The Pink shirt

The king wore si shampoo ( a pink shirt) to visit his sister in the hospital a few days ago and all of sudden everyone has to have a pink shirt ( including me). I decided to visit Victory Monument to-night since I had passed it a number of times but never really explored the area. The good news is that I bought a brand new pink shirt with the king's logo making me look like every other Thai ( sort of) but the bad news is that I lost my red Canadian shirt that I was wearing that Eva gave me before I left ( sorry Eva if you are reading this).

As I was walking around Victory circle and seeing all the shops and bustling people going home, I happened to ask two people in front of me what the flashing lights were on the building. The girl ( a dental student) told me it was to celebrate the king's birthday next week. I started talking with them ( the mother manages the mall at Victory Plaza) and before you could say 'copkunkup', I was in their car seeing the night lights of Bangkok.

This has been so typical of my experiences in Thailand. The people are genuinely warm, caring and friendly and the term sanuk or joy really applies to them. As you can see in the pictures, they took me to all of the major hot spots in Bangkok...the Grand Palace, the king's palace, the key wats, Ratchadampern road all lit up for the birthday and so on. Not only that, the mother stopped the car right in traffic and insisted I get out and take pictures. In Toronto or certainly New York, you would hear horns blaring. In Bangkok, cars simply go around the immovable object which is so Thai. Getting upset is a sign of weakness.

When I asked them about what is going to happen after the king passes away ( it is his 80th birthday we are celebrating on the 5th) they simply refused to discuss it and I have found this with all Thais I ask that question to. There are two things you do not discuss with a Thai, the king or Buddhism.

Needless to say, I am really looking forward to December 5. There will be celebrations everyone and if I can get Sylvia out of bed...she arrives in the early morning hours of the 5th, we should have a great time.

Hopefully, we will also get a chance to meet up with Ead and Aim. After all, I have to get my red shirt back which I assume I left in their car!