ICU Bangkok

I had an amazing time in Bangkok. I love cities and was thrilled that we were going as a group to explore Bangkok.
The night train from Chiang Mai to Bangkok was certainly an experience. If I hadn’t been there with a group of people I would have been endlessly bored, but being able to hang out and talk made the trip bearable. I didn’t sleep at all and was completely exhausted by the time we arrived at the guesthouse. We had about an hour to eat and put our things away before we left again on a canal tour of Bangkok, which in my opinion was easily the best part of the trip. We all fit into a long, thin boat which took us around the various canals and waterways of the city. It was really interesting to see the way people lived right up along the water. Some of the houses looked decrepit and were partially submerged; others were so low that the house must have been underwater the entire rainy season. At one point the boat stopped and backed up so we could have a better look at some monitor lizards hiding underneath a dock. They were huge, for a second I thought they had to be alligators.
After stopping at a museum for traditional Thai boats, we stopped again for lunch and the Museum of Siam. The museum had interactive exhibits about the history of Thailand and Siam and made for a fun afternoon.
On Tuesday we visited the Duang Prateep Foundation. They gave us a summary of the work they do there and also gave us a tour of the facilities and of the Klung Toey slums. The slums were an impressive labyrinth of shacks and alleyways. As we were walking through I felt that I could become totally lost if we weren’t guided. Everyone we passed in the slum seemed to be trying to deal with the heat. Everyone was lying down and fanning themselves trying to stay cool. I couldn’t help but wish I was doing the same thing instead of walking around in the heat.
After the Duang Prateep Foundation we went to the Bangkok Refugee Center. This was a really insightful experience for me. It put into perspective the reality of refugees not only in Thailand but throughout the world. They explained to us there work there and how they are basically a resource center for registered refugees within Thailand. In the center there were mostly classrooms and offices, there was also a small clinic where free medical attention was given. I spoke to two boys from Sri Lanka, who explained that they would never return to there home and were trying their best to assimilate to Thailand.
Friday Dr. Paul Chambers gave us a ‘democracy tour’ of Bangkok. We went around to some of the major monuments and sites where important events in Thailand democratic history occurred. The intense heat, unfortunately, was the most memorable part for me. Later that night we went to a drag show down the street from the guesthouse. I think we all had a really good time and enjoyed the show and club atmosphere.
On Saturday, our free day, Evie, Nick, Reid and I slept in before going to the J.J Market. We ate lunch (had a deliciously memorable fried chick and mango salad) and walked around the massive market. We didn’t buy anything and the heat forced us to seek refuge in the mall before we headed back to the guesthouse.