So it seems I’ve really neglected my blog these past few weeks. Before it shrivels up and dies I thought I might present: Jared’s Past Three Weeks: The Confusing, Possibly Unreadable, Abridged Version.
Week 1: My trip to the North
• Day 1: Left AIT early. Drove for a long time. Ate lunch at a sketchy Chinese place with multi-colored buns full of meat. Stopped in ancient Sukhothai. Saw ruins. Lots of big Buddhas. Sweated profusely while exploring. Left ancient Sukhothai for modern Sukhothai. Realized that modern Sukhothai sucked and everything closed at 9.
• Day 2: Left for Elephant Training Center near Chiang Mai. Switched vans to avoid our tour leader Vitoon. Discovered that new van was blaring techno. Became concerned that our driver was insane. Arrived at Elephant Training Center. The Elephants pushed logs around for us, painted, and played a song on some bells. It was weird. I rode on one’s back and felt kind of bad that I was making it do that. Left for Chiang Mai. Had an interesting dinner at a Cultural Center. Saw Thai dancing and was subsequently forced to awkwardly dance with the other farang. Wandered around Chiang Mai looking for something to do. Realized that it was Sunday, gave up and went to bed.
• Day 3: Left Chiang Mai to visit a local development project. Saw a village where traditional weaving was done. Encouraged by Vitoon to purchase the local products. Explained that I had no real desire to buy a dress or a purse. He did not seem to understand this. Headed for the mountains. Observed that our driver enjoyed driving 90 and passing on blind curves on mountain roads. Became convinced that he wanted to kill us. Spent the nigh in a hill tribe village with a local couple. Had and awkward but delicious meal with them. Enjoyed cheap whiskey and conversation with some locals.
• Day 4: Woke up at 5 to see the sunrise. Hiked up the mountain accompanied by some dogs. Too cloudy to see the sun but saw a waterfall instead. Hiked through the woods with rest of the group and saw the same waterfall again. Realized I shouldn’t have gotten up at 5. Visited a foundation helping to prevent children from being victims of human trafficking. Had to awkwardly present its director with a gift. Arrived in Chiang Rai. Ate mind-blowingly delicious Italian food for dinner. Had a beer at a creepy hippy bar. Decided Chiang Rai was far cooler than Chiang Mai.
• Day 5: Visited a museum about opium. Learned more than I ever wanted to know about opium. Saw the Golden Triangle, where Thailand, Burma, and Laos come together. Took a fast, scary boat ride to an island that’s part of Laos. Paid 20 Baht to wander around there for an hour. Watched Ryan drink whiskey from a bottle with a snake in it. Yes, IN it. Wandered away from the tourist market and saw Laotians collecting flowers, either to eat or to make something out of. Was followed by some creepy children repeating something in garbled English. Decided that this island was pretty bizarre. Took the boat back across the Mekong and returned to Chiang Rai. Went to a club with a disgusting name (ask me about it some time).
• Day 6: Saw a crazy temple that was all white and warned about the dangers of Hell. Left my beloved Chiang Rai for Phitsanulok. Saw “the most beautiful Buddha in Thailand.” Wandered around Phitsanulok. Decided that Phitsanulok is the armpit of Thailand. Went back to the hotel because the city smelled like a toilet.
• Day 7: Left for AIT. Had our last meal of the trip together at a seafood restaurant. Imagined never having to see Vitoon frantically waving at us, saying “come! come!,” or failing to tell us crucial information about the places we were visiting. Was pleased by these thoughts. Relieved that van driver had failed to flip the van over or crash head on into a logging truck at any point in the trip. Returned to AIT alive. Went for a swim. Collapsed from fatigue.
Weeks 2-3: First weeks of my internship
• I luckily recovered enough from the North trip to be functional on my first day. Kaitlyn and I were mostly shown around the office, had awkward conversations in broken English, and met with a few of the directors of our office. I’m working in the Agricultural Land Reform Office (ALRO), which is a sub-bureau of the Ministry of Agriculture. Basically they try to distribute land to poor farmers and help them to develop their new farms so they can be more successful.
• ALRO’s Deputy Secretary-General, Dr. Werachai, told us that they wanted us to work on research projects using a combination of the resources at the ALRO as well as some fieldwork. I decided that I would try to study the cultural and social impact that land reform projects were having on traditional communities and to see if they felt their lives had been improved by these policies.
• Since I’m mostly doing research, there’s a lot of downtime. I’m usually able to read the New York Times, the Bangkok Post, MSNBC.com, and the Huffington Post in between reading dense agricultural development reports. I also check Facebook about a million times.
• Commuting to Bangkok SUCKS. I have to get up at 6:30, leave my dorm by 7:15, walk 25 minutes to the van station, take a van for 45 minutes to an hour into Bangkok, and then cross an intersection where 8 roads come together in a circle and there’s no walk signs. It gets pretty stressful by Thursday.
That’s all for now kids! Tune in next time for wacky Thai ladies, red-shirted protestors, and Bangkok’s wonderful array of smells!
