Vignettes 2

The beautiful 'Lady-boys' (transexuals) who stand like prostitutes on street-corners in short skirts with dainty handbags and call out, 'Where you go darling?'
They also walk down the street past my hostel at about 5 in the morning: just before the monks come out walking to beg for their food for the day.

The hordes of disastrously beautiful Israeli women tourists who are the epitome of unavailable, as they tell us they would never consider dating a non-Israeli man. Pity.

The contrast between the swish clean Westernized shiny gigantic malls and a block away the khlong (canal) taxis of Old Bangkok, which used to be called the Venice of the East. These boats carry more people than a bus, and are fast and efficient, and cheap. Their routes are limited now as many canals have been closed, but they are still heavily used by Thais and there are always a few bewildered looking tourists on them too. Today, having taken them several times before, I knew the routine and felt like a past master, sliding to one side or the other depending on which side of the khlong the boat stops at next to make room for new passengers; pulling up the fabric splash-shield as the boat sped up; feeling relaxed. Two older British tourists looked anxious, confused, and clearly didn't understand how the whole thing worked, and didn't know when or how to get off. That was me recently; but it's interesting to watch 'fresh' tourists from the outside. They really do look clumsy and out of place.

The Americans who don't know how to cross roads without pedestrian crossings. They wait on the curb expecting something to happen. 'So...you just cross any time?' one woman asked me bewildered. There was a zebra crossing (white stripes) but no traffic stops unless you step into the street. 'Yes, whenever you want,' I told her. She was confused. An older Thai man beckoned her across at an appropriate moment.

The joke of walking one block away from the tourist zone of Khao San Road area and suddenly seeing not a single foreigner: Apparently, tourists don't walk. Not even 50-100 metres. Or even just walking to the end of the block, in some cases, or down an alley, where there are entire outdoor restaurants with not a single foreigner sitting in them, but stuffed full of Thais. The food is more authentic, excellent, and about 1/3 of the price, or less, than in the 'tourist' restaurants. It's beyond me why tourists don't eat in these places.

The young tourist man screaming 'HELP! POLICE! THEY STOLE MY BAG! POLICE! POLICE! SOMEBODY HELP! HELP' --over and over again, and everyone, tourists and Thais, just either walking past or staring at him. I couldn't bear it so went up to him and talked with him. He was beyond listening. A Thai woman at a streetstall said 'Maybe you should not shout because people will think you are crazy, and go to the police: it is better.' But he kept shouting, beside himself. The apparent thieves stood at hand, visible through the open doorway and glass wall of their shop.

The young Swedish fellow who laughs and says 'it was totally worth it' when he describes how he broke all his promises to himself about what he wouldn't do in Thailand: Use drugs, get a tattoo, have sex with a prostitute.

Desperate, limbless beggars next to stalls that sell specifically, only extremely specialized luxury items: one sells a particular kind of puzzle-piece lampshade; another sells only fire-whirling (poi) equipment.

How I become used to 'Westernized' Thailand-- the fact that there is no traditional dress left in Bangkok (except the hats street-sellers wear), and that materially Bangkok is very Westernized, with almost everything mass-produced and mechanized--and then I go from the tourist zone to the major central shopping malls at Siam Square, and notice that everything, even huge advertizing boards, is written in English, and that most of the models are white Europeans...and I feel like it's going too far. This is Thailand. Why in English? Because it's cool? Who's it for? Most people in the mall are Thai...And models: Thai people are extremely goodlooking; why use massive images of Marilyn Monroe and other white blondes? It felt racist and culturally offensive to me.

Nonetheless the mall has a huge spirit-house outside it that is sparkling and always has people holding incense and praying in front of it, and is brimming with models of animals: it is the spirits of the animals, apparently--especially elephants, also dogs-- that are honoured and prayed to here, usually by women in business-suits.

The way most tourists don't 'see' Thai people, at least in the tourist zone. They walk into a shop and ignore the shopkeeper, who is always ready to greet them with a smile and a traditional 'wai' bow of respect; the tourists act as if the Thais aren't even there. They browse and leave without eye-contact or a simple nod of thanks. When I'm shopping with a friend I find myself doing these polite basics for them, as it only seems like a kind of (unconscious) racism otherwise, as if only foreigners are human. I do'nt understand how they can seem to be friendly and respectful to other foreigners, but not to Thais: I'm sure they don't mean it, but it is blatant. As one friend put it, it's as if 'the brown people are invisible'. But they're not. They're right there, and they're really nice--actually often a lot nicer than other tourists.

I think this kind of attitude--tourists' unconscious (or conscious) rudeness--creates a lot of the unpleasantness of the tourist trade, encouraging tourist-oriented Thais to rip off foreigners or lose the smiles and generosity that I've seen elsewhere in Thailand, occasionally becoming rude and, in the case of drivers and agencies, deceptive. Having visited the tourist bubble now, I see how the vast majority of tourists don't meet any Thais who aren't employed in the tourist trade. In this way, are tourists really seeing Thailand? Or are they just seeing the ugly reflections of their own cultures and attitudes?