"Jaclyn, you cannot do to us what you did yesterday."
Ok, so maybe keeping my family moving from 10am-10pm on their second day in Bangkok was a bit much. I decided to scale it back for their third day.
We started off with a visit to the Khlong Toei Market, an outdoor market in the slums utilized almost exclusively by locals (tourists don't even know the place exists). Because Bangkok is such a big city- 8 million and counting- and there are so many expats, sometimes it's easy to forget that the city is actually located in SE Asia. The local culture of this market is a hearty reminder of just how "non-western" pockets of Bangkok really are. The ability to speak thai along with a strong gag reflex are absolute musts here; the stench is one of pig carcasses, live fish and chicken poop baking in the hot sun.
As we walked the banter between stall owners increased "farang, farang" (white man, white man). They had seen farang before, but this one was whiter than the rest. This one was so white he needed to be touched to determine whether or not he was actually a real human being. The vendors argued over who was going to do it, and finally, one stepped up to the plate. As we were walking, he reached out and grabbed Stew's arm, looking up at him with big wondering eyes. Yep. This farang was 100% real and they couldn't believe it. The market visit turned out to be just as shocking for the thais as it was for us.
After relaxing in the A/C, away from the market stench, we were ready to head back out for a western dinner at Hemingway's, the happy hour bar my colleagues and I have drinks at on Fridays. We then took a taxi to Rajadamnern Stadium for a muay thai fight. Established in 1945, it's the oldest stadium in Bangkok. We were able to watch over 9 matches all with fighters of different ages and weight classes. But the best part, by far, was drinking Chang beer through straws. Yuuuum.
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