Seventh Week in Phnom Penh + Bangkok
Bangkok! What a city! While certainly not relaxing, I had a wonderful weekend in Thailand. The pagodas were incredible, the food amazing, and the culture… very different. I definitely had a “I don’t think we’re in Cambodia anymore, Toto” experience, to say the least. While I was only in Bangkok for a measly forty-eight hours, I did my best to maximize my adventures.
But before I talk about my trip, I should recap work. This week, I managed to accomplish a lot, which has seriously boosted my morale. Jean and I finished drafting ODC’s severance pay policy, a task that required carefully combing through Cambodia’s 1997 labor laws. Our primary objective was to strike a balance between promoting employee interests and being prudent with donor funds. Thus, the project was a real-world exercise in meshing technical legal requirements with ODC’s holistic interests. Overall, I think our presentation of the policy went well. It was fun to explain our choices and strategize with a small portion of the ODC staff.
This week, I also completed a presentation on Strategic Environmental Assessments (SEAs) as they are proposed by the Ministry of Environment in their tenth draft of the Environment and Natural Resources Code. The presentation was designed for environmental NGOs, comparing and contrasting SEAs and EIAs (Environmental Impact Assessments). The former is designed for government programs and policies, ensuring future development are sustainable (proactive). Meanwhile, EIAs are more geared towards commercial entities and mitigating damage (reactive). While I never expected to research environmental policy this summer, I enjoyed diving into another subject and parsing through the draft code. Thus far, I may have researched, even if only tangentially, almost every field of law while working with ODC.
I would be remiss to not mention a critical aspect of Cambodian office culture: snacking. Pretty much every afternoon, the ODC office grinds to a halt, enjoying water-cooler chat and market noshes. The day’s treat is usually sour mango, pronounced “majeu,” which is dipped in a chili and salt mix. Sometimes its chicken egg bananas, a sweeter banana variant (so named because they vaguely resemble a chicken egg). Lately, however, we have enjoyed plenty of snails, which are currently in season – particularly the “coconut snails.” A pale white color, they are vaguely shrimp-y in flavor yet simultaneously sweet. Each coconut snail is about the size of a thimble, so we share a big plastic bag of them, all of us reaching over each other to grab a handful or discard used shells. It’s a great bonding activity and very tactile, all of us with a toothpick in hand, prying and sliding the petite snail out of their shells.
On Friday evening, I flew out to Bangkok, the flight taking roughly an hour. Leading up to my trip, I was pretty stressed. Bangkok is a big city with so many unique neighborhoods, evoking fair comparisons to New York City. Thus, creating a thorough itinerary felt rather Sisyphean. Additionally, Bangkok is remarkably different from Phnom Penh, despite the two cities being quite close. For example, In Bangkok, taxis predominate while in Phnom Penh, the tuk tuk. Additionally, Cambodia gladly accepts the US dollar as a secondary currency; Thailand only deals in baht. These little details, and more, stacked, making for an overwhelming planning experience.
After navigating customs solo, I grabbed a cab to take me into town. In Bangkok, traffic laws are actually followed. Additionally, since the city is massive, traffic is inevitable and unavoidable. My cab ride into the city center actually took longer than my flight! I may be too accustomed to Cambodia, as I kept wishing my driver would ditch the painted lanes and pop up onto the sidewalk (which is what any self-respecting tuk tuk driver in Phnom Penh would do).
In general, I found Bangkok to be exhausting and, at times, frustrating. In Cambodia, pretty much everyone has a modicum of goodwill. Nobody aims to astronomically scam you and there is a predictable politeness to every interaction. This is not the case in Bangkok. As a well-known backpacker haven, Bangkok is a well-oiled tourism machine that runs on borderline hostile sales techniques. A couple weeks ago, I wrote about the endless touting in “touristy” Siem Reap. Compared to Bangkok, however, Siem Reap was adorably quaint.
Niceties were secondary, with politeness often just a thin veneer. For example, my arm was regularly grabbed by street salesmen, demanding my attention. When I did express an interest in shopping, prices were quoted arbitrarily, often at ten times fair price, even by American cost standards. If I tried to haggle, vendors would sometimes flat-out dismiss me. After all, there was always another tourist, or ten, that barely understood the baht exchange rate (or did not care) and would happily pay out the nose.
Getting a taxi was particularly rough. Bangkok has a policy that all cabs must use their meter. Before arriving, I read online that, occasionally, drivers would “forget” to turn on the meter and instead charge a ridiculous flat fare. In reality, however, nearly every taxi driver pointblank refused the meter, especially at night. Thus, anytime I wanted a cab, I needed to flag upwards of four or five taxis until I got a price I could stomach. Ultimately, however, in the searing mid-afternoon sun, I caved several times.
But I did meet some nice people and, overall, my impression of Bangkok is overwhelmingly favorable. A lot of my better experiences were also pretty funny. For example, on my taxi ride from the airport, my driver asked where I was from. When I answered “America,” he immediately flipped on the radio and turned it to a rap station. While still pretty comical, it was nice gesture and I was thankful for the consideration.
