Bangkok - An assault to the Senses!

12-30-2005 - Bangkok is an assault to the senses! All at once it hits you - the sights, sounds, tastes, smells and the feelings that Bangkok evokes and exudes...One becomes enraptured and mesmerized at the cacaphony of paradoxes this city HURLS at you. The juxtaposition of the Thai people going about their daily life amidst an invasion of foreign commerce, tourists, backpackers, and soon to be expats; a city in which people dwell along the great Chao Praya on stilted homes that neighbor world-renowned hotels like the Mandarin Oriental and Shangri La; where religious wats and temples dot the city landscape in a country where Buddhism predominates...and tuk tuk drivers unabashadly solicit their foreign passengers to "saunas" and "massage parlors"...lucrative toursit draws. Bangkok...in all its ironic glory!