It has been a busy week or so since I last wrote anything, and I’m sorry for the delay. I’m hoping to get a few more detailed posts in over the next few days, but for now this hopefully briefish update will have to do.
For anyone whose been reading the news, or watching the news, or googling the news, or travelling in South East Asia, or talking to people about world affairs, then you’ve probably heard about the protests in Bangkok and some of the dangerous happenings in the bulging Thai Metropolis. Well, despite the worry and the declared state of emergency, I have just spent four days there, and frankly, see it as just one more example of how the 24 hour news cycle breeds fear in all it’s watchers. We’re their protests and tensions in Bangkok? Yes. Did it complicate travel in the city? Absolutely. Did I ever feel in any kind of danger or under threat by either the protesters who were shutting down the city, or the police and government on the other side of the struggle? A huge resounding no.
But lets go back. Pretend this is American Hustle ( a movie I don’t understand people’s love of) I tease you with the meat, then rewind for less interesting backstory. Boom Cinematic genius. What’s the word here though, blogomatic genius?
At any rate I left Koh Maak after another nice day of walking all around the island, exploring windswept beaches, cool fishing piers, lost ancient technologies and strange sculptures.
The boat ride back to Koh Chang passed quickly and provided a great chance for me to let go and drift. (My version of meditation and where a lot of my writing ideas come from)
I got back to Cliff Cottage and settled into my bungalow for another three days of relaxation on Koh Chang before biting the bullet and leaving Island paradise behind, at least for now.
Now I’d prepped well for my arrival in Bangkok, with specific directions to my hostel and well made plans of how to get there since the news had even set fear into my rational mind. The first hiccup came when the minibus driver announced he would only drop us at the airport, not in the city as had previously been promised. Kind of frustrating though I do understand his point.
So after winding island roads, a windy ferry ride, and a well earned nap we arrived at their airport and all my plans were gone. Now here I took the coward’s way out and got into a taxi, coughing up the 10 dollar fare (expensive here) and took the long meandering taxi through this modern and ever growing city. I was floored but safe in the A.C.’d back seat of the new car. The driver couldn’t quite find my hostel but he got me close and I did the rest on foot, walking into a very warm welcome at U-Baan guesthouse (a great and funny home in a quiet (relative to Bangkok standards) residential neighbourhood, with a great meat guy just around the corner.) (More on meat guy coming soon in the food section)
I thought I was done with my reverse culture shock, boy was I wrong. Parts of Bangkok seem more western than anything I’ve ever seen in the Western World (more on that coming soon in the culture section)
Okay, so after that rambling and weaving back flash were back to the heart of the story. Protests, people, and fear. My first day in Bangkok I spent the day wandering around the center of Bangkok, and somehow got myself lost and ended up walking through the heart of one of the protests (breaking every traveller advisory out there albeit unintentionally).
Just outside a mall holding a Rolls Royce dealership, were thousands of people camped out in small tents, shutting down a central intersection of one of the biggest cities in the world. There was a stage erected and speakers as well as musical acts performing to entertain the people. At first I was scared but the smiles on their faces were warm and I wasn’t the only foreigner there so I decided to keep checking it out. (This isn’t one of the bombing locations Dad so don’t lose your mind) I wandered through the life of the protest, with people eating on their straw mats, food stalls set up, as well as pharmacies and make shift health clinics all along the crowded road.
The mood was not what I’d expected, it was almost jubilant. The election isn’t until February 2nd and who knows if they will get their way, but the people seemed immensely happy to be showing their views, to be affecting the world. They seemed hopeful, which is something special to surround yourself with and felt very welcomed and had the fight the urge to join in the dancing and such.
I wandered through a few of these sites over the next few days and found the same welcome and hopeful mood. I’m sure these things do turn ugly from time to time, and I’m sure there is danger in doing what I did and ore danger to the people actually protesting. Still, the fact remains I cannot reconcile the image of the city the news left me with to the one I found. Even inside the protests things were welcoming calm and peaceful and I felt under no threat and those protests covered a very tiny patch of a very massive city. The fact that tourists are cancelling in droves across Bangkok and even some other parts of Bangkok makes me sad. Bred fear is blinding many people and keeping them from a very interesting place at a very interesting time. And this is just a minor example of media bred fear, believe me, there are so many more and I firmly believe the way we live our lives in the western world is deeply affected by the 24 hour news cycle and culture of fear propagated to fill the time, or maybe to fulfill more sinister goals. I don’t know, but it bugs the hell out of me, and I’m definitely glad I went to Bangkok anyway. It was a great city and will be when I come back I’m sure.
I’m now in Chiang Mia and I think my last 11 days in Thailand this time around will be exciting and filled with lots of animal based and nature based adventures. Tigers, Pandas and Waterfalls oh my! And boom, I just realized that’s pretty much my holy trinity.
Here’s some pictures of my first evening in Chiang Mai. It’s a cool place.
