Apparently, when you plug into Bangkok's Internet providers, all of your Google language settings are converted to Thai. If I had been smart enough to figure this out beforehand, I would have at least learned what the Thai symbol is "change me back to English, because I have no idea if I'm doing this properly, and I don't want to press the wrong button and accidentally download opium and then get arrested." So forgive any lost-in-translation mistakes over the next few days.
Anyhoo, after a 17-hour flight (during which I went only partly stir-crazy), I arrived in Bangkok Thursday afternoon, and soon after went for a walk around the neighborhood of Pathumwan, which I would best describe as "hot and friendly." I soon met up with the two U.S. contestants for this year's Karaoke World Championships. We went out looking for karaoke (what else?) around the city's Silom Soi 4 area, where we found two near-empty bars; turns out the real action was on the street, where the locals were holding an elaborate lady-boy beauty pageant. Still, we had a good time entertaining ourselves, though I have yet to find Murray Head's "One Night In Bangkok" available for karaoke here, which is amazing—sort of like walking into Allentown, Pennsylvania, and seeing no copies of Billy Joel's The Nylon Curtain.
The competition starts tonight, with 11 countries participating. More info tomorrow; in the meantime, enjoy these crappily taken pictures.
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