Interesting stuff blows in from Isan

Sometimes for relaxation in the cooler evenings now I like to go down to Soi Cowboy and watch the world go by, just sitting at a little bar by the side of the road, watching tourists and bar girls, I try to figure the girls that are fresh from upcountry from the ones who say they are fresh from upcountry. They blow into Bangkok, the prettiest girls from the villages, dozens a day, on buses to Mo Chit and trains to Hua Long Pong, and a lot of them drift over to this street and the other two or three venues that cater to the tourists looking to see Bangkok's notorious sex scene. There they wait by the side of the road, in front of their clubs, like trout waiting under the banks of a stream for passing grubs.






This time of year the wind is from the north to northeast too, and along with the girls comes the cool air of the north, equally delightful, the air warming like the girls themselves as it blows out of Udorn and Korat and Surin, down from the hills, across the plain, and into the wicked concrete alleys of the town. The journey takes about a day, and you can see from the twin pictures here of parallel temp and dew point of November air in Bangkok and Korat, 165 to the north. The air moisture stays pretty much the same, but you can see the arrival of the air in the big city heats it up by about 4 degrees C. Even so, most Bangkokians will be complaining of the cold, and if they venure to the northeast, they will make special purchases in fahlang thrift shops or expensive department store, depending on their situation in life, of "winter" clothes.





Oh, I should note that not all of them are girls.