Trip around Phuket, Thailand

From DitchTheCube

I took a walk around Phuket town and took some pictures to try and describe what a typical SE Asian street looks like.

7-Eleven is everpresent in Asia. In fact, I recently read that the last remnants of the American company were purchased by the Japanese company. The stores are air conditioned and have most of the same items you find in America. The variety can lack somewhat.

Moving down the street, I came across one of many stores that sell bootleg copies of anything ever filmed. Most American movies and popular CDs are available as well as some anime series. Thai products are sold too, but I can't read the labels. This type of bootlegging is accepted in Thailand and the locals have no retribution to worry about from corporate America. Like most items that tourists want to buy, the price is set relatively high in Thai terms. So you're basically paying a 2000% markup, but getting it 20% cheaper than in America.

A Thai carnival was apparently in town. I suspect the rides may be less than safe. Other than the ferris wheel, it looks like any other market environment you come across. I'm not sure what the draw is.

I see quite a few dogs around town. I'm not sure which ones are owned and which ones aren't, but I suspect some of both. This photo of two dogs in front of a jewellry store is typical. Everyone just ignores the dogs. The hotel I am staying in today has a dog right in front of the main entrance with enough flies around it to shame a horse. Nobody seems to care...maybe they hope the dogs will stay around for dinner.

Most of the electrical infrastructure is loosely connected together. I often come across extension cord sized wires hanging loose from poles or awnings. Generally they have electrical tape on the end, but not always. They are out of reach of the general public, but I have to duck to avoid them sometimes. Many of the junction boxes on poles have no covers.

This is a particularly frightening sign. More so because before I saw it, I Was walking along the side of the smelliest market area I've yet encountered on this trip. It was more like roofed building with lots of vendors inside. If the Thai government is warning you of something so blatantly, it is a good sign to stay away.

This is a particularly rare sight. The only plant nursery I've yet encountered on this trip. I think this is because most people just try to make ends meet. Adding plants to a home just costs more money on water and time on care. This is besides the fact that there's no room to put them.

This shop I came across is particularly small. It looks as though someone lives in it, but usually people live above their stores and sell items at ground level. Perhaps he provides some service beyond my notice.

A vendor in Asia is not really a vendor without the Nestle ice cream freezer. If Nestle snacks are your thing, you will have no problem finding as many thunder cones as you will ever want. No matter small of a shop I've seen, they almost all have this freezer. It's uncanny how much Asia repeats itself.

You generally don't have to look far to find pictures of the Thai monarch. This shop sells frames as well as frames with the King's lovely face. The king and his wife are in the top center, while the king's predecessor is the large painting on the right. Many busses and taxis have pictures of the king, as well as all currency. It's almost communist. :)

Walking around the cities, I see very few people under 20 years old. I assume most are in school, but the demographic is hugely unrepresented. When I do see youth, they are usually wearing some type of school uniform. In this case, I was walking behind some "too cool" Thai teenagers who I suspect might have given me trouble about taking a picture of them.

Thai restaurant 346 is probably the only place I'll remember when this trip is long and over. Names are mostly meaningless and I suspect many places don't even have names. I don't even know the names of the last 2 places I've stayed at! If all restaurants had easy to ready numbers, maybe life would be more simple for the foreigner here.

A rickety wooden frame for some future building. I'm not sure if its quite up to fire code, but the insulation it provides must be killer.

This is the inside of some random convenience store. It could be the inside of a 7-eleven, or any other place. They all look the same and have the exact same items stocked. They are airconditioned, so its hard to resist browsing them to take a break. As a foreigner, I'm sure most people assume I'm amazed by all the strange items they have, when in fact I'm just trying to position myself under a fan. This picture is of the Lay's potato chip selection including such popular flavors as lobster and mango.

The drink selection. You'll see some known brands like Gatorade, Pepsi, and Coke as well as a large series of boxed fruit and milk drinks.

This is the entire selection of fountain drinks in the entire south of Thailand. If you're a big fan of Fanta, come to Asia, but be warned that the sugar content is much lower in the drinks here. Someone said that the soda companies use different formulas for the many regions of the world.

All over Asia you'll see small Buddhist shrines. Sometimes they are mounted on the wall like this one, and other times they are on the floor. Incense is burned in the cup in the center and offerings such as fruit or water are placed in front of the shrine quite often.

This photo demonstrates the trickyness of navigating a sidewalk in Asia. If you choose to walk on the far left, you run into signs and other things placed by the vendor whose shop is there. The middle area is above where the sewer runs. This usually makes for a good place to walk, but in this picture you can see there are vehicle ramps blocking the path. The sides of the streets are always full with parked cars. In this instance, I would walk in the street to the right of the black Honda you see in the picture. It might seem dangerous, but the people here really do pay a lot of attention when they drive. There is no insurance, so if they wreck their car, they will go to jail or at minimum lose a large portion of their life savings. I've yet to see any wrecks or damaged cars so far here in Thailand. If you're doing something expected, like walking down the street, you'll most likely be safe. It's only when you do something unexpected, like jump out from behind a parked car, that you'll feel in danger.

This seems to be the standard manequin of a white woman. The mouth looks a little odd, but perhaps its not too far off the mark.

View down a street

View down a street

This temple, or pagoda, is a common sight in Thailand. I'm not sure what the rules are for entering, but I know shoes must be taken off. This was as far as I wanted to brave it. English is not so prevalent here and misunderstandings would be easy.

There are many rare sights in this picture of the center of a large traffic circle. The flowers and bushes, the lighting for nighttime, the benches, and the neatly paved walkways. I haven't seen any parks here. This is as close to a park as you will find in the city.

I always find those radio shows where people call in to compete to see who has the worst job. I can assure them that this man has a worse job than all of them. Here they've opened up the storm sewer and he is using a hoe to scrape out some kind of gunk that has built up in it. Remember that its hot and humid here. Notice the sandals of the left guy. There is a 3rd guy who carries the full bucket to somewhere else. I don't think this sewer carries official human waste from the toilets, but just about anything else flows into it. Sometimes I see people pour cans of paint into it. It's good to think that eventually its coming around to the water supply.

The front of the Thai currency. The unit is the Baht. There is no currency for less than 1 baht that I have seen. I think if you pay with local cards there may be increments at the grocery store. The exchange rate is approximated by 40baht = $1. The paper money is the 1000, 500, 100, 50, and 20. The coins on the left are the 10, 5 and 1 baht. The 10 baht is identical in size and metal coloring as the 2euro piece. The dollar is the same length as the 500 baht note, and all the notes are about 1/4" taller than the dollar. The 100baht is the most useful note for the purchases I've been making.

All notes prominently feature the king on the front, and the king doing something on the back.