Thumbs up or down for Bang Rak?

Bangkok, Day 38

In the words of Victor Meldrew, "I don't believe it". Yes dear readers, it would seem that news of R's 'thumb incident' has reached the upper echelons of Bangkok and they have been so engaged with it all, that they have created a golden sculpture to remind everyone of this tragic event and the bravery of R. Such is the outpouring and concern around the whole episode, that they have even had to provide 24hr security to protect it against the hoards of well wishers and fans. It just goes to show.....what a meal R has made out of this teensy weensy incident....

The 'thumb' was one of the first things we came across on today's exploration, which was to cover the area to the North of the Saint Louis BTS station in the Bang Rak area. Not long after this, we came across a busy market area, though a lot of it looked like it was in the process of closing up for the day, especially for the 'wet market' items, which had empty stalls and people hosing down and cleaning their stall areas. Many of the street market stalls were still in full swing, selling various fruits, vegetables and flowers.

Sri Maha Mariamman Temple (Wat Khaek)

Before long we came across the Sri Maha Mariamman Temple. This is a South Indian architecture style Hindu temple on Si Lom Road in Bangkok. It was built in 1879 by Vaithi Padayatchi, a Tamil Hindu immigrant. It is the main Tamil Hindu temple in Thailand and is located in the Bang Rak District of Bangkok at the corner of Silom Road and Pan Road, a narrower road where several kiosks sell saffron-coloured marigold flower garlands for worshippers.

Following India becoming a colony of the British Empire in 1858 many from the southern state of Tamil Nadu preferred to leave their country than live under colonial rule. One such group of Indians came to Bangkok, many as traders of gemstones or cattle ranchers. A leader of this group of Indians was Vaithi Padayatchi who built this temple about a decade after they arrived. It is the oldest and most important such temple in Thailand.

The temple's facade is in a strikingly florid style of a riot of different colours with carved images of various gods and goddesses in different shapes and sizes. At the entrance to the temple, there is a gopura or tower 6 metres in height and covered with many carved images of deities. The main shrine of the temple complex is a dome with a covering of a gilded copper plate. Within the premises of the temple complex, there are three shrines dedicated to Ganesh, Kartik and the main shrine of Sri Maha Mariamman.

Stalls near the temple sell flowers, garlands, coconuts, and incense to be used in worship, as Mariamman Temple is an important landmark for the Bangkok Tamil Hindu community, as well as a large number of Thai people. It is said that 85% of the Thais visit the temple, many believing that Hinduism is not a separate religion but a branch of Buddhism.

It was stunning but no photos were allowed to be taken inside, so you will just need to take my word for it that it was absolutely beautiful. It was also very busy, with many people visiting and making offerings to the various deities, so we did not hang about too long as I didn't want to get in the way of people who were there for worshipping purposes.

Next R took us on some wild goose chase to find another one of his 'must eat' places, which when we eventually got to the location, discovered that it was closed - nice one R!

Jewellery Trade Centre

Onwards and upwards as they say, so the next place we found ourselves in was the Bangkok Fashion Outlet - ok, you can stop laughing - we weren't there for fashion tips - no we needed to get out of the heat (34oC but feeling like 37oC according to my phone app!). But this place was really strange because whilst there did appear to be some clothes shops or areas, the outlet was actually in a Jewellery Trade Centre.

The Jewelry Trade Centre (JTC) is Thailand’s leading trade premises for diamonds, gems and assorted jewellery. It comprises over 180,000 square meters of retail, office and residential space, constructed upon 4.5 acres of land in Bangkok’s thriving Central Business District.

JTC is regarded as one of the most important trading hubs for the supply of gems and other jewellery to the international market, playing host to more than 300 leading retailers and 1500 wholesalers.

This place made the Argyle Arcade look like a very small fish in a big ocean. Again, we'd never come across anything like it before - it was floors full of jewellery stalls with various types and colours of stones, with different sizes, cuts and polishes, etc., but no prices anywhere to be seen....

Food Story

Luckily for us, the Jewellery/Fashion outlet had a Food Story Food Court in the basement and we both managed to get a very good lunch (vegetable Pad Thai for me and a pork, veg and rice noodle dish for R) with a coconut ice cream dessert to share for a grand total of £4.21! I must admit that I did love the slogan on their plates, it sort of summed us up perfectly "Life is all about exploring good food" - yip that's us!

After this, we walked about for a little longer but the heat was really intense and getting to us both a little and added to that, there was not an awful lot of other interesting things in the area (we'd already covered the King Power Mahanakhon), so we made our way back home and stopped into the Tops grocery store on the way to buy a few supplies and dinner (battered snakehead fish and rice - not that great!) for that evening.

After getting back to the apartment and seeing to Neko, I went for a swim and my darling daughter later had the cheek to comment "not the dogs on display" when I sent her a photo... I'm guessing she was referring to my legs as 'hot dogs'... bet she wouldn't have said that before getting her Christmas pressies....the little madame! I think I'll trade her in for Neko....

So it's actually New Years Eve right now in Bangkok and I'm not sure if I will even manage to see the bells in as I have come down with some sort of cold bug - more on this on a future blog, but in the meantime, we wish all our family and friends a FABULOUS night and hope 2025 will be a great year for you all.

Best wishes,

L & R (& Neko the cat!)

Bangkok, Thailand

27 December 2024