More from Bangkok

Photos

All of the photos from Krabi & Khao Lak are HERE.

The first photos from Bangkok are HERE.

Wednesday 23rd May 2007: Bangkok – Slum City

Today was a day that I didn’t really enjoy because we had a visit to some of Bangkok’s numerous slums. We visited the Duang Prateep Foundation which is a Non-Governmental Organisation that aims to improve the lives of the people that live in the slums including providing kindergarten services, English language education, providing library and computer services, elderly help as well as providing disaster relief. The organisation helped with the 2004 Tsunami relief effort in the same way TVC did. We had a tour around the slum area, which was at times quite disturbing because it brought it home that people actually lived in a place like this. I felt very uncomfortable whilst on the tour of the slums because I felt that I was invading their personal space and that I had no right to be there. After the tour the foundation provided us with lunch of Chicken Rice.
In the afternoon we were meant to be having a lecture at the Chulalongkorn University however, this had to be cancelled because the lecturer’s baby was sick. So, this meant that we had the afternoon off and we took this opportunity to have an explore of the MBK Mega Mall, where I excitingly bought nothing. Then after this we went to ‘A&W’s’, which is an American Fast Food Restaurant (not my choice).

Thursday 24th May 2007: Khao San Road & Feeling Ill

This day was originally meant to split into two halves, with the morning being a visit to the Khao San Road Backpacker’s Enclave. This was a trip to have a look at the farang (foreigner) landscapes of the tourists. It was actually quite interesting having a look at a backpacker’s area wearing the hat of an academic instead of being a tourist. When you look at the landscape in fine detail you notice much more than you would ordinarily.

After we had finished with the tasks we had to do at Khao San we made our way to the China Town area of Bangkok to take some photos for our Bangkok project. At 4PM we were meant to meet Dr. Carl to have a lecture all about the Monument Landscape of Bangkok. However, I suddenly started to feel very early (well actually I had been feeling quite ill all day) but then all of a sudden I became very ill), so I had to go back to the hostel and rest. I won’t go into the details of how ill I was but I was. (I am feeling better now).

Stayed Tuned for more as I start my Bangkok Project