Bangkok has been a very special place to me for the longest time. I've experienced it in both the rich tourist fashion, staying in hotels big and small with bottles of water filtered and bottled by the various beer companies, and in more of an everyman fashion, staying in a muggy attic in my grandmother's house, with only the open window to keep me cool enough. Likewise, I have traveled in both air-conditioned taxis and under the open canopy of tuk tuks, although most of the time has been spent on foot. Taking that dichotomy a bit further, the city also has a much more urban area in the center of the city, populated by large malls and smaller convenience stores.
Either way you go about it, though, Bangkok is quite a nice place to be. The city has a nice charm to it-various vendors are set up on street corners, alleyways, and busy streets, filling the air all around with savory smoke as they sell soup, pad thai, and drinks like others sell hot dogs in New York. Drinking Pepsi out of a watertight bag filled with crushed ice is certainly an interesting experience, and my brother and I considered it one of the highlights of our stay. And of course, there are the attractions that immediately come to mind whenever the word Thailand is spoken, such as the Emerald Temple and Reclining Buddha.
The character I had in mind is an American who is weary of taking responsibility for America's various follies and, seeking an escape, flies to Bangkok to stay there for an undisclosed period of time. At first, the person might grow a bit annoyed at Thailand as well, struggling to cope with the heat and culture shock. As time goes on, though, they learn to appreciate and even love everything about it, and possibly even look for somewhere to live there.
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