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Saturday, January 31, 2009
Farming and Politics
I thought I might make an attempt to sort through some of the confusing aspects of Thailand’s political situation that I’ve been confronted with so far. First of all, Thailand is a constitutional monarchy, with a parliament and such. However, unlike many other constitutional monarchies, the King of Thailand still wields a great deal of influence and real authority. Thailand only began experimenting with democracy in 1932 when a coup by the military and some government bureaucrats wrenched absolute power away from the king. Also, the king is absolutely revered by the Thai people. His picture can be seen on the side of buildings, on billboards, and in framed pictures in an overwhelming number of homes and businesses. The people of Thailand regard him almost like a god. This concept is of course hard for me to wrap my American brain around since our country was essentially founded by rejecting monarchy in favor of democracy.
During his long reign, which began in 1946, the Thai king has made agricultural development one of his pet projects. He has poured lots of his personal wealth into agricultural research and has even developed his own theories on the best ways for small farms to become more diversified so that they can be better insulated from the tumultuous forces of the world market. It makes sense since most of Thailand’s population is made up of rural farmers, so the best way to develop the country is to help them be successful. On Wednesday, our group was taken on a field trip to see the Chitralada Royal Agricultural Projects, which is built on the grounds of one of the king’s palaces in Bangkok. It’s basically a center for agricultural research that showcases innovative farming methods and means of food production that minimize waste and maximize efficiency and sustainability. For example, they have machinery there that husks rice, then sends the leftover organic material to other machines that can turn it into fertilizer or a charcoal-like substance that can be burned in stoves. All the machinery and products were very clever. My favorite product was a new type of snack chip that’s made from spirulina algae, which is a hugely popular supplement right now due to its high nutritional value.
Still, as I wandered through the grounds of the Projects, something felt amiss. I felt like I was looking a modern Potemkin Village as I gazed at its exhibits. (Note for non-history nerds: The term “Potemkin Village” is named after Grigori Potemkin, who was an advisor to the Russian Empress Catherine the Great. After Russia conquered the Crimea, Potemkin had elaborate facades of attractive buildings set up so that when Catherine toured her new territory, she could see how the territory would look when it was “civilized.” Apparently she preferred seeing fake towns rather than seeing ramshackle huts and starving peasants.) From the introduction video that lavishly praised the king’s wisdom on the subject of agriculture to the exhibits showing how rare mushrooms could be grown, there was no mention of how this new technology was being implemented on ordinary Thai farms. The exhibits were much more concerned with making it clear to the visitor that it was incredibly generous of the king to set aside land on his private property to tinker around with farming equipment. Isn’t this machine neat? Can you believe how innovative we are being?
So, if all of this efficient, environmentally friendly technology is being developed, why isn’t it being implemented? Luckily, I got a chance to ask this question during a lecture we had on Thursday. The lecture was given by a professor at Kasetsart University, which is Thailand’s largest agricultural university. Let me preface my description of this lecture by saying that this guy was an absolute jerk. First of all, he showed up half an hour late. When he finally started the lecture he began by wasting twenty minutes asking us inane questions about ourselves such as, how big our houses were, what did our parents do, etc. His lecture focused primarily on the king’s agricultural theories. He seemed to think it was especially important for small farmers to have a fish pond and that they divide their land into specific amounts of different crops. The lecture consisted mostly of buzzwords and generalizations with little real substance. Finally it was question time (during which he was actually holding us over for the thirty minutes he was late). It went something like this:
Me: So how widespread is the Royal Theory of agriculture in Thailand? How does the government help farmers implement it?
Professor: Not very widespread, it doesn’t really work in a lot of regions of Thailand anyway. We send officials in to tell people about the theory and then they can come together and dig ponds and plow fields together. It’s a community activity.
Me: But does the government give the farmers money to help them do this? Do lots of farmers want to try this new method?
Professor: Well, there are some subsidies. Also, many farmers resist changing to the new method (duh, its expensive and radically alters their lifestyle).
Me: So what else is being done to help farmers besides this theory? Aren’t lots of farmers facing severe debt and in danger of losing their land?
Professor: Well there are many programs. For instance we have a competition to see which village can make the best whiskey. The village that wins gains lots of prestige! (This was his actual answer, I swear)
Me: That’s not really what I wanted to know. I meant programs for debt relief, loans, that type of thing.
Professor: (Lots of ums, avoids the question. At this point he’s making his poor assistant, who obviously didn’t speak very good English, try to answer our questions)
Ryan: So is the technology that we saw at the Chitralada Royal Projects being implemented on a wide scale on Thailand’s farms?
Professor: (exchanges looks of confusion with assistant) Um, I don’t really know about that. I would guess no, not really that much.
This was all very revealing. To think that this man had a PhD and was somewhat in charge of helping farmers improve their lives was disturbing. He didn’t seem to understand or to care that these crazy projects and this clever technology was doing very little good whatsoever. The technology is hardly being used outside of a little museum at a royal palace and the new farming methods ask farmers to radically alter their time-honored methods of farming with little assistance from the agency who advocated that they change in the first place.
