First 6 Days in Thailand (Land of Smiles)

After our early morning arrival in Bangkok our latest adventure in a new land and culture began at the airport. As is usually the custom we were probably overcharged by the taxi driver, but at 1:30am we didn't feel like negotiating price. However, before we reached out hotel the taxi stalled at an intersection and the driver spent a long time trying to get it started again without success. After about 15-20 minutes and anticipating that the battery would run out at any minute I prayed out loud for Jesus to help us. Within about 30 seconds our Buddhist driver, perspiring heavily, turned on the ignition and the taxi's engine turned over and started again. We openly gave Jesus the credit and the driver said, "Yes, Jesu" and said that he had never had that happen to his taxi before. We understood the event as planned by God to perhaps plant a seed of truth about Jesus who is our helper in every need.

Bangkok- 9.3 million people
Thailand 64 million and 94% Buddhist

Thanks to our missionary friends, Todd and Karen Indehar, we spent the next several days investigating the unique city of Bangkok. They took us to several places to eat at street-side restaurants amidst the loud noises of car, tuk tuk, and motorcycle traffic. Thai food is exceptionally tasty although perhaps looking a bit questionable at times as we observed the conditions where it was being prepared. Most dinner meals for the five of us, while eating to our full, cost us around a total of 500 Baht or $15. It appears as if most of the city dwellers eat out instead of preparing meals at home, since there are what seem to be restaurants or mobile food carts just about everywhere and all very busy.

Street-side restaurant

 "bing"- various meat on a stick

Unique variety of tropical fruits

New meaning to "whole" chicken

Street-side dining with Todd and Karen

Sausage and squid on a stick
(something new for the Minnesota State Fair?)

Special Thai salad

Moriah's favorite dessert
Mango with sticky rice and coconut sauce

We were surprised to discover the lack of English speaking or understanding within the city of Bangkok. The times we were without the Indehars often became amusing because of our inability to adequately communicate. One such incident occurred after we had hired a long-boat to take us on a tour of the main river and some canals. We were naturally expecting to be returned to our point of origin.  However, after about an hour and a half ride the boat pulled up to a remote small dock where the elderly woman driver motioned us to get off. Assuming she wanted us to take pictures of a nearby temple we obeyed her command and were immediately confronted by another old man who wanted us to pay him a small amount of money to cross over his walkway from the dock to the street where we could view the temple. Upon paying the man we looked back and our boat driver had taken off and was heading back to where she had picked us up downriver. Now we were miles away from our hotel, but we had remembered to carry a card with the address. We then took a walking tour of the temple area and finally hired a tuk tuk (motorized rickshaw) to drive us back, which took about 45 minutes. We chalked it up to yet another adventure in a different culture with a language barrier.

Long-boat river and canal cruise

Buddhist temple along canal

Temple courtyard
(how do we get home from here?)

Golden, reclining Buddha

Another interesting experience for all of us was receiving an authentic Thai massage or as we later described it as original medieval therapy (torture). The cost for a two hour bending, twisting, pulling, pounding, stretching, popping, therapy session from head to toe was $15. We were dressed in pajamas or karate-like clothing and secluded in the same room together while lying on individual mats to receive the treatment. Thus, we could hear everyone else's moaning, groaning, and yes even screaming at times while our stiff, inelastic bodies were manipulated to limber us up like a cooked Thai noodle. Moriah commented that it sounded at times like someone was giving birth. We had a great time laughing at each other's comments as to how we felt during the session.

English speaking church

For Sunday worship we attended the Evangelical Church of Bangkok, which had the service in English. We noticed that although the pastor was from the U.S. most of the attenders where of Asian descent. I spoke with a worker from Night Light, a ministry to help those young women exploited by the human trafficking industry. She has agreed to give us a chance to experience their work in the red-light district when we return to Bangkok in February.

 Later, I experienced the thrill of riding in the congested city traffic on the back of Todd's motorcycle as he drove me to the train station to purchase tickets to Chiang Mai. Moriah had experienced this treat earlier, so I figured I could handle it as well. It's truly amazing how easily the drivers maneuver their bikes around the bumper to bumper traffic in an attempt to void the congestion coming within inches of colliding with one another or swiftly moving automobiles. We were told that there are many, many traffic accidents here in the city and most missionaries that die on the field are as a result of accidents. Todd is very adept at handling his new motorcycle.

You've all seen the abundance of squirrels in the parks of the U.S., well what we witnessed was something a bit more exciting. While, walking through an inner city park what we discovered was the abundance of monitor lizards ranging anywhere from one to three feet long, slowly traveling along the water's edge.


We have maintained good health thus far and trust that it is an answer to the prayers of many on our behalf. We now look forward to our trip to Chiang Mai.