Life's a Trip: Chapter Eight - The Jewel Con and Malaysian Mates
December 29, 2007
Today I decide to do more sightseeing but I have no particular plan. I take to the streets and after about half an hour of wandering, I come across Wat Rachabophit (Sathitmahasimaram Ratchaworawiharn...good luck saying that one). The temple was built in 1869 by King Rama V and it acted as the Royal Temple during his reign.
Wat Ratchabophit
Inner Wihan of Wat Ratchabophit
Mother of Pearl Door Mural
Wat Ratchabophit Door Frame Mural
Initiates Inside the Main Wihan
A short distance from Wat Ratchabophit, I find Wat Ratchapradit. As I wander onto the temple grounds, a middle aged man wearing a yellow shirt with the King's emblem greets me and invites me to enter the main wihan. He says to me, “You're very lucky. Normally people aren't allowed to enter the main wihan, but it's being renovated today so it's open to the public. If you have some time after looking inside I would like to tell you a little bit about the history of this temple, it's very good for me to practice my English.” I agree to chat with him and proceed to enter the temple.
Wat Ratchapradit from the Outside
The Interior of Wat Ratchapradit
Inside I watch as three painters work at restoring the masterpieces that line the walls of the wihan. I can only imagine how the temple will look when restorations are complete, but it is stunning even in it's eroded state.
After a short while of watching and meditating, I join the man outside and take a seat next to him in front of the temple. He begins explaining the meaning behind the colours of the temple. For the life of me I can't remember what he said in regards to the temple, but I remember exactly what happened after he finished talking about it.
He pauses for a moment while he's talking to me and says, “You have really cool earrings.” I thank him for the compliment and he goes on, “You know what would be really cool though, if you got some ruby or emerald earrings. I know a place where you can get them. There's a special market that's open only today. You see, the government of Thailand is having a tourism week to celebrate the New Year and this is the last day for their special sale. You can buy jewels for 50-80% off and then you can sell them for full price in Canada. I've done it and made lots of money.” He carries on about his “great jewel sale” for a while longer but I don't bite. I recognize his scam because it's almost word for word one of the scams that I had read about on the Internet before leaving for Thailand.
As he's winding down, an older man German walks onto the temple grounds. I can see a look of panic on the jewel con man's face. If he's busy with me he won't be able to con the other man as well...at least that's what I thought his expression indicated. The con-man interrupts our dialogue about jewels and gives his introduction speech to the old man: “You're very lucky because the temple is only open to the public for a few days for renovations. Let me have my associate show you around and then I'd like to talk with you after.” He calls out in Thai and a dirty looking man scurries from around the corner of the wihan to escort the old man around the temple grounds.
The con-man watches until they've disappeared from sight and then returns to our dialogue about jewels. However, my patience has run thin and I've grown tired of the discussion so I promptly tell thank him for telling me about the sale, but that I'm not interested in going today because I have too much to do. I get up to leave and the con-man says to me, “You haven't even seen the outside of the temple. There's a magnificent statute of King Rama behind the main wihan. Why don't you have a look?” He's right, I haven't seen everything but I had wanted to before he started chatting about jewels, so I decide to take a quick walk around.
As I'm walking, I run into the old German man. He's taking photos of the King Rama statue and his guide is nowhere to be seen. I figure that it's the perfect opportunity to warn him about the gem scam in case he doesn't already know about it. He thanks me for the warning and I proceed on my way.
About 10 meters from the old man, there is another man sleeping against a column of the temple. As I approach him, he wakes up, sees me and the old man standing in the same relative area and then scurries off to the front of the temple where the con-man is. However, in his haste he drops something. I walk over to see what he has dropped and initially I think that my eyes are playing tricks on me. “That looks like a...no...it couldn't be....” I take a few steps closer and realize that my initial impression was correct, he had left behind his gun.
I stand over it and wonder what I should do. Out of the corner of my eye I see the gun man talking with the con-man. The con-man looks irritated. It becomes obvious that the men are working together and that the gun man just blew his part in the con/robbery. I think about taking the gun with me, just to be sure that they don't use it on me, but I remember seeing many soldiers in the general area of the temple and I think about the possibility of being stopped with a gun or being seen throwing a gun away and decide to leave it where it is.
I call the German man over and explain to him what I've found. He doesn't seem concerned in the slightest and continues to take pictures. I figure, I've done the right thing by telling him and now the only thing left to do is to leave. I turn my camcorder on and make it obvious that I'm filming as I casually pass through the entrance of the temple and make my way to the main road. What a crazy experience!
During the evening I decide to visit Khao San Road. Khao San is an area of Bangkok that's famous for it's bohemian atmosphere, interesting street scene and it's high density of backpackers. I spend a few hours wandering the streets as I take in the sights and shop for souvenirs.
Khao San just before sunset
As night falls food vendors begin to swarm the market and set up shop to serve the mass of drunk foreigners. Most of the vendors serve some variety of pad thai or kabobs, but one particular vendor stands out. He's serving fried bugs. He's got beetles, grasshoppers, crickets, and various sorts of larvae. Mmmmmm.
Bug Vendor
As I contemplate trying one of the exotic delicacies, I turn to the guy who's standing next to me and ask him if he's going to try something. He laughs and replies in a friendly fashion. The question quickly turns into a conversation and then into introductions.
Meet Joe. He and his friend Thias just arrived in Bangkok via bus from their homes in Malaysia. They're about to check out the nightlife on Khao San and they invite me to join them. For the rest of the evening Joe, Thias and I check out various bars and clubs until nothing is open and we call it a night.