All of this highlights the huge disparity between Thailnd’s rural poor and the urban elite and middle class. The rural population far outnumbers the more privileged urban population yet only recently have they been able use their numbers to their advantage.
In 2001, the rural population voted overwhelmingly for the Thai Rak Thai Party led by Thaksin Shinawatra. Thaksin had won their support on promises to alleviate poverty and increase healthcare coverage. He was reelected in 2005. After five years of butting heads with Thailand’s elite establishment he was overthrown in a bloodless military coup in 2006. This was the same time the People’s Alliance for Democracy (PAD) became active in Thailand as well. They recently made international headlines for taking over Bangkok’s international airport in an effort to throw out former Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat, who is Thaksin’s brother-in-law.
One of the PAD’s main arguments was that the rural poor had only voted Thaksin’s party into office because he was buying their votes. This mostly came in the form of promising development money for rural areas, something Thaksin actually followed through on. Therefore they feel that the rural poor are too irresponsible to be trusted with the power to vote. The PAD was actually arguing that a much higher proportion of Parliament should be appointed rather than elected. But is it unreasonable for the poor to vote for the party that promises to help them and then actually does? The PAD also felt that Thaksin was making decisions outside the traditional framework, wherein the prime minister walks a fine line in order to keep the king, the military, and the elites happy. Thaksin didn’t much care to play that game and that upset a lot of people. In all fairness, he’s no saint. The charges of corruption leveled at him are most likely true, he was involved in suppressing the media, and he oversaw a very violent campaign to suppress drug trafficking. However, he did do much to help the rural poor even if it was only to win their votes.
The problems of rural farmers are therefore important contributing factors to the current political turmoil Thailand is experiencing. The elites, led by the king, feel they know the best way to alleviate rural poverty and they keep using the same theories and methods they’ve been using for years. When Thaksin came along and used different methods to help rural farmers gain access to affordable loans and healthcare, it upset the whole political order. He acted as if he knew better than the king and the agricultural experts. And what was horrifying to the elites was that the rural poor liked his methods better too.
It’s amazing that a simple visit to an agricultural research center brought all these issues of class, politics, and economic development into clear focus for me.
Well, that ends my spiel. I’ll be leaving on a weeklong trip to Northern Thailand tomorrow morning as part of our program. We’re going to some somewhat remote rural areas, so maybe I’ll be able to gain some more insight into this issue. Expect another long entry or two when I get back!
During his long reign, which began in 1946, the Thai king has made agricultural development one of his pet projects. He has poured lots of his personal wealth into agricultural research and has even developed his own theories on the best ways for small farms to become more diversified so that they can be better insulated from the tumultuous forces of the world market. It makes sense since most of Thailand’s population is made up of rural farmers, so the best way to develop the country is to help them be successful. On Wednesday, our group was taken on a field trip to see the Chitralada Royal Agricultural Projects, which is built on the grounds of one of the king’s palaces in Bangkok. It’s basically a center for agricultural research that showcases innovative farming methods and means of food production that minimize waste and maximize efficiency and sustainability. For example, they have machinery there that husks rice, then sends the leftover organic material to other machines that can turn it into fertilizer or a charcoal-like substance that can be burned in stoves. All the machinery and products were very clever. My favorite product was a new type of snack chip that’s made from spirulina algae, which is a hugely popular supplement right now due to its high nutritional value.
Still, as I wandered through the grounds of the Projects, something felt amiss. I felt like I was looking a modern Potemkin Village as I gazed at its exhibits. (Note for non-history nerds: The term “Potemkin Village” is named after Grigori Potemkin, who was an advisor to the Russian Empress Catherine the Great. After Russia conquered the Crimea, Potemkin had elaborate facades of attractive buildings set up so that when Catherine toured her new territory, she could see how the territory would look when it was “civilized.” Apparently she preferred seeing fake towns rather than seeing ramshackle huts and starving peasants.) From the introduction video that lavishly praised the king’s wisdom on the subject of agriculture to the exhibits showing how rare mushrooms could be grown, there was no mention of how this new technology was being implemented on ordinary Thai farms. The exhibits were much more concerned with making it clear to the visitor that it was incredibly generous of the king to set aside land on his private property to tinker around with farming equipment. Isn’t this machine neat? Can you believe how innovative we are being?
So, if all of this efficient, environmentally friendly technology is being developed, why isn’t it being implemented? Luckily, I got a chance to ask this question during a lecture we had on Thursday. The lecture was given by a professor at Kasetsart University, which is Thailand’s largest agricultural university. Let me preface my description of this lecture by saying that this guy was an absolute jerk. First of all, he showed up half an hour late. When he finally started the lecture he began by wasting twenty minutes asking us inane questions about ourselves such as, how big our houses were, what did our parents do, etc. His lecture focused primarily on the king’s agricultural theories. He seemed to think it was especially important for small farmers to have a fish pond and that they divide their land into specific amounts of different crops. The lecture consisted mostly of buzzwords and generalizations with little real substance. Finally it was question time (during which he was actually holding us over for the thirty minutes he was late). It went something like this:
Me: So how widespread is the Royal Theory of agriculture in Thailand? How does the government help farmers implement it?
