Getting my teeth cleaned and other pastimes in Bangkok, Thailand.

After 3 months in India we headed to Bangkok, Thailand. I din’t know what to expect. I kept hearing from from seasoned travelers things like “if you can travel in India you can travel anywhere” and “India is the toughest place to travel, you’ll be fine”.

What makes India so challenging? A few things come to mind. Over a billion people, the air pollution, trash everywhere, burning trash, pooh (see one of my previous posts), the runaround, extreme poverty in some places, the unimaginable gap between rich and poor and open sewers (another previous post).

I felt somewhat confident as we boarded the plane to Thailand. Among other things we would need to get new SIM cards and phone numbers we would need to get from the airport to our accommodations and we would need to get a visa. Minor details. But what would it be like? Would it really be easier than India? I took a deep breath in and relaxed as I exhaled. The plane touched down. The airport is nondescript. We walked into the next chapter of our journey.

We had all the necessary paperwork prepared – immigration forms, passport photos, proof of income, onward tickets, money for the visa – we were all set. The immigration line went smoothly. The lady behind the counter spent the time chatting with her co-worker, didn’t say a word to me, and stamped my passport with a 30 day visa. No passport photos, proof of income, onward tickets, money for the visa was required. Side note – we were required to show onward tickets before we were allowed to board the plane back in Bombay.

Outside the airport I noticed a sense of order. The absence of chaos filled me with hope and joy. We got a cab, with a working meter, and we were off to our studio apartment in Bangkok for 24 days. There was traffic along the way but there were also stoplights, and the drivers waited patiently for them to change. There were no horns honking. There was no air pollution, according to me, although the Thai people would disagree. There was no trash on the streets. There were no fires burning. There weren’t really a lot of people. And I didn’t see one single cow walking around. There was definitely no pooh. Inside I was silently celebrating. This was a very pleasant surprise. This was going to be great. A real vacation of sorts.

Our studio apartment is really nice. But there’s one, quite odd thing about it. The kitchen. In order to get to the kitchen you need to go out through a slider, on to our tiny balcony, hang a left through another slider, and into the small galley kitchen. The kitchen is clean and sparse – consisting of a few cabinets, a counter, sink, a few dishes and cooking items, and only a hotplate. The hotplate is an induction cooker. This is something that I’ve never seen until I travelled in Asia. There is also a rice cooker but it doesn’t work. Part of travelling on a budget is trying to get places with kitchens to cut down on food costs and getting sick – eating healthier, less expensive food and not getting food poisoning.

We walked around the neighborhood trying to get a sense of local Thai culture. After 2 minutes we came upon a few people wearing orange safety vest with ID tags attached. One of them was eating large bowl of steaming noodles while the other one grinned broadly and spoke to us in Thai. He didn’t stop. They pointed to their scooters. We smiled and walked on. We took an Uber to the closest grocery store to grab some supplies. When we arrived we noticed many more of these locals with the orange safety vests and ID tags on., and they were riding scooters. And then it hit me. These folks were scooter taxis. In Bangkok you can hire a scooter with driver just as you would a taxi or Uber. What a great idea. Jobs and small businesses created with the purchase of a scooter and scooter taxi license.

The grocery store was as nice as a Whole Foods. We bought a papaya and ate it for breakfast. We got supplies for making chai. There was a ton of prepared food stalls in the store. We googled how to say vegetarian in Thai, “mansawirat”, and tried some vegetarian offerings. There wasn’t much to choose from. It tasted great but was kind of weird. There were thin crepe like things folded into taco shapes and large white, puffy things with sweet potato inside. No one spoke English and no one cared that we didn’t know Thai.

The next day we hit the streets again. We were in search of a SIM card for my phone, some coffee and a dental office. You see, travelling for a year you’ll need to get your teeth cleaned a few times while you’re on the road. Bangkok is a well respected place for medical tourism and I was due for a cleaning, so why not? We stumbled upon one of the places we googled, walked in and had an appointment for the next day. Laurie and I both had our teeth cleaned. The office was super modern. The staff were friendly. The dentist was professional. She started with and exam and told me I had great dental hygiene. Of course I celebrated with a mocha latte at Starbucks later in the day. The cleaning was more high tech than in the states and very thorough. We paid about $33. That’s usually our copay since the cleanings back home are about $135. Plus we used to pay $80 a month for dental insurance. Pocket the $960 for dental insurance, get your teeth cleaned 3 times a year, and you’re good to go for about $99. Need a crown? They’re $5000 back home. Here in Asia you can get one for about $500.

After the dentist we explored about public transit. We bought cards for the subway and the skytrain. The subway was super clean and modern, not at all crowded, and easy for us to navigate. Way easier than anything I’ve ridden in the states. The skytrain was equally as excellent but a bit more crowded. It’s elevated and you get a look at Bangkok. The people on the subway and the skytrain were all pleasant and orderly. They lined up on the yellow lines waiting for the next train. They let the folks who were disembarking get off before they got on. No pushing, no shoving, no cutting in line. By 4 PM I was looking at condos.