Wan Visakha Bucha

Posted on 12 May 2009 by christao408

Last Friday was Visakha Bucha day in Thailand and many other parts of the Buddhist world*. This is the holiest day in Buddhism, commemorating the day when Gautama Buddha was born, attained enlightenment, and passed away. On this day, believers gather at temples to worship and recall the wisdom, purity and compassion of the Buddha.

In Thailand, Visakha Bucha observance began during the Sukhothai period (around 700 years ago), because of the close religious relations between Thailand and Sri Lanka. Sri Lankan monks came to propagate Buddhism in Thailand and were highly respected. Thai monks also went to study in Sri Lanka. It’s believed that those monks introduced this ceremony to Thailand around that time

While many people arrive at the temple early in the day to make merit by feeding the monks, many more go in the evening to participate in a ceremony known in Thai as wian tian. (wian = circle, tian = candle)

The core of this ceremony involves a procession three times around the bot, or main sanctuary, of the temple. Depending upon the temple, sometimes you will proceed around a Buddha image or a chedi (a stupa containing relics) instead. Regardless, believers carry the traditional offerings: a candle, three sticks of incense, and a lotus blossom.

The candle represents enlightenment, with knowledge being the source of light in a dark world. The three incense sticks represent the Buddha, the Dhama (his teachings) and the Sangha (the monks). As for the lotus, the roots of a lotus are in the mud, the stem grows up through the water, and the flower lies above the water, basking in the sunlight. It is a common symbol in Buddhism because its pattern of growth reflects the progress of the soul from muddy materialism through the waters of experience to the sunlight of enlightenment.

On this day, and especially during this procession around the bot, believers are encouraged to meditate, reflecting on the teachings of the Buddha and how they can better follow the Five Precepts:

To refrain from taking life (non-violence towards sentient beings)
To refrain from taking that which is not given (not committing theft)
To refrain from sensual (including sexual) misconduct
To refrain from lying (speaking truth always)
To refrain from intoxicants which lead to loss of mindfulness (specifically, drugs and alcohol)

We went to Wat Phra Ram IX (King Rama IX Temple), a more modern temple founded by the current King of Thailand. This beautiful temple follows traditional design but features a resplendent all-white exterior, stark compared to the elaborate decorations more common in Thai Buddhist temples.

There were several thousand people present including about two hundred monks and novices. While some people were already making their procession around the bot, most were listening to the abbot’s sermon, a lighthearted parable about the importance of remaining true to Buddhist teachings even in the midst of contemporary life.

After the sermon was over, the monks led the crowd on the procession, a nearly endless stream of believers, some chanting, some walking silently, some chatting pleasantly amongst each other as Thais enjoy doing even at religious events.

I shot some footage after we had made our rounds and have compiled it here for your enjoyment:

Observing various religious ceremonies is interesting because there are some aspects that are very universal (or, at least, common across many faiths and traditions) while other aspects are very characteristic of local culture. I’m not a religious scholar so I won’t expound on those observations. Suffice it to say that it was a beautiful ceremony to participate in.

*because of calendar differences, some countries observe Visakha Bucha on different days, but most of the time it falls in April or May.

Bangkok … Bananas!

Posted on 11 May 2009 by christao408

Many cities in Asia try to trumpet their lively arts scene, positioning themselves as cities of culture on the pages of tour guidebooks and travel magazines. The Big Mango is no exception. Last week the Ministry of Culture launched the first “Bangkok … Bananas!!” contemporary arts festival.

Above, a crowd gathers to watch a stage performance while a sculpture titled “Alien” watches them.

It was a combination of everything from live performance to sculpture installations to cinema screenings. Interestingly, it was geared heavily towards Thais – i.e. no Thai subtitles on films or at live events.

It is great that Thais are getting more exposure to their own contemporary arts scene, something that is sorely lacking here. But I think that, given the drop off of tourists (arrivals down some 30% year-over-year) caused by both the global economy and the ongoing political unrest here, Bangkok … Bananas!! is the type of event that could draw tourists. The only thing is, you have to tell them about it and you have to make sure it is accessible.

