It's the middle of Saturday afternoon here now, and everything is just making it feel like one of those long summer days back home... You know, those ones where it's too hot to do anything so everyone just stays at home with nothing to do, and it just feels perfect to sit and relax with the fans blowing and nothing really pressing on your mind. So in the lull of this hot and humid day I thought I should show you a few pictures. Take a look...
A normal day on Sukhumvit road. You can see that a vendor setting up his merchandise amid the hundreds of vendors here. It's incredible how much is sold on the streets in Bangkok. From cheap Louis Vutton purses to Dior sunglasses and Rolex watches. We're not really sure how authentic they are, but you name it and they've probably got it here.
This would probably be the worst toilet I've had to use so far, which isn't that bad compared to some, but it still was a shock to me. Ew. So wrong. Three cheers for the squatty potty! Hooray!
This is my experience on a "tuk tuk", which is something like a motorized rickshaw. This driver was especially hilarious. Sandra jokingly told him that he was mentally insane ("baa baa baaw baaw" in Thai) when he started driving down the wrong side of the road, so the whole rest of the trip he kept on saying to himself "baa baa baaw baaw!", "baa baa baaw baaw!" whenever he would pull risky moves. So when I wasn't choking on the fumes from the cars ahead of us, I just couldn't stop laughing. It was quite the experience.
The view from the exit I take off the SkyTrain platform when I'm on my way to NightLight. That building with the blue top there is Jai Samarn Church, and it is very near to where I've been working at the NightLight office. The girls meet in there every morning for a worship service, and then church is held on Sunday as well.
I had to take this picture very discreetly, which is why it's so off centre. There are many women like this around the city, posing as a beggars but actually raising money for a gang organization. I have seen them a few times now, and they always have small children with them. The children are also always sleeping, so we believe that they are drugged to sleep so that they are easier to handle while the women beg. You can see this woman here with the sleeping child sprawled in her lap and a cup in her hands, asking for money.
This is the area in which NightLight does outreach ministry twice a week, at the Nana Entertainment Plaza in the Nana district of Bangkok. To get to the plaza, we walk down a small street (it is almost more like a cul-de-sac) and then there is an open complex with multiple bars that employ hundreds and hundreds of girls.
I was able to take a trip to the plaza during the day with a youth missions team that was here from Ontario. It was absolutely shocking to see how different it was in the day compared to the night. The place was dead. Almost nobody was there. There was no blaring music, or colorful lights, or near naked bodies. And yet somehow still, the air felt heavy. Weighty with the presence of things unseen and the attrocities nights previous.
Here is a picture of the entrance of the street that I snapped just as we were leaving the bars last night. The place was just reaming with people and bodies, but I managed to get a picture when there weren't too many in the way. It was another battle of a night, heavy with those intoxicated by sin, yet covered in prayer and spotted with triumph. Bless the Lord.
A normal day on Sukhumvit road. You can see that a vendor setting up his merchandise amid the hundreds of vendors here. It's incredible how much is sold on the streets in Bangkok. From cheap Louis Vutton purses to Dior sunglasses and Rolex watches. We're not really sure how authentic they are, but you name it and they've probably got it here.
This would probably be the worst toilet I've had to use so far, which isn't that bad compared to some, but it still was a shock to me. Ew. So wrong. Three cheers for the squatty potty! Hooray!
This is my experience on a "tuk tuk", which is something like a motorized rickshaw. This driver was especially hilarious. Sandra jokingly told him that he was mentally insane ("baa baa baaw baaw" in Thai) when he started driving down the wrong side of the road, so the whole rest of the trip he kept on saying to himself "baa baa baaw baaw!", "baa baa baaw baaw!" whenever he would pull risky moves. So when I wasn't choking on the fumes from the cars ahead of us, I just couldn't stop laughing. It was quite the experience.
The view from the exit I take off the SkyTrain platform when I'm on my way to NightLight. That building with the blue top there is Jai Samarn Church, and it is very near to where I've been working at the NightLight office. The girls meet in there every morning for a worship service, and then church is held on Sunday as well.
I had to take this picture very discreetly, which is why it's so off centre. There are many women like this around the city, posing as a beggars but actually raising money for a gang organization. I have seen them a few times now, and they always have small children with them. The children are also always sleeping, so we believe that they are drugged to sleep so that they are easier to handle while the women beg. You can see this woman here with the sleeping child sprawled in her lap and a cup in her hands, asking for money.
This is the area in which NightLight does outreach ministry twice a week, at the Nana Entertainment Plaza in the Nana district of Bangkok. To get to the plaza, we walk down a small street (it is almost more like a cul-de-sac) and then there is an open complex with multiple bars that employ hundreds and hundreds of girls.
I was able to take a trip to the plaza during the day with a youth missions team that was here from Ontario. It was absolutely shocking to see how different it was in the day compared to the night. The place was dead. Almost nobody was there. There was no blaring music, or colorful lights, or near naked bodies. And yet somehow still, the air felt heavy. Weighty with the presence of things unseen and the attrocities nights previous.
Here is a picture of the entrance of the street that I snapped just as we were leaving the bars last night. The place was just reaming with people and bodies, but I managed to get a picture when there weren't too many in the way. It was another battle of a night, heavy with those intoxicated by sin, yet covered in prayer and spotted with triumph. Bless the Lord.
