Dear Editor,
I must be an incurable optimist for I believe that the
world can be changed into a better one for everybody to live in, despite of
the recent global tsunami of violence, lies, selfishness and short-term
thinking since the Bush-administration came into power.
But nothing is unlimited, apart from nothing itself
perhaps.
This is also true for my optimism: If somebody who has
been living in Thailand for 23 years and states that Thai are driving in
‘fancy imported cars’ implying they are sufficiently rich, then I become
rather pessimistic about my chances of effectively adding something wise to
his thinking. (See letter Freddie Clark, ‘Racism comes in many forms’,
Pattayamail - Vol X1,no 27).
No, sir, no matter how hard I tried to see and to
understand what I’d seen during my some weeks holidays in Thailand until
now, I haven’t been able to ‘see’ that these ‘fancy imported cars’
were actually owned by the very person who was holding the steer and only by
him or his family.
One of the things that I have seen, however, is a Thai
man breaking the road with big sledgehammer with no protection whatsoever
for his feet. Have you ever wondered what will happen to him and his family
when he misses and brizzels accidentally one of his feet? A person that may
not all be a experienced craftsman, but a farmer who is doing season-labour
trying to earn some additional money to feed his family? Or when a
construction-worker falls from the scaffolding and gets crippled? Do you
think they would get a life-time fee from the government as they’re not
able to work anymore. Or that the government will offer them courses that
would allow them to do other jobs. Ask your Thai friends what ‘pension’
and ‘unemployment fee’ mean. What do you really understand from the Thai
society, Mr Clark?
I could react on Mr. Clark’s ‘misunderstandings’
about my previous article “Don’t let your greed destroy the very thing
that you love so much”, (Pattayamail - Vol X1,no 24). I could easily
continue arguing why not to use the terms ‘racism’ or ‘racist’, as I
have been doing in the beginning of the eighties when Holland was suffering
from an economical crisis like now and aggression against immigrant workers
from Morocco and Turkey eventually led to a so-called racist political party
in the parliament. (The Dutch election system allows relative small parties
to get a seat in the parliament)
But to my opinion enough words have already been spoilt
on Mr. Clark C.S. So, let’s turn to something more pleasant, for example
to my personal experiences of unselfish helpfulness and friendliness from
ordinary Thai people during my last year’s round trip alone in a rented
car from Pattaya, through the Esarn region, to Chiang Mai, Mae Hong Song and
back again to Chiang Mai.
- Like the man who got into his ‘fancy imported car’
somewhere in Ubon Ratchathani’s suburbs indicating me to follow him, when
I had lost my way and I asked him how to get back to the main roads.
- Or the Thai people in Surin dining on the street
inviting me with a gesture to have a closer look at what they were eating,
when I passed by their table during an evening stroll.
- Or the smile that was returned instead of aggression,
when I drove accidentally on the wrong side of the road coming from the
parking lot near the Pha Taem caves and me expressing somewhat clumsily my
mistake.
- Or the student guide who led me personally through the
Sukhothai museum and visually did his utmost best to explain in English
about the different styles of the Buddha images and only asked 50 baht for 2
hours work. Of course I gave him substantially more and I really regret not
having asked for his name and address, so I could learn a little more about
Thailand.
- Or the soldier who left his check-point on the road
from Chiang-Mai to Pai and who helped me unnecessarily to pour ten bottles
gasoline into my car’s tank, when I had asked him for most nearby
gas-station and after he had brought me to the shop next to the checkpoint
asking the woman if she sells gasoline.
- Or the friendly women sitting on high heaps of
vegetables as queens on their thrones inviting me to take photographs, even
though they probably knew I wouldn’t buy anything from them, when I was
walking as the only farang through an indoor market in Chiang Mai’s
Chinatown.
Would I have experienced this selection of memorable
moments out of the many if I were Thai?
I don’t think so. Yes, our figures and white skins may
play a role in how we are treated, but not always to our disadvantage! On
the contrary, on most occasions we’re treated with respect and
understanding! But, ignorant and egoist people don’t notice it!
Let’s go back, for one more time to Pattaya and see to
what their greed leads to.
The three previous times when I was in Pattaya I stayed
at hotels in Pattaya North, so I used the song theows, the baht buses, quite
a lot to get to Pattaya Central and South and back again. I never had to
wait one second for a baht bus to pick me up and I would be sitting with at
most 4 other passengers. Even though I was told that Thai pay 5 baht, I paid
mostly 20 baht, which is still less than the cheapest bus price in Holland.
I’ve experienced only once that the driver asked 40 baht, so I gave 10
baht and just went away.
But last year I discovered that the system had changed
for the worse. Yes, there was a fixed price for everyone, but the baht bus
drivers wait until they have their baht buses full with 10 passengers, which
may take as long as half an hour in the hot sun. And the farangs who need
considerably more space than the local Thai people, becoming irritated and
grumpy.
What a killjoy and I blame these selfish and greedy
expats for this deterioration of service!
The essential difference between Mr. Clark and me is not
about our ideas about racism, nor our respective analysis of societies and
discrimination, but rather a matter of mentality: I don’t take other
peoples’ poverty for granted!
Sawatdee Krub,
Eddy Traarbach
Holland