A lot of my frustrations with Bangkok, or really just disillusionments, stem from the vastly different economy that Thailand enjoys. I think this weekend I truly began to understand how Cambodia’s history still clings to its people, like a palpable fog. The country still has not entirely recovered from the Khmer Rouge, so the economy is still weak. As a result, people are generally more excited to have western customers and any commercial success. Meanwhile, Bangkok has a middle class; people can have the luxury of being impolite. Seeing both countries and their cultures, side by side, has really enhanced my perspective of Southeast Asia in general.
On Friday evening, after getting into the city center, I met up with friend and fellow ODC intern, Daniel, in the city’s center. By pure accident, I had booked our hotel right off of Khao San road, the Bangkok equivalent of Bourbon Street in New Orleans (but up a notch). While booking, I had understood that the accommodations were near a street with some nightlife, but I had primarily selected the hotel for its easy walking distance to Bangkok’s headline attractions. As such, I was stunned by the rowdy neighborhood and twenty-four hour parties. I cannot imagine what Khao San is like during busy season, as it was absolute mayhem this weekend, even in the heart of rainy off-season.
Daniel and I decided to skip the raucous partying of Khao San and check off one my bucket list items. Taking a cab to trendy Sukhumvit Street, we went to one of the most highly recommended rooftop restaurants and bars in Bangkok. On the 49th floor, the rooftop terrace afforded 360 degree views of Bangkok’s urban skyline and the endless, glittering sprawl. It was incredible and, amidst my budget traveling, it was fun to splurge and do something borderline glamorous.
On Saturday, Daniel and I dove headfirst into our cliché tourist itinerary. First, we went to the Royal Palace, which was opulent to a degree I could scarcely comprehend. Each ornate building was shellacked in gold, mosaicked in tiny mirrors. In the brilliant Bangkok sun, the palace was actually blinding. Inside, I finally saw the Emerald Buddha, in all of its, er, jade glory. Still incredibly beautiful and impressive, the nineteen-inch statue was enthroned on a towering mass of layered gold pedestals. Additionally, fun fact, the Buddha has different outfits for the three primary seasons, which are changed by the King of Thailand himself (or, sometimes, another member of the royal family).
While still on the Royal Palace grounds, Daniel and I spotted a banner for a special exhibit on the “200 years of friendship between Thailand and America,” bearing the tagline “#Good and Great Friends.” Too intriguing to pass up, we found the tiny side exhibit in a powerfully air-conditioned (!!!) museum nestled between some administrative offices. The exhibit was a sleeper highlight of our trip. Filled with gifts between the two countries, I learned a lot of memorable trivia about Thailand and America’s shared history. For example, King Mongkut sent a letter to President Buchanan, offering him a pair of elephants so they could multiply and populate America. However, when the letter finally arrived, Lincoln was president and America was embroiled in civil war. As such, Lincoln politely declined the King’s offer.
Next, we went one block over to Wat Pho, which houses the jaw-dropping reclining Buddha. Everyone has seen photos of this massive statute, which barely fits inside its pagoda. While I gave it my best effort, like most tourists, I utterly failed to take a good picture of the reclining Buddha that properly conveys its scale and grandeur, mostly thanks to the cramped quarters and crowds. Interestingly, the Buddha’s feet were inlaid with mother-of-pearl symbolling. Along the edges of the temple, visitors could donate twenty baht (60 US cents) in order to drop coins into a long stretch of pots (a ritual for good luck), which created a symphony of melodic clanging in the reverent space.
The highlight of Wat Pho, however, was actually the surrounding temple complex. Most tourists bailed after seeing the famous Buddha, thus the remainder of the site was comparatively empty. We had a lovely time strolling through the smaller wats and ceramic, stupa-like prangs. The complex was further enhanced by the orange glow of sunset, abstract lighting accenting the spires’ geometric detailing. It might have been my favorite of the big “must-see” spots.
That night, we enjoyed a casual dinner in Banglamphu, which is the slightly more sedate (but still touristy) neighborhood bordering Khao San. I finally had some Pad Thai because, of course. Also, I tried a curious drink: coca cola and coffee. The drink, which comes in a regular coke can, is exactly what you would expect: 50/50 coke and coffee. I cannot say I was, ahem, the biggest fan.
On Sunday, we saw the other two headliner wats, Wat Arun and Wat Traimit. Wat Arun was particularly beautiful, being on the riverside and the most distinctive prang in the city, replete with colorful porcelain deco overlaid on a stark white base. Afterwards, we took a very pleasant, if short, boat ride to Bangkok’s Chinatown, where Wat Traimit sits. This wat houses the world’s largest solid gold Buddha, weighing in at 5.5 tons. Then, after grabbing a riverside lunch, it was sadly time for me to head back to the airport.
Upon return from Thailand, I got a short-lived, but nasty upset stomach. While I am certain food played a small part, I really believe it was the miasma of stress that I inadvertently brought with me from Bangkok. Also, I am fairly certain my severe sunburn did not help. Luckily, my stomach ailment passed rapidly and I still have yet to get truly, terribly sick while in Asia.
Ultimately, I cannot say that Bangkok was idyllic, but I had an amazing time and am so glad I visited. It was such a journey, and an incredible one at that. Daniel and I really experienced the highs and lows of Southeast Asian backpacker travel, and we did a fantastic job considering our time and budget constraints. While I wish I had time to see more of Bangkok, as well as other areas of Thailand, those trips will unfortunately have to wait. That said, I am excited to relax this weekend in Phnom Penh and gear up for my last weekend trip of the summer: Hong Kong.