Through my foreign eyes, Bangkok appears to be at odds and ends with itself.
The nicer the ambience of a restaurant, the worse the food (and vice versa). The tourist dollar is sought with incredible voracity but the increasing amount of foreigners causes tourist fatigue in the locals - subsequently treating travellers like shit. Buddhism discourages the killing of animals cutting a break for the city's stray dogs, but drivers think nothing of accelerating at road-crossing pedestrians.
Same with "regulations" and their enforcement; visiting the Reclining Buddha yesterday, I was aggressively asked to show my ticket three times and yet, despite a reasonable Police presence (Tuk Tuk drivers being ticketed all over the place), I'm given the impression there are virtually no road rules of any kind on Bangkok's streets. As well as the regular sight of traffic speeding through red lights with abandon,
today I was forced to jump out of the way of one scooter rider negotiating the already tight corridor between the market stalls and the shop fronts.
Bangkok might well be lost in translation to me. I'll be very glad to be leaving this place soon.
The nicer the ambience of a restaurant, the worse the food (and vice versa). The tourist dollar is sought with incredible voracity but the increasing amount of foreigners causes tourist fatigue in the locals - subsequently treating travellers like shit. Buddhism discourages the killing of animals cutting a break for the city's stray dogs, but drivers think nothing of accelerating at road-crossing pedestrians.
Same with "regulations" and their enforcement; visiting the Reclining Buddha yesterday, I was aggressively asked to show my ticket three times and yet, despite a reasonable Police presence (Tuk Tuk drivers being ticketed all over the place), I'm given the impression there are virtually no road rules of any kind on Bangkok's streets. As well as the regular sight of traffic speeding through red lights with abandon,
today I was forced to jump out of the way of one scooter rider negotiating the already tight corridor between the market stalls and the shop fronts.
Bangkok might well be lost in translation to me. I'll be very glad to be leaving this place soon.
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