Thailand: the most racist country in the world?

I earlier blogged about the racism implicit in the name Thailand. Sanitsuda Ekachai has another article in the Bangkok Post that highlights the racist attitudes in Thailand (link from 2Bangkok.com).

Thailand's entrant in Miss Universe, Fahroong Yutitham, wore a Hmong costume in the section for traditional costumes. This outraged Ladda Tangsupachai, director of the Cultural Surveillance Centre of the Culture Ministry (a most Orwellian sounding department). Quoting Khun Ladda from the Bangkok Post:

The Thai national dress, she stressed, must be Thai. It also must be in line with the official, royal designs and it must be used for proper occasions. She also criticised Ms Fahroong for failing to do her duty as Miss Thailand to show the outside world an authentic national Thai dress.

Furthermore, wearing an ethnic dress but calling it Thai could confuse young Thai minds and set a bad example for the youngsters to emulate.

How many Thais walk around wearing a traditional costume of any sort? These days most Thai people wear jeans and t-shirts. Also implicit in this comment is that people from minority groups cannot be considered Thai unless they conform to a very narrow ideal of Thai-ness, an ideal that doesn't in anyway reflect the everyday reality in Siam.

Ideofact has also blogged on this topic and raises this important point. It seems that the Cultural Surveillance Centre considers the Hmong costume, pictured below, is not national dress.



But their lack of comments regarding the costume below raises some interesting questions about exactly what might be considered "Thai national dress".



I think a picture is worth a thousand words here.

I'll let Sanitsuda have the last words though:

Not only the ethnic groups suffer from this narrow definition of Thai-ness, but society as a whole.

Putting Thai arts and culture on the altar, for example, has killed creativity and trapped them in rigidity and pretentiousness.

Women also greatly suffer from the Thai-ness rubbish which mandates virginity as an indispensable quality of good Thai women. This is why women who are raped or face unplanned pregnancies get social condemnation instead of help. Or why divorced women or widows are considered tainted goods.

A Thai beauty queen in an ethnic dress? Why not? Only when we can equate Thai-ness with cultural diversity, can we hope for an open and more humane society.

* photos from Miss Universe

Thonburi extension of the Skytrain

I used to live in the Chareon Nakhon district of Bangkok not far from the Thaksin Bridge so I have a special interest in the extension of the skytrain across the river to Thonburi. I know the regular traffic jams that occur on the Thaksin Bridge and the huge numbers that use the ferry to cross the river during peak hour.

Work on this line has been on and off for a number of years. This was mainly due to conflict between the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) and the central government. The BMA is controlled by the Democrats while the other was controlled by Thai Rak Thai. Eventually the BMA decided to go ahead with the completion of the extension and financing it from its own funds without assistance from the central government.

The first phase of the extension will be 2.2 kms long and have two stations -- Chareon Nakhon and Wong Wian Yai. The Wong Wian Yai Station is located on Krung Thonburi several hundred metres to the south of the Wongwian Yai traffic circle and the SRT Wongwian Yai Railway Station which has commuter services to Mahachai in Samut Sakhon.



In April 2006 I walked out along this line and took the above photo at the site of the Chareon Nakhon Station.



I came back again in May 2007 and took the above shot of the Chareon Nakhon Station. The station now appears nearly finished, although how long it will take to fit out the interior of the station and do systems testing I don't know. Still it looks like there is a good chance it might open before the end of the year.

Links

Bangkok Skytrain - Wikipedia
The Bangkok Skytrain - 2Bangkok.com
The Skytrain Extensions - 2Bangkok.com
Bangkok Mass Transit System Public Company Limited

Suvarnabhumi airport - BKK 2.0

Returning to Thailand this month was my first time to arrive and depart at the new Suvarnabhumi Airport. I had previously been very familiar with the busy, but aging, Don Muang Airport.

There was a fair degree of controversy surrounding the new airport. These related to allegations of corruption during the construction process and the cracks in the runway. Don Muang airport reopened for a limited number of domestic flights in March 2007 to reduce the load on Suvarnabhumi and allow for repair works.

The airport rail link is under construction. It will run from the airport to connect with the MRT (subway) at Phetchaburi Station and the BTS (Skytrain) at Phaya Thai. It was originally scheduled to open this year, but they were still pouring the concrete for the tracks in many places so I would say that they are at least a couple more years away from completion. The elevated line is visible from the expressway on the way to the airport but I didn't take any photos. More information can be found at 2Bangkok.com and Wikipedia.

