FROM BANGKOK, THAILAND

Countryside, Day 4 (June 25), Part  4 of 4

Riverboat Ride, Saying Goodbye

AYUTTHAYA, June 25, 2006 - After the Ayutthaya ruins, it was time for a speedy 45-minute car ride on country roads to a place on the river Mae where a boat to Bangkok was hopefully waiting for us.

And what a boat it was!  It was much more than I had expected.  The river boat looked like a stately cruise ship, only downsized to suit the river.

Even before we left the dock for our three-hour cruise back to Bangkok, the ship's crew had laid out a delicious buffet-style luncheon for us.  Tu and I ate in a private section of the dining room on this upper deck.

This is also where I discovered something funny on the ship's bridge... our captain was blissfully snoozing on the floor. J

The ride was long and monotonous, so I walked out and sat on the bow until the sun got the better of me.  I spent the rest of the cruise in the air conditioned inside cabin, starting to sort out my memories from the last three days.

Back at the hotel, Tu and I had our farewell mochas at Starbucks.  We both seem to enjoy each other's company had were sorry to have to say goodbye.

Back in my room, I noticed a pretty sunset.  So I decided to walk out to the reception area balcony on the 51st floor and bid my farewell to Bangkok the same way as it welcomed me - with a view panoramic views of the city.

The skyscraper in the middle of the above picture, that I highlighted by a yellow rectangle, is actually that bank tower I had mentioned earlier as the tallest building in Bangkok.

On my way to the airport the following morning (above), I saw what that big black banner near the building's top was  about.  It's a public safety message from the Transportation Department.  In huge five stories-high letters, the banner counsels: "Drink, Don't Drive."  I smiled.  Not only because the message is lost on most Thais who don't speak English.  But there is a slight ESL (English as a Second Language) problem.  Even those who understand English may get the wrong idea.  The government seems to be encouraging the public to drink instead of drive.  Wonder what the Health Department would have to say about that? J Oh, I forgot... maybe they don't speak English, either. 

Saying Goodbye

BANGKOK, June 26 - Saying goodbyes is never easy, especially not to someone or something that grows close to your heart.  Over the last three days, Thailand has become such a place.  There is something magical about this land.  It grows on you so quickly that before you know it, it steals your heart and your soul; not to keep, but to refresh and nourish both.  

As I contemplated this, among other things, on my three-hour ride from Ayutthaya back to Bangkok, I asked myself the usual question after a new discovery: "What did you like the best about it?"  The answer came as naturally as everything else seems to in this country: "The Thai people."  

I did not like the humidity and the pollution in Bangkok.  I did not like having my picture taken without consent upon arrival into this police state; nor when departing (what are they checking for before and after... if a visitor had put on weight? J  I probably did...).  I did not like the personality cult of the king.  It reminded me of communism.  But the people I met, the wonderful Thai people, from the most humble to the most distinguished, all had an amazing grace and gentility.  

Unlike some chest-thumping ethnicities who brashly and noisily declare themselves to be God's "chosen people," the Thais simply act if they were.  Not all 65 million of them, I am sure.  But those I have met made me realize that to see true yet unpretentious national nobility, one must come to Thailand.

As I was checking out of my hotel, which I did last evening to save time during my early departure this morning, I was asked by the head receptionist if I had enjoyed my stay.  "Very much," I replied.  "I liked the hotel, I liked the temples, I liked learning about your country's history, but do you want to know what I liked the best?" I asked.

"Me!" she blurted out unabashedly.  And then blushed at her own boldness.  Considering that this was the first time we have seen each other, her suggestion did indeed surprise me.  Especially coming from a Thai, who I thought were humble people.

Not wanting to disappoint her, however, I replied, "yes, but also she and she," pointing to her two colleagues at the reception.  The two beamed ear to ear.  "In other words, what I liked the best was the Thai people," I explained.  "You are all so sweet and gentle."

"I am so proud to be a Thai," the head receptionist said and smiled.  At first I thought she was just trying to recover from the earlier embarrassing moment by sharing my compliment with her countrymen.  But she really did look proud at that moment, holding her head up high.  And when her smiling eyes were starting to mist a little, I realized something else about the Thai people: They are so genuine.  What I took a moment ago as boldness or even brashness, was simply honesty that comes from self-confidence.  

When I came back to my room and opened my e-mail box, I found an invitation to a complimentary farewell massage at Nicolie's, a Thai massage boutique that the hotel concierge recommended to me a couple of days ago.  "The Danish prince was just there this afternoon and was impressed," the concierge said, making me realize that even in a town of nine million - people gossip.

Nicolie's was described as "an Asian haven for soothing massage treatments and a place to appreciate the region's art and culture," in a June 23 feature story in Bangkok Times, an English language daily.  "Other places may be adorned with exuberant antiques to create an exotic ambience, but on the five floors of this massage centre there's a remarkable collection of artifacts and unique art objects, dating from the 10th to the 19th Century," the Post noted.

The traditional Thai massage turned out to be another wonderful discovery on my first visit to Nicolie's.  Mae, a beautiful therapist with a soft voice and the hands of steel, who also teaches Thai massage at the Reclining Buddha College, proved to me on my first visit ther that pain can mean gain.  Or at least relief for sore muscles of an athlete.  So it was a no brainer for me to accept the invitation and turn it into my final farewell to Bangkok.

And what a farewell it was.  Mae's second treatment was just as invigorating as the first.  It was a combination of an unhurried foot-to-head massage, (Indian) yoga, (western) chiropractic adjustment, and (Chinese) accu-pressure.  At times, Mae sent you to the depths of agony, finding sore muscles you never knew you had in your body.  But she produced soothing relief at the end.  

"Khom khun kup!", I said ("Thank you!" in Thai), showing off my newly-acquired basic Thai (the clipped "kup," is a word with which a man always ends his sentences, Tu taught me).

"Khom khun kaah," Mae replied, ending her "thank you" with a soft female version of the same word ("kaah").

As Gae, Nicolie's manager, and Mae, the therapist, were saying their goodbyes to me after the treatment, they insisted that I must come back to Bangkok.  I told them they would not have to twist my arm.  "It would be my pleasure," I replied in basic English.

Back to World Trip June 2006 Index

Back to Home