So first of all, I'm employed.

I landed a gig at a state school of Thailand. The thing I like most about it is that it's in a nice area of town - still on the MRT/Skytrain, but also cheap rent. The fun with that starts at the end of April, so I have some much needed time off until then.

The problem is I'm kind of limited in that fun. First of all, my passport is out of pages (#firstworldproblems). Well, aside from the ones I'm going to need for my work visa. I could go to the embassy to get more, but its like $90 for some stupid pieces of paper. Also my passport expires next year, and a renewal is $120. So, I might as well just renew it. Except that takes 4-6 weeks. Definitely getting the extra pages one this time.

The other thing is that Songkran is coming up. Songkran is basically the Thai version of Chinese New Year, where everyone in the country tries to get somewhere they're not. As a result, travel is quite limited during that time. Also, everyone shoots/throws water everywhere. It's kind of their thing. 7-11 has started to sell water pistols and water proof bags. I have heard foreigners specifically get targeted, because screw you. I'm actually quite excited about a city-wide water gun fight. It'll be fun to walk around being armed.

For my most recent outing though, I went to finish Ayutthaya, with the same friend I went to Nong Nooch with. Kinaree was nice enough to show me around and use her Thai skills to save us from dying. Learning from my previous mistake, we rented a motor scooter. The first stop was Chantharkasem Palace. It was a palace. It had old statues. Not much else to say.

The next stop was to visit some more elephants. There was supposedly a place a little out of town called the Elephant Kraal Pavilion with tons of them. It was hard as hell to find, after backtracking 3 times and asking multiple people. But eventually we prevailed, to find the most un-organized park ever. We drove around for a while, trying to find any sort of visitors center, or place to park, as it was not marked in any way. Finally we found some cars, so we stopped next to them. Then some guy came out and said this is employee parking only, so we have to leave. Okay... so he pointed us in another area. We went over there and parked. Some shop keeper came out and yelled at us, that we're blocking whatever. Well make up your godamned mind. He said we could go park over by this elephant pen. FINE. So I move the bike over there, and start to meet the elephants. These guys were super friendly, and quite curious. Eventually some Brit came over, and told us we were too close to the elephants and to step back. Well then why the hell did you tell me to park NEXT TO THE ELEPHANTS?! So I commented on how disorganized this entire place is, which he conceded. After he recommend we check out the babies, so we did. Then they offered us baskets of food for 50 baht. I only had 100, and they were not willing to give me change. "Ah, 50s are hard to come by. But you can apply for a photographers license for 50 as well, so that'll be 100 total." At the time, I think "Why would I apply for a license? Will they mail it to me or something?", but I realize now this is their way of getting money. I don't really get this Thai photo license thing. Around many sites in Thailand, they charge you extra if you want to take photos. I refuse to pay this. Either charge admission or not, but I'm not going to pay just to save what I already see. Anyway, since they wouldn't break my 100 we just decided to leave. On the way out some other Brit said to us "You guys are fucking assholes, you come here to see our elephants and don't even put $2 in the donation box."

Well first of all, if it's a donation box, I don't think you know what the word donation means. Also, your camp is run like a disorganized mess. If you would just put up a sign and charge 100 baht to get in, I'd be happy to pay it. But you already pissed me off making me move my bike twice, and then scolding me for parking where you said to park. And cursing at your visitors is a great PR move. So, avoid the Elephant Kraal Pavilion in Ayutthaya. The owners are assholes who don't know what they're doing.

The next stop is something that historically is very important, but I had ulterior motives. Being a giant nerd, I like Street Fighter II. There's this big reclining buddha that's Sagat's stage. I was being a full posing for Sho Ryu Kens and whatnot, and I didn't think anyone got it. Until one Thai guy who sold trinkets there finally laughed and said "Ohhh, Hadouken!" So thank god SOMEONE got it.

At this time I was dying of hunger, and fortunately there was a market next to Wat Phra Si Sanphet. There's a big buddha inside. Who cares. The ruins outside were more interesting. There was also this stray dog puppy who take to following us around after I gave him some water. He was pretty adorable, and followed us with great difficulty up the steep stairs, and back down. After a walk around a bunch of stone structures four times older than my country, and a drive to a park to relax by a lake, the last stop was Wat Rat Praditthan. No buddha this time, it's actually the burial site of some king. They had stairs going down, down, way down. I don't know if they were meant for tourists, but I felt like Indiana Jones climbing down into this 1000 some year old crypt. When we got to the bottom, we found some trash from some homeless person maybe, and a door to the crypt itself. Of course, sealed shut. But still felt awesome to be there.

