Promenading the major Bangkok shopping streets....

         One of those most frustrating things and I thought that I was well beyond that very early stage

Thai Kings memorial shrine at the rail station----

in computer use------dutifully wrote up my blog yesterday---pressed the wrong computer button and there it was, GONE!! Even though I say it myself, one of the most brilliant blogs written in blogging history---you will just have to take my word for it.
              To the here and now. Returned after a another sortie into the city. This  time along one of the main shopping streets---  Sukhumwit which was the street where my hotel was located 20 years ago. The 'Ambassador' was a big smart hotel, complete with food court and small shopping arcade. Hard to believe---gone! Replaced by a condo tower and yet

Emerald Buddha temple opp. the royal palace.

another luxury goods plaza. Unbelievable changes to the city. The main feature that distorts the senses on Sukhumwit and on many other major streets, is the two level, in places 3 level, massive concrete sky train public transportation line that runs right down the middle of the thoroughfares. I was struck by the great similarity in the above ground 'skytrain' mass transit system that has been constructed in Bangkok with the one in Singapore. Looks like someone bought the same set of plans.
               Several weeks ago the king of Thailand passed away. He was in his nineties and held the title as the worlds' oldest living monarch (this has now passed to Queen Elizabeth II). Much revered in Thailand as a unifying force in a country where there is a major fault line in the social fabric.The official mourning period for the king is 12 months during which most women, and many men will dress in black. Buildings, banks, plazas, railway stations display elaborate tributes to the king and public shrines have been erected on the streets for the public to offer up prayers. Such is the scale and grandeur of these shrines, especially the ones offered up by commercial organisations, that one

Male dancer performing funeral dance...

is inclined to ask oneself if there is not an element of competition to demonstrate the most piety.
              I notice that the Thai population, traditionally petite and fine boned, is noticeably larger & heavier than it was 20 years ago, larger than the folk in Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam today. It is not uncommon to see obesity on the streets of Bangkok, especially amongst the young---could their obsession with cell phones, higher wages, cheaper food and the passive life have anything to do with it?
                   Last night, I was out on the streets taking in my fill of street food, when in the shadows, between two barrows, I spotted a rather large rat feasting on tasty morsels---a couple of young Thai women simultaneously eyed the pest and started to scream. I unthinkingly, and valiantly, extended my foot and dropped it smartly onto the rat's tail. The critter erupted in panic and scuttled smartly away into the dark recesses. The woman behind the stall started to loudly berate me-----not quite sure how to respond, I also made myself scarce!