Many travelers flee Thailands capital quickly after they have experienced the city’s heat, crowds, smells and chaos. Not us though, we actually love hectic Bangkok so much that we return to the city quite frequently.
The beautiful temples, immense skyscrapers, intense markets, tasty streetfood, hypermodern shopping malls and diverse nightlife are all a very good reason to visit Bangkok. But that is not why we have been there four times and even spent most of our honeymoon in the city. It’s because of our lovely friends that really make us feel at home everytime we visit.
Where it all started, 8 years ago
In 2010, Dagmar and I moved to Bangkok for half a year where I did my internship and Dagmar volunteered at an orphanage. We lived in the outskirts of the capital near the enormous government building that I was happy to call my office. My internship was at the Ministry of Information and Communication Technology (MICT) at the department of public relations. As the only farang (western foreigner) in the building of 4000 employees I was quite the attraction. This came with some perks that an intern would normally never experience. I for example, got to meet the minister and one time I joined her to go to an event where we arrived without the delay of traffic jam because we had our own police escort.
More importantly, MICT became to be the place where we met the people that are the reason why we return to Bangkok everytime. Our great longterm Thai friends once all worked at the Ministry. They were the colleagues that had so much fun working together that they would meet in private at least once a week. During my internship, Dagmar and I were quickly adopted by this group of friends and joined on many occassions outside of work. In the week that we had to go back to the Netherlands, they threw us three goodbye dinner parties including an awesome karaoke night.
Returning to Thailand
A longlasting long distance friendship was born. We came back to Thailand so we could meet again after three years. And because we wanted to include them in our wedding, we came for our honeymoon and had a small second wedding party almost two years ago. And one of the reasons we decided to visit Asia during our longterm travels was because of them.
8 years after first meeting them, only one of the friends still works at MICT. Because they are busy with their careers and some have kids now, these friends don’t see each other as often as they once did. Still, when we visited this time, the group came together again and we had an amazing lunch party. The occasion when the two farangs come to Thailand is also a pleasant reunion for them.
And that might be the case again, when we visit Bangkok just before going back to the Netherlands in November. Friends that live so far from us but also are so close to us.
♥ Thomas
Ingelse around the globe 