Nearly a full moon over Siam Paragon mall, site of many of the Bangkok … Bananas!! events.

In true Bangkok fashion, the setting for most of these art events was the shopping district – where Rama I and Ratchaprasong roads meet. In fact, most of the staged events took place in the two public plazas located between three of the largest malls: Siam Discovery, Siam Center and Siam Paragon.

The best event, in my opinion, was the series of nightly film screenings. These were done outdoors with a screen set up between two malls. This is reminiscent of the history of Thai motion picture exhibition, which used to be done from the back of a truck that would travel from town to town, setting up the screen and showing the movies, the sound coming from a speaker on the top of the truck.

In fact, there was a restored movie truck, repainted with the name and claims of an old pharmaceutical company, as these were the usual sponsors of these village screenings. Harking back to the old days, they had a classic Thai silent film one night, with veteran voiceover actors providing the dialogue live from a table at the rear of the plaza.

All of this was great fun, but largely unintelligble to me. All the more sad because several of the films they showed were true classics of Thai cinema, films that are rarely seen and are not available on DVD.

Of special interest to me were the projectors. My first job was in a cinema and I spent 13 years working for the AMC Theatres chain. So I was thrilled to see two classic 35mm projectors and watch the projectionists do changeovers at the end of the reels.

Biking in Prachinburi

Posted on 4 May 2009 by christao408

Right before heading to Japan, Stuart and I completed a biking adventure up to Prachinburi province, northwest of Krungthep (Bangkok). We had talked about doing a combined train-bike day trip just for the experience, so with the clock ticking before his move to Phuket, we decided we had better get this trip done.

(It is worth noting that this entry is actually a month old but I didn’t get a chance to edit the video until this past weekend.)

A view of the station from a bridge heading into the old city.

We started early on Sunday April 5th, leaving the Thong Lor area about 6:30 am for the 10-km ride to Hualamphong Station, the main rail station in the city. Stuart has ridden the Thai rails before but this was a first for me.

The lovely Italian Neo-Renaissance exterior of this station.

Hualamphong is a big station and was teeming with travelers even at this early hour on a Sunday. While Stuart watched the bikes I went to buy tickets and inquire about what to do with our bikes. Even with both of us speaking a fair amount of Thai, this process wasn’t very clear.

Interior of the station waiting area – crowded even on a Sunday morning.

The ticket agent directed us to somewhere near track two for our bicycles. Once we entered the track area it wasn’t clear where we were going so we stopped at an information kiosk. The agent there vaguely waved towards the far end of the station. Eventually, walking way down the tracks, we found the cargo area.

There, they checked out tickets and then explained that our particular train wouldn’t have a cargo car on it, so we were going to have to carry out bikes into the passenger car. They then pointed to the other end of the tracks, indicating that we needed to go pay some surcharge to do that.

We walked back up the track and eventually fond another kiosk where we paid for “excess baggage”. For our 122 km journey the fare was a whopping 26 baht per person, each way. That’s right, less than one US dollar. The baggage fee for the bicycles was something like 80 baht per person.

Stuart and his bike share space with another passenger. These two benches are meant to seat four people.

We eventually got everything straightened out and got on our train moments before it was supposed to depart. Had we known how crowded the train would be, we would have boarded earlier. As it was, we had to remove the front wheels from our bikes in order to make them fit. Fellow passengers, who were mightily inconvenienced by our bikes, were very gracious about it. Next time, we need to make sure there is a cargo car on our train.

A young boy enjoys the view from the window seat.

The train tracks snake through the heart of Krungthep, affording a front-row view of the belly of the Big Mango. Needless to say, it isn’t the prettiest of views.

One of the smaller stops within Krungthep complete with banana trees.

There are vast areas of low-income housing and many markets which are built right up to the edge of the tracks. What is amazing is how vibrant life in this communities is: there is an entire world going on right next to the train tracks, paying no attention to the iron intruders that cut through their towns.

