An Evening of Entertainment: Bangkok Street Show

Come away with me to a place where no mopeds rush by on the sidewalks and the smells of exhaust from a hundred passing buses and taxis fade away. Join us in a place of music and dancing, silly tricks and breathtaking stunts. This is Lumpini Park Bangkok Street Show!

Yesterday, we all hopped on the subway for a mini-adventure. On a regular late-afternoon, Lumpini Park is a green oasis with meandering paths, lush lawns, relaxing waterways, wandering monitor lizards. It's a great place to spend a cool season evening. Upon entering the park, we were met by a costumed troupe with drums. Right at 3:00, they starting drumming, dancing, and singing. The girls got to participate in portraying the story of planting fields of Korea. We continued through the park, stopping briefly to watch an Australian man jumping on a pogo stick pop a balloon with a fork stuck on top of his helmet. Our next stop was a slapstick magic show performed by a man from Florida. Meriel laughed and laughed as he produced more and more red foam balls from his mouth. Eris magically made an egg disappear and reappear from a small sack. In return, she received a little balloon mouse. Philip was intrigued by the flying table.

We met some beautiful, graceful twelve-foot tall ladies in long flowing skirts. Eris said they looked like giant Barbie dolls. Simeon just stared; I had to pick him up to get him out of the way. Then we made our way to the next stop. Philip and the kids enjoyed robot dancing and juggling from Japan while I browsed the Lumpini Public Library. My goal was to find a few beginning reader books for me to practice my Thai. The girls later told me that I missed most of the best show - juggling fire sticks, balancing a ladder on his chin, tricks with a Chinese yo-yo. I returned in time to watch him climb a freestanding ladder, then juggle while balancing at the top.

By this time, everyone was hungry. On the way to the main entrance of the park, a performing group was completely covered in make-up. Philip wondered at their nationality, commenting how difficult it was to tell; he guessed Greek. After looking it up later, I discovered it was an Israeli show called "Stones." A little later we settled on a grassy slope with our khao neow (sticky rice), moo ping (roasted pork on a stick), fried drumsticks, and watermelon. As we ate, me marveled at a Japanese man spinning a teacup around on top of a paper parasol. Later he held a closed fan in his mouth and balanced the teapot on top of that. We were about to walk back through the park to the subway station, when we noticed some aerial acrobatics. It is pretty amazing what these people can do with some serious core body strength and a long, dangling piece of fabric. We were just in time for the finale where a man rolled down the entire length, starting thirty feet in the air and stopping just before hitting the ground.

We enjoyed a well lit park and a cool breeze as we headed for the exit. We watched a mime act, the first part a of a Thai percussion band show, and a bit more Chinese yo-yo-ing on the way out. Just in front of the exit, the Korean group was getting ready for another show. We waved good-bye to them just before slipping back into the traffic and pollution directly outside the park gates.