Land of Smiles

“Taksin Hotel?” sniggered the lady Thai immigration officer. After being delayed for 4 hours at LCCT airport we finally arrived at the spanking new Suvarnabhumi Bangkok Airport past midnight. The weather was surprisingly cooling probably below 25 Celsius, much colder than Genting Highlands. The pleasant climate lifted our spirits.


Bangkok's New Airport

Mee Peng’s grandaunt’s daughter (father’s cousin), Mai Gee married a Thai back in the 1960s. We were to stay in her house cum a 120-room hotel in the district of Thonburi. This was not our first visit as we were here before, 13 years ago, back in 1993 arriving by train. I have a vague memory of the place.

Warm Welcome
Despite being very late, 1:30 a.m. the relatives stood by the entrance awaited our arrival like VIPs. We were treated supper. The rest of the days were typically shopping and savoring the abundant host home-cooked culinary delights of various Thai-Hainanese dishes and red wine, every night. The gastronomical overindulgence was remorseful. I try to justify the excess calories by telling myself I will be offloading them come Sunday’s 10km race.
Lumphini Park Run
Got up at 4am took multivit tablets, a banana and a few gulps of water. That was our breakfast. The metered Toyota Altis cab took only 13 mins to reach the park. Called Tiger the race organizer on my mobile but a Thai-speaking female answered. The park was about the size of KLCC Park. There were 10 counters to receive new registrants. We paid 200baths each and received a yellow T-shirt, a colour associated with commemoration of the monarchy. Two large pictures of King Bhumibol and Queen Sirikit were erected on stage. Mee Peng seemed to enjoy the faster than usual Aerobics (or was it dancing) followed by the warm down pilate-yoga.

Robinson sponsored useful jumbo size green plastic bags for baggage storage. Saucony appeared to be the main sponsor.
A laced rubber band was issued upon entry to the pen, to be fastened on the wrist as proof of entry. The weather was ideal not too chilly, probably 23C. Due to the temperature I decided to forego the sleeveless NB Pacesetters vest and wore the orange Mizuno T-shirt instead. It would have been nice to advertise the Pacesetters Club.

The race started off by exiting the park to the busy streets. The traffic policemen did a good job considering Bangkok roads are some of the busiest in the world. A female runner ran with her 2 tiny dogs; both had bibs on them!

Km-3 into the race my NB1221 shoes used for the first time in a race felt kind of heavy. The shoes have clocked more than 600 kms, worn primarily for off-road running and hiking. I missed the racy lightweight Precision 5.

The route was completely flat with endless straights. I remember we only made left turns, encircling the city. No slopes, bridges or zigzags to negotiate. At Sukhumvit road, the touristy spots distracted my pacing for a while as I sightsee the area with the elevated Skytrain LRT running in parallel.

All the 3 water stations served icy cold water, some cups with ice cubes! What a cool way to cool down the body. Re-entering the Park, I ran towards the arch and finished in 60:06. This was my fastest 10km race. Perhaps the weather, flat terrain or maybe the actual distance contributed to the result. The golden finisher medal has the picture of King Rama V.

Mee Peng’s account of the race:

“ Shortly after the start, a veteran runner in his 50s or 60s carried a hooter, like those used by the breadman or ice cream seller, started hooting randomly. He spoke to me in Thai. I gave no response. Then he spoke to me in Mandarin “Are you from China?”. I laughed and replied I am from Malaysia. “Malaysia? Yeah, a country that knows many languages”. From then onwards, he paced or rather encouraged me to keep up with him right up to the finishing line. Each time he came up to a runner, he would hilariously squeeze the hooter “Ponk! Ponk! Ponk!” almost like a tuk-tuk driver!
He passed the hooter to me and asked me to try it, which I did.

He also introduced me to his group of veterans all donning their club's blue-white uniform vest and pacing together. They were from the Lumphini Park Veteran Runners Club. Says by running, he does not need to go to the Dr, hospital, medication etc. Running keeps him healthy and he does not time his races. He is a living testimony and a great influence of why people should take up running – to attain a good health. Full stop.”

Mee Peng finished in 1:11:36. I was guilty of not introducing myself to this man for as soon as she finished, she tried to relay her experience to me while I was busy photographing. We later attempted to look for him but could not find him.

Food Galore
More than 40 stalls, cooked hawker food for the participants and also members of the public while stocks last. No coupon is required. Eat all you want. I had fried egg with oysters and mussels, variety of noodles, fried and BBQ meats. I observed the Thais are not litterbugs. They do not habitually litter the compound. This is something all Malaysian runners should emulate – look for a rubbish bin to throw your plastic bottle or plate.
A Photography Agency setup a booth to display all the photos that were
taken during the race, to be embedded on a certificate. Each photo cost 80 baths and the certificate will be posted only to a local address. Since we were from a foreign country, I ask them to copy the photos into my CF card where they will later follow-up with a softcopy certificate sent via email.

We easily found a cab to take us back. Later, more shopping in Platinum Plaza and the Christmas decorated World Center Plaza (this place was bombed 4 days after we left Bangkok).







The next day which was Christmas Day, we were off to Pattaya to visit the Zoos. My 3 nieces had a gala time watching the elephant, tiger, pig and crocodile shows. We also ate crocodile satay @ 20bahts perstick.

Coincidentally, my good old friend, Fook Shing happened to be in Bangkok for work. I invited him over for dinner and to help us finish the 5-litre bottle of wine.









Somebody remarked I went to Bangkok between 2 major incidences: the Coup and the Bombing. Eo Dei (Thai uncle) invited 9 monks to his premises to perform a blessing ritual not only for his family but for us as well. It was indeed very kind of him.









I would like to thank Eo Dei and Mai Gee for their unreserved hospitality and generosity throughout our long stay. Bo Khai (Hainanese). Kawp-Koon Krup (Thai).