In 2008, I was staying at my friend Lindi’s flat in Jing’an, Shanghai. It was on the 36th floor, and outside the windows, I could see a gray city and a massive construction site. After living there for few weeks, I bought a one-way flight ticket to Xiamen and from there, to Bangkok.
Even after I had arrived at the Hongqiao airport in Shanghai, I was still debating furiously whether I was going to get on the plane or not. The idea was to move to Bangkok, where I didn’t have a job or know anyone. I didn’t even have the slightest idea about how I would stay on after my 30-day tourist would run out, or what I would do there. It would be an adventure. I would figure it out.
But would I? I wasn’t sure at all. On the other hand, in Shanghai, I had a free room to live in at Lindi’s and didn’t need a visa. Staying in Shanghai seemed much easier. Still, I got on the plane and flew to Xiamen. But in Xiamen, I didn’t get on the connecting flight to Bangkok. I bought a new ticket and flew back to Shanghai. To this day, I have still never been to Xiamen but only to the airport.
I was back at Lindi’s for dinner that evening. I had set off to Bangkok but never made it there. It was ridiculous.
Another friend, T, had a layover in Bangkok from Germany back to her home in Nepal. She had especially planned the stopover in Bangkok so as to meet up with me. She had been on the plane all day and I had no way of calling her. When she called me from Suvarnabhumi Airport and learned that I wasn’t coming to Bangkok, I could hear shock and many other things in her voice. T forgave me for not showing up. She stayed at an airport hotel for the night and flew home in the morning.
In the years that followed, I visited Bangkok many times, but never moved there.
Last week, after so many years, I finally moved to Bangkok, this time, for real.
Why Bangkok? Friends in Europe ask; many have no idea what it means to move to Bangkok. Friends in China ask; for many, it makes little sense to move from the UK to a country seemingly less developed than China.
I will be posting some “Bangkok Diaries”.
Dear friends, let me tell you about Bangkok as I live it. Let me show you what I see here.
And T, when you come to Bangkok next time, I will be here.