The entire train was third-class seating, unassigned and un-air conditioned. With the breeze and fans, the trip was fairly pleasant. Vendors walked up and down the aisles with snacks and beverages, so it wasn’t much worse than a flight on one of these low cost airlines.

Eventually, we found ourselves outside the city, spilling into the rice paddies that are a familiar sight in the central region of Thailand.

One has to wonder at the lack of safety gear. There was nothing to prevent people from falling between the engine and the train or out of any of the doors, all of which were open to the passing landscape.

At each stop we picked up more passengers until the train was near capacity. Most everyone stayed on for the first two hours until we hit Chachoengsao Junction, where the northeastern and easter lines split. At this station about two-thirds of the passengers disembarked, after which we had enough room to spread out and not worry about people getting greasy as they walked past our bikes.

Our stop, Prachinburi Province, was an additional hour past Chachoengsao. By this point it was nearing 11:30. We offloaded our bicycles and watched as the train pulled away. Checking our time, we had five hours before the return train arrived, and about 80 km planned on this hot day.

After a light meal in a small restaurant across the parking lot from the station we set out. Frankly, there wasn’t a lot of memorable sights. An “ancient city” was hard to find, or at least what we did find wasn’t very exciting. It ended up being an ancient water storage pond with carvings of elephants along the side.

It was cool in a sort of, “oh, that’s interesting” way. But not in a “wow!” sort of way.

One stop that ended up being fun was the largest and oldest Bodhi tree in the kingdom: Ton Pho Si Maha Pho. It is located across from a temple way out in the outskirts of the province.

It is actually a beautiful tree and of course is well-venerated. They say that some 2000 years ago, Phrachao Thawanampayadit, the ruler of Mueang Si Mahosot during the Khmer empire, sent his representatives to India to bring back a branch from the bodhi tree in Buddhgaya, India, under which Buddha attained enlightenment. This is ostensibly the tree grown from that branch.

Across the street in a temple, we encountered a group of novice monks. During the summer months when school is out of session, parents will send their sons to the temples. This time spent in the monastery is meant to gain merit for the parents’ future life, but sometimes I think it is more a form of summer school, just to keep the sons out of trouble.

The young monks enjoyed the distraction of two bicycling farang and had many questions for us. One was particularly fascinated with Stuart’s iPhone. We visited for about fifteen minutes, drank some water that they offered, and then continued.

Along the ride, I was making great efforts to stay hydrated. I had my 2-liter Camelback water pack with me. But what I forgot was that staying hydrated is only half the battle. After a while the water was warm and my body temperature was climbing.

After some 60 km, as we were working our way back around the loop to the provincial capital, I had to stop several times to cool down, buying ice-cold water at some stores and not just drinking it but holding the bottles to my neck to bring my temperature down. Truly, by the end of about 80 km, I was frighteningly close to heat exhaustion.

We made it back to the station about fifteen minutes before the return train, thoroughly wiped out from the ride. The trip back was spent mostly staring, zombie-like, out the windows. The good news was that this return train had a cargo car so we didn’t have to manage our bicycles during the ride.

Along the way, we had fun with some “hanging out the door” shots.

We also saw some exciting sights like large bonfires next to the track. I guess burning is the most effective trash disposal option out here in the middle of nowhere.

By the time I returned home some 14 hours after leaving, my legs were red. Not with sunburn, mind you: I had been very liberal in my reapplication of sunblock. The red was from the dust of the volcanic soil in the northeast region. Riding the road had left me covered with it from head to ankle!

All in all, it was a fun trip. Exhausting, yes, but sometimes it is pushing yourself to the limit that helps you know what you really are capable of. Here’s a video of the trip, mostly focusing on the train portion of it.

The Hottest Day is Doused

Posted on 2 May 2009 by christao408

The Thai Meteorological Department announced that Monday April 27th would be the hottest day of the year, as it was the apex of the sun’s seasonal arc across Thailand. As we inched towards that day the weather became hotter and hotter, leaving few doubts that their prediction would hold true.

