Stephaniemangojan4mcc: Stephanie Rodriguez opens one of the first fresh mangosteens the group has a chance to try during lunch at the Kai Yang Korat Restaurant. Called “queen of fruit,” mangosteen are exported fresh to China, Hong Kong, and Japan, and frozen to Japan and the USA. (McCandless)

Airmktjan14mcc: Chananya Thimaporn, manager of the Air Orchid Market in Bangkok, explains to Pornchai Paiboon (l) and Satish Pindi (r) that the Thai orchid market includes micro-propagation laboratories, bottled-plantlet nurseries, potted plants, and cut-flowers. The export value of Thai orchids is 2,580 million Baht. (McCandless)

Groupphotomktjan14mcc: A half of a group photo, this one taken in front of the Thai Agro Exchange Co., Ltd. Building at the Talaad Thai produce market. (McCandless)

IARD 602

Our Sunday blends into a hazy Monday morning in Bangkok.

I try not to fall asleep on the bus, but my first look at Thailand is of the huge road that we take through the mist to our hotel. Instead of a picture of a Hindu god, our bus now has the King of Thailand smiling at us. He is the most beloved monarch and perhaps the longest ruling king still in power.

We drop our bags at the hotel, shower and eat breakfast (bringing our total hours of sleep to maybe two if one counts the dozing on the plane) and then we’re off to the Talaad Thai wholesale produce market, which is the largest in Thailand.

The market is selling amazing quantities of everything fresh. Produce is transported by middlemen from the farms and sold here in bulk. The market covers 200 acres. We see more produce that we could have imagined. I love the opportunity to take pictures of stacks of citrus and vegetables. When you see a huge pile of chili peppers, you really appreciate the wonderful red color.

Then we come across bugs! Baskets full of silkworm pupae, grasshoppers, and some kind of beetle that is as long as my palm. Perhaps amused that a crowd of foreigners is clustered around her stand, the woman selling these exotic products says we can taste one. I do. The silkworm pupae are delicious—like shrimp.

We also see prawn, fish, frogs (!), and eels, all alive and squirming. I’m not tired at all, and very excited to be in Thailand.

We have lunch at the Kai Yang Korat Restaurant. I hear afterward that it was maybe too spicy for some palates, but I think it is amazing. The food is very spicy, but flavorful and there are many dishes to chose from. I particularly like the soup—with lemongrass, mushrooms, bergamot, and a relative of ginger. Our dessert is fruit—pommellos, like sweet, drier grapefruits—and mangosteens, the “Queen of Fruit” and delicious even out of season.

With a full stomach, I feel tired now, but we still have a lot to see. We visit Bangkok Flower, an orchid propagation center. Nearly all of the orchids grown in Thailand are different varieties of Dendrobium. They grow them in bottles from tissue taken from the meristem, the growing part of a mature plant, then transplant them. An orchid takes nearly two years before it flowers. Next, we meet Mr. Air, a famous orchid breeder, who owns Air Orchid Market, and see enough orchids to last a long time.

Tired, we return to the hotel. We have the opportunity to go to a mall for shopping and dinner, but having dragged my heavy luggage around, I opt not to. I end up going to the gym after discovering that the pool had closed at 7 pm. After that I fall happily into bed. We are in Thailand now.

Marissa Fessenden, ‘09