Change in Thai

Here are some facts about Thailand which you may or may not have heard in The Hangover Part II. The king of Thailand, Bhumibol Adulyadej, has reigned since 1946, making him the the world's longest-serving head of state. Posters of the King can been seen throughout the country. Thailand is a deeply spiritual country with 95% of its population belonging to the Theravada branch of Buddhism, hence there are temples everywhere. Thai people also love elephants and energy drinks. Their main sport is Muai Thai Boxing, a martial art style of fighting in which fighters attack with their knees and elbows. For a better understanding of this and Thai culture I strongly recommend watching the movie “Ong-Bak.” 

Thailand is also very accepting of trans-sexuals, commonly referred to as lady boys. The lady boys can be seen all over town and have established themselves as part of Bangkok’s culture. The currency used in Thailand is called Baht. Roughly 30 Baht equals 1 dollar. Switching from Yuan to Baht was a rough CHANGE because the Baht uses so many coins. Using the metro would be particularly aggravating because you got all your change back in coins. Perhaps the largest perk of being a lady boy, is having a purse.  

The next day in Bangkok, we transferred hostels to one located more downtown. There was heavy traffic, so our 25 miles of travel turned into an hour and a half long roaster in the back seats. After dropping our bags off in the hostel, we hoped on the metro to go check out the weekend market. The market was enormous, crammed with about 1,500 stalls. The bargaining wasn’t quite what it was in Xi’an, but I left happy with a pair of Thai boxing shorts.

That night John called it a day due to his jet leg, while Kassy, Thomas, and I decided to check out a place called Polo’s chicken that Thomas had read about in his travel manual. The manual said the restaurant was only a 30 minute walk from where we were, but a little difficult to find. The chicken run became a goose chase. Finally, we gave up and started walking back to our hostel. We made it halfway when we decided to double check the restaurant’s location with the staff outside of a Muai Thai stadium. They said we had turned back a minute too soon, and that Polo’s was just a little bit further on the right. It was 9:30 and the restaurant was only open until 10:00. With a wave of new energy, we ran with the taste of fried chicken almost palpable in our mouths. About 20 minutes later we arrive outside the front doors to watch them flip the open sign to close. Woe is me, missing out on Polo’s.

The next day, we hoped a casino shuttle bus to Poi Pet, the Cambodian border.