But then in the midst of the high temperatures a few days before, the forecast began to crack: a high pressure system was descending from China and instead of the hottest day, the 27th would instead be a preview of the coming rainy season, which the department announced would officially begin May 15th.

Sure enough, by lunchtime Monday the thunder and lightning was upon us and rain fell for nearly two hours in a steady downpour. By the time I tried to return home I found our soi flooded. This often happens when it rains as the city lies low and its water system struggles to handle a deluge, but it usually clears out quickly.

The water reached levels I have not seen in our two years here on the soi. I couldn’t find a motorbike that would attempt to traverse the waters so I walked home, eventually up to my shins on the flooded sidewalks.

Here’s a video compilation of the storm set to a wonderful song, “Come In Out of the Rain” performed by Chicago jazz vocalist Audrey Morris.

Upscale Issan

Posted on 28 April 2009 by christao408

Friday evening I tagged along with Tawn as he met some of his university classmates for dinner. This group all studied abroad and are very “worldly” in terms of being willing to try new things and broaden their tastes in music, food, art, and the like.

That said, we returned to our Thai roots for dinner, choosing a restaurant at Central World Plaza called Kum Poon, which features upscale Issan cuisine.

Issan is the northeastern region of Thailand, adjacent to Laos and Cambodia. Poorer than the rest of the country, Issan is viewed by other Thais much in the same way that the southern United States is viewed by other Americans.

While people from Issan are sometimes stereotyped as being lazy or backwards, the truth is that many aspects of Thai culture, including food and music, trace their roots to this region. Not all, of course, but many.

The restaurant is very pleasant with subdued lighting, two large artificial trees, and bamboo poles lining the walls. The effect of the spot lights filtering through the leaves is one of eating outdoors in the moonlight. Service is reasonably attentive and very friendly.

Issan cooking is often classified into a few main categories:

The first category has two types of salad, tam and yum. Tam means “to pound” and the salad is made by putting the ingredients in a large mortar and pounding them with a wooden pestle. Most common is the som tam, a salad of shredded green papaya that is pounded with other ingredients Yum means “to mix”, so the ingredients are just mixed in a large bowl. Certain seasonings regularly appear in these salads: lime juice, fish sauce, tiny dried shrimps, palm sugar, chilies, and sometimes tamarind paste.
The second category is laab (sometimes written “larb”), a dish made of cooked ground meat (often pork) that has shallots, ground toasted rice, lime juice and fish sauce.
The third category is yang – grilled meats. These are often served with sticky rice, khao nieaw, a highly glutinous form of rice that can seem a little undercooked to someone who has never tried it before.

Okay, now that you’ve had your introduction to Issan food, let’s take a look at the many dishes we enjoyed. My new “gorilla” tripod came in handy.

For starters, Issan food comes with plenty of fresh greens as condiments. You eat these both for the textural contrast with the dishes, as well as for the cooling aspect against the sometimes fierce chilies. Cabbage, green beans and basil are standards along with some other greens you may not have ever tried.

Laab Gai Yang – Mixed two categories of Issan cuisine, this laab dish is made with gai yang – grilled chicken – resulting in two great tastes in a single dish. Notice the little specs: this is the ground, toasted rice. Adding a nutty flavor and a little crunch, uncooked rice is toasted in a pan and then ground before being added to the dish.

Gai Yang Khao Nieaw Tod – Grilled chicken served with deep-fried sticky rice balls. I’m not certain that deep-fried sticky rice is traditional or not – I think it may be a bit of an improvisation on the chef’s part – but these are so tasty. The chicken is moist and smoky.

Som Tam Kai Kem – A typical tam (pounded salad) made with shredded green papaya (tastes tart like a Granny Smith apple but not so sweet), tomatoes, and salty boiled eggs. The eggs are interesting because they are soaked in a brine for about a month before being boiled. Some dried shrimp are added for texture.

