By the way, Tuesday nights are movie night at Nick's house, and this time we watched Kind Hearts and Coronets, a marvelously wicked black comedy about a man, a shirt-tail relative to nobility, who devises a plot to murder several noblemen (all played by Alec Guinness) in order to inherit the dukedom in revenge for the way they cut off his mother from the family because she dared marry beneath her status. In a cool and refined manner, the man plays the consummate bullshit artist in his scheme to wheedle his way into the lives of these heirs and heiresses. It's a combination of Oscar Wilde style humor with film noir, poking fun at Edwardian upper-crustiness. Definitely worth a gander.
Anyway, back to my Thailand trip.
Sunday March 2, 2008
I slept like a baby in Harry and Ann's guest bed. In the morning we had some simple breakfast and chatted a while. My plan that day was to visit the Protestant Cemetery and the Chatuchak Weekend Market.
I hopped on the MRT (Bangkok's subway), which to my delight was letting people in free that day. It was the day after the legislative elections, so it was probable part of an incentive package for voters returning to and from the provinces. (Like in Taiwan, there is no absentee voting in Thailand - people have to return to their registered home districts to vote.) Incidentally, there was a ban on service and sale of alcohol during the election. I noticed the same thing in Mexico and Peru. I wonder what the reasoning behind this is...it seems to be a hallmark of underdeveloped countries that happen to be democracies.
I took the MRT and then the Skytrain to Taksin Bridge, and then walked the 20-minute walk to the cemetery.
It's a fascinating place, which I visited on my previous trip, and I discovered that there were still hundreds of graves I had missed during my last attempt to transcribe and record the data preserved in this historic place. The cemetery is tended, but not manicured, so vegetation grows thick in some parts as the caretaker rotates from section to section in his upkeep work. Adjacent to the cemetery is an old, dilapidated factory building owned by Thailand Tobacco, which lends an additional element of atmosphere to the place. Someone with a real artistic eye would have a field day photographing this place.
This 155-year-old cemetery is a serene place, and in my visits there I have never seen another person who wasn't connected to the caretaker's family. It's definitely off the beaten tourist path.
While I was there, I noticed that the caretaker from the adjacent Jewish Cemetery (which was created in 1997) was there. Though the Protestant Cemetery is open to all in the daytime, the Jewish Cemetery is usually locked, and the caretaker was kind enough to let me in for a look-see.
Prior to the opening of the Jewish Cemetery, Jews in Bangkok were buried in the Protestant Cemetery, mostly in the southern corner.
I went back to the Protestant Cemetery and spend a few more hours exploring. Part of the time I was followed by a vicious-looking dog who kept barking at me, but the caretaker's wife said "Don worreee, he bark, he no bite."
After a while, I decided to check the time. I noticed I'd never make it to the Chatuchak Market in time for a meaningful exploration. So I decided to stay a couple more hours at the cemetery. I'm glad I did because I managed to solve numerous mysteries and correct errors from my previous transcription.
It was getting late, so I returned to Harry's house. He and Ann invited me to visit a friend, Mike, who's taking care of their other cat, and we ate at a nice little Thai place and then spent some time at his house...Mike lives in a three-story house in a lovely, quiet neighborhood, paying the same amount Kitty and I pay for our dinky apartment in Taipei! I think I could live in Bangkok.
