I had the morning off today and then the afternoon was spent at BNH Hospital for a test on my heart. Riding the buses back and forth, and just walking the streets, I was struck by how many 7-11s there are in Bangkok!

At BNH Hospital, I had a heart MRI, a procedure which involves 2½ hours in the MRI machine. A spike in my EKG while taking a stress test prompted the doctor to order the MRI because that type of spike usually indicates a blockage of an artery. Luckily for me, though, the test showed my heart was healthy and normal.

There are more than 8,300 7-11 stores in Thailand and about 3,600 of them are in Bangkok alone.

Thailand has the second largest number of 7-11 stores in one country, after Japan which has 18,200 stores.

This is a 7-11 near BNH Hospital, at one end of the block. At the other end of the block are two more 7-11s, across the street from each other.

The sheer number of 7-11s that one passes on a bus trip is amazing, one after the other.

This is a 7-11 in a quieter more residential neighborhood.

This 7-11 is larger than most and is really busy, even though there are two other convenience stores 100 feet away on both sides.