Things that make you look twice
Any big city has its peculiarities and Bangkok is no exception. From elephants waddling down major roads to motorcycles with four adults slicing through traffic, this city has its fair share of odd but regular occurrences. Following are recent things that have made me look twice, laugh or otherwise scratch my head!
1. In a country that is 90% Buddhist, the site of a Catholic Nun walking down a major road pulling a moderate sized suitcase caught my eye. Not sure if she was off on holiday or fleeing a lonely priest.
2. The site of a person digging through trash bins is, sadly, a familiar site in most major cities. Thankfully, here in Bkk, that scenario isn’t usually someone digging for food scraps, rather, they are digging for recyclables that are then sold for money. Hence, the site of a man digging through a bin the other day didn’t strike me as odd until I realised he was wearing women’s shoes … with at least 4 inch heels!
3. While it’s common to see a pick-up truck with loads of people riding in the back, this practice is illegal on the expressways / motorways, even if the back of the truck is covered. One evening Kay and I pulled up to the toll booth behind a pick-up truck with a cover … and we saw a few faces hiding in there. So did the police that were standing by and they promptly approached the truck, asked the driver to get out and open the back of the truck. To our amazement, six adults (four elderly!) and two kids piled out of the back of that truck … and they then, somehow, all squeezed into the cab of the truck. Ok, it was an extended cab but there’s no way that cab had seats for all those people! Which begs the question, what is more dangerous, an overcrowded cab or allowing people to ride in the back of a covered truck? Hmmm!
1. In a country that is 90% Buddhist, the site of a Catholic Nun walking down a major road pulling a moderate sized suitcase caught my eye. Not sure if she was off on holiday or fleeing a lonely priest.
2. The site of a person digging through trash bins is, sadly, a familiar site in most major cities. Thankfully, here in Bkk, that scenario isn’t usually someone digging for food scraps, rather, they are digging for recyclables that are then sold for money. Hence, the site of a man digging through a bin the other day didn’t strike me as odd until I realised he was wearing women’s shoes … with at least 4 inch heels!
3. While it’s common to see a pick-up truck with loads of people riding in the back, this practice is illegal on the expressways / motorways, even if the back of the truck is covered. One evening Kay and I pulled up to the toll booth behind a pick-up truck with a cover … and we saw a few faces hiding in there. So did the police that were standing by and they promptly approached the truck, asked the driver to get out and open the back of the truck. To our amazement, six adults (four elderly!) and two kids piled out of the back of that truck … and they then, somehow, all squeezed into the cab of the truck. Ok, it was an extended cab but there’s no way that cab had seats for all those people! Which begs the question, what is more dangerous, an overcrowded cab or allowing people to ride in the back of a covered truck? Hmmm!
posted by Anonymous @ 23:52
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