Our plans caused us to overstay our free, thirty day visas, so we had to trek out to the Civil Center to get an extension. The guy on the left is King Bhumibol, who’s universally loved by everyone we’ve met. A scholar, farmer, diplomat, intellectual, and lover of both The Eagles (particularly “Hotel California”) and Bob Marley. He taught the Thai people about crop diversification, and helped the Russians further developed their agricultural practices. Putin is a big fan.
We had expected the process of extending our visas to take all afternoon, but it was surprisingly efficient. Maybe 30 minutes start to finish, despite having none of the requisite documents prepared in advance. Marinate on that, DMV.
After the Civil Center we took a bus going anywhere, and ended up at Victory Monument. Calling it a traffic circle does it a disservice. Predictably, it was huge, crowded with shops and stalls, and had all manner of food, so we checked it out.
Found this gem.
