| Today I had to move around the city to go to a meeting. This was some of the traffic encountered at 11:00 AM on a Monday morning. |
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| Even the sidewalks are crowded because usually half--or more--of their area is taken up by vendors selling lottery tickets, flowers, food, pirated CDs, you-name-it. |
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| This vendor selling fruit takes up the full width of the narrow sidewalk, forcing pedestrians out into the street--and the traffic. |
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| A crowd of a different kind is seen at Panthip Plaza, a discount computer center with five floors and more than 150 shops all competing with each other. Sometimes the people crowds here are rather amazing, too. |
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| Thai people are quietly very religious and respectful of the gods and spirits. Here a young man sets up incense in front of statues in a small Chinese-style temple. |
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| Chinese influence is quite pronounced in Thailand. Much of the commerce is Chinese-powered and also much of religiosity takes on a Chinese tint. This shop sells small shrines for the home or business. |
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| The Thais set up traditional spirit houses wherever human beings have established dwellings and thus displaced the original spirits of nature. This spirit house is on the grounds of an international school, probably a concession to local culture on the part of a western administration. |
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| For the common people, though, religion is very real and personal. Here in a wat along the river, a venerable monk gives advice in a rather public forum to a man and his son. |
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