Eight Malls

I know I said I would go back to my trip to Thailand, but then I got sick and really lazy so I never did, but we’re here now so that’s what I’m going to do.

After our trip to Cambodia we spent the next five days in Thailand. But the day after we returned to Bangkok, we left to go to the River Kwai. My dad wanted to visit the bridge and Hell Fire pass, because he and my brother are both really interested in war related things. If you are unfamiliar with these two items, I will regal you with the tragic tale of how they came to be.

The Japanese really wanted to be able to create a way to get supplies from Myanmar to their soldiers in Japan (I think, the destinations are a part I’m not super sure about) so they needed to create a railway that went through Thailand. Thailand at that time was on the side of the axis powers, so they allowed Japan to use their land to create that railway. Japan of course did not want to have to pay for labor though, so they made prisoners of war (mostly Australians) work in horrid conditions in order to complete it. The bridge over the River Kwai and Hell Fire pass were two infamous places that the men had to work.

Since the Japanese consider surrender to be one of the most shameful things ever, they considered the POWs less than people.

The museum and memorial for hell fire pass was super nice, and the Australians have really poured a lot of money into it.

After that though my family went to stay in a floating hotel on the river. It didn’t have electricity, but you were in a tiny shack surrounded by the water and it was really nice. Especially since the water was so warm and you could go swimming because the Crocodiles (aka sneaky water demons) weren’t around.

Then we went back to Bangkok for the New Year and such.

Not much else interesting happened. With my dads family really only two things happen, food and shopping. At each meal you talk about the next meal and plan on how you’re going to do shopping on the way there.

One day, we were shopping in a tourist mall so my brother could get a bunch of fake Supreme stuff. We then had to go to a mall called Central World in order to see a movie in the super fancy but super cheap Thai movie theater. On the way to Central World we did not walk along the street. Instead we took the weird sky walk way and walked from one mall through another and into another mall. We walked through six malls (each with about 7 floors and half a mile in each direction) until we reached Central World. (mall number 7) We then enjoyed “first class” movie tickets, with reclining seats, unlimited (and free) popcorn and drinks and access to their pre movie lounge with catering. These tickets were $20 each, so not all that much more than they would be in the United States. They also give you a blanket.

On the way home we walked through another mall, making the days total 8 malls.

Malls may be dying here but they are thriving in Thailand. It was a crazy experience. Because each floor is filled with people and they’re hard to move through. The places are never empty.

I honestly can’t remember what else happened.

Then we went home. We stayed in a lounge in the Bangkok airport and I took a handful of free mentos and the wrappers have Thai nutrition facts on them so when Maddie Donahue tried to see how many calories they had she was very confused. She thought her eyes weren’t working.

Then we flew home and I ate so many rice and meat dishes. But the Korean Air safety video was hilarious so there was that. I took another shower at the airport in Soul and it was the greatest thing ever.

On the plane ride home I got really bored half way through so I watched a Korean movie with English subtitles that the guy in front of me was watching. When I say that, I mean I peaked through the seats to watch the movie. It was such a strange experience and I still don’t understand what was going on, but it wasted three hours.

I’m sorry I don’t have anything else to say right now.