TRAVEL TUESDAY 257 - BANGKOK, THAILAND

Bangkok is a rejuvenating tonic; the people seem to have found the magic elixir. Life, a visitor feels, has not been wasted on the Thais. – Bernard Kalb

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Bangkok is the capital and the most populous city of Thailand. It is known in Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon (กรุงเทพมหานคร, ) or simply Krung Thep. The city occupies 1,568.7 square kilometres in the Chao Phraya River delta in Central Thailand, and has a population of over 8 million, or 12.6 percent of the country’s population. Over 14 million people (22.2 percent) live within the surrounding Bangkok Metropolitan Region, making Bangkok an extreme primate city, dwarfing Thailand’s other urban centres in terms of importance.

Bangkok traces its roots to a small trading post during the Ayutthaya Kingdom in the 15th century, which eventually grew in size and became the site of two capital cities: Thonburi in 1768 and Rattanakosin in 1782. Bangkok was at the heart of Siam’s (as Thailand used to be known) modernisation during the later 19th century, as the country faced pressures from the West. The city was the centre stage of Thailand’s political struggles throughout the 20th century, as the country abolished absolute monarchy, adopted constitutional rule and underwent numerous coups and uprisings.

The city grew rapidly during the 1960s through the 1980s and now exerts a significant impact among Thailand’s politics, economy, education, media and modern society. Bangkok’s rapid growth amidst little urban planning and regulation has resulted in a haphazard cityscape and inadequate infrastructure systems. Limited roads, despite an extensive expressway network, together with substantial private car usage, have resulted in chronic and crippling traffic congestion. The high population density and the busy streetscape at almost any hour of the day and night provides plenty of opportunity for the street photographer.

This post is part of the Our World Tuesday meme,
and also part of the Ruby Tuesday meme,
and also part of the Wordless Wednesday meme.

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TRAVEL TUESDAY #87 - BANGKOK, THAILAND

“The attainment of the present status of Thailand has to depend on the ability or the actions of all the inhabitants of the country.” - Bhumibol Adulyadej 

Welcome to the Travel Tuesday meme! Join me every Tuesday and showcase your creativity in photography, painting and drawing, music, poetry, creative writing or a plain old natter about Travel. 

There is only one simple rule: Link your own creative work about some aspect of travel and share it with the rest of us. Please use this meme for your creative endeavours only. 

Do not use this meme to advertise your products or services as any links or comments by advertisers will be removed immediately.

Bangkok is the capital and most populous city of Thailand. It is known in Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon, or simply Krung Thep. The city occupies 1,568.7 square kilometres in the Chao Phraya River delta in Central Thailand, and has a population of over 8 million, or 12.6 percent of the country’s population. Over 14 million people live within the surrounding Bangkok Metropolitan Region, making Bangkok an extreme primate city, significantly dwarfing Thailand’s other urban centres in terms of importance.

 Bangkok traces its roots to a small trading post during the Ayutthaya Kingdom in the 15th century, which eventually grew and became the site of two capital cities: Thonburi in 1768 and Rattanakosin in 1782. Bangkok was at the heart of the modernisation of Siam, later renamed Thailand, during the late 19th century, as the country faced pressures from the West. The city was at the centre of Thailand’s political struggles throughout the 20th century, as the country abolished absolute monarchy, adopted constitutional rule and underwent numerous coups and several uprisings.

The city grew rapidly during the 1960s through the 1980s and now exerts a significant impact on Thailand’s politics, economy, education, media and modern society. The Asian investment boom in the 1980s and 1990s led many multinational corporations to locate their regional headquarters in Bangkok. The city is now a major regional force in finance and business. It is an international hub for transport and health care, and has emerged as a regional centre for the arts, fashion and entertainment. The city is well known for its vibrant street life and cultural landmarks, as well as its notorious red-light districts.

The historic Grand Palace and Buddhist temples including Wat Arun and Wat Pho stand in contrast with other tourist attractions such as the nightlife scenes of Khaosan Road and Patpong. Bangkok is among the world’s top tourist destinations. It is named the most visited city in MasterCard’s Global Destination Cities Index, and was named “World’s Best City” for four consecutive years by Travel + Leisure magazine.