Professor: Not very widespread, it doesn’t really work in a lot of regions of Thailand anyway. We send officials in to tell people about the theory and then they can come together and dig ponds and plow fields together. It’s a community activity.
Me: But does the government give the farmers money to help them do this? Do lots of farmers want to try this new method?
Professor: Well, there are some subsidies. Also, many farmers resist changing to the new method (duh, its expensive and radically alters their lifestyle).
Me: So what else is being done to help farmers besides this theory? Aren’t lots of farmers facing severe debt and in danger of losing their land?
Professor: Well there are many programs. For instance we have a competition to see which village can make the best whiskey. The village that wins gains lots of prestige! (This was his actual answer, I swear)
Me: That’s not really what I wanted to know. I meant programs for debt relief, loans, that type of thing.
Professor: (Lots of ums, avoids the question. At this point he’s making his poor assistant, who obviously didn’t speak very good English, try to answer our questions)
Ryan: So is the technology that we saw at the Chitralada Royal Projects being implemented on a wide scale on Thailand’s farms?
Professor: (exchanges looks of confusion with assistant) Um, I don’t really know about that. I would guess no, not really that much.
This was all very revealing. To think that this man had a PhD and was somewhat in charge of helping farmers improve their lives was disturbing. He didn’t seem to understand or to care that these crazy projects and this clever technology was doing very little good whatsoever. The technology is hardly being used outside of a little museum at a royal palace and the new farming methods ask farmers to radically alter their time-honored methods of farming with little assistance from the agency who advocated that they change in the first place.
All of this highlights the huge disparity between Thailnd’s rural poor and the urban elite and middle class. The rural population far outnumbers the more privileged urban population yet only recently have they been able use their numbers to their advantage.
In 2001, the rural population voted overwhelmingly for the Thai Rak Thai Party led by Thaksin Shinawatra. Thaksin had won their support on promises to alleviate poverty and increase healthcare coverage. He was reelected in 2005. After five years of butting heads with Thailand’s elite establishment he was overthrown in a bloodless military coup in 2006. This was the same time the People’s Alliance for Democracy (PAD) became active in Thailand as well. They recently made international headlines for taking over Bangkok’s international airport in an effort to throw out former Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat, who is Thaksin’s brother-in-law.
One of the PAD’s main arguments was that the rural poor had only voted Thaksin’s party into office because he was buying their votes. This mostly came in the form of promising development money for rural areas, something Thaksin actually followed through on. Therefore they feel that the rural poor are too irresponsible to be trusted with the power to vote. The PAD was actually arguing that a much higher proportion of Parliament should be appointed rather than elected. But is it unreasonable for the poor to vote for the party that promises to help them and then actually does? The PAD also felt that Thaksin was making decisions outside the traditional framework, wherein the prime minister walks a fine line in order to keep the king, the military, and the elites happy. Thaksin didn’t much care to play that game and that upset a lot of people. In all fairness, he’s no saint. The charges of corruption leveled at him are most likely true, he was involved in suppressing the media, and he oversaw a very violent campaign to suppress drug trafficking. However, he did do much to help the rural poor even if it was only to win their votes.
The problems of rural farmers are therefore important contributing factors to the current political turmoil Thailand is experiencing. The elites, led by the king, feel they know the best way to alleviate rural poverty and they keep using the same theories and methods they’ve been using for years. When Thaksin came along and used different methods to help rural farmers gain access to affordable loans and healthcare, it upset the whole political order. He acted as if he knew better than the king and the agricultural experts. And what was horrifying to the elites was that the rural poor liked his methods better too.
It’s amazing that a simple visit to an agricultural research center brought all these issues of class, politics, and economic development into clear focus for me.
Well, that ends my spiel. I’ll be leaving on a weeklong trip to Northern Thailand tomorrow morning as part of our program. We’re going to some somewhat remote rural areas, so maybe I’ll be able to gain some more insight into this issue. Expect another long entry or two when I get back!
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Another weekend in Bangkok
I haven't written anything in a while so I think I should probably tell you all about this past weekend since it was pretty eventful. Our group had a really stressful class load last week so we decided it would be fun to spend the weekend in Bangkok. We hopped on a shuttle that goes between the campus of Thammasat University which is right next to AIT to the one that’s in downtown Bangkok. It only costs 40 baht (about $1.15) so it’s a really good deal. However, since we left around 5pm we got stuck in some pretty heavy rush hour traffic. It seriously took us about two hours to get into the city, which is about twice as long as it usually takes. After the van dumped us out, we headed in the direction of Khao San Road.
