Monthly Archives: March 2008

I’ve been to Bangkok now five times. The first trip was a travel crime. I was along with a former colleague of mine who was famous for high velocity hit-and-run travel, often leaving scarcely enough time in our schedule to get between hotels and airports. He was one of those rare, infuriating people that required almost zero sleep to function. When everyone else was squeezing in a few hours of rest he would continue working into the wee hours, leaving you 10 emails to answer when you woke up. Other than its world famous traffic, I saw nothing of Bangkok with him as the guide. The only thing good about that trip was it’s brief duration.

Subsequent visits have been a lot more productive from a business standpoint and they’ve also been a lot more fun. My current colleagues and travel companions are American expatriates that are ethnically Asian. They are consummate experts on the sights and local color of our travel destinations and all things nightlife related, and owing to their looks they blend right in. I challenge anyone to find a smarter, cooler, more fun team than these guys.

Owing to their great experience in the region – and the characteristics of Asia in my opinion – traveling with them is not only fun, it’s a great value for what you get. When we stay in Bangkok we stay at the Sheraton Grande Sukhumvit each time, and if you stayed there once you’d know why. The hotel itself is quite luxurious, the staff is friendly even by Thai standards, and the prices for what you get are hard to believe, even with the dollar in the tank. One of the things I love about staying in a hotel like that is that it makes me feel like a million bucks. Partly it is the exquisite beauty of the hotel, but mostly I think it is the excellence and positive attitude with which the staff does their job. I’ve even gotten to know a couple of them on a first name basis. Their smiles are contagious. The result of all this is that I stand a bit straighter. I think more positive thoughts and start each day with higher expectations.

And what a great frame of mind and location for exploring a new place. The Sukhumvit is right there on the rail line (critical due to the insanity of Bangkok traffic) and surrounded by excellent locations even within walking distance. Like to get a great massage? Step down to the King and I about a block away and for about $40 get better than anything you’ll find in a US spa. Want a suit expertly tailored in some of the world’s finest fabrics? Try Tani Ka just a block in the other direction. Local color? Cabbages and Condoms restaurant (yes, you read that correctly, Google and and see – it’s not a sleazy place) is a short walk away. Shopping? Jump on the train and ride three stops down to the Siam Paragon, or go a bit further and then take a Tuk Tuk to the art district near the Occidental Grand hotel.

When I left for the airport this morning I couldn’t help but be a bit sad. But no worries – I’ll be going back!

On the west bank of the Chao Phraya river across from the Royal Palace and Wat Pho is Wat Arun – Temple of the Dawn. When I want to Bangkok last September I saw Wat Arun from the riverboat that I rode to tour the city. We made landing on the east bank that day and walked to Wat Pho, site of the largest reclining Buddha in the world. Below are pictures that I took on that trip, with Wat Arun as seen from the boat and a couple of shots of the Buddha at Wat Pho.

Wat Arun as seen from the River

As soon as I Wat Arun I knew that I wanted to go visit. That trip didn’t leave a lot of time, however. I got to see Wat Pho on the river tour and then had to get back to business. Later in the week I had only one day off and I decided that I would go shopping for Thai artwork to help with the redecoration of my house in Atlanta. So this time I decided to make amends and use my half day off to go see Wat Arun. Good choice. Anyway, before I get back to that, check out these pictures of the Buddha at Wat Pho from last year. They give you some sense of scale of just how big the Buddha is in this temple.

The head of the reclining Buddha at Wat Pho.

The feet of the reclining Buddha at Wat Pho.

End flashback. Yesterday I thought I was going to see both Wat Arun and the Royal Palace. The problem with that was, once again, time. Instead of having the whole day off I had only half of a day. One of our business partners from Saudi Arabia wanted to meet in the morning and there was no way I could say no. He is a great guy and really knocked himself out to help us on this trip. We had a good strategic discussion and then I escaped to the concierge.

I had to strike the Royal Palace right away. If you haven’t heard, the people of Thailand generally have a respect for His Royal Highness King Bhumibol Adulyadej that borders on worship. In other words, you don’t show up to the palace in cargo shorts and a baseball cap and you don’t just duck in and out of the palace grounds. Bangkok is hot enough to where there was no way I was going to tour the grounds of Wat Arun in business clothes and my time was short. So Wat Arun it was. A one hour cab ride in Bangkok’s Saturday shopping traffic got me there.

One of the many things I love about Thailand is its melting pot of Asian culture. There on the grounds of the temple this becomes very evident. You see the Buddha himself of course, but you also see the mythical figures of Hinduism from the Ramayana epic and many statues of Guan Yu, the Chinese ancestor God still worshiped today. The temple itself is in the style of the ancient Khmer empire of what is modern Cambodia today.