And that was the end of the day in Ayutthaya. I'm glad I "finished" the city now. It's a fun time, but I think you need an early start or 2 days to hit all the stuff. Now I need to plan my next excursion.

So, as I did when I arrived in Taiwan (read that entry here), this is a random collection of thoughts and observations during my first month-ish in Bangkok.

• Random things are more expensive here, but on the whole everything is about 10-15% less than in Taiwan. Fortunately, 30 Taiwan dollars equals 31 Thai Baht, so the conversion is no issue for me. But, there are some exceptions like...

• Fast food. I don't know why, but fast food is stupidly expensive. Actually, any proper restaurant is a bit more pricey than its Taiwanese counterpart. Maybe 30% or so. Unlike the rest of Asia, KFC and Subway are the cheapest, and McDonalds is the most expensive. A Big Mac combo is nearly twice what it costs in Taiwan!

• Public transportation. The metro system is about 20% more expensive than Taiwan's. There are a wide variety of systems available - the Skytrain, MRT, river boat, canal boat, airport link, and bus rapid transit. They all are not integrated and each have their own fare system. Cause it makes sense to build two identical stations next to each other.

• Buses cost nothing (8 baht), but the system makes no sense at all. It's just a number without any listing of origin and destination. Also, buses of the same number but of different color will take slightly different routes. Thais just call a number and ask an operator which to take. Or you could maybe not pay an army of people to stand by the phone and have the system not be retarded?

• But, taxis are about half as much as Taiwan's. Bike taxis are even less. Tuk tuks are always more expensive because they're assholes.

• The intercity trains are hilariously cheap. It's 20 baht to a city an hour and a half to the north. For comparison, going one station on the subway is like 16 baht. I don't know how they stay in business. Maybe because their trains are super old and crappy. But hey, they bring you where you need to go, albeit with frequent delays.

• Internet. 1.5GB/mo of 3G is 400 baht a month - less than half of Taiwan's, and America... please. Get your shit together. Outside Bangkok the coverage is a bit spotty, though. After you use the 1.5GB, you still have unlimited internet, just at Edge network speeds.

• Bangkok is dirty. It's pretty much on par with China. After seeing places like Japan and Taiwan, it makes you appreciate how clean those places are. It is nowhere near as bad as Manila. I wanted to burn my shoes after walking around there for a day.

• People are more relaxed, less hard working here. It's nice that people don't work themselves to death like in China and Taiwan. They have a much more leisurely "when it's done it's done" kind of attitude.

• That being said, I hate walking in Thai crowds. It is the most infuriating thing imaginable. They don't walk anywhere with conviction, they just kind of wander. Slowly. It's like an entire country on ADD, they will just stop suddenly, in the middle of the walkway, to look at something that catches their eye. And they will block escalators by standing wherever they want, because screw you, "person in a hurry."

• Almost all food here is spicy. I'm getting used to it. But c'mon guys, there's also sweet, sour, savory... you're really only focusing on one part of the flavor spectrum here. Though I understand why you go for spicy, because it's not like you get a chance to sweat in 40 degree heat all day.

• Speaking of which, an exception is ice cream. They love ice cream. Maybe it's because of ALL THE SPICY FOOD?!

• They dig foreigners more than Taiwan, but less than China. You're not a rockstar, just a minor celebrity.

• Which, there are a lot of foreigners. Like, a stupid amount. I like this country and all, but the fact that like 1/5 people aren't from here is kind of weird. And I feel it really hurts Thailand, culturally. In order to appeal to them they kind of lose their identity.

• ...but they will still use that to cheat you. Having a white face means the price of things suddenly jumps. Maybe a little. Maybe a lot. They seem to have no shame in doing it. Unlike other places, when you prove you're not a dumb tourist and cite the correct rate, they will give up and say "Alright alright, fine." Here, it's more like "No, you're a white person. Of course you pay the premium... duh?" In general you have to try more than one before you get a fair deal.

• Which, speaking as someone looking for a job, there are a lot of jobs out there preying on desperate foreigners passing through. Poverty level wages for a work visa. It's a bit disgusting. Even more so that people will take them.

• There are a lot of 7-11s in Bangkok, thank god. But they don't have seats like in other countries! Lame. Where else are you supposed to hang out at 2am?

• Outside of Bangkok, stuff gets really rural really fast. I don't really know of the reasons why, but if you're an hour from the city you basically live with pigs and sheep. Which is why jobs outside of the city aren't even on my radar.

That being said, this is a great city. If I end up staying here, I hope to get the time to enjoy it. And if I end up moving on, I'll be sure to give travelling around a shot before I end up in who-knows-where.