In the meantime, he became Rama I, the first King in the still-ruling Chakri Dynasty. What the National museum doesn't say is that Taksin was of Chinese descent, not Thai. Some forms of influence are more direct than others. The image of Thailand an average North American might possess probably doesn't go much further than the 'most beautiful women in the world' thing along with the sexual depravity and dirtiness of Bangkok and stories of great and copious 'weed'. I certainly never picked up much more than this before friends of mine started telling me about their excursions here.
Ignorance is a basic form of prejudice.
To say that I'm surprised to see monks hailing cabs is to admit my prejudicial ignorance. Again, I blame the schools and the media for this unrealistic image. However, while Truth often comes easily, real progress toward understanding results most often in more questions. Ah well, the lesson we constantly need to relearn is that there will always be more lessons. So, the sense of being on another planet is a positive one.