June 8: Largest market in SE Asia! plus a museum and parks

But first, the beautiful breakfast:

I'm very into the red bean flavor, if you haven't noticed. Bean girlie through and through.

THE DOGFATHER

The market included home goods, art, textiles, pets, truly everything you could think to buy in a physical format.

Do not waste all kinds of junk!

It's happened to be a closet! Cheese bun.

I bought this shirt for B :)

note all the things not allowed in this cab, including crazy yaks, weapons, coitus, and durians.

I went to a museum celebrating Thai culture, including icons like the plastic bags they use to carry iced drinks

and this very Thai "bus ticket vending tube". "One of the cleverest designs of all times. Perfect grip. Perfectly designed compartments for various coins. Sharp cover for tearing and marking tickets." And, in my experience, the ticket collector can shake it loudly to get people's attention 😆

I spent a long time playing with a display where you put a big plate with a QR code on the bottom over a hole on a table. The machine reads the QR code from below and displays interesting information about a specific Thai dish!

unclear why mango sticky rice is not on this list ??

pretty park :)

kids playing ping pong in park

I felt this was representative of Thailand: women washing dishes on the sidewalk next to an ornate gold shrine

I liked the kitchen utensils being stored in the fence

another city park!

I liked how this man matched the flowers

a "Democracy Monument" commemorating the 1932 Siamese Revolution, which established Thailand's (mostly symbolic) constitutional monarchy, which was in practice a military dictatorship. The spikes represent the four branches of the Thai armed forces. According to Wikipedia, "Local residents and shopkeepers (mostly Chinese) were evicted from their homes and businesses with 60 days' notice. The widening of Ratchadamnoen Road to create a ceremonial boulevard involved cutting down hundreds of shade trees." :(

A lot of the big roads have monuments for members of the royal family. It's illegal in Thailand to speak against the royal family, and rude even to (accidentally) drop coins because they have the king's visage on them!

pad thaiiiii