6/14/08 Erwan Shrine

Yesterday in addition to some shopping malls for research, Anna and I went to Erwan Shrine. It's a very famous shrine here on a street corner in downtown Bangkok. Apparently when a hotel was built there some time ago, all kinds of bad this were occurring so they built the shrine to ward off bad luck. Anyway, people go there to pray for luck or give thanks for a lucky occurrence. The amount of incense being burned there is intoxicating! There were times I felt like I couldn't see or breath! The other great thing about this place is there are some girls in traditional Thai dress who can be paid to do a traditional Thai dance that will help give your prayers more clout apparently. It was super cool!


After that we made our way to Siam Paragon, a huge upscale mall with the biggest fanciest food court you've ever seen! This is where we ate lunch...they have everything! Then we went up stairs to do our observations. Normally you are not allowed to take pictures in this mall but they were having an orchid exhibit and photos were allowed in this area, so we got some good pics and took some of the outside. This mall is very upscale with designer stores. You hardly see anyone in there shopping, most people are just walking around. In contrast we went to our next mall assignment, MBK. MBK is obviously an older mall and packed with lots of little stores. The place was crowed with every type of people. Lot's of Westerners! This is where you can buy your fake designer stuff.



Tomorrow we leave for Hua Hin, a beach town. We come back on Tues and then go to Ayutthaya on Weds. Ayutthaya was the ancient capital of Thailand. Then James, Natalie, Anna and I leave Thurs for Chiang Mai in the north, where we will be until Sunday. Busy week ahead!