Bangkok and Pattaya (8-15)

Sunday evening I arrived in Bangkok. It was good to arrive and know my way around for a change. I stayed at a hotel I had used in the past. When I arrived, it was really nice to be able to speak English for the whole registration process. And I enjoyed walking around the neighborhood, becoming familiar with things Thai again.

I had a Facebook message from Khun Yindee telling me that Khun Toy and Khun Dakom were in Bangkok. So I sent a message and learned from Khun Dakom that they were in Bangkok for the funeral and cremation of Khun Toy’s older brother on Monday. After I bought a SIM card Monday morning, I called and arranged to meet them Tthe wat was off Sukhumvit, as was my hotel; so it was easy to get there. When I walked down the street to the wat and asked for directions to make sure I hadn’t missed it on a side street, the man asked if I was in a hurry. I said I was a little because my friends were waiting for me. Then he had his wife drive me there, which took several minutes. It was so nice of them to assist me.

When I arrived, Khun Dakom and Khun Toy greeted me with big hugs. It was wonderful to be with them again. After the ceremony, the extended family decided to go to Pattaya for the night, and I was told that they all agreed that I should join them. So off I went on a surprise trip to Pattaya. (This is called Thai-napping, a version of kidnapping.) There were sixteen people staying at the house that night. Blankets were put on floors for us to sleep on. We all went to a seafood restaurant on the shore for dinner. 

It was delicious. 

After the meal began, they honored Khun Toy for the Thai Mother’s Day/the queen’s birthday, pinning flowers on her blouse. When it was time for dessert, they brought in a large cake from Swenson’s. It was so nice to be among these people—my friends and their relatives—again. I could feel the love among them. And they do smile and laugh a lot. I hadn’t realized how much I miss that in China.

Tuesday morning we went to the beach for breakfast. 

We sat on beach chairs under umbrellas and ate more seafood and other foods. Then we relaxed on the beach for an hour before heading our different ways. They took me to the bus station to return to Bangkok, and everyone else returned to Isaan. It was a lovely way to spend two days. Much nicer than hanging out at the hotel in the city.

Wednesday I went to the China embassy to apply for a new visa so I can return as a tourist. I’d read that applying in Bangkok is challenging. It was. I waited 3.5 hours to go to the window to submit my application. The woman looked at what I had and gave me a list of what I needed. I knew I had to have a hotel reservation, and I knew Amanda had made one for a few days; so that’s what I did. However, here they would not accept that and I had to have reservations for the whole 30 days. It’s a matter of making reservations that can be cancelled and then cancelling them after receiving a visa. It’s a nuisance. Surely they know that this is what people do. I knew I had to have a plane reservation; so I made one to Chengdu. But I didn’t have a return flight, which was required. I also needed to provide a bank statement showing I have enough money. When I left, I decided to go to a local travel agency and request a ticket that I could cancel. The man immediately asked if I needed it for the China embassy and said he would charge 500 bahts/$17. I quickly realized that he was talking about a fake ticket. Since cancelling a reservation would cost 2000 bahts, that sounded good.

So on Thursday I returned to the embassy with my set of documents. My wait to get to the window was only 2.5 hours. The woman looked at the list of needed documents and then went through my documents and application. Then she told me I can stay for 30 days and I could pick up my passport on Tuesday. I left feeling good but later realized that perhaps this was only approval of the application and didn’t mean I would definitely get a visa and remained a little apprehensive about my fake flight reservation and my denial of a previous China visa. I have one in my Peace Corps passport that would be cancelled in early September, but I don’t have one in my personal passport. Since this is difficult to explain without personal contact, I decided not to mention it.

Going through this process reminded me of a few people I have met who had similar challenges applying for a visa to the U.S. I remember a woman in Romania who had been invited by a minister. On her first trip to the embassy she was sent home with a long list of documents they required. When she returned a couple weeks later, the man didn’t even look at her documents and gave her a visa. The China visa fee for Americans is four times that of citizens of other countries. I read that this is because the U.S. visa fee for Chinese is $140; so they charge Americans the same fee to enter China. That seems like a reasonable response to the high U.S. visa fee.

I spent the rest of the afternoon shopping. On the way to the mall I passed a special exhibit about the traditional Thai khon performances which tell the Ramakien story and in which everyone wears masks. This is one of the queen’s special projects related to Thai traditional culture. Each year they perform a different part of the story. 

The exhibit had masks for all the characters and some costumes used for the performances.

For shopping I went to the Thai crafts floor at one of the shopping centers that I have enjoyed in the past. I wanted to get some small gifts for my Chinese friends. In the process I also bought a Thai silk blouse for myself. Thai silk is just too beautiful to resist. On the street I bought some pants that actually reach my shoes, which none of my other pants do.

Readjusting to Thailand was interesting. I spent most of Monday trying to remember a little Thai language. It was a struggle. I would think of something I wanted to say and then I’d remember the Chinese. Sometimes the Turkish from twenty years ago came back. And then the Thai. The foreign language section of my brain was certainly muddled. It took all day to remember the numbers to ten. Hanging out with the family and listening to them chat helped me remember some of the basic Thai I used to know. I’d hear words and remember them. The rest of the week I wavered between Chinese and Thai when asking prices and thanking people.

Another adjustment was the money. The exchange rate in Thailand is 30 bahts to a dollar while in China it is 6 RMB to a dollar. So prices seemed really high because the numbers here are higher. Something that is 150 bahts is only 30 RMB or $5. But sometimes I would react to the big numbers first; then I had to think and remember where I am and what currency I am using.

Things I have enjoyed in Thailand:

The abundance of delicious, fresh fruit everywhere

The high level of English at the hotel reception desk. It’s so nice to be able to speak in English and be understood and responded to. (Yes, it would be nice if my Chinese and Thai language skills were better, but they aren’t. I do the best I can, but it is minimal.)

The friendly people. Somehow they do seem friendlier than most Chinese people.

Cars that stop for pedestrians. When cars are turning right on red, they stop for pedestrians crossing the street. When streets are crowded and traffic is moving slowly, they stop and wait for people to cross in front of them.

Lack of constant honking

High speed Internet that is really fast

Things I have missed:

Trash cans. I would walk around carrying an empty cup looking for a trash can to put it in. Then I would remember that I was in Thailand where they are scarce. In China, there are frequent trash cans in public places.