Culture

Leaving Thailand? Mind your pees and queues

by adrock2xander | December 4, 2008 at 03:01 pm

299 views | 44 Recommendations | 7 comments

Passengers compared notes on how long they had been stranded (being based in Bangkok, I scored poorly) and tried to out-do each other with tales of hardship and woe.

All the while, airline staff plied us with water to keep us hydrated in the oppressive heat. Other staff kept checking and re-checking our details, wary of anyone sneaking into the queues that snaked everywhere.

The check-in opened, but with only two counters and no computers, it was slow going. By the time it was my turn, another hour and a half had passed.

The process itself took only a few minutes, an example of how low-tech can still be efficient. My boarding pass was filled in by hand, a bathroom scale was used to weigh my luggage and an old-style scanner checked my bags.

Formalities complete, my stomach rumbled and I approached a free food stand set up in a corner of the car park.

On offer was ice-cold water, steamed rice with stir-fried chicken or fried rice. The food was simple but delicious.

Did the airport do this, I asked a young man with curly hair and dark sunglasses who was handing out the food. No, he said, this was from people in area who wanted to help the stranded tourists. Only in Thailand...

It hasn't been the most pleasant week for tourists in the last week. While most of the international media were fixated on the terrifying terrorist attacks in Mumbai, another - if less exciting - story was unfolding in Thailand.

I have been to Thailand many times. Too many times to remember a few things about the Thai hospitality. There's something charming about their way of life. Most Thais are not very well off and make ends meet doing whatever they can do to get by. I say get by because when most foreigners think Thailand, vivid images of beautiful beaches amidst a backdrop of poor Thais begging in a Third World country come to mind. That is true too, but most Thais are not 'getting by' at a level that reaches the disparity of many African nations.

Each time I have been there I have been treated with nothing but utmost respect. There is no special treatment for someone just because he is a tourist, and more remarkably, all Thais I have met and know personally bear no traces of the infamous 'colonised Asian' feeling. You know, that inferior feeling many Asians feel when they see a westerner in their country. It is odd to think that the the generation I was born into still harbours deep-seated inferiority complex and adulation for a westerner. Just because our forefathers were subjugated by the enterprising spirits of westerners does not mean we have to put up with this old-fashioned mindset. But I digress.

The Thais have never had any foreign western power assume totalitarian control over their country. I had the privelege of studying Thai history in great detail back in my high school days and if there is one thing that struck me about them, it is the way they handle themselves. Humility and Pride. They do not expect anything in return, even at the expense of giving more than they can provide.

I can only begin to imagine the heartfelt gratitude those stranded travellers felt when they were sheparded into the makeshift international customs.

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pizzo

at 22:22 on December 4th, 2008

Took a 12 hour bus ride (6 AM to 6 PM) from Bangkok to Phuket.

But I really loved my time in Thailand :)

pizzo has contributed a photo to this story.

happybrunette23

at 21:33 on December 4th, 2008

I love Thailand too i spent time there and the people were great.

Chirs (not verified)

at 23:15 on December 4th, 2008

eventhough there were political turmoils. but i will be back there again...

gerrypopplestone

at 04:04 on December 5th, 2008

Maybe the reason the Thais appear not to have the colonised feeling is that they were never colonised! Or did you never find out much about their past?

BeeBee:-) (not verified)

at 20:54 on December 5th, 2008

Thank you guys for still having good feeling with Thailand and understanding the situation happened here. I really really do apologize for these inconvenient things.

You guys are right about Thai people having no colonised feeling. We actually faced to colonialism era (King Rama IV-V ages)before and we survived by giving some parts of our "Siam" to France and Great Britain for saving the main land that is "Thailand" nowadays. Cambodia, Laos and Malaysia used to be ours. Siamese were upset at that time but we couldn't rise up against those powerful countries. We accepted that and finally changed our country's name to "Thailand". For now, we're having the big problems with corruptions, bad politicians and selling votes. I think it's a lot worse than any outside enemies. Thaksin Chinawatra's government has created a new epic of corruptions in Thailand. And he still manipulating most of representatives who came from buying votes with his money. Somchai is Thaksin's brother in law. That's why many Thai people can't accept. Then they steped out to protest this "Family Government".

I have to say sorry for what happened again. I can say Thai people always welcome and love to help every foreigner. But sometimes the nation and rightness come first.

Deeply Sorry,

BeeBee:-)

BeeBee

at 21:24 on December 5th, 2008

Above comment is me :-)

Damien (not verified)

at 19:31 on December 29th, 2008

Personally, I have confidence in the Thai's to rise again. As BeeBee has said, the well being of the country and the people comes first. I'm sure no one wanted to shut down the airports and cause so much chaos, but it was perhaps the only way of sending a strong message to the corrupt government. To be honest, I am deeply moved by the determination of the Thai people to overthrow corruption even at the extent of the economy, and their resilience in being able to stand up and finally defeat the corrupt government. I hope that Thailand will be able to recover fast and stamp out corruption.

Damien