Although by the end of November you’ll see all sorts of iconic Christmas decorations being put up all over the city, especially in the leading department stores, hotels, major office building, and on main roads. Of course colourful lights are mandatory, a (fake) Christmas tree is also a must, as well as a perfect snowman made from the perfect polystyrene, Santa Clause do make an appearance, even a few reindeer here and there. But as a nation, 25th of December is just another working day, oh well, at least the lights do cheer up my little Matt to no end, screaming ‘lights’ every second can be very annoying to say the least.
The official holiday started on the 31st and ended on the 3rd, during these few days where a large number of Bagnkokian leaves the capital city, either for overseas or upcountry, Bangkok suddenly became a totally different city, to me it is now able to breath, smile and even laugh, it seems Bangkok also needs a holiday :)
No bad vibes oozing from every traffic jams, there were less pollution, less anger and frustrations; street hawker are also taking their much needed rest (simply because there were no customers), so the footpaths were no longer a compilation of mini mission impossible type assault courses, being able to walk freely is quite liberating.
Of course there are always an opposing view, ‘Boring vs Blissful’ would be the best description of each viewpoint. I do fall heavily in the ‘blissful’ camp, during these few days Bangkok or Krung Thep (Thai name) have a chance to truly reflect in the meaning of its name, ‘City of Angles’.
We spent most of our time in various parks, walking and talking, a thoroughly wonderful & uneventful holiday, it was very good just being together :)
