Bangkok not so dangerous

Somebody in bangkok has my passport, and it isn't me.


Scared?
You shouldn't be. It's at the Vietnamese Embassy--located across the street from the U.S Embassy of all places (I wonder how that worked out during the Vietnam War)--where they are processing my visa and I will get it back tmw. at 3pm.

AJ knew of a good place to stay in Bangkok, which was, coincidentally enough, located within walking distance of the two places I had to go to in Bangkok--the Vietnamese Embassy, and the Cathay Pacific ticket office. It's also a block from one of Bangkok's red light districts--Nana Plaza--aka disneyland for every sleazy looking older white guy with a potbelly. The place I'm staying at, though, has a strict "no sex tourists" policy--it's a historical hotel, with a lot of character to it, as well as a bit of a blunt and snarky attitude: you disobey the rules, they kick you out, no ifs, ans, or buts.

Though I'm right by the red light district, the area is actually pretty safe at night--I never once felt threatened or like I was in any sort of danger. You should also note that the red light district is also a block away from a fancy schmancy JW Marriot Hotel, and is pretty near the heart of the central financial district of bangkok.

We crossed the lao thai friendship bridge yesterday, and arrived in Nong Khai, and promptly hired a truck to take us to the airport. I had last been in Udon Thani six years ago on a community service project, and I was able to notice that little things had changed--the tesco parking lot now has awnings over the spaces, there is now a 747 parked at the terminal that is the textbook definition of "rustbucket" as two of its engines are missing, and they have a brand new aircraft terminal.

Drove in from the airport just as the seasonal monsoons were hitting and we were treated to quite the lightning storm--spectacular. AJ had last been in Bangkok as the riots were hitting their climax, and the first thing that she noticed was that the Skytrain was running again (it had been closed during the riots), and how bad the traffic was (people stayed off the streets during the riots).

In other words, June afternoon rains? Check. Skytrain running? Check. Bad traffic in one of the world's notoriously bad traffic cities? Check. Bangkok is definitely back to normal.

Well, kind of. 95% of the city looks like the riots never took place. The other 5% is the Central World Mall. The Central World Mall is one of Asia's largest malls, and a giant landmark. It was also firebombed relentlessly during the riots, and now looks like a burned out hulk, a shell of its former self, with broken/burned glass everywhere, and parts of mall levels collapsing. "Holy shit" was the first thing that I said when I saw it. They are going to have to demolish the mall.
As a point of reference, this mall is right next to some of bangkok's nicest and fanciest hotels, all of which were untouched.

Once I pick up my passport, I'll be heading to Kanchanaburi for at least one, if not two nights, before flying to Vietnam on monday. I haven't yet decided on my return, but I will do that tmw.