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Yes, We Have No Banana Pancakes #1: The Body in Bangkok – Bangkok, Thailand

By: Shannon Holman

The Body in Bangkok

All wrung out from the flight (14 hours from New York to Tokyo, a quick cigarette, and another seven hours to Bangkok), we had our bodies wonderfully pummelled at Wat Po, Bangkok’s massage center and the home of the enormous, lovely, golden Reclining Buddha. We opted for the one hour, 350 Baht herbal massage, which consisted of being pulled every which way interspersed with applications of steam-heated bundles of turmeric, camphor, and I don’t know what-all. My masseuse had completed the 30 hour training course five years ago and has been giving 6 or 7 massages a day since then, so I suppose she knew what she was doing, though I admit to a moment of unease when she started prodding away at my liver and kidneys. We left the wat refreshed, if a bit yellow from the turmeric.

“Disrobed figures showing fascinating construction”
No, not ourselves at the massage house, or the folks working Patpong, but a placard at the dimly lit but fascinating Puppet and Games Room at the National Museum. On exhibit were several dozen puppets – Hanumans, heroes, demons, damsels – each of which was operated with amazing precision. The case of “disrobed” puppets showed why: each puppet had ten rings at its base – one for each of the puppeteer’s fingers – connected to strings, allowing for quite intricate movements. For someone who can’t even touch-type, this was fascinating construction indeed.

For a still dimmer view of disrobed forms, we headed across the river to Thonburi’s Forensic Museum. Here, in the middle of a hospital complex, is an unnerving collection of preserved human remains. There was a row of standing corpses of notorious serial killers (complete with a stainless steel steam tray to catch any drips), row upon row of photographs of various victims of accident or foul play (propeller, stabbing), assorted organs in various states of hypertrophy, and a large collection of weapons. Most arresting were the rectangular glass cases holding the remains of babies; there were fetuses still in the womb along with older victims of birth defect or disease. Visitors – or hospital workers? – had placed small toys and change next to the displays.

Some of Bangkok’s more fortunate bodies end up in Wat Chana Songkhram, in Banglamphu. On the grounds is a fenced shale mound with a profusion of plants growing from it. Several black and white photographs are nestled in amid the ferns and orchids, and we learned that behind each photograph are the ashes of a patron. A Buddha figure is seated round the back side of the mound and spots nearest him go for 1 million Baht apiece. Sounds steep, until you realize that an auspicious rebirth is part of the price of admission.

Next time we get near Bangkok, we’ll stop off at the Thai Human Imagery Museum in Nakhon Pathom, where, according to the brochure, a group of Thai artists “accomplished a monumental task by infusing life into every square inch of human figures formed with fiberglass.” Of particular interest is the “Bald Head Smashing Adult Game Set,” which is “lovingly portrayed by master artists whose genius nobody can deny!” Nobody!

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