For those of you who don’t know, Khao San Road is a famous hangout spot for foreign travelers staying in Bangkok. It’s essentially just a strip of bars, clubs, and cheap hostels, with obnoxious ads and neon signs everywhere. We quickly found the alley where our hostel was located, dumped off our stuff, and headed out to see what we could find to do. We quickly realized that the only thing we could really do was to go to a bar, so that’s what we did. I’ll skip the more, er, “interesting” details since my parents are reading (Hi mom and dad!) but lets just say things got a little out of control, ha ha. Everyone made it back safe and sound to our hostel and nobody even lost anything valuable, yay!
The next morning was a bit rough but we all sucked it up and started trekking towards Chinatown, since the Chinese New Year was coming up and we wanted to see what sort of festivities were going on there. We must have been quite a sight: eight Americans being led by Dane (our self-appointed guide Andreas), most of whom were wearing sunglasses, desperately chugging water, and using a method of locomotion somewhere between stumbling and lurching. At one point we found a creepy alley full of shady-looking guesthouses where Ryan though we could possibly stay for the night. This idea was quickly vetoed due to the fact that they all had locking gates on the front, were extremely filthy, and appeared to be the best place in Bangkok to get stabbed. So, we pressed onward and eventually happened upon a much more appealing part of Chinatown to stay. We found a cheap hotel that looked pretty clean so we all checked in and took greatly needed afternoon naps.
We woke up a few hours later and decided to get some food and then do some exploring. After talking to a few locals, we thought that they were telling us that there were going to be fireworks at the National Stadium that night. Apparently we misinterpreted what they were telling us (this happens a lot here) because after walking for a long time in the direction of the stadium, there were no sign of fireworks whatsoever. Maybe they were telling us that the fireworks were another day, that there was somewhere to buy fireworks nearby, or just that fireworks are indeed awesome, I don’t really know.
Everything worked out though, since we stumbled upon a high-rise hotel that had a rooftop bar with views of the city. We went in to ask if we could get a table there and they informed us that shorts and flip-flops were not allowed. Being the resourceful travelers that we are, we backtracked to the Tesco-Lotus Superstore that we had passed earlier (imagine a giant Meijer store with a two-level food court below it) to buy some nicer clothes. We went back to the bar in our new outfits and were granted permission to go on up. It was really worth it; the bar had spectacular views of Bangkok’s skyline. It was really expensive so we all ordered one drink and nursed it for two hours. We were too tired to walk back the way we had come so we decided to take tuk-tuks back to our hotel. A tuk-tuk is basically a three-wheeled vehicle that has a bench in the back for passengers, a steering apparatus that looks like the front of a motorcycle, a windshield, and a roof on top. The sides are open with some rails on the side that probably wouldn’t keep you from tumbling out if it tipped over. The things also pump out as much smog as a small factory. Our driver said he would give us a “special show,” which it turns out meant that he was going to go really fast and weave in and out of traffic like a crazy person. The trip seemed more fun once we arrived at our hotel in one piece.
On Sunday, it appeared that people were setting up for the New Years festivities finally. However, it turns out that nothing was actually going to happen until Monday and Tuesday. We felt a little stupid for having gone out of our way to stay in Chinatown to see parades and fireworks that weren’t until the next day. At that point we decided we had seen enough of Bangkok for one weekend and headed for home. I had a lot of fun last weekend but I think I’ll need a little bit of a break before I go to Bangkok again.
For those of you who don’t know, Khao San Road is a famous hangout spot for foreign travelers staying in Bangkok. It’s essentially just a strip of bars, clubs, and cheap hostels, with obnoxious ads and neon signs everywhere. We quickly found the alley where our hostel was located, dumped off our stuff, and headed out to see what we could find to do. We quickly realized that the only thing we could really do was to go to a bar, so that’s what we did. I’ll skip the more, er, “interesting” details since my parents are reading (Hi mom and dad!) but lets just say things got a little out of control, ha ha. Everyone made it back safe and sound to our hostel and nobody even lost anything valuable, yay!
The next morning was a bit rough but we all sucked it up and started trekking towards Chinatown, since the Chinese New Year was coming up and we wanted to see what sort of festivities were going on there. We must have been quite a sight: eight Americans being led by Dane (our self-appointed guide Andreas), most of whom were wearing sunglasses, desperately chugging water, and using a method of locomotion somewhere between stumbling and lurching. At one point we found a creepy alley full of shady-looking guesthouses where Ryan though we could possibly stay for the night. This idea was quickly vetoed due to the fact that they all had locking gates on the front, were extremely filthy, and appeared to be the best place in Bangkok to get stabbed. So, we pressed onward and eventually happened upon a much more appealing part of Chinatown to stay. We found a cheap hotel that looked pretty clean so we all checked in and took greatly needed afternoon naps.
We woke up a few hours later and decided to get some food and then do some exploring. After talking to a few locals, we thought that they were telling us that there were going to be fireworks at the National Stadium that night. Apparently we misinterpreted what they were telling us (this happens a lot here) because after walking for a long time in the direction of the stadium, there were no sign of fireworks whatsoever. Maybe they were telling us that the fireworks were another day, that there was somewhere to buy fireworks nearby, or just that fireworks are indeed awesome, I don’t really know.
