Bangkok has an enormous concentration of Chinese and accordingly one of the largest and most colorful Chinatowns in the world. There is a whole boulevard that has been taken by Chinese shops and temples, and this boulevard curves in and out to simulate the form of a dragon. I started my day by walking along Chinatown, fascinated as always by the variety and curiosity of objects that are offered for sale in the small shops that line the street.
After a considerable wait I took the next round of the tourist bus all the way to the Royal Palace and the National Museum. I felt no need to pay the fee to visit the Royal Palace, which seems to be covered in gold leaf down to the smallest corner. Currently the king is part of the Chakri Dynasty, which started in 1782. The names of the monarchs are quite complex, but they have simplified it by calling themselves Rama. I believe the current king, who ascended in 2016, is Rama X. The monarchy started as absolute as they come. King Rama IV (Yul Briner in the King and I) was a reformer that opened Siam to Western culture. His son Rama V and grandson Rama VI did much to modernize Siam, slowly introducing the role of cabinet ministers. Eventually, in 1932, a quiet revolution took place and the the monarchy was transformed into a constitutional monarchy, where an assembly draws legislation that the king, as Head of State, approves. The executive power is under the hands of a Prime Minister. But to judge from what you see around, the king and queen are immensely popular and their photos are displayed all over the place.
The National Museum was a good mix of displays that walked you through the prehistory of Thailand, and the muddled growth of independent kingdoms from the 6th through the 18th centuries. I enjoyed seeing the aerial photographs of impressive medieval sites, a couple of which I had actually visited. There is an overwhelming number of Buddha statues of all conceivable sizes and styles, as well as multi-headed cobras, fantastic animals, and representations of the elephant god Ganesh. A good two thirds of the museum are devoted to display objects from the royal house, including enormous funerary carts covered in gold leaf, saddles for the royal elephants, vestments, weapons, and other impressive royal regalia. I spent about one and a half hours in the museum, and then had to wait another half hour for my ride to come along.
My last hurrah was a stop at one of the mega-malls, which from the outside looks like a giant glass box, and in the inside is six floors of top notch brand stores. The ground floor is an immense food market, where one can find all imaginable Thai dishes offered in the way a street market would offer them (but in a much more ritzy environment). I did my visit in much less than an hour, and then wasted another hour waiting for my ride because traffic congestion was fierce. I am pretty much done with the city now, so tomorrow I will have to look for a quiet alternative for my last day in Bangkok.
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