Weekly Photo: mis-en-scene

This was taken on the new platform between the Chong Nonsi BTS and Sathorn BRT stations. There was movie-camera stuff all around the place so clearly they were setting up to film a scene. The writing on the little flower booth is all in French, though it's hard to imagine Sathorn standing in for anywhere in France... The boy was running to fetch something, saw me with the camera, and leaped up into the air.

Weekly Photo: river lights

The view downriver from Patravadi Theatre's restaurant/performance space.

Weekly Photo: Treelift

This was taken on my road, a spot I pass on my way to the supermarket or coming home from work. A year and a bit ago it was some kind of nondescript building that I only noticed by its absence, after it had been knocked down. Then for a long time it was walled off from the street, and in the last few months it's been a building site. To my delight, when I walked by the other day, they were planting trees outside the new building (which looks to be some sort of showroom, perhaps, lots of glass). Now there are pretty green rows there, very pleasant to walk past.

Speaking of tree-planting, check out this blog: Plant a Tree - Bangkok. The author plants seedlings in likely-looking spots around the city and posts about the process and the progress of the little treelings. Anyone interested in tree-planting in their own area (and it looks pretty straightforward) can find advice or ask questions there, and it's a nice, calming read, too, with lots of pictures of greenery.

Weekly Photo: Christmas is coming?

Good to see that the new indoor section at Siam Square is ready for Christmas...

Weekly Photo: Spiritcat?

Couldn't resist this cat, sneaking its breakfast from early-morning offerings left out for spirits.

Weekly Photo: Graffiti Mural

As Bangkok's returned to relative normalcy, I'll get back on with walking-blogging, but for now have a photo. An old one, as I was in KL for a large chunk of last week and so everything currently on my camera's memory card is from the wrong city. I pass this wall every day on my songtaew ride to work.

Weekly Photo: PANDA

Graffiti at a construction site on my road

Staying In, Mostly

Well. What on earth is one supposed to do with a walking blog when there's bloody violence on the streets, chunks of town on fire, and an impending curfew? (Or... not? I've been hearing reports of the curfew and reports that it's cancelled in quick succession, over and over). A few weeks ago I was blithely walking down Ratchadamri snapping photos; on Wednesday I went to see Iron Man 2 with a friend and skirted round bamboo stakes and razor wire to get to Scala, only to find it closed and decide that MBK was a far better idea anyway. But even being able to contemplate 'demonstration tourism' seems a thing of the long-ago peaceful past, now. On twitter and facebook the consensus among Bangkokians is: get away from the protest zones if you can, and stay inside. So... I'm not doing much strolling at the moment.

I live on Nang Linchi, close enough to Sathorn, Silom and Sala Daeng to hear the gunfire at night, and the frequent helicopters passing overhead, but just far away enough to still feel safe. It's shocking and heartbreaking to see footage of so many places I know and love full of fire and fighting and black smoke, and if not scary it's worrying to think that my local supermarket and restaurants might have trouble getting fresh deliveries. The supermarket yesterday was as busy as I've ever seen it, almost like Christmas Eve back in UK, with shelves emptying. I nabbed the last two loaves of bread - a couple of French ladies in the queue ahead of me had almost bought out the bakery. This morning I walked to a nearby coffee shop to work, because I thought I'd go mad if I stayed cooped up any longer. Streets eerily quiet, heavy dark sky pressing down, air still and hot.

Also managed to get to a dim sum restaurant (Ho's Kitchen, recommended, btw), by the port near Rama III, for lunch. This was the view:

Back at home now, working fretfully and keeping an eye on news sources. I can't thank the internet gods enough for twitter in this - the news is often upsetting, but I can't imagine how much scarier it would be to not know what's going on. And I'm finding it more reliable than reports on international media, which have disappointed me a few times lately by playing up some aspects of stories, playing down others, and recycling older footage to accompany 'live' reports. At the moment I'm getting most of my updates from @RichardBarrow, @georgebkk, @tulsathit, and @aleithead.