Everything worked out though, since we stumbled upon a high-rise hotel that had a rooftop bar with views of the city. We went in to ask if we could get a table there and they informed us that shorts and flip-flops were not allowed. Being the resourceful travelers that we are, we backtracked to the Tesco-Lotus Superstore that we had passed earlier (imagine a giant Meijer store with a two-level food court below it) to buy some nicer clothes. We went back to the bar in our new outfits and were granted permission to go on up. It was really worth it; the bar had spectacular views of Bangkok’s skyline. It was really expensive so we all ordered one drink and nursed it for two hours. We were too tired to walk back the way we had come so we decided to take tuk-tuks back to our hotel. A tuk-tuk is basically a three-wheeled vehicle that has a bench in the back for passengers, a steering apparatus that looks like the front of a motorcycle, a windshield, and a roof on top. The sides are open with some rails on the side that probably wouldn’t keep you from tumbling out if it tipped over. The things also pump out as much smog as a small factory. Our driver said he would give us a “special show,” which it turns out meant that he was going to go really fast and weave in and out of traffic like a crazy person. The trip seemed more fun once we arrived at our hotel in one piece.
On Sunday, it appeared that people were setting up for the New Years festivities finally. However, it turns out that nothing was actually going to happen until Monday and Tuesday. We felt a little stupid for having gone out of our way to stay in Chinatown to see parades and fireworks that weren’t until the next day. At that point we decided we had seen enough of Bangkok for one weekend and headed for home. I had a lot of fun last weekend but I think I’ll need a little bit of a break before I go to Bangkok again.
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Weekend Update
On Thursday some of our friends from AIT invited us to a barbeque they were putting on. None of us really knew what to expect but I couldn’t have been more impressed. The food was amazing! There was pork that had been marinated with something that tasted like it had a lot of black pepper and citrus and also these big fish that were pretty much cooked whole. There was also a sauce made from lemon juice, cilantro, and a ton of spices that was incredible. To drink there was beer and whiskey, which as far as I can tell are the only drinks of choice in Thailand, ha ha. And I mean like, good whiskey too. Everyone here drinks Johnny Walker Black Label with club soda. After everyone had a few of those, I started picking up some pretty interesting Thai phrases, to say the least.
On Friday I was pretty beat from all the craziness so I went to bed really early to prepare for the coming weekend. The combination of adjusting to being in a new country and sitting through six hours of lectures everyday really took its toll. On a typical day, I have a class from 10am to 12pm, then a break for lunch, followed by another class from 1:30 to 3:30, another short break, and then Thai class from 4 to 6. That’s way more class than I’ve ever had at MSU, for sure. The classroom they stuck us in doesn’t have any windows and it gets pretty stuffy too, so I start to go a little crazy by the end of the day. This is pretty much how the next two weeks will go until I start my internship.
Saturday we had a field trip to the Grand Palace in downtown Bangkok. It was the most ornate set of buildings I’ve ever seen. Everything is covered in colored glass and gold leaf, with the most intricate and minute details covering every surface. There was this huge golden stupa (a kind of shrine) that supposedly contained some ashes from Buddha himself. Another temple had this small Buddha statue that was carved completely out of jade, called the Emerald Buddha. It’s one of the holiest shrines in Thailand. They even dress the Buddha in a different outfit according to what season it is. He had the equivalent of a Thai winter coat, made of gold of course, while we were there. After that I went to the Bangkok Museum, which is housed in a former palace, with Lauren, Kaitlyn, and At (one of our Thai friends). It gave an overview of Thai history and had lots of artifacts associated with the kings of Thailand. It’s very strange how it mostly centered on the Thai monarchs, even though Thailand has officially been a constitutional monarchy since 1932. There was hardly any mention of the political disturbances that have plagued Thailand for the past seventy-five years. It was all very odd.
After the museum, we met up with everyone else and At took us to his house for to have food and drinks. He even invited his neighbor, who is a music teacher, to bring some of his students over so we could here some traditional Thai music. After we had had some whiskey we decided it was time for some karaoke, which At actually had a specific room for in his house. They really love their karaoke here, ha ha. It was a really fun time. I can’t mention enough how hospitable and friendly our Thai friends are to us.
In the morning we went to Chatuchak Market, which is the biggest one I’ve been to yet. It sold everything, from clothes and souvenirs to live animals and produce. It was so big and crowded that it was almost oppressive. I pretty much just wanted to get out of there. We made it back to AIT early enough for a swim (the university has a really nice outdoor pool) which felt amazing after trekking around in the Bangkok heat all day. It was quite an eventful weekend overall. Hopefully I’ll be able to top it next weekend. Some of us want to spend the weekend in Bangkok and hit up Khao San Road, which is a huge hangout for backpackers from all over the world. It’s like a crazy outdoor party there every day after the sun goes down.
I feel like I’ve just started to scratch the surface of this place. Every day is more interesting and weird than the last.
