Monday, January 18, 2010

Memories

How would you go about creating a Broadway musical about a chess tournament and still keep it interesting and entertaining? Well, how about filling the principle production number with sexual innuendoes and double entendres like this:



What are they talking about? Well most of it can be found on Patpong Road. It has changed a lot since I was there but while the architecture and layout may have developed, the product and market target are still the same. Apparently now it is a walking arcade but during my visits it was a pair of streets, Patpong I and Patpong II. Whatever you might seek could be found there, but watch out for the Katoi. What you see, regardless of how delicate and beautiful, might not be what you get.



If you conclude that fighting a war from a base about 150 miles north of Bangkok was considerably more interesting than the current combat in a sandbox, you are probably correct.

Yet, if your pursuit of fleshly pleasures didn't ruin your daylight hours, there was much to fascinate in the core of the city. The wats, the stupas, the various large and small Buddhas, the palace, the canals and tiny shops all had a charm and reflected a culture very different than ours:



Yeah, lots of memories in this.

1 comment:

Murphy's Law said...

Someday I will see that city. I've been reading about it for years and it's on my list, if only to be able to say I've been there.