Burma 1984

Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan 2018

Burma 1984

 

We reached the Thai capital, Bangkok, shortly after dawn this morning.  We were struck immediately by the extensive shanty town of the city that lined the railway almost all the way from Bangkok’s outskirts to its centre.  On arrival at Bangkok Railway Station, we transferred immediately to a bus for a tour to the south-west of Bangkok. 

After travelling through the congested, hectic (indeed, lethal) traffic of Bangkok and its across-river immediate predecessor as Thailand’s capital, Thonburi, we drove through the vast salt evaporating flats of Samut Sakhon to Damnern Saduak.  Many areas of Thailand are linked to outside areas by canal rather than by roads.  Consequently, we transferred into canal boats for a journey along the canals (or klongs) to see traditional Thai village life, including a large floating market where local people barter (and sell) farm produce from boat to boat.

From Damnern Saduak, we travelled by bus to Nakhon Pathom, where we visited the 127 metre high Phra Pathom Chedi, the world’s tallest Buddhist monument and a centre of Buddhist devotion, pilgrimage, religious worship and study.  Over a thousand years old, this pagoda represented our first encounter with. Buddhist worship which was to impress the group for its gentleness, sincerity and obvious centrality to everyday life.

A few kilometres from Nakhon Pathom, the group had lunch at the Rose Garden before witnessing a performance of ordination of Thai culture, featuring the ordination of a Buddhist monk, the finger-nail dance, Thai boxing, minority group (Miao) dancing, self-defence, cock fighting, bamboo pole dancing and elephant work.

The group was uniformly relieved to be sleeping on beds which did not move for the first time in several days.  However, our initial encounter with the Hotel Malaysia in Bangkok (where we were staying) came as a surprise, especially for those in the group who had missed the “60 Minutes” story on Bangkok the previous week.

The open soliciting of prostitution, complete with photographic catalogue and discount rates by the city’s taxi drivers, together with the spectacle of glassy-eyed 13-year old Thai girls supporting their drug-addiction in this way gave the group a sobering insight into the constant dilemma between principles and economic survival for those who live in poor societies but who aspire to western materialism.  As my students (all of whom were boys) approached the door of the hotel, they were mobbed by these entrepreneurial taxi drivers trying to solicit business who stood in front of them with open catalogues on show and yelling “you want this girl?”, “which girl you want?”, or sometimes, “okay, you don’t want girl; you want boy?”.

On the night of our arrival in Bangkok, I asked the students to reflect on how they felt they came across to the local Thai people.  Selections from three of responses are reproduced below:

“The young people seem to be happy with us foreigners, but the old people don’t seem to like us.  Whenever we wave to the young generation when their grandparents are about, the young people smile but the grandparents just sit there with a stern face.  I’m getting the feeling that the elders despise us and dislike us trespassing into their country.” (Year 9 student)

“I think the Thais see me as a special treat.  They like to see visitors from other countries.  They like to find out how I live and what I do.” (Year 9 student)

“To most men and boys, I am seen as a nice, friendly Australian boy on holidays in their country.  To girls I come across as a raving sex-maniac.  Because of the feeling created by Westerners in Bangkok, any attempt to be friendly with the local girls is seen as making a pass.  This is NOT a reflection on me but on Americans, Australians and the like who have come and exploited the Thai women over the years.” (Year 11 student)

Saturday

28 April 1984

Day 4

Bangkok and Nakhon Pathom