Bangkok: Day 1

I woke up early and took the BTS Skytrain two stops. The Changchun Railway Vehicles train was clean and had announcements in Thai and English. Nearly everyone was wearing a mask.

Getting off at ชิดลม Chit Lom Station, I climbed down the steps and walked along Sukhumvit Road, named after the fifth chief of the Department of Highways, and supposedly one of the longest boulevards in the world, reaching almost to the Cambodian border.

At the busy Ratchaprasong intersection, there was a large hotel and a shrine. The Erawan Shrine, or formally, the Thao Maha Phrom Shrine (ศาลท้าวมหาพรหม), dates from the 1950s when one of the first modern hotels was being built by the state. The hotel’s construction encountered multiple difficulties: worker injuries, cost overruns, delays, a lost shipload of Italian marble. An astrologer was consulted and said that the date the hotel was constructed was an inauspicious one, and to placate the gods, there should be a shrine built on this corner.

The shrine is dedicated to Phra Phrom (พระพรหม, Brahmā), the Hindu creator deity, but worshiped as part of the Buddhist pantheon. There were musicians and dancers, hired to thank the four-faced deity for answered prayers, and lots of marigolds. I read somewhere that incense and candles are now prohibited for the safety and welfare of worshipers.

After that, it was shirt-making time with Warzone. I think he had six shirts made. The quality of fabric seemed good, service was great, and the final product looked all right. Much cheaper than a custom shirt in Japan; I think it came to about ¥5000 per shirt. Apparently Steven Seagal shopped here too.

Bangkok Scenes