice.  The captain gave my Papa’ two cases of beer for a job well done.  My Papa’ accepted with delight and told me to take them home.  Papa’ told me to put some beer in refrigerator to keep them cold and to have them some day when he comes home from work.  Three weeks later, he asked me to get some beer from the refrigerator. ” What beers are you talking about?”  I asked.  He said that we got them from the U.S. ship a few week ago.  That is the beer, well they are gone, I said.  What do you mean gone?  I told him that I drank them all.  He was shocked and told me not to do it again.  I told him that I just wanted to try it first to see what it tasted like.  The next thing I knew, I finished them all.  He told me that it is o.k. to try it when Mama’ or him is there.  He didn’t want me to get into trouble and to get hooked on it.  That is my drinking story at an early age.  I will tell you about Thailand later on.  Goodbye for now.

Mana