Laab Plaa Duke – This laab style dish, usually made with ground pork, is instead made from grilled, shredded catfish. It has lots of shallots and mint in it and, as you can see from the chilies, has a bit of heat, too.

Laab Hed – For you almost vegetarians, this laab is made with a variety of mushroom types and lots of shallots. The only thing keeping it from being vegetarian is the fish sauce, which adds the saltiness to almost every dish.

Tam Mamuang – Instead of being made with green papaya, this version of tam is made with green mango, which has a slightly more astringent flavor and a crisper crunch. Fresh shrimp are added along with the dried shrimp for more of a “sea” flavor.

Yum Woon Sen with Sai Grawk Issan – Yum style salad with cellophane noodles, mushrooms and sai grawk issan – Issan style pork sausage.

Kor Moo Yang – Grilled pork neck, thinly sliced and served with a spicy dipping sauce. This can be a tough cut but when cooked properly, the connective tissue melts away, making the meat even more flavorful.

Tam Sua – This tam is mixed with a type of mildly fermented rice noodles called kanom jiin. When eaten cold by themselves, you can taste a slight tanginess to the noodles.

As you can see, we ate quite a bit of food for just five of us. Even at a “upscale” restaurant like this one, the prices were still very reasonable. We walked out having only spent about US$10 per person.

Left to right: Ko, Fluck, Pat and Tawn in front of the restaurant.

For dessert, we stopped by iBerry for some ice cream and brownies. Hardly authentically Thai but tasty nonetheless!

Have I whetted your appetite yet?

Riding Around

Posted on 25 April 2009 by christao408

Most Sunday mornings I go out for a ride. There are exceptions – especially during rainy season – but I really enjoy the opportunity to explore other areas of the city and, when possible, leave the concrete jungle altogether in search of the real one.

Sometimes I’m joined by someone else. Markus and I used to ride regularly. Then his travel schedule for work got busy. Then he and Tam packed up and moved to Germany. Since then, Stuart and I have ridden several times. Sadly he and Piyawat are packing up for Phuket. My biking partners keep leaving! Maybe I’m pushing them too hard?

In any case, one thing that strikes me when I get outside the main part of the city is how much wildlife there is. Not just the mangy soi dogs that nip at my heels (I’m thinking I should buy some pepper spray) and not just the cows, water buffalo, horses and pigs I see in some of the small family farms. I’m talking real wildlife, especially birds. This could be an Audobon Member’s paradise.

Above, some males have a little squabble.

It is pretty difficult, even with a 10x optical zoom, to get very close. The birds notice when I stop at the road sdie and shyly move away.

As I think I’ve mentioned before, there is a 4-km stretch of road out near the airport that is popular with cyclists. It was built as part of a very ambitious plan to connect the eastern suburbs with the city. It is three lanes in each direction with wide shoulders. The problem is, it just peters out and never actually goes anywhere.

So the road is closed to all except local traffic and since it is an agricultural area still, there isn’t much of that. This makes it the perfect place to ride.

Well, last Sunday I did some exploring to the north and west of the road, riding through some neighborhoods, running into several dead ends, until I managed to come across another section of the road that I didn’t know existed.

In the distance, this stretch of the road connects to a frontage road along the Outer Ring Expressway. The cars you see are doing driver training, using the closed road to practice driving.

The funny thing about this stretch is, unlike the stretch to the east that successfully bridges two khlongs (canals), we can see where the funds ran out on this one:

The road rises up an embankment and then stops short, with not much in the way of barriers! If you continued directly ahead about 1 km, you would connect with the stretch of road that I regularly ride.

Here’s a map showing the two segments. It was taken before construction on the westernmost segment was complete. Oops – I guess it still isn’t complete, huh?

On the way back today, I explored a new route and discovered that Thanon On Nut (On Nut Road), which connects to Sukhumvit at the end of the Skytrain line, actually goes all the way out to the new airport. Some 16 kms!

Riding back along this road, I spotted another bird:

What an interesting contrast of modernity and tradition, huh?