Bangkok’s rapid growth amidst little urban planning and regulation has resulted in a haphazard cityscape and inadequate infrastructure systems. Limited roads, despite an extensive expressway network, together with substantial private car usage, have led to chronic and crippling traffic congestion, which caused severe air pollution in the 1990s. The city has since turned to public transport in an attempt to solve this major problem. Five rapid transit lines are now in operation, with more systems under construction or planned by the national government and the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration.

This post is part of the Our World Tuesday meme,
and also part of the Ruby Tuesday meme,
and also part of the Wordless Wednesday meme.

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FOOD FRIDAY - THAI CHICKEN

“I love the food in Thailand because of the exotic spices they use. Their style of cooking is unique to their culture and always amazing.” - Venus Williams 

We ate out a couple of weeks ago and I had a lovely Thai chicken stir-fry. A friend gave me the recipe and yesterday, we tried it at home. The flavour was slightly different, but overall I was very pleased with the way this turned out!

 Thai Chicken Stir-Fry
Ingredients
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
700 g chicken thigh fillets, trimmed, thinly sliced
1/4 cup Thai green curry paste
270mL can coconut cream
1 tablespoon fish sauce
1 and 1/2 cups chopped seasonal green vegetables
3 cm length of ginger root, peeled and shaved
1 cup coriander leaves
1 tablespoon lime juice
Steamed basmati rice and lime wedges, to serve

Method
Heat a wok over high heat until quite hot. Add half the oil and half the chicken, stir-frying for 2 to 3 minutes or until golden. Remove to a plate. Repeat with remaining oil and chicken.
Add curry paste to wok, stir-frying for 30 seconds or until aromatic. Return chicken and any juices to wok, stirring thoroughly. Add the ginger and stir.
Add coconut cream, fish sauce, and vegetables. Stir-fry for 2 to 3 minutes or until vegies just tender. Stir through coriander and lime juice. Serve with steamed basmati rice and lime wedges.

This post is part of the Food Friday meme.

MOVIE MONDAY - THE IMPOSSIBLE

“Altruism is innate, but it’s not instinctual. Everybody’s wired for it, but a switch has to be flipped.” - David Rakoff
 
Movies based on true stories capture the public’s imagination and contrary to biographical dramas that exult famous public figures, the scenario based on true stories of ordinary people tend to be rather more engaging and generate more interest in the movie-going public. We watched precisely such a film last weekend and we were kept glued to our seats. The added interest in this movie was the disaster theme, which unfortunately was a true horrific occurrence.
 
The movie in question was the J. A. Bayona 2012 film “The Impossible” starring Naomi Watts, Ewan McGregor and Tom Holland on a story by Sergio G. Sánchez and María Belón. It is based on the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, following an undersea earthquake that occurred at 00:58:53 UTC on Sunday, 26 December 2004, with an epicentre off the west coast of Sumatra, Indonesia. The quake itself is known by the scientific community as the Sumatra–Andaman earthquake. The resulting tsunami was given various names, including the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, South Asian tsunami, Indonesian tsunami, the Christmas tsunami and the Boxing Day tsunami.
 
The earthquake was caused when the Indian Plate was subducted by the Burma Plate and triggered a series of devastating tsunamis along the coasts of most landmasses bordering the Indian Ocean, killing over 230,000 people in fourteen countries, and inundating coastal communities with waves up to 30 meters high. It was one of the deadliest natural disasters in recorded history. Indonesia was the hardest-hit country, followed by Sri Lanka, India, and Thailand.
 
The movie is the story of a typical family, Maria the mother (Watts), Henry the father (McGregor) and their three children, Lucas (Holland), Thomas and Simon. They travel to Phuket, Thailand to spend their Christmas holidays relaxing in a brand new seaside resort. After settling in, they go to the pool, like so many other tourists. It is a perfect vacation in paradise-like surroundings, until a barely heard distant noise becomes a deafening roar. There is no time to escape from the massive tsunami that obliterates all in its path. Maria and her eldest son are swept one way, Henry and the two other children another way. The film follows the fate of all in the post-tsunami disaster zone.
 
