Bangkok

Last weekend (July 23), myself and five other Phnom Penh-ers descended into Bangkok, Thailand for a long weekend. I wouldn't have selected Bangkok for a Thai experience, but our friend’s father works at Holiday Inn and managed to get us 2 rooms at a 5 star hotel at $60/night. So we discretely jammed more persons than allowed into the rooms and embarked on a strange weekend of luxury.

Our really nice room!

I’ve been uncomfortable for much of my stay in Phnom Penh precisely because my wealth and privilege is so apparent. I regularly eat at nice places where meals cost $4 instead of 4000 reales (less than a dollar), and turn on my air conditioning most nights to sleep while others opt for outdoor mosquito-netted hammocks rather than their homes. Bangkok, though, brings this disparity to a whole new level. Luxury isn’t the strange occurrence—it’s the strived-for rule, or at least that’s what the skyscraper buildings, $20 movie theatres, VIP clubs, and designer malls would have you believe. Of course, the fact that we were staying at the Intercontinental Hotel in the most expensive area of the city didn’t downplay that reality at all.












Remember the May protests in Bangkok? Our hotel overlooked the remains of the Zen store at the foot of the Central Shopping Mall.


The first night we slept for 11 hours. Can you believe it?? I slept for 11 hours! It’s incredible how light-canceling shades and being 30 floors removed from fried-egg sellers can calm your subconscious. I don’t think I’ve had a moment of happiness in months greater than when I discovered it was 11 a.m.! That night we went to dinner/drinks on the semi-sketchy, mostly-fun tourist/backpacker road (Khaosan). Very fun, relatively inexpensive, and not opulent at all.

The final night, to celebrate a friend’s completion of her internship, we ended up at a high security club where flip-flops were banned (a 24 hour shoe rental store was conveniently next door) and my flats were VERY much looked-down-upon. This was where the young Thai elites hang out, and I felt 100% uncomfortable. It's was a strange discomfort, because I enjoy the occasional ritzy-night out in the States. I guess when you’re in a region where the poverty is so apparent, the guilt is inescapable. I could not even afford the drinks there, but a friend who is significantly looser with her money insisted on purchasing them, thereby binding me into staying. Extravagent displays of wealth are certainly lauded in the U.S., but they are also scorned (think Paris Hilton). Here, however, I feel that the tempering scorn is lacking mostly because the desire for material wealth, basic or exorbitant, is so great.

Bangkok’s traffic was crazy, the airport was cram-packed, and I was so unexpectedly happy to return to Phnom Penh, with its utter lack of skyline or 5 star anything!

On another note, the Royal Palace was AMAZING—a more bejeweled Angkor! Speaking of opulence, I’ve never seen more gold or precious stones in one place in my life.