7-Eleven in Bangkok
A 7-Eleven sign protrudes from a building along a street in Bangkok, Thailand, along with some drying laundry, plants, wires, and other things.
When Adam and I first got to Bangkok to visit Gary and Michelle Ford, I was surprised to see a 7-Eleven store. I know there are still several in the United States, but they seem to be dying out, at least in my area. As it turns out, they weren’t dying, they were just all moving to Bangkok. Because after seeing one, I started noticing more. And more. And more. There were seemingly 7-Eleven stores on every street corner. Or sometimes not on the corner but in the middle of a line of buildings, such as in this photo here. And sometimes even two stores right across the street from each other. But with how much traffic there was on some of the major streets, having stores on both sides of the street made some sense. “I don’t want to try to cross the street with all that traffic just to get to 7-Eleven. Oh hey look, here’s another one right here!”
As it turns out, Adam and I went to 7-Eleven quite often, especially the one that was conveniently located around the corner from the church building where we were staying. We stopped in for a cold soft drink on a hot day. Or for a snack to help us keep going until the next meal. We even stopped there most nights to get something to have for breakfast the next morning, since neither of us were big breakfast people. And we were always surprised that the prices seemed to be relatively low compared to prices for similar items back home. Either that, or our currency conversion math was really off. But I don’t think it was.
They did have some rather, um, unusual things sometimes, such as hot chili squid flavored chips. Seriously. Don’t believe me? Here’s a photo to prove it:
Also, whenever I got a drink, such as a bottle of Coke or a bottle of water, the cashier would always give me a straw. Or sometimes, she would ask if I wanted a straw. At first I would either politely decline or just not use the straw if I was given one. But then I started wondering if by drinking straight out of the bottle I was breaking some sort of cultural taboo. “Look at that barbaric American swine! Doesn’t even have enough refinement to use a straw!” No one ever said anything to me, but they do have stranger cultural differences than that, so I wouldn’t have been surprised. Just to be on the safe side, I started using a straw every time, so that I wouldn’t take a chance at offending anyone. And of course, when you have Coke in a bag, you can’t help drinking it with a straw. I was definitely glad they gave me one for that.
So anyway, after at first being surprised by how many stores there were, I was later on definitely thanking heaven for 7-Eleven!
God, Your faithful love is so valuable that people take refuge in the shadow of Your wings. They are filled from the abundance of Your house; You let them drink from Your refreshing stream, for with You is life’s fountain. In Your light we will see light. - Psalm 36:7-9
About the photo:
This photo was just a quick one taken as Gary, Adam, and I were on a prayer walk one morning. But I wanted to make sure I captured at least one of the many 7-Eleven signs we saw on our trip.
A single RAW exposure, processed in Photoshop. Read more about the photo software and gear I use at the camera gear page.
Camera: Olympus OM-D E-M10
Lens: Olympus M.Zukio 25mm f1.8
