I left my peaceful island paradise today and returned to civilization, Trang, to be precise. It’s not much for a town, but it does have a large market. I bought my first souvenirs–an orange and black, psychedelic, tie-dyed-style shirt and a couple of “tablecloths.” Quite beautiful.
(Yes, all my friends and relatives, I do plan on bringing back plenty of items from Thailand and Korea for you when I visit next summer.) Most of the food I’ve eaten in Thailand has been delicious, but the shrimp in red curry that I had at Kao Tom Phui, a small, family-run restaurant in Trang, was exceptional. Spicy, but not too much so and it had an exquisite, subtle taste, one I can’t begin to describe. You’ll have to go there to try it.
Tomorrow I continue on to Hat Yai for a few days and then I fly to Bangkok on Saturday. I don’t have a set itinerary in Bangkok, but I would like to attend a Thai cooking class, do a tour of the wats (temples), shop at one of the big markets, and go to a muay thai boxing match.
7/15–Hat Yai
I got a good deal at Lee Gardens Plaza Hotel, a junior suite for 1350 baht a night on the 24th floor–a great view of this quite large city (192,000). I also took in a movie tonight–I, Robot. Before the film began, during the previews of coming attractions, a short montage of photos of the Thai king, Bhumibol Adulyadej, was shown on the screen with accompanying music playing the royal anthem. The audience stood as a message on the screen asked us to “pay homage to the king.” At the end of the short tribute, about one minute, I noticed some in the audience bow–the monarch of Thailand is highly respected. This happens before every movie, similar to our national anthem being played before every sporting event. Also, in this theater at least, the screen placement is somewhat higher than the typical movie screen in the U.S., and the seats tilt back as you sit in them, so that you are partially inclined, the better to see the film. The admission price is cheap, too. I paid a bit more than $2 for the movie and about $1.25 for a small popcorn and medium coke. This was in a small cineplex of 3 screens at the hotel mall on the 5th floor. Also showing were Spiderman 2 and a Thai movie. Most of the films can be seen either in the original English version or, with English subtitles on Thai films.
7/16–I strolled around Hat Yai today; there is not too much to see here, aside from the fact that I’m in exotic Thailand. I did some shopping and bought some beautiful batik fabric from Indonesia. Hat Yai is reknowned for its shopping, so I had to help the local economy. Tomorrow I fly to Bangkok where I’ll conclude my stay in Thailand for this time.