Cooking in Hot Season

Posted on 24 April 2009 by christao408

We returned to the Big Mango to discover not only the aftermath of political mayhem, but also (maybe related?) the height of hot season. To the point of the “riots” and “chaos” that was widely reported, I want to assure you that things were not nearly as anarchic as they were represented in the media. Give a cameraman a burning bus and they’ll tell you the whole world is coming to an end.

That said, there continues to be political instability, but nothing that should prevent you from coming for a visit!

Hot season is the real issue here. The Royal Thai Meteorological Department announced that April 27th should be the hottest day of our year, since that is when the sun is directly overhead Thailand. However, because of a high pressure system moving in and some expected rain, they thought that the 24th would actually be the hottest day.

Sure enough, it topped out at 37 C / 99 F with about 45% humidity. Relatively dry, actually. What kills us is that it doesn’t cool down at all during the night (28 C / 82 F) and that it lasts so long. This past year, Bangkok had 115 days with temperatures over 35 C.

Let me be clear: I’m not complaining. I’m just using this to set up an entry about summer foods!

When the weather is warm the best thing is to do as little cooking as possible, at least cooking that heats the kitchen. Salads and fruit dishes are great choices. A few days after our return we had a nice lunch on our porch, ceiling fan whirring away and the warm breeze pushing the palm fronds back and forth.

On the menu, a large chef’s salad with cumin chicken breasts, ham, cheese, eggs and all sorts of veggies, served with a wonderful buttermilk dressing. A side dish of old-fashioned potato salad and a plate of fresh buttermilk biscuits rounded things out, washing it down with a few glasses of a dry rose from France.

The Thais say that nature gives us the right fruits at the right times. During hot season, we’re dying for very sweet, very watery fruits, so that is when we get the plumpest lychees, the juiciest watermelons, and the tastiest mangoes. I know that Zakiah misses the mangoes of her childhood India and I’m trying to eat as many as I can on her behalf.

The favorite way to eat mangoes is the dish, Sticky Rice and Mango. This very glutinous rice is soaked overnight then steamed in a bamboo basket that looks like a large ice cream cone. It is then seasoned with some coconut milk and served with a drizzle of salty coconut cream, a sprinkling of toasted mung bean seeds, and a freshly cut mango.

Wanting to shake things up a little, a did a play on this traditional dish by making a cardamom and coconut milk rice pudding based on a recipe from the NY Times. You make a creme by scalding regular milk and coconut milk and letting cardamom pods and lime jest rest in it for several hours. Then it is reheated with sugar and cooked rice (I used sushi rice for the texture) until it forms a pudding. Add a little freshly-grated nutmeg and some vanilla and then cool.

Served with fresh mango and a squeeze of lime, it is the perfect sweet treat to end a summer’s evening!

Oh, it is nice to be back in my kitchen.

A Week in Photos

Posted on 6 April 2009 by christao408

They say a picture tells a thousand words. In that case, let me share about 10,000 words worth of pictures and catch you up on recent events. There’s a big story to tell you about my trip to the Northeast on Sunday, but I still have some video to edit so let me get these loose ends tied up first.

One of my Xanga “blogrings” to which I belong is “I Never Leave Home Without My Camera”. This is true. There are simply too many fascinating things to see, especially in Krungthep!

Another entry in my “Overloaded Trucks of Thailand” coffee table book series. Here a bunch of laminated particleboard armoirs make their way down Asoke Street.

There are lots of street vendors here, but this is the first time I’ve seen someone selling honeycomb from the back of a bicycle.

Also along Asoke, a man and a woman are rescued by a tuk tuk driver as their motorscooter has a mechanical. Somehow the driver is able to secure their scooter to the back of his tuk tuk.

Six weeks ago, this tree outside our bedroom window, in the driveway to the neighboring condo’s car park, was barren. I wasn’t sure if it was dead or just going through winter. Sure enough, the green buds of new leaves started appearing as the cold weather disappeared, and last week there was a profusion of yellow blossoms. The recent heavy rains and wind of the last three days have already knocked them off, though.

