Travels Revisited: Bangkok, Thailand

Bangkok is the first stop on my 40-day backpacking filming trip around Southeast Asia. Thailand in general is one of my favorite places in Asia so far because it’s a place that will always excite and surprise me. I feel like I’ll never get bored of the place and will always find something interesting. I wish I blogged when I was traveling so I can write in the moment. A year later, my adventures are still fresh in my mind. Revisiting my travels through my photos and videos just make me want to do it all over again.

What I have now is a photologue of my travels. Here are some defining moments of this city when I’m not filming.

 The thai saying “Same same but different” refers to vendors selling stuff at markets.

Thai Tuk Tuks

— KHAOSAN ROAD —

In the last 20 years, Khaosan Road has developed into a world famous “backpacker ghetto”. It has everything travelers/tourists would want such as shopping, good food, cheap accommodation, bars and clubs and travel shops. It’s both a tourist’s haven and a traveler’s hell because travelers opt to avoid commercial touristy places. I like this area because it’s always full of life. It’s a good place to film because there’s always something happening and there’s so many to see (even if they’re pretty much the same). It has this open, fun and exciting vibe that attracts me.  

Muay Thai boxing gym that I found away from the crazy busy area of Khaosan.

Backpacker places range from nice places like this to ridiculously cheap box hotel rooms. Whatever kind of place you want, you’re sure to find it here.

Delicious fresh fruit juices and shakes all day, everyday! Thai street food is so good, cheap and easy. Most of the time, the dishes you get on the street tastes better than the ones you get in restaurants because it’s more authentic. They have more local flavor because they don’t tweak the spiciness for tourists.

— KHAOSAN ROAD NIGHT SCENE —

Partied with our other filmaker friends our 3rd day in Bangkok before we split into teams to film around Asia. Khaosan Road has an assortment of clubs and bars. Because it’s just one strip, it’s easy to bar and club hop.

Awesome buckets of mixed drinks you’ll find everywhere. I find that it’s more fun to drink it on street bars. It’s the perfect drink for sharing and carrying around.

— NANA PLAZA —

NaNa Plaza is one of the red light districts in Thailand. Of course we had to check it out and see the crazy culture this part of the world offers. This plaza has 3-4 floors of bikini bars with all kinds of entertainment. Buildings situated close together enclose this area where things get wild, dirty and weird. The center is taken up by open bars connected to each other and is where we spent most of our time observing the happenings around us.

Bars at the center.

Just had to take a photo with one of the midget waitresses at one of the bars.

— HOW WE FILM —

Because we’re in party central, we do need to get noticed. We are always looking for interesting people who want to be on camera and share their stories and adventures. We needed a gimmick and this is what we did.

— TEMPLES —

No matter what kind of tourist or traveler you are, you are bound to go to at least a couple of temples and see what Thailand has to offer. I’ve been to a couple during our three city tour of the country and I am blown away time and time again by the beauty of these larger than life ornate structures.

Really cute seeing these monks as tourists with their cameras.

Reclining Buddha at the Wat Pho temple.

The highly impressive gold plated reclining Buddha is 46 meters long and 15 meters high, and is designed to illustrate the passing of the Buddha into nirvana. The feet and the eyes are engraved with mother-of-pearl decoration, and the feet also show the 108 auspicious characteristics of the true Buddha. Wat Pho is the birthplace of traditional Thai massage and in 1962 a traditional medicine and massage school was established here. The school is still going strong and you can book massage appointments or apply to study at the school.

To make an offering, you need to deposit your 20 Bhat note and take one of the metal containers with coins. You then have to put one coin per pot til you reach the end of the line.

— FERTILITY TEMPLE —

A friend we met at Khaosan told us to go to this temple if we want to see and film something different in Bangkok. We were surprised by how cool and weird this temple is.

The shrine is named after Chao Mae Tuptim, a pre-Buddhist Southeast Asian tree spirit, who is said to bestow blessings on those who worship her at the shrine. The site attracts women from all across Thailand and other east Asian countries.  A plaque reads: “Chao Mae Tuptim has received yet another rather less conventional kind of gift, phallic in shape, both small and large, stylized and highly realistic. Over the years, they have been brought by the thousands.”Women hoping to get pregnant leave offerings at the spirit house, flanking a 10 feet penis statue draped in cloth, including candles, jasmine, lotus flowers and Chinese incense sticks.

This is all for now. Watch out for my next post about Pattaya in Thailand 🙂