Thursday, March 22, 2018, Bangkok in Depth

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Bang-kok translates to land of olives.  The population is ten million with only eight hundred thousand "natives."  The remainder have migrated into the city and surrounding area to fill jobs.  We were amazed at how many Japanese cars are manufactured here.

There are 3,500 buses carrying three million passengers daily plus there are eight million privately owned cars and motorcycles.  Each day at 8 AM a flag is raised and 6 PM it is lowered with the national anthem is sounded.  People who hear the anthem or see the flag are expected to stop in reverence.  New Years is celebrated three times every year:  The International (January 1), Chinese, and Buddhist (April 13).

Historic Siam of old, now Bangkok is beautifully set on the Chao Phraya River.  Thai culture is rich and engaging in this bustling center, where modern skyscrapers rub elbows with centuries-old Buddhist wats, or temples. The towering Wat Arun, named for the god of the rising sun, stands dramatically on the river’s banks.  The revered temples and elegant buildings within the walls of the renowned Grand Palace date to the late 1700s.  The palace is a gilded array of golden pagodas and stupas (shrines).  It has been the royal family’s residence for more than 150 years.  At the city’s traditional floating markets, merchants sell all manner of local produce, from mango and dragon fruit to sticky rice.
As we approached Bangkok from our cruise ship port two hours south, we passed into this very modern city.  

China Town.
Notice the elevated, exposed transformers along with TV, Internet, and phone cables.
The Democracy Monument was commissioned in 1939 to commemorate the 1932 Siamese coup d'état (also called "Siamese Revolution of 1932" or just "1932 Revolution") which led to the establishment of a constitutional monarchy in what was then the Kingdom of Siam, by its military ruler, Field Marshal Plaek Phibunsongkhram.  Phibun saw the monument as the center of what he envisaged as a new, Westernised Bangkok, "making Thanon [road] Ratchadamnoen the Champs-Élysées and the Democracy Monument the Arc de Triomphe" of Bangkok.
Picture of Rama IX in street median.

Chao Phraya River with a lot of boat traffic.




These boats have car engines mounted at the forward end of the "stinger" drive shaft that mounts on the stern.  The boat operator controls the level of the water end of the shaft so the propeller is barely under water.












Lunch was awesome at the cooking school.

















Sky scraper referred to as the Lego building!




Wat Pho is home to the enormous Reclining Buddha.
Buddhism began 543 BC.  92% of Thailand is Buddhist (5% Muslim with remainder Catholic and several other religions).
Wat Pho is one of the largest single Buddha images at 150 feet in length and 50 feet in heighth.



The eyes are mother of pearl along with the toes.






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