It was, however, good to see that some things had not changed: taxis still run on a meter (at much the same cost), the traffic on Sukhumvit road is mostly stationary and shops still have at least six staff working behind the counter, (where in Britain there would be only one) two to serve you, two crouched out of sight on their mobiles or doing something complex with their faces and the remainder consuming various food items from a collection of plastic bags. We love Bangkok and it was not a mistake coming back to visit.
Sasha's Hotel Uno on Sukhumvit 19 was luxurious by our standards thanks to Sue's double upgrade, promotional special offer knock down price mega-deal! It's proximity to the huge shopping mall that is "Terminal 21" and Asok sky train station meant we were set up for a week in which our only tasks were to get a visa for Myanmar, visit Bangkok Patana School, meet up with some friends and, of course, have some delicious food.
You would expect by three months that we would be a bit travel weary and ready to leave Asia but "sadly" this was not the case and both of us concluded, on many occasions, that we were having a lovely time!
Since leaving Thailand, we have visited our friend Jane at many of her new teaching posts around the world (Czech Republic and Vietnam being recent examples) so it was fitting that we should meet up in Lumpini Park now that she had returned to teach in Bangkok. The family picnic atmosphere and free music from the Bangkok Philharmonic orchestra was a great way to end our first day.
With the Burmese visa efficiently gained in one day, Nick went on the Monday Bangkok Hash run with many familiar faces, a boat across the river to the contrasting rural side of BKK, precarious trotting along the edge of concrete walkways, fields and klongs (streams containing dubious water) to finally finish with some beer drinking and a nice meal.
The school where we had previously taught had developed its buildings almost beyond recognition but it was great to see so many familiar faces among both the UK and Thai staff. The vibrance and commitment which we remember was also remarkable and we spent several days enthusing about both international mindedness and teaching theory - it was almost as though we were longing to be back in the classroom, but not quite yet!
More eating and a visit to the cinema brought our week in Bangkok to a close and we flew with Air Asia to Chiangmai.
Apart from a bit of a traffic problem Chiangmai is blissful to get around either walking or in the Rot Daeng (red vehicle) trucks which transport you to where you want to go for 40 pence if you don't mind inhaling a few exhaust fumes and stopping to pick up other pasengers who want to go in the opposite direction!
There must be the greatest density of Wats in the rectangular old town than anywhere else in the country and we did visit nearly all of them I think! We were particularly pleased to be able to sit down at one Wat with a Monk and engage in "Monk Chat" where we quizzed him about lots of things from moral relativism to whether it is bad for monks to have mobile phones.
Our lungs enjoy being away from cities so we ventured up to Doi Inthanon (Thailand's highest mountain at over 2500m). The road goes all the way up but a couple of 2 hour walks in the forest with great views, some wildlife and visit to a hill tribe village made it a good day out.
Doi Suthep just outside Chiangmai was not as high but has a beautiful temple and great views back over the city.
The ease of shopping and the "walking street" night markets severely endangered our luggage allowance but luckily we were saved from over purchasing by our five day cooking course.
The Chiang Mai Cooking School course was excellent. Entertaining and expert cooking teachers, a spaciousness and efficient school and 30 delicious dishes which meant we ate nothing but fruit after 3pm when the course had finished each day.
We learned lots and solved a lot of the niggling issues which had cropped up over the years when we have tried to cook Thai food back home. It was also a great opportunity to be a student again and reflect on teaching techniques - especially how our instructors dealt with teaching in English to an audience who were not native English speakers (apart from us!)
The 5th December is the King's birthday and although he did not make a public appearance, due to illness, Thailand continues to display great reverence and the whole country parties and seems to turn yellow with the king's colour for several weeks.
The formal speeches included presentations to people from Chiangmai - at least 50 were invited to the stage, and they were followed by the whole crowd singing the King's anthem with lit yellow candles.
Returning to Bangkok we decided to be tourists for a day so after a good breakfast and a hair cut we got down to the river and packed in: a river trip, the Grand Palace, Wat Po, sunset overlooking Wat Arun before finishing at Asiatique for a meal at Baan Kanita.
Asia is sometimes labelled for its tendency to copy and recreate but we felt a sense of growing self identity and innovation in Thailand. We sat and listened to an all Thai jazz band in the Saxaphone club one night and the improvisation was incredible, and in Chiangmai there was a NAP Festival of Art and Design near the University where students displayed and were selling their work - all of it was amazing.
Bangkok, as with many parts of Asia, can initially be a turn-off to the traveller who has just arrived and is bewildered and confused by the sheer craziness of it all; but find the small oases of tranquility such as Lumbini park, Jim Thompson's house and gardens (not on a Sunday as we did), cool spaces in many of the shopping malls, spectacular vistas from the roof top bars or simply gazing at the gold shining from a boat on the river and you discover a great city to be in. We tried to do a lot on this short visit, but I am afraid we failed so we will have to visit again!
Rau rak meung Thai.