I found getting to and from the airport to be quick and easy. When I arrived I took the Airport Express bus to Banglamphu. It took just 40 minutes, although this was late at night when there wasn't much traffic. Leaving Bangkok I took a taxi from Thewes to the airport via the expressway. It took about 35 minutes at two o'clock in the afternoon. The airport express bus cost 150 baht. The taxi cost 220 baht plus 65 baht in expressway tolls.




The terminal design is in many ways similar to the Hong Kong airport. There is a single large check-in hall. Suvarnabhumi is the world's second largest building -- Hong Kong airport is slightly larger.



The air traffic control tower is the world's tallest at 132.2 metres.

Everything seemed new and well designed in the airport. While there may be some problems with it I doubt these will affect the average passenger arriving at the airport. Overall I was quite impressed and I think the new airport is a definite improvement on Don Muang.



There are several Family Mart convenience stores in the airport. The prices are the same as elsewhere in Thailand. This makes it easy to get a drink or a snack without paying the usual inflated prices associated with airports. There are a range of restaurants in the airport but no KFC or McDonalds.



The urinals in the toilets at the Sky Loft (restaurant area) had pictures of beautiful women taking a look at the action. I thought it was quite amusing, but I wonder if others might find it makes them nervous.



Taking off there was this wonderful view.



And a little bit later this lovely sunset.

Links

The Suvarnabhumi Airport - 2Bangkok.com
Suvarnabhumi Airport - Wikipedia
Suvarnabhumi Airport - AOT official website
Suvarnabhumi Airport - photoset @ flickr

Koh Kred: Island in the stream

Koh Kred is an island in the middle of the Chao Phraya River in Nonthaburi Province. The island is home to a Mon community and pottery along with tourism are the major industries. The island has no cars although motorcycles do travel around its narrow pathways. You can explore the island by walking or hiring a bike for 40 baht.



I visited Koh Kred yesterday and found it made a nice trip out of Bangkok. The level of the Chao Phraya River is very high at the moment. This is due to a combination of rains, wind and tides. Some parts of the island, including the footpath pictured above, were underwater.



The island has a number of Buddhist temples. The reclining Buddha above was in Wat Paramaiyikawat.



There are many ways to get to Koh Kred involving combinations of boat, bus and taxi. I got there by taking a ferry to Nonthaburi and then a taxi to Pak Kred. The taxi to Pak Kred from Nonthaburi should cost less than 100 baht, but I paid a little more as the driver didn't really know the way. From Pak Kred you can take a ferry across the river to Koh Kred for 2 baht. I returned to Bangkok on the 505 air-con bus. There are also boat tours that run to the island every Sunday from Sathorn Pier.

Fermented rice wine

I don't normally drink alcohol, but when I saw this I had to make an exception. It is fermented rice wine. You add water to the jar and then drink the wine through a bamboo straw. You can keep adding water and repeating the process.

The last time I drank this was in Darjeeling about ten years ago. Although on that occassion it was made of millet not rice. Still the taste was quite similar.

I was told the alcohol content was about 6% so I didn't get too drunk!!!

Riding the Maeklong Commuter

Unless you looked really hard you would probably never find the Wong Wian Yai Railway Station in Thonburi. It is a single track in the midst of a crowded market. The Maeklong Railway line connects Wong Wian Yai with Mahachai Station in Samut Sakhon, a small province neighbouring the Bangkok metropolis. Trains leave from here about once every hour. The trip takes about 55 minutes.

I had long been planning to take a ride on this train. Last year I headed out here, but ended up getting sidetracked taking photos of the Thonburi extension of the skytrain. I went back to see how far the construction had progressed and I will post some before and after shots on this blog at a later date.



Anyway I arrived at the station in time to catch the 8:35 train to Mahachai. Tickets were just 10 baht. The train mostly runs on a single track and trees brush the train on both sides in places. There were a number of small stations along the way.

I wouldn't exactly call the countryside that the train passes through idyllic, but it is a green contrast to Bangkok. Unfortunately the the area along the railway tracks seems to be filled with rubbish and canals full of very dirty water.



When I arrived in Samut Sakhon it was pouring rain. I waited for about twenty minutes until it cleared. I spent some time wandering around the town. It was pretty typical of most Thai towns with a very crowded market and plenty of gold shops.



The nearby Tha Chin River is quite big and serves as a fishing port. You can cross the river here and another train runs onto Samut Songkram. There was also an interesting looking Chinese style temple near the river. Although the temple looked every bit like a typical Chinese temple there were Thai style Buddhas inside. At the rear of the temple was the City Shrine complete with its Hindu style architecture. I always feel a little confused by the mix of religious iconography here, but obviously the Thai thinking is the more the better.

Samut Sakhon couldn't really hold my attention for more than a couple of hours. Still it was a nice escape from the huge and busy Bangkok. I recommend it to anyone looking for something interesting and different to do in Bangkok.

