Thailand likes me!

Updated: Jul 21, 2023

The first full day in Bangkok was a blast!

After a great breakfast (they have great fruits in Thailand!), I discovered the tuk tuk! Wow what a thrill! The tuk tuk is now my all time favorite way to get around! It is fast, loud, goes everywhere, doesn't have seat belts... It's always on the move and it gets to where it needs to go in record time!

"Mom, is our tuk tuk faster than Sonic?"

It was a very scenic ride throughout Bangkok. In Thailand, everyone is always busy and there's businesses everywhere, sometimes even on the road! My mom says some of it reminds her of where she grew up, and that the Thai people are very resourceful and have a good entrepreneur spirit.

"Egg man, we're faster than you!"

And finally we arrived at the Grand Palace of Thailand. I was excited to see this place because they still have a king! When we got to the ticket line there was this lady that just grabbed me by the hand and helped me skip the line. She said something in Thai that none of us understood but my dad said it was ok. In other parts of the world my mom wouldn't have been so comfortable with me to disappear like that, but here it was fine. Plus, that was good for me because I got to get inside earlier, but bad for my mom and dad because they still had to wait!

Everything is so different here, and there's so much to see... The amount of detail in these buildings, temples, statues and pictures is amazing! They have a lot of Buddha statues and even some mythical creatures. My favorite is the Green demon guardian Thotsakan (Green Giant). And sometimes he changes color.

I learned that the Thai people write different than us.

My dad says that most of the places we're going on the big trip use different letters and numbers, but that communication always works, even if you have to draw something. I didn't understand at the time why would numbers and letters be so different but then I spent a long time figuring out this story they had there, that I understand now how if people really want, they can always understand each other.

There were so many battles and wars, and many people died. There were monkeys and dragons and people and elephants and sometimes it seemed they were helping each other, and other times they were fighting.

In the end I knew what they were saying in this long painting... I think...

"Mom, did you know this painting goes all the way around the palace? We have to see what happened in the end!"

By the time we saw the whole thing it got pretty hot and it was time for lunch! I like Thai food now... the non spicy type at least. The spring rolls, pad thai, and fried rice are pretty good!

"In Thailand, the Thai people are so used to the spice, that this food is not even spicy for them. It's spicy for me, but not for them."

My dad did a good job at planning our trip. He was usually able to fit a cultural activity in the morning and leave time for us to also have fun in the afternoon in the pool. Also, a giant lizard snuck up on me!