Alright, so the last two installments (here and here) of Picture of the Week have looked at a couple different aspects of Thailand, and to me, those images are quite peaceful. It is worth pointing out, however, that this is not a fair representation of Bangkok. There are places in the city where you can find peace… but the city can be quite chaotic actually, as illustrated by the picture above. This was the traffic situation outside my hotel at around 7PM. Note on the right-hand side of the image, the red streaks. Those are from tail lights of motorcycles traveling the wrong direction in a bus only lane! They were avoiding the parking lot that is the left-hand side of the image, and totally normal in Bangkok (and other parts of Asia as well). Crazy to my eyes, but fun to watch none-the-less.
Like a lot of major cities around the world, and especially so in Asia, Bangkok is a city of extremes. On the one hand, immense poverty, and the other incredible wealth. Not seen in this photo (but just off this main road) are shanty houses made from tin. Juxtapose this with the rectangle you see at the very top of the photo, almost in the center, that looks to be reflecting the lights beneath it – that’s the underside of a pool, some 27 or so stories up in a luxury high-rise apartment complex.
Next week I hope you’ll join me again for a very special Picture of the Week! As POTW rolls into it’s 10th year (!), I wanted to take a quick look back at the last decade. 🙂
Till next time!
–Dan Thompson