Malls

Mega-Malls in Bangkok, like markets and especially night markets (the mall's distant ancestor), are centers of activity way beyond shopping.  People hang out in them for this quality, as well as for their clean bathrooms, air conditioning, and extensive food courts.  Teens show up in droves.  Here's a sampling of some random stuff going on in malls:

 yes they're ice skating

crafts

  

 "beer gardens" with live music and art 

snow

 and I'm no longer surprised to see Xmas trees all over malls (and everywhere else actually)

this one made out of straws...

Sawatdí Krap:

MBK mall seems most related to its outdoor market ancestry...

 Just like people in BKK, stuff overflows too...

   

   

Markets are a defining feature of Thai culture, and I guess these days a fair share takes place in malls.  It's different from pure consumerism, and a bit hard to explain - come to BKK and see!

Shark Fin Snack

There are shark fin restaurants all over Chinatown:

these are the small local crabs used in Som Tam:

 Indian style Roti...

 weird egg thingy

  and now I know what it's like to be illiterate, but luckily most menu's here have pictures!

The meat-on-a-stick thing abounds in Thailand - usually made of animal parts discarded in the U.S.  My absolute favorite is chicken hearts (1 is pictured in the middle-right of this pic)!  But one can find delicious liver, gizzards, backs, knuckles, and assorted organs from diverse creatures.  Waste not, want more!

Petchaburí Art

The Thai artists Ji & Yin (met in NY) hooked me up with the Thai artist Korakot, who brought me to his home town near Petchaburi, 2 hours south of Bangkok.  (and what a difference 2 hours makes)!

 it's a fisherman's village, where they also produce salt, palm sugar, and wicker crafts

 and, of course, wats abound

 and there's drying fish all over the place.

I got to see Korakot's "studio factory" (a la Warhol).  Very cool, and his work has been shown in NYC, China, South Africa, Paris, and other places.  

 He employs about 30 people for his bamboo/hemp sculptures and lighting design.

 Here's painted bamboo drying

 it's great to touch

 and look at.

  Here he is holding a piece that may become furniture

 and some of his focused and smiling assistants

they were making cool stuff

(I love that she was wearing a "beware of artists" shirt): 

evocative of a lot of things, including Noguchi lamps, Sol Lewitt style minimalism, geometric abstraction, Lee Bontecou, architectural models with an Asian aesthetic (think Chinese Olympics buildings), but also traditional crafts of the region, and more.  Very strong work.

Then we went to this wat

where a crazy monkey jumped on the car!

 and another one jumped on a bike!

 there was a whole posse of extremely cute and playful monkeys, but...   

  signs say to be careful because these monkeys are "not afraid anyone"

so we got out of there and went for a local specialty, which reminded me of an "Italian ice" (Thai style) 

made with palm sugar (where her spoon is) and rice noodles, coconut & condensed milk, and other things if you want.  The palm sugar comes from these very palm trees:

Then we visited the farm where he gets his bamboo from, along the Petchaburi river:

from these bamboo trees:

there's a rice paddy, when it's the season

and here they make the crafts that inspire and inform his work 

(I was reminded of sticky-rice containers)

 and grow bananas

and keep cows.

It's a beautiful place, with fresh air, just a little bit different from Bangkok...

Then we went to his brother's bar/restaurant for a beer 

 and some of his cool lights were hanging there   

Yes, Thailand is full of beauty...

Check out Korakot's website:  Korakot.net