Even though I did not have enough free time to move around, I stayed in Bangkok for five days and had a little free time, which lets me know the reality of Thailand.
Because I had little knowledge about Thailand, such as an Asian and hot country, spicy foods, and the existence of some famous temples, I did not understand how Thai live in their daily lives. This stay encourages me to enhance my interests in different cultures, and also, I hope to work with colleagues from different countries to go ahead with projects I will attend.
Here are the details I felt during this stay.
Contents
Roads
•I knew it from books and the Internet, but I find the number of bikes surprising. Also, because some local people ask me to ride the back seat of their bikes, even though I need not use this service, this type of service is new to me.
•There are a lot of stores outside along with the road, which is different from the stores in Tokyo, Japan.
•Whether the road is crowded or not really depends on the time (Evening, especially from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. often have some traffic jams.) and events in Bangkok.
Using English
•Most Thai understand at least English basic words, which doesn’t make it difficult to stay for a few days.
•However, in some places as in the taxi, I met some local people who can understand very limited words, so that you need to use easier words.
•I realized and some people warned me when I need to use a taxi, but in reality, the taxi services I utilized were not bad.
Measures against COVID-19
•Even in such hot weather, people usually wear masks or face shields
•In most stores in Bangkok, there are machines for sanitizing your hand.
•In some famous places where lots of tourists go, workers who go on patrol around them sometimes warned foreign tourists to wear their masks properly and urged them to sanitize their hands when they go the bathroom.
Cafe Amazon
•Personally, I am curious about this place because I knew this cafe’s name when I visited Kawauchi Village, Fukushima, Japan.
•The concept of this café is nature and green, whose scenery is the same as the Japanese one in Fukushima.
•A bottle of coffee is cheaper and bigger than a Japanese one (฿55.0 – a bottle of cafe latte)
•Not full, but many people in there even in the morning (Japanese cafes usually are busy from afternoon even in Tokyo)
Three notable temples
Wat Pho
•From my perspective, the reclining Buddha in Wat Pho is really noted that I want to visit this buddha when I can visit Thailand, which comes true during this stay.
•Because I have seen the reclining buddha only in several books, I did not know the real size of the buddha. Thus, I was really surprised by how huge it is.
Wat Arun
•When we went from Wat Pho to Wat Arun, we made use of the ferry. But, due to a lack of researching basic information, we could not find the formal ferry. In reality, we rode a small boat with some difficulties in riding and getting off.
•It was really sunny and hot during my stay in Wat Arun, so I felt tired and wanted to stop walking around this temple. However, around the buildings in Wat Arun, the presence of the sounds of wind bells relieved me a lot, which encouraged me to enjoy this visit. In the past, I did not understand why people tend to think the sounds of wind bells refreshing, but it showed me the importance of intermittent sounds.
Wat Phra Kaew
•We understood how to get to Wat Phra Kaew because a lot of signboards lead us to reach it. However, it was a really long way and hard to get to. I recommend you visit it in the early morning.
•Due to hot weather, I did not look at the buildings in detail. On the other hand, I clearly remember that we visited the small coffee house and took coffee frappe, which stimulated us to come back to the hotel where we stayed. I really appreciated the existence of this café and frappe.
