A dangerous dream

Thailand has never been on my list of places to visit. I usually gravitate toward countries with fabulous art museums that are easy (for me at least) to get around: France, Austria, Germany, Spain... And many years ago I read Alex Garland's book The Beach which made Thailand sound like a backpacker-infested spring break destination.

Also, I don't really like Thai food. (Gasps of horror!) That's right. I don't really like Thai food.

BUT...

Last week in Thailand I ate some of the best food I've ever tasted in my life: mango with sticky rice at Ban Khun Mae in Bangkok.

BKM is one of those restaurants that has worked out classic recipes to a science. They have little stations right at the door where you can see them preparing signature dishes. A bit like the street vendor carts you see nestled on every available square of sidewalk all over Bangkok. It's a touristy setup, but it's also very effective at selling the dishes.

Whoever is running the mango and sticky rice station is worth their weight in gold. There was a large pile of mangoes in the window, and it was as if someone was perfectly psychically attuned to their ripening. As if at the instant I ordered it, they plucked the fruit that was about to reach its zenith of sweetness and quickly dispatched it with a machete. Then, with a judicious eye they put the perfect amount of warm (not hot), sticky, slightly sweet, slightly salty, coconut-creamy friggin heaven next to it.

The mango tasted like nectar of the gods. I am not exagerrating. It had that perfect bell-like sweetness. Bing...ing...ing. Wow. With just a hint of tartness to keep things interesting. Meanwhile the texture was exactly at the cusp of firm and custardy. Oh my God. One bite of this heaven combined with the warm, salty-sweet, chewy goodness of the rice.

I was in rapture. Really. It was kind of embarrassing.

It undoubtedly helped that I was in a good mood after napping on an enormous rattan couch in the 77 degrees F weather and gentle breeze by the black infinity pool on the ninth floor of our hotel.

And it undoubtedly helped that we were chilled out about the $150/night including tax and breakfast that we were paying for our five-star one bedroom suite in the heart of Bangkok during high season.



Oh, wait, wait, wait...maybe it was because I was so delighted by all of the beautiful fresh flowers I had seen all over the city. Especially the gorgeous tribute crafted entirely from flowers that I saw at the Wat Arun temple.

I am certain that it was also because I was moved every time someone "wai-ed" me. It never seemed like an off-hand gesture. It always felt like a sincere show of respect and goodwill. It was like balm after months of..ahem...abruptness from people in Hong Kong.

Oh, and did you know that top quality health care in Thailand costs less than half (sometimes a quarter) what it does in the U.S.?



Obviously, I could go on and on about Thailand's charms.

So why not pick up and move there...like right now?

The traffic. Actually, "traffic" doesn't cover it at all. I won't go into it, but suffice it to say that getting anywhere takes much, much longer than you ever imagined and arriving at your intended destination is not always guaranteed or worth the effort.

Then there are the *other* expats who flock to Thailand for the incredibly cheap vacations, food, and uh...ladies? I think that this guy is representative of some of the best of the West that you'll find in Thailand.

There is an interesting, and apparently common, problem with moving to Thailand. Expats of the right persuasion think they're going to drop out and spend a few years living in paradise on $4,000 (as two English kids E met traveling had done). But once you're in Thailand, blissing out, doing nothing, spending all your money...if you ever want to come back...well, you haven't done anything professionally and you don't have any money.

A very astute blog, Stickman Bangkok, says:

You really do need to try and keep busy while in Bangkok. With the Thai's relaxed attitudes towards most things, the cheap costs and especially the heat, it's just so easy to fall into a very relaxed lifestyle where you are actually doing very little. It is very easy to fall into the trap of spending your days in a relaxing, stress free manner but really, you are both doing and achieving nothing. I know some people who have gone to Thailand with plenty of money, have fallen into a sedentary lifestyle, have hit the bottle, put on weight and blown a lot of money. Most of them have gone on to regret the experience. All over Asia, but especially in Thailand, Westerners end up here because, if you have a bit of money, life is easy here. Be careful!

Wow, that's way too much wisdom to take in one bite.