Rediscovering the past

I lived in Bangkok for one whole year, in 2002, when I was studying at Thammasat university. Last Thursday, I decided to go to this part of Bangkok and visit all the places I used to hang around. First, I took a walk from the Grand Palace area to Thammasat university, where pretty much everything looked as before. The cafeteria area was busy at lunchtime, all the student were still wearing the white and black school uniform (and yes, the female student are still competing to have the shortest skirts), and even though I could see some renovation work going on, there were few signs that 6 years have passed.

Then I took the ferry across Chao Praya, that is from Tha Phra Chang to Tha Phra Pinklao. This was my favorit way of getting to school, because my apratement was situated on the Bangkok Noi side of the river. From there, I walked all the way to Soi Thepnakarin. As six years earlyer, I still found 4 street restaurants and vendors selling som tam and bbq pork on sticks. I sat down on "rubber boots" restaurant where I was recognised at once. The owner used to find it so surprising that my Thai was so good back in the old days, and he always got a laugh when I tried to read the Thai language newspaper "Thai Rath". His daughter (I think), also working on the restaurant, got a baby since I left, and thy made some changes on the meny (they no longer sell Macaronii and Pad Gaeng). The Milk Shake Ladies still have their shop on the corner and the Kafee Ban (Ice Coffee Shake) still taste delicious and only costs 15 bath (2,50 kr).

In the afternoon, I went to the shopping plaza Pata (used to be big in the seventies) and Central Pinklao (is still big today). It is funny how the smells and sounds you get when going to certain places put you in a very particular mood. As I took had a frozen frappochino at Starbucks at Central Pinklao, I realized that Starbucks will always remind me of Thailand, Owen and Helene.

In the late afternoon, I met ajarn Chonticha. She was my professor in Thai language in Thammasat, and together with Owen, I was able to go on several field trips with her and her research team that were making a study of the Thai dialects. Coming along on these trips was really some of the highlights of my year in Thailand. This thursday afternoon we had dinner together at Thanon Phra Athit, talking about old days, and what have happend since then. After dinner, we ended up with a coffee and a piece of cake at "Coffee and more", also one of those places that brought back memories

This article might sound very mellon collie, but this was my home for one year, and I haven't been back since I left. And sometimes enjoying good memories is a very nice thing to do.