Bangkok Week 179 December 1, 2011 Granny crashed BGK's end-of-year party! And the annual Christmastime Ploenchit Fair. View fullsize BCG Bangkok's annual end-of-year party had a theme this year: Thai Temple Party! View fullsize But the party had a catch: "Traditional Thai" costumes required. View fullsize You will see that the costumes really spanned a wide spectrum -- although most were fairly "traditional". View fullsize But Granny crashed the party! Oh no! View fullsize There were lots of fair games, just like you'd find at a real temple fair. Here, throw sharp darts at the balloons! View fullsize Families were allowed, so there were a fair number of kids running around... but they weren't the only ones playing the games. View fullsize Here's Granny, taking aim! View fullsize Granny, with fellow MIT alum Robert (who just moved to Thailand). View fullsize Here's Granny with two of her kids, who joined the company earlier this year. View fullsize There was also a target-shooting game. Scary! View fullsize More "Traditional Thai" costumes. View fullsize Oh right, there was a dinner, too. Good thing Granny still has all her teeth. View fullsize Granny with another young'un. View fullsize Granny and the larger family. View fullsize What a cute office family! None of them is related to any of the others, though. View fullsize The Traditional Thai office laughs at a funny slideshow. View fullsize Our support staff came matching in 70s attire. View fullsize The two old farts! (Although it wasn't clear if John was going for Grandpa or yoga practitioner.) View fullsize And those whose costumes only materialized when they arrived and got scarves as door prizes. View fullsize All the foreigners (and even some spouses). View fullsize Um.... Traditional Thai hunters? View fullsize This group was a full extended family, complete with twin Mia Noi's and a maid. View fullsize Standing pretty. View fullsize Strangling the old lady??? View fullsize How traditional! View fullsize Granny and our office's cleaning lady/ assistant. View fullsize More extended family and Granny. View fullsize Granny with the one son who's taller than she is... View fullsize ...and getting pushed around by the same big bully. View fullsize One of our office assistant's kids is enjoying the gun game (a little too much, maybe?) View fullsize Granny and a colleague who lives very nearby her. View fullsize More adults enjoy some balloon darts.... a little too much? View fullsize More assorted Traditional Thai. View fullsize Our office cleaning lady and our IT guy's son -- who's just the cutest! View fullsize More makeshift family portraits. View fullsize Matching outfits and French spouses. View fullsize Another Grandpa! This one has a cane and a moustache. Can Granny borrow the cane? View fullsize (Real) families sit and enjoy some performances. View fullsize Pam, the head of our office, and her two Traditional Thai sons. View fullsize Granny and two fellow MIT graduates (the middle one's a Thai guy who was born and raised in Texas). View fullsize Another happy family portrait... comprised of three completely unrelated people. View fullsize Maybe Granny needs some pearls, too! View fullsize And the whole Traditional Thai office! View fullsize The next day, at the annual Ploenchit Fair, hosted by the British international schools in Bangkok. View fullsize A lunch of samosas, from a local Indian restaurant's stall. View fullsize This year, the fair was moved from it's traditional location at a riverside school to one that's as inland as they get! View fullsize A balloon dart game.... just like the one last night! Although this one's at a real fair. View fullsize Here, a balancing game... stay up on the surfboard as it spins and wobbles around. View fullsize The classic water balls... does this water look dirty to you? View fullsize The space was okay, but not as nice as the riverside location. Also, was it ever HOT. View fullsize Santa comes to Bangkok, but he can't stay long before his reindeer get dehydrated and insist on leaving. View fullsize No shortage of Christmas decorations... if only we needed some good tacky ones. View fullsize The same orgament seller that we bought from last year. View fullsize Cute skating Rudolphs. View fullsize By long-lost twin pink elephant is back, in a new location! View fullsize There was a painting studio and a coloring contest for kids. View fullsize And a local guy trying his arm at clowning around. View fullsize Some really quite pricy red cherries that obviously weren't selling too well. View fullsize Buying our annual raffle tickets... View fullsize ...here's to round-trip tickets for two to London, donated by British Airways! View fullsize On Wednesday, Sittha went back to work for the first time in almost 2 months. There were vendors on the motorway. View fullsize Parts of the motorway had been raised (LH side) to be elevated above the water level. People and dogs were still parked and living in the center lanes. View fullsize You can see it's still flooded in the towns -- and how raising the motorway is actually effective. View fullsize At work, they'd built giant dikes to keep out the water. View fullsize You can see how high the water was, by looking at the dead vegetation and watermarks on the trees. View fullsize All these shrubs going down the median are dead now!
