Putting the band back together

There's so much right with this picture I don't know where to start.  

Each day in Bangkok, even walking the same route to the same SkyTrain stop to the same office building, I see something new.  This isn't just because I'm more or less observant on different days, it's that this city of Bangkok is just that big and dynamic that there's always a new sight, a new sound, a new smell.  A week or two ago, I walked past a great group of street musicians, and they were drumming along to a guitar, and they were rockin', and I thought of taking a picture with my brand new camera on my brand new phone, and thought - no problem - they'll be here tomorrow.  I didn't stop to take the picture, I didn't stop to listen, because hey, I've got to get to work, and these folks aren't going anywhere.   Well, turns out they did go somewhere, because they haven't been back since.  

So imagine my joy as I walked out of a different BTS stop today and heard the same (?) band playing the same general groove.  I rushed over, and threw 20 baht in their dish, and took my picture, and gave thanks to the city of Bangkok for serving up a good thing twice.

A lot of Bangkok, even at the street level, does stay the same, by the way.  The places where beggars beg often stays the same, but the specific beggars sometimes rotate through (I assume begging gangs here as in so many parts of the world?).  Street vendors are often the same for place on the sidewalk and time of day, though you'll often see different vendors during different times of day or week.  But I'm definitely learning about this town - in the worlds of Mr. Rasczak in the greatest movie ever made - 'never let a good thing get away'.  If you see it, and it's good, then seize the opportunity, on the spot, don't wait.  Because this town is about change, rapid change, and you must work with that to be happy here.

What else is great?  Well, their groove was fabulous, but I can't post that here.  I don't even know what style of music they were playing, and I've heard an awful lot of music in my time.  I would say some of the rhythm was almost Indian, and the guitar most reminded me of ukulele, but there was something else going on that I can only assume was Thai.  And it was fabulous.

The dancing baby (and it did dance) in front of them, that is pretty Thai as well - fun for fun's sake.  The expression on their faces - well, they were having a great time, but were playing it cool - that's probably bands anywhere.  There was definitely a reaction to the baht I put in the dish, but it was brief and different than the buskers in the States.  The dude in the background, listening but pretending not to - that's pretty Asian, you it all around this part of the world.  It's sort of a 'oh, was there something mundane happening here, I didn't notice, for I'm quite somebody, you know [edging slowly closer, and looking out the corner of his eye].  A face thing, perhaps?

But it was spontaneous, and great to listen to, and a lively way to end the day.