Travel Update: Hanging Out in Bangkok with the Thai Veterinarian I Made Friends with on the Airplane
This is Pup, his real name I can't pronounce correctly, can you? It's Nontapat Vanichanon. He is one of the nicest people I've met in a while. Strange and worldly powers put me next to him on the plane from Doha Qatar to Bangkok. He is a local here. He is a recent graduate of a veterinarian school and both his parents are dentists. For us being from two different worlds, it's incredible how well we got along and how much we have in common.
We exchanged emails on the plane and on my second day in Bangkok we made plans to meet at 11:00 am at one of the biggest shopping plazas in the country. He helped me buy a new camera and we spent the whole day touring the city, until he had to meet his girlfriend for dinner at 6:00pm. Here are some photos from our day together.
Here is the very kind man who sold me my new (used) camera I bought in MBK mall for 50 dollars. With steemit posts in mind I got this barely used one year old 16 mega pixel Samsung camera. He had the honor of the first photo with my new toy.
We walked miles and miles all over the city. For comic relief he showed me some seedy district called Silom which I'll spare you the photos promoting prostitution. But we spent a decent amount of time in different air conditioned shopping plazas as it was very hot outside
Here is Pup posing in front of one of his favorite restaurants, an all you can eat "shabu shabu" buffet. You sit down with a boiling pot of broth and take food off the conveyor belt going by and add it to your soup. Only 10 dollars all you can eat!
Earlier in the day we went street food/restaurant hopping at a couple different places. I was in his world so this is where he brought me. Below is us having a simple yet delicious dish of chicken and rice ($1.50 each). Then at a different place we enjoyed "sum tum" a spicy under-ripe papaya salad with sticky rice ($2). We also got a couple pork sticks (30 cents each) which I forgot to photo. Shame on me.
Soon we found ourselves at an art gallery. Every single piece of art was of the King.
Soon it was time to say goodbye. Since I enjoy walking around new places so much I decided to walk the 4.2 kilometers back to my hotel, a slightly different rout than the walk I did on my way to meet him earlier in the day. Suddenly the sky opened up and I found myself next to this guy under a cross walk for about half an hour waiting for the storm to pass.
By the time I got a move on it was dark, but the king was still lit up!
Finally I made it back to Koh San Rd where my day began.
Feeling in need of a good message, I took a shower then walked half a block from my hotel to this place. For 200 baht or six dollars US. I got a relaxing Thai massage.
Later today I'll be meeting up with @fitinfun, a California girl who has found peace and healthy living in Bangkok.
Land of smiles indeed.
You know what. Forget all that I wrote. I got an hour and half massage for 10 dollars and it hit me like a ton of bricks this platform really doesn't reward content, sure you've got to post something decent. But It's all about befriending (not kissing ass, that's quite negative) those with clout. End of story. You write to others, you help others, and they will feel compelled to do the same.
I just wanted to build a big old travel library of info and experiences and see who came to my table. I'll give it a try and befriend everyone I can on here especially those that can actually tip the money jar more than two cents.
Sorry to waste your time with all that reading. Thailand is really awesome. You'd love it here. Where else can you get a message everyday of the week and eat out for every meal healthy, and live on the beach without breaking the bank.
Thanks for noticing me, I didn't mean to be negative. I was just buying into the content is king stuff I heard, and the if you build they will come. Nobody cares what I write just a few like minded minnow travelers. It's all about I scratch your back you scratch mine on here. Would you agree?
Yes. I love Thailand too. I'll be back there one day soon. I suspect you are correct. Connection matters more than quality unfortunately. That's a characteristic of a third world economy... Though we can transform it. I've been sponsoring the Minnow Support Project and various contests and a minnow only bot too. We need more dolphins, more minnows seeing a reason to stay.
I like the human side of your posts. Parts of Bangkok you can navigate by walking within the megamalls and only leaving to enter the next megamall. I did that a few times when the heat was bothering my wife.
Yeah it's a great country. I've brought this issue up to @biglipsmama who has connections and clout. She's right on page with what we are discussing. @luczypher (72) and @twinner (worth 134k in steem (66)) Maybe connecting with them and pushing the issue to even higher ups may be something worth doing.
On my level @diabolika has now had a very similar experience as myself. Great writer. Had her stuff resteemed by a whale her first couple weeks, now she's on her own making scraps like me. She's bummed. @justinchase was doing well, he left. @travelman gets a pop of 100 dollars then doen't understand why he can't break a dollar every other time. @fanstaf doesn't great work and has expressed his frustration, yet seems to be doing so-so all things being equal.
From my financial background perspective. It seems as those who joined in the February up to now time frame, got in late on a good investment. Anyone who go in about a year ago not only are doing fantastic, they are all tipping out eachother handsomely, while us newbies pissin in the wind. for lack of a better expression. I hope this has given you some more insight into how things look at out level. Thanks again for caring as much as you do. It's best to do what you can on all fronts as you and these other 1 percenters are suddenly heavily invested as well, and to see the currency get cut in half or worse would be pretty ugly for those in your position, like watching a stock crash with 50k in it.
Thanks for remembering me! I agree that I'm currently only doing so so. But I still have great hope for this platform. Who you know definitely makes a big difference but so what if we don't get any whale votes. I will continue to write and be active and build a following. In a year my followers with a current 2 cent vote might have grown to have a 10 cent or 50 cent vote or more. Lets grow together and become the new middle-class.
You have a better attitude than myself. I see a shit load of hours of my life passing by for a big old question mark. Seeing the chart of www.steemwhales.com and how the money is distributed to me shows dysfunction in the system and has me questioning everything. Even the stability of steem as long lived crypto currency. On a more positive note. Yes Thailand is great. I'm off to the train station on my way south to the islands right this moment. Have a great day! Dan
Sounds like an amazing day!
Yes it was. I even learned some Thai. "Pom Sha guy" Mean I like chicken! lol
Looks like you're having a great time! :)
Yes indeed. I'm fully back in my element and loving life again!
I really want to visit Thailand. It seems like a very interesting place to be. The only thing really holding me back is that I don't know if I could survive a long plane ride overseas...I hate flying!
Yeah, that used to be a challenge for me. Honestly I probably spent 50% of the time sleeping, 10% eating actually good airplane food from Qatat airways, 10% talking with Pup, and 30% watching movies they supply on the plane with your own private screen and remote. It was probably the easiest overseas flight I've ever done. To spend 4 month's in SE asia. It's easily worth it. To spend two weeks, probably not.
Super nice when you meet peole from all over the world and hang out! i always learn so much because of it
Have a nice trip man! And Pup too.😄
Thailand is one of the most popular destinations from Sweden. There are plenty of flight and tickets are often cheap. Yet I have never managed to get there. There have so far always been other destinations that get prioritized for some reason. I really want to visit and hopefully will be able within the next few years.
Thanks for sharing your day in Bangkok