This post counts as my weekly photo, I guess, because I haven't exactly been roaming around looking for interesting new things to post about. But to balance the gloom of the smoking city, here's my mug of hot chocolate from Wawee Coffee this morning, showing Thailand still has some of its proverbial smiles:

Weekly Photo: Khlong with Fish

Evening in the old town, near Sala Chalermkrung theatre.

Weekly Photo: Get Out Of Town

A rainy morning at Wongwien Yai station; the 9:40 train to Mahachai; a breakfast market. The start of an adventure that I'll write up here in full next week. Glorious - but don't take my word for it, get on that train and get out of town for a day.

Weekly Photo: Condom-Lantern

Condom-lantern at Cabbages and Condoms, totally unique Thai restaurant on Sukhumvit soi 12. The decor includes lanterns like this, figures with stylish condom-outfits, and hanging baskets of condom flowers, plus fairy lights and lush trees - the overall effect is quite beautiful and romantic; the sex-positive and queer-positive vibe is warm and fuzzy-making, too (their shop sells posters and postcards depicting various sexual positions between a mix of hetero, gay and lesbian couples, labelled 'OK' 'condom needed' or 'don't swallow' as appropriate), reflecting one of my favourite aspects of this city.

Weekly Photo: Pavement Creature

Seen on Thong Lor - on a bridge over a khlong, a root jutting through the pavement, embellished into a lizard/crocodile sort of beast.

Weekly Photo(s): Ooh-Ahh, Magic Bus

In Old Bangkok, down by a bat-haunted canal, traditional mythology is still alive and gleaming on the side of a tourbus:

...and just down the road, not-so-traditional mythological figures:

Weekly Photo: Street Fish

I stayed at work late the other night and this was the first thing I saw when I came out onto the street. The suspended fish looked like they were floating in the air, maybe making their way home past the stalling traffic as I was, or just starting their night. Sort of moment you could believe you stepped out into a different version of the city than the one you left, one where fish float about their business instead of lying passively on restaurant tables. The three deity-figures looking on from the back of the shop were another nice surreal touch.

Weekly Photo(s): Redshirts!

Well, I finally saw me some protests. Yesterday I was travelling by skytrain from Saphan Taksin to Siam. At Saphan Taksin the platform looked out on a stream of bikes and pick-ups bright with red shirts, red bandanas, red fluttering flags. The riders grinned and waved at the waiting passengers. From of the train window I could see the streets below, the red convoy continuing almost all the way to Siam station. Every time the train stopped and the doors opened we got a blast of honking, cheering and the rattle of plastic clappers. Looking down as we went over Silom and Rama IV roads I saw pedestrians, saw workers from offices and from construction sites waving and clapping from the pavement. The city below the train route was exuberant; it felt surreal and special. Not everyone is welcoming the Redshirts, and there has been negative impact on some businesses (a problem especially for small/independent ones), but this is a far cry from the dangerous situation a lot of English-language sources were predicting. Where it goes from here remains to be seen.


Recommended reporting from bloggers who got closer than I:

Red Shirt Protests: Day 8 from Gavin Gough
Red Shirts in Bangkok: Signs of the Time from womenlearnthai.com (with translations of banner slogans)

On a different note, I'm way slower than I intended in making the walking-journal and walking-guide kind of posts I started this blog for. A combination of factors - life being incredibly busy, those kinds of posts taking longer to create than I'd imagined, and the protests meaning I can't always easily get to the places I want to check out. But I'm working on it, and here's what's coming up:

A khlong-side walk in Rattanakosin
Walking at night (a series of posts)
A peek inside the National Museum

And I'm open to requests, if anyone wants to know my thoughts on walking in a particular part of the city.

Weekly Photo: Taxi tribe

This motley crew was riding atop the taxi next to mine in a traffic jam this evening. The awesome, I have no words for it.

Weekly Photo: Soi 4

Friday night on Silom soi 4, popular gay nightspot.

Weekly Photo: Lumphini Park flashmob

I'll try to do a weekly photo on here - something that speaks for itself...