Bangkok was my first real stay in Asia after three days "transfer" in the cold Seoul. At the end, it was also my last stay in Asia before leaving for Istanbul. I went back to Bangkok many times. Once I planned it in advance already before starting this trip and most of the other times it was a kind of improvisation or change of plan, mostly at the last minute. I really felt like at home in Bangkok. After staying in Delhi it was very relaxing as well!

In Bangkok, it's mostly very hot and sometimes it's very hard to walk or do something outside during the day. Many bikers, workers and other "outside people" use to wear sun protections for the arms, the face and the head of course. They look like modern Arab from the desert! It was very strange, as in China and Burma, to see women working at building or roadsides. They have to work even if it's sunny, horribly humid and it's over 40 degrees Celsius hot! In Europe, this kind of physically hard work is mostly done by men. Many women on the street use an umbrella against the sun like in the old pictures from China. Sometimes I think that most of the Thai people are seriously scared of the sun avoiding it all time.

There are other "outside" people which make Bangkok/Thailand really special and unique: the street food salespersons. At every corner, along main roads and in front of important buildings it's possible to stop and "snack" something. An ordinary and boring side street turns into a kind of big food bazaar where it's possible to find even beautiful handmade flower necklaces for the temple, shoe or dress repairer, any kind of fresh fruits or vegetables and many many fried things! Lottery tickets are everywhere as well, mostly sold by blind or differently abled people. All this is accompanied by the soft and nice sound of the Thai language sentences which mainly end with a long courtesy vocal sound. Sometimes it can be less soft sounding like a kind of screaming. After all this time in Bangkok and in Asia, I definitely got used to spicy food. I love having steamed fish with chili lemon sauce, stir fried spinach and oyster with different spices and sauces at a local restaurant next to the BTS (sky train) station called Ari. Sometimes enjoying it with a cool Chang beer! The common soft drinks or juices are quite sweet, like all the kinds of flower teas which are available everywhere.

The "Tuk-Tuks" and their funny riders are also an icon of Bangkok. Because it's very hot and there aren't walking streets or proper pedestrian ways the "inside people" which work in offices or hotels with A/C move logically by "Tuk-Tuk", motorbike taxi, taxi or BTS: like the street food it's very cheap and convenient compared with other countries.

In the evening the "inside people" which at least try to enjoy a part of their life in nature without A/C meet at a public park like the Lumpini park. We can do aerobics in huge groups with music or run around the park for kilometers. There are also dance classes or normal casual park visitors walking around as well. The temperature in the park is lower by 2-3 degree than in the city, which is basically covered with asphalt and concrete (!). On a Sunday evening, there was a classical music concert at the park: fantastically unforgettable! Bangkok has to fewer parks and that's a big problem. Even when it rains the streets turn into small rivers probably because the drainage isn't good enough or maybe because there is no drainage at all (!). Only during leaving the city, for example by train to the airport, it's possible to image how Bangkok was in the old times: green, full of canals or streams and small wooden houses. The "inside people" which tend to stay in the high buildings and the indoor training centers goes to yoga, to the gym or to Thai Boxing class, mostly cooled by the A/C.

Thai people have a special and unique relationship with their King. He is a real idol and his golden face is everywhere. Each restaurant has at least one picture of him with magnificent frames, even in my favorite Karaoke-Thai-Bar in Chur, Switzerland. Before watching a movie in the cinema everyone stands up and pay respect during a short movie with nice music showing all the good things he did and does. In the city along the streets and on bridges there are everywhere pictures or statues of the King with or without the Queen as well. If somebody doesn't pay respect or insult the King will probably land in jail or pay a big fine. The population is very devoted to religion as well, Buddhism, so there are smaller and bigger temples everywhere. 24 hours a day 7 days a week somebody is doing some offer or is praying. Often there are official celebrations and Buddhism festivities. When a Buddhist walk next to a temple or a religious place, the person put the hands together in "praying mode" over the head saying some words or praying.

For Swiss people, it's easy to go to Bangkok, because we don't need any Visa. A 30 days stamp in the passport is for free and good enough to enter the country. The flights aren't that expensive and depending on the traveler, there are many things to do: relaxing on the beach, trekking in the north, city life and shopping in Bangkok or very convenient scuba diving in the southern islands. Even if Bangkok is a big city the people are mostly relaxed and gentle. Maybe because of the hot temperature or because of the religion, I don't know. For sure they live and believe in completely different things and principles than Europeans, as I tried to explain with this post and in my previous article about Thailand.

There are things then we can't understand or only hardly like in some Muslim countries. I guess it's the same when a Thai or a Muslim person arrive in Switzerland.