Me, Joe and Thias
Today I decide to do more sightseeing but I have no particular plan. I take to the streets and after about half an hour of wandering, I come across Wat Rachabophit (Sathitmahasimaram Ratchaworawiharn...good luck saying that one). The temple was built in 1869 by King Rama V and it acted as the Royal Temple during his reign.
Wat Ratchabophit
Inner Wihan of Wat Ratchabophit
Mother of Pearl Door Mural
Wat Ratchabophit Door Frame Mural
Initiates Inside the Main Wihan
A short distance from Wat Ratchabophit, I find Wat Ratchapradit. As I wander onto the temple grounds, a middle aged man wearing a yellow shirt with the King's emblem greets me and invites me to enter the main wihan. He says to me, “You're very lucky. Normally people aren't allowed to enter the main wihan, but it's being renovated today so it's open to the public. If you have some time after looking inside I would like to tell you a little bit about the history of this temple, it's very good for me to practice my English.” I agree to chat with him and proceed to enter the temple.
Wat Ratchapradit from the Outside
The Interior of Wat Ratchapradit
Inside I watch as three painters work at restoring the masterpieces that line the walls of the wihan. I can only imagine how the temple will look when restorations are complete, but it is stunning even in it's eroded state.
After a short while of watching and meditating, I join the man outside and take a seat next to him in front of the temple. He begins explaining the meaning behind the colours of the temple. For the life of me I can't remember what he said in regards to the temple, but I remember exactly what happened after he finished talking about it.
He pauses for a moment while he's talking to me and says, “You have really cool earrings.” I thank him for the compliment and he goes on, “You know what would be really cool though, if you got some ruby or emerald earrings. I know a place where you can get them. There's a special market that's open only today. You see, the government of Thailand is having a tourism week to celebrate the New Year and this is the last day for their special sale. You can buy jewels for 50-80% off and then you can sell them for full price in Canada. I've done it and made lots of money.” He carries on about his “great jewel sale” for a while longer but I don't bite. I recognize his scam because it's almost word for word one of the scams that I had read about on the Internet before leaving for Thailand.
As he's winding down, an older man German walks onto the temple grounds. I can see a look of panic on the jewel con man's face. If he's busy with me he won't be able to con the other man as well...at least that's what I thought his expression indicated. The con-man interrupts our dialogue about jewels and gives his introduction speech to the old man: “You're very lucky because the temple is only open to the public for a few days for renovations. Let me have my associate show you around and then I'd like to talk with you after.” He calls out in Thai and a dirty looking man scurries from around the corner of the wihan to escort the old man around the temple grounds.
The con-man watches until they've disappeared from sight and then returns to our dialogue about jewels. However, my patience has run thin and I've grown tired of the discussion so I promptly tell thank him for telling me about the sale, but that I'm not interested in going today because I have too much to do. I get up to leave and the con-man says to me, “You haven't even seen the outside of the temple. There's a magnificent statute of King Rama behind the main wihan. Why don't you have a look?” He's right, I haven't seen everything but I had wanted to before he started chatting about jewels, so I decide to take a quick walk around.
As I'm walking, I run into the old German man. He's taking photos of the King Rama statue and his guide is nowhere to be seen. I figure that it's the perfect opportunity to warn him about the gem scam in case he doesn't already know about it. He thanks me for the warning and I proceed on my way.
About 10 meters from the old man, there is another man sleeping against a column of the temple. As I approach him, he wakes up, sees me and the old man standing in the same relative area and then scurries off to the front of the temple where the con-man is. However, in his haste he drops something. I walk over to see what he has dropped and initially I think that my eyes are playing tricks on me. “That looks like a...no...it couldn't be....” I take a few steps closer and realize that my initial impression was correct, he had left behind his gun.
I stand over it and wonder what I should do. Out of the corner of my eye I see the gun man talking with the con-man. The con-man looks irritated. It becomes obvious that the men are working together and that the gun man just blew his part in the con/robbery. I think about taking the gun with me, just to be sure that they don't use it on me, but I remember seeing many soldiers in the general area of the temple and I think about the possibility of being stopped with a gun or being seen throwing a gun away and decide to leave it where it is.
I call the German man over and explain to him what I've found. He doesn't seem concerned in the slightest and continues to take pictures. I figure, I've done the right thing by telling him and now the only thing left to do is to leave. I turn my camcorder on and make it obvious that I'm filming as I casually pass through the entrance of the temple and make my way to the main road. What a crazy experience!
During the evening I decide to visit Khao San Road. Khao San is an area of Bangkok that's famous for it's bohemian atmosphere, interesting street scene and it's high density of backpackers. I spend a few hours wandering the streets as I take in the sights and shop for souvenirs.
Khao San just before sunset
As night falls food vendors begin to swarm the market and set up shop to serve the mass of drunk foreigners. Most of the vendors serve some variety of pad thai or kabobs, but one particular vendor stands out. He's serving fried bugs. He's got beetles, grasshoppers, crickets, and various sorts of larvae. Mmmmmm.
Bug Vendor
As I contemplate trying one of the exotic delicacies, I turn to the guy who's standing next to me and ask him if he's going to try something. He laughs and replies in a friendly fashion. The question quickly turns into a conversation and then into introductions.
Meet Joe. He and his friend Thias just arrived in Bangkok via bus from their homes in Malaysia. They're about to check out the nightlife on Khao San and they invite me to join them. For the rest of the evening Joe, Thias and I check out various bars and clubs until nothing is open and we call it a night.
Me, Joe and Thias
posted by Christopher Janca at 11:42 p.m.
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