Envious tourist with overweight luggage
The effeminate tourist guide was very eager to teach us Thai songs about elephants and snakes. Seeing our less-than-enthusiastic respond, he then threw a joke, before the arena turned into gay bashing (Sorry, can't help it hehe)."Welcome to Thailand, ladies and gentlemen. We can't offer much to you, except for a free sauna," he giggled. Well, that was a good one.
Soon enough, however, he started going "ngu ngu ngu nguuuuu." That's snake, in Thai. OK, dude.
Every trip to Thailand always left me wondering afterwards, a.k.a. gemes. Here's a country, which is far less beautiful than my own, with less variety of food and not too mention less delicious (Nita would agree on this, ya gak nit? :)), less variety of culture, whose capital is as polluted and crowded (although better than Jakarta in several aspects), and so on and so on... Yet, millions of tourists pouring in every year, caught in a shopping spree, immersed in the eastern exoticism and warm climate.
I remember a colleague who suddenly got writer's block when she had to write a report about her trip to Koh Samui. I asked why, she said, "I only got one thing in my mind: Bali is a far better place." Indeed. I was even so upset when I first came to Bangkok because it's soo much like Jakarta, so what was all the fuss?? That was before I discovered Chatuchak though, hehe. But still, we can get stuff like that in Jakarta, or Bandung, if we really look. I wasn't impressed with Pattaya, Phuket and Chiang Mai either, for places like that, and even better, are plenty in my home country
.Every single trip to Thailand always turn me into a grumpy old woman who curses the government for failing to follow the step of the neighboring country's.
However, on my last trip recently, I found the facade of Thailand, particularly Bangkok, is getting more weary. Like a beautiful, but exhausted prostitute who still tries hard to attract clients. Could it be the result of catering to tourism too much? Have they become the victim of their own marketing and PR? I wrote about it once, when I covered Bangkok film festival last year.
Everything is about selling that visitors cannot catch a breath without something thrown to their face to be bought.
Well, it's indeed the voice of envious tourist. I do admire and respect Thailand and its people a lot. At least they make money from tourism. Also, their films are better, the newspapers are better (even the free magz are more intelligent), and the mounting protests on the street show that at least they care about their country, and not as selling out as I thought they would be.
Anyway, I did have some fun with my girlfriends in Bangkok and Chiang Mai recently. Shopping-shopping-shopping! My god, stuff are unbeliavably cheap here. Oh, if you went to Chiang Mai, stop by at local cafe chain name Wawee Coffee. It's goooood! I can't believe I didn't think of buying some to be brought home.In Chiang Mai also, something happened which reminded me of Ibu Sri. After strolling a line of small shops there with my girlfriend, we waited for a cab or tuk-tuk to go back to the hotel, but there was none in sight for over half an hour. An old man who owned a store we visited earlier, saw us and offered us a lift. He was very sweet. It may sound like a line borrowed from an After School Special film or Chicken Soup book, but it did make us feel peaceful:) and it was as if war and terrorism were only illusions in Hollywood action flick.
Shoot, holiday's over, and gotta get back to work :((