The real family that the main characters of the film are based on is the Belón family and are in fact Spanish but were living in Japan at the time of the Tsunami. The film changes the nationality of the family to British. However, the real family were present on set during the whole shooting process. They were giving tips, especially to Naomi Watts who was portraying Maria Belon. The whole family also attended the film’s premiere at the Toronto Film Festival in 2012.
 
The film has amazing CGI effects and stunts, great cinematography and solid acting. These good points tend to work with the interesting story to balance out some lapses and one is temporarily restrained from asking too many ethical questions – these come out later, on reflection. The devastation and tragedy of such an epic destruction can only be sketched out by a film that concentrates on one family’s experience. The toll on the native population is hardly hinted at and the victims we see are mainly white and privileged. There is even an element of white-washing, in terms of converting the real Hispanic family’s origins to an upper class British family. This is puzzling as the film was produced in Spain, but perhaps it was aiming at the sympathies of the Anglocentric world, where most of the box-office profits would be made.
 
The film is poignant and heart-warming, because it focusses the immense tragedy on the experiences of one family. While their plight is personal and intense, it raises a more universal sympathy, especially as the family is both the recipient as well as the giver of kindness in the face of adversity. In fact, altruism is one of the main themes of the movie. The young Tom Holland, playing Lucas, the eldest son steals many of the scenes, while Naomi Watts does a great job of the severely injured Maria, the mother. A harrowing film in many respects, but nevertheless well worth seeing.

THE TROUBLES OF THAILAND

“All wars are civil wars, because all men are brothers.” - François Fénelon

The terrible situation in Thailand seems to be escalating and an end isn’t anywhere in sight. Having visited Thailand many times, I am both surprised and saddened by what I see and read in the news. Thai people are some of the most endearing, gentle and gracious I have met. To see the chaotic situation there and the increasing violence that occurs and has turned their daily life into a fiery, bloody nightmare is of great concern.

The latest atrocity is the death of nine people in clashes that happened in a temple designated a “safe zone” within a Thai anti-government rally site that was shut down in a military offensive. These deaths are to be added to the death toll from the hostilities at the Red Shirts encampment which stood at six yesterday.

A police spokesman indicated that the nine deaths resulted after a gun battle that raged inside the temple in early evening, several hours after protest leaders surrendered and told their supporters to disperse. Hard-liners within the movement refused to give up their cause and as hundreds of protesters rushed into what they thought was the safety of the temple, black-clad militants engaged in a gun battle with security forces, resulting in the fatalities.

The scene is tragic, especially if one considers the grim reality in the internecine civil battle where Thai is fighting against Thai. The possibility of a brother against brother confrontation makes the violence even more sickening, as is the case in any civil war. What makes these nine deaths more shocking is the lack of respect to the “safe zone” designation shown by both of the fighting groups of militants and security forces.

The untenable and insufferable situation of the political and social tensions in Thailand can only be imagined. However, one wonders how bad it must really be if a peace-loving, gentle people who for the most part live by the Buddhist precepts suddenly become so overwhelmingly violent and determined to overthrow those who govern them. But even a hardy camel will have its back broken by that final straw that makes its great load lethal.

Where to from here? A full scale civil war? An increasingly bloody confrontation where the country tears itself apart? A government that stops at nothing to remain in power? A king who remains hidden in the background and fails to act decisively in order to put a stop t the bloodshed? An international community that ignores all of this because there is no oil or other natural resources in Thailand worth its imperative intervention to preserve democracy?

internecine |ˌintərˈnesēn| adjective
Destructive to both sides in a conflict: The region's history of savage internecine warfare.
• of or relating to conflict within a group or organisation: The party shrank from the trauma of more internecine strife.
ORIGIN mid 17th cent. (in the sense [deadly, characterised by great slaughter] ): from Latin internecinus, based on inter- ‘among’ + necare ‘to kill.’