A Pokemon Go Trainer in Bangkok

Then Songkran festival between 13-15 April celebrated the traditional Thai new year. For 2023, things was pretty much back to normal. There were organized water battle at Silom Road, Khao San Road and other locations in Bangkok and throughout the Kingdom. The water battle in the City Center had been well-organized and confined to specified areas. However, in the suburb, people did not really pay attention to the willingness of the intended opponent to play. Locals would set up tanks or other containers on the pavement and throw water quite discriminately. Some rode on the back of pick-up trucks and throw water left and right. As I had been not partial to the water battle, I usually stayed at home and only ventured out by driving to protect myself from being soaked. The situation prevented me from playing Pokemon Go near my home during the Festival. In 2023, there were 2 Thailand-exclusive events at shopping malls in the city. Usually, when I went to those city-center shop...

Listed in the Being Thai page.

Lately, the Starbuck coffee sponsored locations near their cafe. I have to say that I like them the most due to the announcement of their locations while passing nearly and the occasional extra ads on the menus that were quite enticing. In addition, the stops could be present in locations what stops might not be approved such as hospitals, or to be more precise, in cafes within hospitals.

Popcat is a clicker game in which users click with taps on mobile phones or ipad as well as clicks with mouse or keyboard. With each click, the cat, called Oatmeal, would open its mouth round with a popping sound. The eyes may become red if the clicking rate is too fast. The numbers of clicks are also accumulated by country or origin and compiled into a medal table. External Links: Popcat fever offers Thailand respite from worries of COVID crisis Listed in the Being Thai page.

During the 2019 Chinese New Years.

The IconSiam was the newest luxury shopping mall in the planned 55 billion baht (1.76 billion US dollars) mixed-used development complex - shopping malls, hotels and residences on the Charoen Nakorn Road. It was the first high-end shopping mall in the Thonburi area on the west bank of the Chao Phraya River. The shops and decorations clearly reflected the exclusivity and expensiveness. As I first arrived from the underground parking space, the first impression was the eye-catching market that emulated the traditional floating market and communities on the ground floor with very high ceiling and mezzanine. In the central area, the floor plan was exciting with the shops around the outer walls with balconies around the raised space from the first floor in the middle which also connected to the galleries on each floor. In short, the space design was very innovative. On the green side, the energy consumption for air-conditioning must be very high due to the enormous cavern, but the inter...

Unlike the Hindu or Chinese gods, the gods from Greek and Roman mythology were not worshiped nor prayed for a favor in Thailand, i.e., no incense-sticks and offerings. Most Thais did not know anything about them except in passing from movies and series. However, many statues had been erected for decorating purposes in Western-themed buildings or gardens. Neptune/Poseidon The name of the Greek God of the Sea had been most probably most widely known of all the Greek/Roman gods in Thailand. Unfortunately, it was due to the Poseidon Entertainment Complex on Ratchadapisek red-light district which offered adult-oriented hospitality. According to their website, the business ranged from the restaurant, karaoke, Thai massage, soapy massage, and many more. Hence, the name Poseidon had a sleazy undertone meaning in Thailand. Eros/Cupid The statues of cute and chubby cupid with little bows aiming for love has positively well-received as garden decorations. I don't think that I had ever s...

The community mall Sena Fest was open for business in 2013. It was located on the south side of the Taksin Bridge on the west bank of Chao Phraya River, usually called Thonburi area. Sena Fest featured similar characteristics to other community malls. The central space was not air-conditioned; the ceiling was very high, so it was not uncomfortable. Actually, I quite liked the arrangement as it consumed much less energy and far greener than a typical overly cool, big shopping mall. There were many restaurants, bakery, coffee shops, and other miscellaneous shops on the main floors with a supermarket on the ground floor. There were also clinics, banks, children playground and educational areas. While there were no expensive brand name shops for clothes or cineplex as in the large shopping malls, the diversity of services were sufficient. Actually, the facility was definitely on the high-end side with an Apple service shop, a Starbuck, Villa Supermarket and strings of upmarket restauran...

Brahma Indra Vishnu This Narayana astride Garuda was one of the eight gods of Ratchaprasong, arguably the most holy intersection in central Bangkok due to the high density of Hindu gods. In Thai, the posture was called narai-song-suban; the gym label was a mistake as the focus was more on the god than the stead. This posture was also made into the bow of the newest royal barge that was completed in 1996. Narai Song Suban H.M. King Rama IX : National Museum of Royal Barges Listed in the Being Thai and page,

Captain America This Captain America once stood at the Werng Nakhon Kasem trading community. However, the land was sold in 2012 and closed down in 2016 for re-development. All the old shops were either closed or relocated elsewhere and the location of this statue was not known. Star Wars This Death Star looked very pretty. Unfortunately, it came from a gift, so I did not know where it was. Pop Eyes I have no idea where is Pop Eyes statue was. However, the logo on the hat and left arm looked like a Thai company that sold coffee, among other products. Personally, I really wondered about whether this was a copyright infringement case.

The Pokemon Go screen action provided some hilarious moments with certain positional arrangements. Here was my collection. Listed in the Being Thai page.

The Thonburi Era, when the Thonburi was the capital city of siam, started in 1767 and ended in 1782 with only one king. King Taksin was born Sin from a Chinese descent father and a Siamese mother in 1734. He became the governor (Phraya) of Tak and became known as Phaya Tak (Sin). The name was there shorten to Phraya Taksin. In April 1767, the Burmese army successful captured and ransacked the capital Ayutthaya after a year-long siege, ending the Ayutthaya era in Thai history. Taksin was part of the defending army; he thought that the situation was hopeless a few months before the fall and led a small force breaking through the encirclement. He captured the Chantaburi Province as his stronghold. Instead of going back to the fallen capital, he selected the downstream port, Thonburi, as the new capital and was crowned king on 28 December 1767. His early reign was focused on unifying Siam by defeating other Siamese forces that arose in major provinces throughout the country. Then, ...

Thai cultures have been heavily influenced by India ones. While most Thais are Buddhist, the Hinduism influence is undeniable. There are shrines to Hindu gods everywhere, from the royal court where the image of god-king was adopted to emphasize the power and majesty, to commoners who prayed for good luck. They also function as divine patrons of professions. Some people came to pray at these statues even though they were not Hindu, mainly for good luck in love, works or exam as well as for confidence in general. Frequency, a table will be placed near the statute for offerings and incense stick receptacle. There might be an annual or regular ceremony to pay respect as well. Personally, I think that it was the mythical storytelling and fascination with divinity that these gods that helped fulfilled gaps in people's mind. Shrines of these Hindu gods dotted around the country at a surprising density and many became Pokemon landmarks. Previously, I overlooked them and started noticin...