2014, Day 325 - The center of Thailand

Today was busy but not necessarily exciting to the outside observer.  We were allowed to sleep in a little but Bangkok's bustling life still woke up pretty early.  Since there was no rush we took our time getting breakfast and slowly got ready for the day.

At nine o'clock Nut, our guide, picked us up and we left for Chatuchak Market.  The market has over eight thousand official vendors but there are many more lining the streets that surround the thirty five acre site.  You can find just about anything at Chatuchak from clothes to jewelry to food to antiques to plants to pets and more.  We spent much of that day there, about six hours in total, and we still barely scratched the surface.  It was really great having a guide because he knew, generally, where to find everything.  Francene and I were careful to ensure that we made a list before leaving this morning so we could focus on the important tasks.

By about three o'clock we had enough and decided it was time to find some relief from the chaos of the market so we gathered our purchased and returned to the car.  Although Nut was willing to help keep us occupied we decided to finish the day early so he dropped us off at our hotel and we went in search of a late lunch/early dinner which led us to an odd restaurant populated by some colorful backpackers but serving good food cheap.

And that is pretty much how we spent our day.  After the sun set we ventured out to the Democracy Monument.  It was built in 1939 to commemorate the Siamese Revolution of 1932.  Although the intent was to set up a western style democracy what the nation ended up with was more a military dictatorship.  Still, it was that event that set Thailand on the path to democracy which has been a bit shaky lately but the people here seem to support the changes that are coming.

Fuji X-T1, Fujinon 10-24/f4R OIS
10mm, f14, 20 sec @ 200 ISO