My mother in law is on her deathbed, been sent home from hospital to die at home, so my wife and I are presently sequestered in bangkok, the old dear is close to death, mostly confused, semi comatose, doubly incontinent, bed bound, cannot move and barely eats or drinks. There is a full time carer helping out, her dedication to her duties is remarkable, and there is always a family member around, usually my wife.
I cannot do much, and thankfully I am spared the messy stuff due to her shyness when uncovered and wont allow me in the room when cleaning up duties are necessary.
She is a lovely lady, we have always got on, but now her time has come and it sad to see her linger on like this. Distressful for her family and a grim reminder of our own mortality. Its secondary cancer by the way, she had breast cancer six years ago and it returned about a year ago, bones and lung.
I am staying in the family home, which is a double shophouse, dusty ma and pa shop on the ground floor and living accommodation above, in khlong toey, between rama four and sukhumvit. The house is as it was when they moved into it in the seventies, timewarp stuff, jam packed with stuff from floor to ceiling in the thai way, and I am bored and I am hot.
I could bugger off back to hua hin and the condo, the fresh breezes, the pool, the gym, the sauna, the space, theclean air........ the life, but I wont, i will stay here with the family.
Question is, what the helll is there to do in bangkok during the day and early evening. The place is a furnace, the place is choked with traffic, thd place is expensive.
On my forays out of the house, even the fifteen minute walk to the skytrain or the tube is torture in this heat, taxis these days seem even pickier than usual about picking up fares and I can be left standing for as long as it would take me to walk.
Ive done sll the tourist sights, the markets, even the execrable shopping malls have been explored to death, alghough I must say, the lunchtime minge on parade around the food court in terminal 21 at asoke takes some beating.
So, what exactly is there to do in bangkok during the day, museums, libraries, theatre, opera, any hidden gems worth making the effort for. Any suggestion, helpul or otherwise, would be appreciated.