Anyway, I got some great pictures yesterday that give you some idea of the temple’s scale and tremendous detail in its decorations. I also got a picture of a young monk from the north of Thailand. We talked for some time about his effort to learn the English language. I’ve met a few Bhuddist monks before, but I’m pretty sure I’ve never met a gentler fellow than this man.

Me with Guan Yu to the left and and the central prang of Wat Arun in the background. Note the very steep steps to the second level of the prang. You’ll get a view looking down in a minute.

An example of the endless detail on the prang. The porcelain used to decorate the demons and angels shown here were scraps of ballast from Chinese merchant ships long ago.

A view down from the central prang’s second level. I’d say a 70 degree slope.

A very nice fellow.

From the time I left San Francisco on Monday morning of last week through Thursday night felt like one very long day. The 25 hours or so of transit from the west coast of the US to Thailand kicked that off, but then after only six hours of sleep we were hard at it preparing for two straight days of customer meetings later in the week. I got up about 7:00 am on Wednesday and we weren’t done with our preparations until 1:00 am on Thursday. I did not sleep even five minutes that night due to the jet lag and the tension, and that made for a long day of meetings. Thursday night I slept for almost 12 straight hours and we were done with the business end of the week by about 4:30 pm on Friday. Our meetings went well. The competition will be tough but that’s nothing new. I liked this customer group and I think they appreciated the effort we put into the meeting. Aside from our local market presence, we also had managers fly in from Shanghai, Riyadh, London and, in my case, Dallas.

For about a day it looked like I was going to have a chance to ride up to the Bridge on the River Kwai with one of my colleagues and his girlfriend, but that didn’t happen. Our meetings went longer than we had planned and I simply wasn’t up to the grind of Friday night Bangkok traffic in a packed bus and then another few hours’ ride into the country.

It being Friday night in Bangkok, however, the rest of us that stayed behind in the city went out and had a great time. No, we were not on Soi Cowboy or cruising for prostitutes anywhere else. None of us are that kind, though there are plenty of people on both sides of the trade in town for sure. Bangkok’s reputation that way is not undeserved. We went out to a pretty hip bar with a form of live entertainment I’ve never seen before. Techno music with gorgeous (mostly female) models in outlandish costume parading around and play acting some theme I never quite grasped.

After a bit more business on Saturday morning I went to Wat Arun and did some sight seeing and shopping. That will be the subject of another post a bit later. Right now I have to get downstairs to ride to the airport. I’ll spend the next 20 hours or so getting to Holland.

You know, the seats in the back of a JAL 747-400 are quite a bit smaller than I remember. How the guys that sat beside me for 11 hours managed to not get up once I have no earthly idea. As for me, had I not had the aisle seat, well, let’s just say that I would have rather swam the Pacific.

Another thing about the back of the bus. All of the bulkhead bassinets are back there, and with them the babies. Now I like babies. Don’t get me wrong. They are cuddly and cute and smile and giggle and otherwise endear themselves to anybody with a heart. And Japanese babies have Japanese mothers that do their very best to make their little ones and everyone nearby comfortable. But babies don’t much care for transoceanic flights, and even Japanese babies get bored and restless. And they talk about it. A lot.

But everything comes to an end, and now I sit in Narita waiting to board for Thailand. Just nine more hours between me and a very nice comfy bed in an outstanding hotel. I can’t wait. But I’ll have to.

A few minutes ago I was checking in for my Japan Airlines flight from San Francisco to Bangkok by way of Tokyo’s Narita airport. Lots of trouble printing my baggage tag. Many consultations with smiling and bowing supervisors. Conclusion? My record needs tweaking because I’ve been upgraded to business class between Narita and Bangkok. Sweet!

Um, sorry about that. No, actually the seat configuration on that flight is different. It’s coach. We couldn’t print your baggage tag due to an equipment malfunction.

I tell you this – the difference between flying business across an ocean versus coach is just about like the difference between flying and staying home. HUGE difference in comfort, quality of food, sleep, etc. Oh well. It won’t kill me.

I like travel. Really. I enjoy doing business in far flung places and I LOVE getting to see my colleagues in other regions of this small yet huge world. But… the coming and going that is an unavoidable part of global travel is never easy. Sometimes more bearable than other times to be sure, but never what you’d call comfy and restful.

Tomorrow I start the first leg of my next globe trot. I’ll be going to southeast Asia and then returning to the US by way of a stop in northern Europe. There is a big mental windup to me that I have to go through as I spin up my stamina for the 30+ hours of total transit time it takes to get from here to there. It’s getting easier and less stressful as time goes on. I don’t have to triple check that I’ve got my passport handy any more – I always keep it in the same place. I don’t have to figure out what to do with travel gear and luggage and clothes. It’s all habit. I don’t forget my iPod or my books any more, did that once and the punishment was so severe that it left a mark.

But still it seems to take some mental preparation. Halfway around the world is a lot of time and time zones and broken sleep and small spaces and cramped seating.