On Friday I was pretty beat from all the craziness so I went to bed really early to prepare for the coming weekend. The combination of adjusting to being in a new country and sitting through six hours of lectures everyday really took its toll. On a typical day, I have a class from 10am to 12pm, then a break for lunch, followed by another class from 1:30 to 3:30, another short break, and then Thai class from 4 to 6. That’s way more class than I’ve ever had at MSU, for sure. The classroom they stuck us in doesn’t have any windows and it gets pretty stuffy too, so I start to go a little crazy by the end of the day. This is pretty much how the next two weeks will go until I start my internship.
Saturday we had a field trip to the Grand Palace in downtown Bangkok. It was the most ornate set of buildings I’ve ever seen. Everything is covered in colored glass and gold leaf, with the most intricate and minute details covering every surface. There was this huge golden stupa (a kind of shrine) that supposedly contained some ashes from Buddha himself. Another temple had this small Buddha statue that was carved completely out of jade, called the Emerald Buddha. It’s one of the holiest shrines in Thailand. They even dress the Buddha in a different outfit according to what season it is. He had the equivalent of a Thai winter coat, made of gold of course, while we were there. After that I went to the Bangkok Museum, which is housed in a former palace, with Lauren, Kaitlyn, and At (one of our Thai friends). It gave an overview of Thai history and had lots of artifacts associated with the kings of Thailand. It’s very strange how it mostly centered on the Thai monarchs, even though Thailand has officially been a constitutional monarchy since 1932. There was hardly any mention of the political disturbances that have plagued Thailand for the past seventy-five years. It was all very odd.
After the museum, we met up with everyone else and At took us to his house for to have food and drinks. He even invited his neighbor, who is a music teacher, to bring some of his students over so we could here some traditional Thai music. After we had had some whiskey we decided it was time for some karaoke, which At actually had a specific room for in his house. They really love their karaoke here, ha ha. It was a really fun time. I can’t mention enough how hospitable and friendly our Thai friends are to us.
In the morning we went to Chatuchak Market, which is the biggest one I’ve been to yet. It sold everything, from clothes and souvenirs to live animals and produce. It was so big and crowded that it was almost oppressive. I pretty much just wanted to get out of there. We made it back to AIT early enough for a swim (the university has a really nice outdoor pool) which felt amazing after trekking around in the Bangkok heat all day. It was quite an eventful weekend overall. Hopefully I’ll be able to top it next weekend. Some of us want to spend the weekend in Bangkok and hit up Khao San Road, which is a huge hangout for backpackers from all over the world. It’s like a crazy outdoor party there every day after the sun goes down.
I feel like I’ve just started to scratch the surface of this place. Every day is more interesting and weird than the last.
Thursday, January 15, 2009
Super long post
I guess I’ve fallen behind on the blogging a little bit so I’ll get everyone up to speed. First off, Thailand is an amazing place and everyone I’ve met at the Asian Institute of Technology (AIT) has been unbelievably friendly to everyone in our program. On Tuesday night, there was a welcome party for new students held in one of the activity centers on campus. It was pretty bizarre actually. There were random games, like chugging pop as fast as you can, trivia contests, and singing competitions. A group of six of us went up and sang the MSU fight song, which I’m pretty sure went over everyone’s heads. There was another game where there was a box being passed around like hot potato. If you got stuck with it, you had to pull out a slip of paper from it and do what it said, and all of them were embarrassing of course. The girl sitting next to me, Sarah, had to go up and dance in front of everyone. Later, my roommate Ryan got dragged up to dance in this crazy circle of Indian guys. Afterwards though, there was a dance party and they sold beer behind a counter, so of course we got some. It was all pretty awkward and hilarious for our second day of being there.
The next day we had to get up early for a field trip to the Damnoen Saduak floating market, which is about 65 miles southwest of Bangkok A floating market is basically a market set up on a system of canals with boats serving as the shops, produce stands, and even restaurants. We hired a guy to take us around in a boat for 100 baht each (about $3) so we could see everything. It was really touristy in general but it was pretty surreal for us farang (Westerners) to see boats pull up next to us full of fruit and bubbling pots of food.
Later that night Ryan and I went to a bar near Thammasat University, which is right next to AIT, with some of the students who have been showing us around in Thailand. They served us beer from these huge three-liter vats with spouts on the bottom. One thing about Thailand that sucks a little is that they serve their beer lukewarm and then put ice in it. Gross! I found out that night that my friend Sam, one of the students helping us out, is from Kyrgyzstan. How random is that? His girlfriend, Peace, and one of her friends taught me the Thai word for crazy, but then kept cracking up when I said it to them. Apparently its extremely rude to call someone that unless you’re good friends with them, ha ha.
The next night, we didn’t have much to do in the evening so we went out to this crazy nightclub called Pretty Highly Attractive (I can’t make this stuff up), or Phat for short. There was a Thai rock band that was actually pretty good with copious amounts of American dance music in between. Our group of Americans was kind of a novelty so everyone wanted to toast us and share drinks in between bouts of crazy dancing. All the Thai people we have met are so friendly and, it’s really awesome.
