Silom Road Festival Bangkok 2010 (II)

The light is fading fast now, the darkness always comes quick in Bangkok, and the crowd is growing steadily: any major event in the city will see huge crowds gathering and in Silom Road this evening its no different, the pace of movement slows up as the people continue to thicken. On the roadside the neon signs for Starbucks, Black Canyon Coffee, Au Bon Pain, California Wow, Bangkok Bank, Ultimate Coffee, and the other usual outlets on this thoroughfare are almost lost today in the hustle and bustle, while a long shadow from above is cast by the concrete stanchions of the Skytrain which are tonight being washed in soft lights. A memorial area has been dedicated to the King, and - suddenly - the fading sky is lit up with a firework display. A number of the city's celebrities are also in evidence, and while most of the names are lost on me, popular television actress Pitta Na Pattalung, is in demand from her fans. Meanwhile at the far end of the road another sign strung across a footbridge welcomes visitors to the festival and is lit up with bright blue-tinted lights.

Silom Roads windmills that famously bookend its stretch are whirring quietly away, somewhat lost in the drama tonight. Silom actually means windmill in Thai and the spinning bronzed sails at either end of the road remember the long and rich history of this particular area where once windmills held sway, used to draw water into the many orchards that rolled across Silom long before the choking creep of urbanization.

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