Bangkok Normal

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I went into the city yesterday and found Bangkok Dangerous to be more like Bangkok Normal, at least for the afternoon and evening I was there. After the bombings of earlier in the week, there were not quite as many people on the mass transit or in the stores, but the automobile traffic was in normal gridlock. The security people are checking bags more thoroughly.

I had planned on taking the express boat in and to land on the Sathorn pier where Tuesday’s bombing attempt occurred, but I stepped out of the house into the blazing heat and found a taxi right in front of me. So I skipped the walk to the river and took the taxi, riding in air conditioned comfort to the nearest Skytrain station. What’s happening to my sense of adventure?

It was our libertarian meet up night, which takes me out a bit to the east of the city center. I hate crowds, so my usual strategy is to go out there on the Skytrain in mid-afternoon when it’s not as crowded. There is a movie theater within walking distance of our meet up pub, so I passed rush hour in a/c comfort. From the Skytrain I got a good look down at the Erawan shrine where Monday’s bombing occurred, and although there were people there the crowd was much smaller than normal.

My friends all went home before 23:00, so I went to The Rock Pub – Bangkok’s House of Rock. There were only three of us there in the audience for the late band, Jimmy Revolt. The band knows me as a very enthusiastic fan of theirs, and if I’m there they always play “Rock and Roll” by Led Zeppelin. Although this band has its origins in Punk, they are always surprising me with their new covers of old classics, e.g., "Johnny Be Good," "Paint It Black."

After the pub closed, I sat at one of their outdoor tables talking to one of the audience, an interesting guy from Serbia. He has a PhD in music history and did his dissertation on something like “New Wave Rock Music in the Soviet Block,” or similar. Obviously, he doesn’t have a job in the field. Great conversation.

Normal taxi ride home after midnight with very little traffic and, surprisingly, few police checkpoints. Our street still has the trees trimmed with cascades of blue lights from the recent Mothers' Day (Queen's birthday), and at 3AM it looks magical.

-Zenwind.

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