Today we visited Ayuthaya, which was the capital of Thailand before Bangkok was founded. It was mostly destroyed in 1767 by an invading Burmese army so it has lots of ruins. There was a temple with an enormous golden Buddha statue inside that was over 600 years old and another one that was almost just as old. I think I’m going to end up seeing about a thousand Buddhas before I leave this place, but they are pretty impressive so I’m ok with it, ha ha. The last thing we saw in Ayuthaya was the ruins of a huge temple called Wat Chai Wattanaram, which is built in the style of Angkor Wat in Cambodia. It was a very beautiful place.
Right now, I have to go get ready for a Thai barbecue (don’t ask me what that means, ha ha), so sawat-dii khrap for now
The next day we had to get up early for a field trip to the Damnoen Saduak floating market, which is about 65 miles southwest of Bangkok A floating market is basically a market set up on a system of canals with boats serving as the shops, produce stands, and even restaurants. We hired a guy to take us around in a boat for 100 baht each (about $3) so we could see everything. It was really touristy in general but it was pretty surreal for us farang (Westerners) to see boats pull up next to us full of fruit and bubbling pots of food.
Later that night Ryan and I went to a bar near Thammasat University, which is right next to AIT, with some of the students who have been showing us around in Thailand. They served us beer from these huge three-liter vats with spouts on the bottom. One thing about Thailand that sucks a little is that they serve their beer lukewarm and then put ice in it. Gross! I found out that night that my friend Sam, one of the students helping us out, is from Kyrgyzstan. How random is that? His girlfriend, Peace, and one of her friends taught me the Thai word for crazy, but then kept cracking up when I said it to them. Apparently its extremely rude to call someone that unless you’re good friends with them, ha ha.
The next night, we didn’t have much to do in the evening so we went out to this crazy nightclub called Pretty Highly Attractive (I can’t make this stuff up), or Phat for short. There was a Thai rock band that was actually pretty good with copious amounts of American dance music in between. Our group of Americans was kind of a novelty so everyone wanted to toast us and share drinks in between bouts of crazy dancing. All the Thai people we have met are so friendly and, it’s really awesome.
Today we visited Ayuthaya, which was the capital of Thailand before Bangkok was founded. It was mostly destroyed in 1767 by an invading Burmese army so it has lots of ruins. There was a temple with an enormous golden Buddha statue inside that was over 600 years old and another one that was almost just as old. I think I’m going to end up seeing about a thousand Buddhas before I leave this place, but they are pretty impressive so I’m ok with it, ha ha. The last thing we saw in Ayuthaya was the ruins of a huge temple called Wat Chai Wattanaram, which is built in the style of Angkor Wat in Cambodia. It was a very beautiful place.
Right now, I have to go get ready for a Thai barbecue (don’t ask me what that means, ha ha), so sawat-dii khrap for now
Sunday, January 11, 2009
Thailand, so far
So I made it to Bangkok all right. Our group got in around 3am yesterday, or today technically. The time change is screwing with my head a little. We didn't have time to do much that night, we just got a ride to the AIT campus from some Thai students from the Student Union and were shown our accommodations. My room looks pretty much like an older MSU dorm, except that there's a hose next to the toilet as an alternative to toilet paper. Crazy!
We got a tour of the campus today and then some of the same students who picked us up from the airport took us to Future Park, aka the biggest damn mall I've ever seen in my life. The thing had like five stories of shops with these huge department stores that literally had any consumer good you could possibly need, or at least think you need. It was pretty overwhelming after about four hours.
Buying a phone at the mall was kind of a fiasco. Three of the phone store's workers tried to translate my gestures and confused shrugs while one of our tour guides patiently tried to mediate the situation. I ended up accidentally picking out a phone that costs about $70 and had them set it up with a SIM card before I found that out. The whole process was pretty entertaining though, so it wasn't the worst $7o I ever spent, ha ha.
Tomorrow I have to register and go to an orientation session, followed by our group's first Thai lesson. I think I'll ask the teacher how to ask "how much?" in Thai. Maybe learning the numbers would be good too, ha ha.
We got a tour of the campus today and then some of the same students who picked us up from the airport took us to Future Park, aka the biggest damn mall I've ever seen in my life. The thing had like five stories of shops with these huge department stores that literally had any consumer good you could possibly need, or at least think you need. It was pretty overwhelming after about four hours.
Buying a phone at the mall was kind of a fiasco. Three of the phone store's workers tried to translate my gestures and confused shrugs while one of our tour guides patiently tried to mediate the situation. I ended up accidentally picking out a phone that costs about $70 and had them set it up with a SIM card before I found that out. The whole process was pretty entertaining though, so it wasn't the worst $7o I ever spent, ha ha.
Tomorrow I have to register and go to an orientation session, followed by our group's first Thai lesson. I think I'll ask the teacher how to ask "how much?" in Thai. Maybe learning the numbers would be good too, ha ha.
Friday, January 9, 2009
Time to go
It's 3 am and I finally finished packing. Yeah, that's right, I rule at life. Time to pass out now. See you in 24 hours, Thailand.
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