Bangkok is a whirlwind of a city. Exciting, exotic, sights, smells, and sounds assault your senses, in a fun and stimulating way. While much of the city is turning into a large metropolis there are still reminders of the not-so-distant past when Bangkok was more known for silk-making than international banking. Modern high-rise buildings mix with charming ancient temples. Street food is everywhere. The smells of different and exotic foods are so tempting. Scorpion on a stick anyone? Seriously the street food is seriously good, fresh, and inexpensive. Freshly prepared Pad Thai might set you back $2.00.
Chinatown near downtown has an array of interesting shops, exotic food, and facinating Asian crafts and artworks. Unfortunately one of the specialties of the area is Shark Fin soup. Sharks are caught, their fin harvested (cut off), and then often the rest of the shark is dumped back into the ocean to die. Thankfully there is plenty of vegetarian options with Asian food, and there were plenty of western-style foods available.
Shanghai Mansion is a beautiful boutique hotel in the heart of Chinatown. We splurged and stayed a couple of nights. Enticed by its Asian opulence and modern convenience. Thailand is so affordable by western standards. A very nice room, with Asian decor, modern bathroom, set in a beautiful hotel, only set us back $60 a night. Plus each night it included either a very nice Thai massage (each) or a wonderful dinner for two, in the dining room overlooking the busy Chinatown street. We had Thai massage one day, and dinner the second. Plus the highlight may have been the included breakfast. An unbelievable array of foods, buffet style, plus excellent table service. With everything, a western breakfast would have, freshly cooked eggs, omelets, toat, etc. Plus exotic fruits, a wide assortment of teas, to more traditional Asian breakfast foods, soups, rice, porridge, fish, and more. It truly was one of the nicest, interesting, filling breakfasts we have ever had. Anywhere! (Sorry mom.)
Jim Thompson House is now a beautiful museum. A nice way to beat the heat is to step into this shaded enclave. Stepping back into time, into the opulent age of the past silk dynasties. Thompson was an American businessman, architect, renaissance man, often credited with single-handedly reviving the waining Thai silk industry. However, if you read deeper there are all sorts of interesting back stories, that he worked for the US government during WWII and then potentially for the CIA after the war. He had far-reaching contacts with power brokers, business people, and politicians all over southeast Asia. In 1967 on a walk, while visiting Malaysia, he mysteriously disappeared with no trace. Some said he could have been eaten by a tiger, still fairly common in those days. Others said he was murdered or abducted for his past or current connections with the CIA’ or had crossed a powerful mob boss or politician. Regardless before his death, he accumulated a fantastic assortment of exotic Asian artwork and incorporated it into a beautiful home. He took six or so separate styles, representing different cultures, of traditional Asian houses, and creatively joined them to form one stunning home. Made from Teak and other exotic woods, with ornate carvings, stone sculptures, and other treasures. There was a display of traditional silk-making and the staff all wore traditional Thai attire. It was time well spent to visit the museum and hear the interesting history.