Friday night Tawn came home from work and I prepared dinner. I almost always have a few portions of homemade pizza dough in the freezer as it makes for an easy and relatively quick dinner. This time was vegetarian: instead of the typical tomato sauce, I used a pureed roasted squash, seasoned with Italian spices. Throw some tomatoes and fresh mozzarella on top, then garnish with fresh basil once out of the oven. Serve with a mixed arugula salad and you have a pretty healthy meal.

The next morning I made use of some leftover buttermilk to make waffles. I tried a new recipe that substitutes 1/4 cup of cornstarch for some of the flour, which gives it a crispier texture. Also, the egg is separated and the white is beaten before being added, giving it more volume. Sadly, the cap on the canister of Vermont maple syrup I brought from the US (and which has been stored in my refrigerator) is stuck. I was unable to open it and so we were limited to preserves and honey as toppings.

Saturday we headed out to run some errands for Trish. You’ll recall that we’ve been trying to chase down the owner of a silk factory who sold Trish 60 yards of ostensibly 2-ply white silk, that upon inspection ended up being 1-ply. After months of the run-around we finally met up with her last weekend at Old Siam shopping center and made the exchange, picking up 2-ply navy blue silk instead of white. Old Siam is shown above, with a large floor of clothing for sale. This is kind of like MBK Shopping Center and a little of Chatuchak Weekend Market but all in an air conditioned environment. There are many silk stores on the second and third floor.

Can you spot the foot massage station at the top of the photo? There is one in each of the four corners of the main shopping floor. Not fancy at all, but cheap!

Driving through the old section of the city, we passed many shop houses, some of which have beautiful tilework on the ground floor. This one in particular caught my attention.

While waiting at one traffic light I saw this colorful scene unfold before us. Red, orange, yellow and green. Bangkok: a city painted in primary colors.

Op-Ed Feature from The Nation: Without Equality, Tolerance is Just A Myth

Posted on 2 April 2009 by christao408

Since you may not have a chance to read it yourself, I’m sharing an op-ed piece byPaisarn Likhitpreechakul written for The Nation, one of Thailand’s two English language daily newspapers.

Without equality, tolerance for gays is just a myth

By PAISARN LIKHITPREECHAKUL

SPECIAL TO THE NATION

Published on April 3, 2009

Thee’s a myth, especially among foreigners, that Thailand is “tolerant” towards gays and transgenders. After all, hardly a day goes by without one seeing ladyboys or katoeys (male-to-female transgenders). Most Thais also like to believe in such a feel-good story, as well as spin it to foreigners. To say anything to the contrary will cause a loss of face. However, that kind of simplistic rationale based on visibility is akin to reasoning that Thai women must have equal rights to men because every other Thai appears to be female.

Even long-term foreign residents aren’t likely to have heard about, for example, a bisexual woman who was burned alive in 2006, and the rape, murder and burning of a lesbian last year. Both cases were reported only in the Thai dailies. Continue reading →

Ministry of Labour Epilogue

Posted on 2 April 2009 by christao408

The day after my two-day fiasco with the Ministry of Labour (and side trips to the Department of Business Development and my lawyers’ office), I learned that another expat in a similar situation went to extend his work permit by 90 days.

The result: the MOL clerk insisted that he needed to do a 1-year extension instead and gave him a week to pull together all of the financial reporting that is required for the 1-year extension.

This, even though his last 1-year extension was less than a year ago!

We discussed. My theory is that the MOL is being instructed to crack down on foreign work permits in order to save more jobs for Thais in these tough economic times.

The flip side of this theory, of course, is that they are trying to drive away foreign investment!

Above: From my “Interesting Sights in the Big Mango” series, here’s a picture of a man napping in the back of a pickup truck loaded with veggies, on his way to a market in the late afternoon traffic on Rama IV Road.

christao408

The adventures of an expat American who moved to Bangkok for his husband.

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