[November, 1995] When you first arrive in Southeast Asia you're likely to think that there are a lot of lazy people there judging by the way they walk. It's so rare to see someone rushing down the street as they do in New York, Tokyo, or Seoul. After you've been to a Southeast Asian location for a few days, you start to realize that you've unwittingly adopted this tropical crawl yourself. The climate requires you to slow your movements when outdoors so you begin to walk, to pace your movements, in a natural way. Suddenly your criticism of the locals seems misplaced and perhaps you begin to look a little less odd to them as well.
Thailand, and Bangkok in particular, is a place where the Third World meets the First: we stayed at a guesthouse for about $10.00 a night, a traveler from Canada we met was only paying $4, but saw hotel rooms listed in our guidebook in the 3000-4000baht ($120-160) range before the additional 17% service and tax surcharge for more expensive lodgings was added; we generally rode in taxis for about 70baht (less than $3.00), or rode on a Chao Phraya River boat-bus for 4-6baht, but saw an S-Class and E-Class Mercedes Benz at a dealership with the sticker prices of 8,100,000baht ($324,000) and 2,550,000baht respectively; and my wife, Karen, had a manicure, pedicure, and the dead skin on her legs sloughed off for the equivalent of $3.20, or about what she would tip someone who provided the same service in the U.S. and her $3.20 already included a 33% tip.
I knew we were back in Thailand when smoke from a sidewalk vendor's spicy cooking greeted my eyes with a burning sensation. We had paid the equivalent of $16 to get from the airport to our guesthouse, where we paid that $10 for a clean room with a large bed and a private shower/toilet. The countless wats which give Thailand so much character often have numerous cats or dogs lounging about as if they are afraid that any movement in the hot, hot sun will be their last. Mirroring these wat scenes, a dozen or so young Thai women lounged about or dragged their thongs as they walked, conserving every bit of energy, while tending to the restaurant dining room with its vinyl floor and open front - looking as if it were one large covered verandah. It's this image more than anything that is exotic. The women themselves aren't exotic to the Western eye. They wear Western style shirts, long pants and have rubber sandals on their feet. We couldn't figure out if they were some sort of bonded labor or not. One of the workers said that all the young women spent the evening at the guesthouse because their homes were too far away to return to; and a taxi driver told us these type of guesthouse workers were from Northern Thailand. They seemed so unhappy with their work no matter how simple it appeared to us guests. The restaurant patrons typically staying at the attached guesthouse. There are no wealthy international travelers or families on their accrued vacation for the year at this guesthouse, there are many nationalities, nearly all Western, but invariably backpackers, a few English men and women, many Australians, some with short cropped hair, many Israelis, with much, much more hair and a little bit more nose too. All of these backpackers are economizing that's why they stay at guesthouses when other, more expensive houses are available. Some look as if they have economized too much on personal hygiene and fashion as they go to and fro with uncombed hair, and formless, almost colorless, loose fitting clothing they probably picked up at some tourist oriented shop on the subcontinent before their journey led them to Thailand. By contrast, much poorer Thai people look as if they take much better care of themselves even if they don't have the money for more expensive clothes or accessories.
At 4:30 a.m. we awoke to the sound of a rooster crowing. Just before 5:00 a.m. a monk's voice came over a loudspeaker outside at some wat as he began praying. The rooster seemed to accompany him. They continued this duet for five minutes and then both ceased simultaneously. At first I wasn't sure if the monk's prayers had had an affect on the rooster or if someone had gagged it, but then it started up again about fifteen minutes later. After we got out of bed, we saw monks in their saffron robes walking along the street of our guesthouse. It seemed that they walked with the top of their large black bowl against their chest before they had received any donations. After they had received enough donations, and were walking in the opposite direction, their bowls secreted beneath a length of their robe. The bowls, being fairly large, were traditionally sufficient to satiate a monk's daily need, but with the advent of the plastic bag monks can carry what will fit in their bowl, a couple of plastic bags, and maybe a couple of lotus flowers as well. Some of the older monks had an awful lot of food, and they always seemed to be able to return before the novices. It was after seeing this procession that I realized why Bangkok's wat dogs hang out where they do and why they seem to be so friendly if not entirely because they are trying to conserve their energy.
Before we had arrived in Bangkok, international newspapers had been reporting that the city's transportation system was at a near standstill and had even prompted the soft-spoken King to comment on the problem. A comment from the King on a political issue, these articles had mentioned, was a rare even in itself. Perhaps because the king had expressed his displeasure, the Thai government has begun to expend an inordinate amount of man-power on traffic concerns in Bangkok from merely talking about the traffic problem to having uniformed traffic police wave it along. There are numerous busses running through Bangkok, and judging by the advice given us by numerous Thai people, this was the transport of choice amongst them even it if was slow and there was no air conditioning. There were signs that the construction of an elevated mass-rail system was being constructed. We could see supports for such an elevated system being constructed and saw a few posters with a politician's face plastered on them to remind the people he was doing something. I've yet to see an effective elevated rail system that compares with some of the subway systems and Bangkok's problems are more acute than most, but only time can be the judge of such things.
We experienced our share of frustration riding in Bangkok's taxis. We learned early to look at the meters when we got into a cab or we might have to pay for a ride that began long before we got into the car. One taxi's fare was higher when we got in, before we asked the driver to reset it, than when we got out of the car at our destination. Taxi drivers often did not know of places we asked them to take us to even if we had checked and recheck our pronunciation of a place name with a native Thai speaker before setting out. When we were on one of the main streets traversing East-West through Bangkok during rush-hour we noticed that taxi drivers were turning off their meters and demanding 200%-300% of the metered fair from both Thai and tourist riders. We took a detour for a fraction of the cost.
One of our most frustrating experiences as travelers, naive to intra-city travel in Bangkok was getting to a location without the complete address. We were looking for a location give as 2 Lard Phrao, Choke Chai City. After taking two separate taxis, being assisted with a phone call by one friendly Thai stranger, a second Thai stranger who wrote out a number (unbeknownst to us) in Thai, and walking a few miles in the heat of midday we found the shop we were looking for was on Soi 53, which branched off at Chok (not Choke) Chai from a five-plus mile long 2 Lat (not Lard) Phrao. Our education taught us that Soi are alleyways or streets that branch off from boulevards, and that the "Choke Chai City" in this case was more distinctive than 2 Lard Phrao - Travelers beware!
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