Bangkok, September 2022.
Thailand is best avoided in September. At least that’s what I’ve read. Between the suffocating oven heat, the shirt-soaking humidity, and the daily blitzes of sheet rain, holidaying here in the cooler dry season makes a lot more sense.
That said, flights and accommodation are cheaper, the thinning out of the tourist hordes can make for a more satisfying cultural immersion, and having been to Bangkok a number of times, it was fascinating to witness how this mega city operates under the duress of daily lashings of thunderstorms.
By day, giant lizards glide along a lazy river in central Lumphini Park, and watermelons are slowly sold under the shade of sunbrellas. The humans of Bangkok try to avoid extreme temperature and even worse – tan-inducing effects of the sun.
A single drop of rain signals that it’s time to run for cover as the first crack of thunder erupts and the streets are transformed into the end of days. An umbrella has limited purpose around this time of the year.
In a tropical storm, armadas of bin bags now sail intently down neon-lit road rivers, and air-conditioned mega malls become air raid shelters with ice creams and cinemas.
At the time, weed dispensaries had sprung up like very loosely regulated wildflowers, since Mary Jane had been declared a legal substance, a surprising yet very welcome change of stance. I met a couple of former lawyers at a shop there who had jumped at the chance to pack up the soul-crushing hours of their jobs, and pack in the OG Kush.
Although I had come out on a dental tourism mission, exploring Bangkok and documenting the rainy season was a lot of fun, although I ultimately decided to forgo the better services in the capital and suffer in the paradisical palm-laden shores of the south.
The Secret Map 