Gauntlet - Episode 6: Mandalay

Mandalay city, Myanmar - July 12-13, 2014 - A one night stop in Mandalay would take us back to Bangkok. The city had an atmosphere that was reminiscent of Phnom Penh five years ago, and a noticeably problematic political situation. I felt my time there to be too short.

At the time we visited there had been rioting, and the city was on a 9pm curfew. Here were the streets of Mandalay at 9pm, ruled only by dogs and military police.

The same intersection at 9am the following morning.

Mandalay has a haunted feel.

Betel nut spit.

The betel nuts themselves, soaked in coffee. Tasty, tangy.

Burmese cinema.

Our hotel. HAUNT-ED.

See the rest of the our Cambodia/Thailand/Burma/Laos trip:
Episode 1: Pailin, Cambodia
Episode 2: Bangkok, Thailand
Episode 3: Mae Sot, Thailand
Episode 4: Yangon, Myanmar
Episode 5: Bagan, Myanmar
Episode 7: Vientiane and Vang Vieng, Laos
Coda: Sihanoukville, Cambodia

Best Kambush Kever

Bangkok city, Thailand - January 22-25, 2014 - I head into Bangkok to surprise my family who think I am still in Cambodia, just in time for the declaration of State of Emergency. The State of Emergency was instituted because of bombings that killed 27 people shortly before, one of many violent events in Thailand leading up to February's election. Life goes on though, and the politics were not intense enough to spoil our reunion.

A cigarette dropped into a pipe.

One of my favourite things about Thailand.

Flowers burn at the flower market.

Silom has been turned into a walking street at the behest of red shirt protesters for weeks now.

The campsite at Silom.

Red shirt gear being sold on the street.

Nightlife in BKK continues unhindered, state of emergency or no.

The remnants of protesters sleep, around 2am.

Forget the ceiling.

Smog.

A Far Too Short Trip to the Big Mango

Bangkok city, Thailand - November 2-5, 2013 - Exams in Bangkok, one of my favourite cities, also means a holiday, and here is the slice of frenetics I managed to photograph.

The first thing any person in their right mind does upon arrival in Bangkok is eat street food.

This is the sourest fruit I've ever eaten, and thus one of my favourites. It's called madan in Thai.

Goong dten. These living shrimps are served in a salad and eaten still jumping around.

Goong dten on the right, and noodle soup on the left. The extreme chili had already killed the shrimps off by now.

At the Rod Fai market, many things are for sale, such as this drugged kitten that couldn't open its eyes.

But it is otherwise an absolute treasure trove.

Old torture devices?

Old Thai school notebook purchased at Rod Fai.

It is a popular place for Thai people to go and is set in an old train station.

Out.

Political rally I encountered in Silom on the Wednesday. These are yellow shirt supporters protesting against the amnesty bill proposed by Yingluck Shinawatra's current government. The bill will allow Thaksin to return to Thailand, as well as exonerate all those guilty of political crimes between 2004 and 2010. http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/local/378452/protesters-warn-fight-against-blanket-amnesty-not-yet-over

If you want to get an idea of the politics happening in Thailand right now, this is a great article: http://www.economist.com/news/asia/21589436-governments-latest-attempt-get-thaksin-shinawatra-back-has-united-almost-everyone-against

Notice how the date on this receipt is 6/1/56. That's because in Thailand's Buddhist calendar the year is actually 2556.

The infamous Soi Cowboy in the rain.

Bakkard, the border town with Cambodia on the way back.

The trip ended disturbingly with a conversation in Khmer with a small beggar girl on the street. I tried speaking the language to her and she responded that she was Cambodian. It was then that I realised this girl used to beg regularly in one of the open street bars in Phnom Penh about a year ago. She had somehow been trafficked into Bangkok, aged not more than five years. Quizzing her yielded no information about how exactly she had got there, or who her bosses were.