the king and I

the taxi man ran through the traffic on the route to the railway station.
It was early so traffic wasn't too bad and folk had not woken
yet to begin the hustle of central Bangkok.
As we headed to the train station I saw masses of taxis and
tuk tuks trying to get passengers and expected the inner workings of the
train station would not be dissimilar to India where whole families live and
trade.

After paying the taxi driver I headed inside to be met by nothing.
No hustle, no bustle, no hawkers, no madness, no chaotic food sellers
nor any sign of unordered foolery that I always associate with asia!

I sat down near the very smart looking dunkin donuts
and wondered what was going on.
Everyone was so quiet. So polite.  You could hear a pin drop.
No rats hanging around the bins, ( i have become an expert at watching
rat behaviour over the years!)
Then as if I was in a time warp from 1920's england
someone blew a whistle and everyone stood up.
I followed their lead and did the same
and was immediately greeted by the national anthem and everyone
started singing to the king.  Everything stopped! Sellers, pedestrians
police all took a moment to respect the king.

i looked on bemused and fascinated as this odd throwback to
imperial times carried on.

Thankfully in England this has, at least on the surface,
passed away!

more soon!