Musings on Bangkok

This is my 2nd trip to Bangkok; first time was coming home from Qatar.  In some ways, not much has changed.  The people are still very gracious, friendly and eager to help.  More of them speak some English.
Many, many more high rise buildings, though the pollution and traffic seem about the same.  Seemingly, more wealth and definitely more flash - cars, jewelry and malls with very high end fashion, McQueen, Prada, etc.
Our hotel sits between the Dutch embassy and the American Embassy.  Dutch Embassy has a sense of fun - view from our room.

Roof of the Dutch embassy

 Cows on the grounds of the Dutch embassy - very fun

On the other hand - American embassy is strictly business, and very security conscious.  While walking by, we were not allowed to take pictures of the exterior, which seems odd as anyone could from  across the street or from any high rise.  In fact, here is a picture from our room.

That's the whole complex - long rectangular building on the far left is the entrance area - well protected with at least 2 gates and plenty of thick concrete.  The white L shaped building in the foreground is covered with satellite dishes and other communication devices.  The multistory beige building on the right has a helipad on top.  Both Loren and I have vivid memories of the helicopter evacuations from the American Embassy at the end of the Vietnam War.  Even though it was 43 years ago, seeing the helipad made them very fresh again.  Isabel had some knowledge of the war but didn't know about the evacuation and the fall of Saigon.
The few police we have seen look tough, but not menacing - of course, we are staying well on the right side of the law!



The traffic is pretty hideous from at least 7 am (earliest we are up) and midnight.  There's a very interesting phenomenon where the motorbikes swarm ahead of the cars at the stop lights

This is a smallish swarm - once the light changes, the cars move up and the ballet begins all over again.  Besides the taxis, many many people hire motorbikes as a way to get around - licensed drivers wear orange vests with their IDs in a pocket on the back.  Like many things here, the fare is all negotiable and people will walk away if the quoted fare is too high.

They drive on the left side of the road but it has been relatively easy to adjust to watching as we crossed road. There's a great system where men with red flags or lighted batons stop traffic so pedestrians can cross the road.  Like so many things, wish I could take a picture but it feels disrespectful.  

Other things I would love to photograph - the people using hand made straw brooms to sweep the street, the myriad of food stalls offering everything from sushi to fried chicken, the stylish young women who are impossibly slender, our concierges who are so friendly and so kind.

We go across the street in the mornings to get breakfast 

Today's assortment included delicious fruit - watermelon, papaya and baby pineapple - chicken and eggs, sweet rolls and an assortment of coconut pastries (the green pastries in plastic box in center of table).  This assortment cost us about $2.40, and there were leftovers for snacks later.  

Eggs are amazing here - such rich golden yolks and so fresh. 

Closeup of egg #nofilter

The Thai royal family is extremely revered and respected - there are very large pictures of the King and the Queen "everywhere" and by that I mean, about every 5 blocks.  The Thai national flag is also prevalent and often accompanied by yellow and blue royal flags, which we surmise are for the king and the queen,