Links

• The Mae Khlong Mahachai Railway
  
• A Ride on the Maeklong Railway
  
• Mae Klong: Train-Boat to Ratchaburi
  

An afternoon with Ajarn

It was more than two years since I last met with Ajarn Sulak. It was great to be able to see him again and spend some time with him.

Even though he is now 74 years old Ajarn still maintains a very busy schedule of travel both in Thailand and abroad. He had just returned from a Tibet Support Group meeting in Brussels. He says that he will retire next year. I don't quite believe him.

Ajarn gave me a copy of a book called Teaching Dhamma by Pictures. This book was republished last year to celebrate the centenary of Ajarn Buddhadasa Bhikkhu. Ajarn Sulak asked me if I could try and get the book translated into Chinese. I will make some enquiries when I get back to Taiwan.

I also had the chance to catch up with the latest issues of Seeds of Peace magazine. I haven't finished reading them yet, but there seems to be plenty of great material there. Ajarn also asked me to draft a paper on the "Role of Religion in Conflict and Peacemaking". It will be good for me to refresh my interest and knowledge on this topic. Over the past few years I have wanted to do something for Ajarn and now I finally have the chance.

I asked Ajarn about the political situation here in Siam. He didn't go into a lot of detail. Of the new Prime Minister (Surayud) he said he is a nice man, but he has done nothing.

I spent the afternoon reading while Ajarn did some writing. In the evening a number of guests came for dinner. They included a doctor of Tibetan Medicine. He said Ajarn's health is good and he should have a long life.

Bangkok connections

Yesterday was my first full day in Bangkok after arriving late the night before. It was great to renew my connections with the city and meet many friends along the way.

My first stop was the place where I usually eat breakfast. The lady there still remembered me. She asked me if I had been gone for half a year. I said it was a year already and she was surprised. The bowl of khao tom moo (rice soup with pork) was delicious.



Next I took the ferry down the Chao Phraya River to Thaksin Bridge. I think the ferry is one of the best ways to travel in Bangkok and there are no traffic jams! The photo above shows one of the ferries that shuttles passengers across the river. The ones that run along the river are much bigger.



I got to Thaksin Bridge and took the skytrain (BTS) to Chong Nonsi. It is frustrating to see the Thonburi extension of the skytrain is still not open. This is a result of conflict between the BMA and the central government. Hopefully it will finally open by the end of the year and relieve the traffic jams that frequently occur on Thaksin Bridge.



Next I went to visit the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office (unofficial Taiwanese embassy) to apply for a new Taiwanese visa. I got there early and didn't have to wait long. I will pick up the visa today.

I then wandered along Sathorn Road back to Thaksin Bridge. I took the ferry across the river to Thonburi to visit the SEM office where I used to work. This neighbourhood was also the place I used to live in Bangkok. On the ferry I met my former colleague Pi Ladda. I had bought some tea from Taiwan to give here. Pi Ladda told me the news that Madame Pridi had passed away a few days earlier.



We walked to the office together. On the way we passed the old lady who sells bananas. I used to buy bananas from her every day. She still remembered me and told me that she missed me! I felt very touched. Pi Ladda told me that she often asks where has the farang gone.

The SEM office has completely changed since I used to work there five years ago. A new building was built at the back of the grounds a few years ago. Now they are constructing another new building where the old house once was.

I got the latest issue of Seeds of Peace. I also met Ann, the director of INEB. I found out there are plans to hold an INEB conference in Taiwan later this year. Hopefully I will be able to assist or participate in some way, but details are still not confirmed at this stage.

I then spoke to Ajarn Sulak on the phone. He had returned to Bangkok early because of the death of Madame Pridi. He invited me to his house for lunch. More about that in the next post.

Return to Bangkok

On Sunday night I returned to Bangkok for the first time in a little over a year. I thought it would be interesting to note a few things that have changed since my last visit.

The airport



I landed at the Suvarnabhumi Airport which opened in September last year. I arrived quite late so I didn't have much time to take lots of photos and look around much. It looked very new and modern. The airport bus took about 40 minutes to get to Sanam Luang, although this was late at night when there was little traffic. When I leave next week I'll try to take some more photos of the airport.

The Government

Last time I was here Thaksin was still the Prime Minister. How things have changed. Thailand now has a military government leading the country down the path to authoritarianism rather than a democratically elected leader with authoritarian tendencies!

The baht

Last time the baht was at about 38 or 39 to the US dollar. Now a dollar only buys 33 baht. The baht is actually at about the same value as the New Taiwan dollar.

