We
Have Changed: Returning to Thailand in 2019
My latest
trip to South East Asia differed from other trips in that I was
older, my traveling companion was younger, and Thailand had changed.
I didn't plan to return to the country, but my friend had taken
a teaching practicum in Bangkok, and we both thought we would
enjoy exploring the north of the country before her term began.
We laid our plans a few months in advance, but like most trips,
it didn't turn out exactly as we had planned. We learned to manage
each other's foibles and annoyances, negotiated how people viewed
our relationship, and saw a Thailand transformed both by an explosion
in Chinese tourism as well as our position in the country as we
traveled.
We went from
Bangkok to Lopburi, the monkey city, almost immediately upon arrival,
and then, trying to escape the humidity of the near rainy season,
we went to Phitsanulok, Old Sukothai, and Chiang Mai. We floundered
around in the stifling heat, and I belatedly realized I had never
visited Thailand in midsummer.
Finally, we
caught the train back to Bangkok, where we embraced the rainy
season. I lived downtown and my friend began to settle into teaching
and although at first we had the impression we wouldn't be meeting
again, despite being in the same city, we met up quite often.
We met to see what each other's experience was like in the city
which would be her home for eight months, and the city where I
visited my professor friend, helped another friend whose daughter
was fighting her mental illness, and in other ways waited on a
flight to take me back to Canada.
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