Then and Now

While I have been here in Thailand for the past six months, I often told others about "when I was here 40 years ago..." and proceeded to share some of the similarities and differences between these two times. 

What do I see as being the same? The food is still tasty, sweet, and spicy. You can still get yummy street food for a great price. You can get just about anything for a great price. The traffic (and ways of driving) in Bangkok is still crazy. The beaches are still beautiful. The people are still very hard working yet they love to have fun. The people are kind and generous. 

What do I see as being different? So much! Bangkok no longer has floods in the streets as it used to. The pollution is much worse.  There seems to be more wealth and a growing middle class. Everyone has a phone. Most buildings have air conditioning and it's cranked on high. I get cold here, whereas I never remember being cold 40 years ago. 

There are a lot of differences in the church I belong to, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. We meet in church buildings rather than rented spaces. Some of the words and phrases have changed in our hymns, name of the church, scriptures, and sacred ordinances. There used to be only 2000 members of the church and now there are about 24,000. We have a holy temple in the heart of Bangkok and it serves the largest area in the world.

Here are some of the photos I took between 1983-1985. There were many times recently when I thought, "I've been here before" or "I remember taking a photo here." So from my memory and on some occasions from scanned photos, I recreated some of these shots. Other photos were just for fun and I ended up having copies quite like the originals. Enjoy some of these "Then and Now" pictures! 

Bangkok had traffic and floods; now it just has traffic

People still get around in tuk-tuks
Tracy & Kris Ballard visited me when my two BYU students were here and we had a great time!

Im still goofy
Grand Palace, Bangkok

Being silly at the Grand Palace
(I hope this is not disrespectful)

Ancient City
The first time I went with my missionary companions; recently I went with Tracy and Kris

Wat Phra Prathom Chedi

Wat Phra Prathom Chedi

With the Phayrikhayad Family in Nakhon Pathom and Chaing Rai
This was amazing to be with them again!

The first chapel in Thailand, on Asoke Road
My parents and sister picked me up from my mission


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