Vale: Madame Pridi

Thanpuying Poonsuk Banomyong, wife of the late Pridi Banomyong, passed away on 12 May. She was 95 years old.

I had the chance to meet her briefly a few years ago. She had all the dignity, grace and humility one would expect of the wife of a great statesman.

Ajarn Sulak said she had a wonderful ability to forgive. Despite all the hardships that she and her family faced she never felt any hatred. Ajarn has written a piece about her that will hopefully be published in the Bangkok Post in the next few days.

The Nation reports that she left instructions for only a simple funeral service to be held. The memorial service will take place at the Pridi Banomyong Institute on 20 May.

Political meltdown

An article by Michael Connors from the Canberra Times (link via 2Bangkok.com) really nails the gravity of the current situation in Siam.

A Constitutional Drafting Assembly was formed to draft Thailand's 18th constitution since 1932.

No one has great hopes the new constitution currently being drafted under the shadow of the military will solve the country's woes.

The fragility of constitutional rule in Thailand has as much to do with vested and conflicting interests between old and new wealth as it does with flawed constitutional design.

And this is why it is possible to speak of meltdown.

The battle between old and new money is really the root of the issues with Thaksin and ultimately what led to his downfall. For Thailand's political elite, whether they represent new or old money, democracy is of very little concern. Their interest in democracy only goes as far as gaining power and legitimacy which they can then use to enrich themselves and their cronies.

So is there any hope for democracy in Thailand? The revolutions of 1973, 1976 and 1992 had great potential for creating real change, but sooner or later Thai politicians fell back into their old habits. The article continues:

So what of the prospects of democracy in Thailand? The Government promises an election will be held at year's end under the newly-drafted constitution. But pro-democratic and some pro-Thaksin forces are calling for the constitution to be rejected.

A rejection could be interpreted as condemnation of the coup and support for Thaksin paving the way for his political comeback in some form. Others fear that should an election be held pro-Thaksin forces will win anyway.

That's why some people have given up on democracy all together, saying the rural masses in Thailand are not ready for it. Instead a mixed system that incorporates the people, the aristocracy, and the king should be devised until the masses are ready to act like democratic citizens.

Nothing annoys me more than people who say the poor are not ready for democracy. From the perspective of the poor democracy is often their only hope. Without democracy the powers that be will never have the need to listen to them.

The article goes onto list the other two major threats to political stability in Thailand. These are the succession after the current king dies and the ongoing insurgency in the south.

May is a dangerous month in Thailand. So is October. No doubt before the end of the year there will be some major change in the government. And it may not necessarily be for the better.

From bad to worse to war?

Following the September 19 coup last year I blogged about whether the coup might bring peace to the south of Thailand. I know at the time it certainly looked like the change in government (albeit by undemocratic means) might have provided a much needed circuit breaker to relieve the tensions in the south.

Going back through the archives only a little over a month later I wrote that there seems to be no peace in the south.

Now six months on there seems to be no end to the violence in sight and it is perhaps even escalating. I noticed this report from AP in today's Taipei Times which prompted me to write something here. It notes a pattern of recent tit-for-tat attacks with both sides seeking revenge.

The article also identifies a problem with both sides having access to weapons. In the case of the Buddhist villagers these weapons were actually supplied as part of a royal program.

The region is awash in firearms, thanks in part to the government.

In 2004, Queen Sirikit bluntly urged people to defend themselves, and she sponsors arms training programs that cater almost exclusively to Buddhists. After the attack on the van her military aide, General Napon Bunthap, quoted her as saying: "We have to help people there to survive. If they need to be trained, train them. If they need to be armed, arm them."

In Ban Bala, some 400 village militia members, mostly Buddhists, share 140 shotguns they take out on patrol, village chief Prasit said. The interior ministry has also trained and armed thousands of other civilians -- Muslims and Buddhists alike -- to defend their villages.

And these two quotes from the article really highlight that the region really is hovering on the brink of an even more serious conflict.

"We are most concerned that people will be divided to the point that Muslims and Buddhists will wage a war against one another," said army spokesman Colonel Akara Thiprot. "The insurgents are trying to cause rifts among people to show that the situation has gone beyond the government's control." [...]

"When state power does not function, people feel the responsibility to protect themselves and take justice into their own hands," said Chaiwat Satha-anand, a political scientist at Bangkok's Thammasat University.

It also seems the current government's policy on the conflict is quite confused.

The government is persisting with its peace effort. Visiting the south last week, Surayud said the government was considering offering the insurgents an amnesty -- something the previous government rejected.

At the same time, he supported the arming of Buddhists to protect their families.

I feel so sad that there seem to be no solutions and no end to this conflict in sight.