Photos from Bangkok 8/7-9

The order of photos is not exactly chronological...a little poetic license here.

My research partner Kota and I, at a small temple near our hotel, praying for success on our presentation the next day.

Inside the temple, Thai people were chanting sutras after the monks for their evening prayers.

Done! Celebrating a successfully delivered conference presentation with a cold Singha beer, one of many that night, on a deck overlooking the Chao Phraya River with Wat Arun in the back. Sorry, no photos of the conference...I'm sure there are plenty on the website if you have to see them.

Being the dedicated language acquisition professionals we are, obviously the first stop on our free day after the conference had to be a one hour survival Thai language lesson for 500 bahts each. We spent about ten minutes just getting the angle of our hands and head correct for the Thai style greeting called the wai. Another killer driller was the 5 Thai tones. Our dedicated teacher refused to go on to the basic shopping phrases we needed until we could differentiate the minimal pairs for mid tone na (rice paddy) and rising-then-falling tone na (face). She was seriously concerned that we would risk deportation by going up to a Thai person hoping to say "I like your face" and instead insult the person by saying "I like your rice paddy." Fortunately our linguistic prowess allowed us to clear the hurdle and we were able to spend the last 5 minutes role-playing "How much?" "5 Baht" "That's a rip off!"

Thus, we were ready to hit the town.

The best form of transportation in Bangkok is without doubt the tuk-tuk. As long as you can brave the exhaust fumes of the traffic around you, this open air taxi-bike is cheap and a lot of fun. Unlike taxis that take you for a ride to run up the meter, tuk-tuk fares are all decided by negotiation before getting in. Then the driver turns into a careening maniac to weave through traffic and alleyways to get you to your destination as quickly as possible.

Dinner at Songboon Sea Food. Wow! Strongly recommend the curry style crab. The shrimp were tasty too.

A few more photos...I'll try to write blurbs later.