Date: 2008-01-24
To: Karaoke
Miles today: 0.0

Yesterday I went for a long walk from Pattaya to Jometin Beach, and even this simple task is full of strange moments. There are some real slums just out the back of this area, it must be where many of the hotel workers, and girls have to live. There are people cooking chickens on the side of the road, and as each bus passes great clouds of smoke cover the chickens that are being bbq. In spitting distance of this are all of the hotels that line the forshore, very similar to the gold coast. They go right down to the beach in some cases, which has ruined the beach. I was really exhausted after my walk, mostly due to the heat and humidity, so decided to sit on the beach. There are deck chairs laid out on the beach. It is impossible to see the sand because of the number of deck chairs and umberalas (I never get the spelling of that word right). The areas are controllled by a small group of people who have set up drink stands, and who will even help you into your seat. It cost 30 baht to sit on the beach, about 1 Australian dollar. If you clap your hands then they will come running and get you a new drink, or bring you food, it is like a version of slavery. I think the people who work on these beaches need to get themselves a new union representative, because they do not seem to be getting much of a deal. I have worked out what the whole problem is with what I have witnessed so far about Thailand. Where I stayed in bangkok is the centre of the backpackers industry, with young men, and some women, who just go there to mostly get drunk. As a result of course prostitution is prevalent. Now I have gone to a place that is the capital of the worlds human traffiking industry. The Thai girls come fom all over the country, mostly from the poor villages that litter this country, most tourists never get to see this part of Thailand. They are either sold by their families, or tricked into coming, or are sent by their families so they can then send money back. I guess I am starting to see things from the Thai perspective, and it is so depressing. The industry is only open here for about 3 months of the year, because of the weather, the typhoons move in. In that 3 - 4 months everyone has to make their money in a mad rush to cover all of their costs, including the hotels. This place is like a version of Sydney's Kings Cross, only far more crowded, and covering many square kilometres. As a result the people here are very blunt, and everything is up for sale. There is no chance to simply interact with the locals, no chance to really understand them. Most of them do not live here permanently, they are an itinerant work force, away from their families. it is an incredibly hard life for them. You only have to walk past the beer bars, and you will see 100 women sitting inside, most are no older than 21, and many look under age. You can look into their eyes and you can see their distant stares of blankness, it really breaks your heart. It is a real place of human misery. WHat i have seen is not a true indication of what Thailand has to offer, they are renowned for their freindliness, but I have just gone to the wrong areas. Even here you do get a sense of it, others have assured me that what is happening here is not what happens in the rest of Thaliand as reagards to the Thai's attitude. In this society old people are very much respected, and I think that is why so many old men are here chasing the girls. When i was sitting on the beach yesterday you see these old men, most of them above 50, and many reaching into their late 60's. They have a Thai girl companion, who will sti next to them, the girls are probably younger than the old mens own grand kids. The old men take of their tops and throw them on the ground and the girls pick up after them, it is like a scene straight out of the 1950's. In Thai culture being disrete, and dressing very conservative is very important. Almost every person has long pants and long shirts on and many even have their heads covered, despite the heat. The girls on the beach walk down mostly covered up, but the old men motion to them to take of their tops, and to strip down to their bikinis, you can see how incredibly uncomfortable they all feel about doing this. The girls take care of every need of these old men, getting them drinks, giving massages, etc..At the same time as this a continuous stream of hawkers walk past. They are carrying bags of nuts, trinkets, showing you tattoos that you can get, offereing foot massages, full body massages on the beach, trays of food, clothes, fake designer watches, the list goes on and on. I put my hat down over my head so mostly they do not disturb me, but every now and again one will tap you on the arm, so I have my signature move of waving my hand across like I am playing black jack and I am telling the dealer I no longer need another card. This waving motion worked for awhile, but then they saw my finger nails and now they are offering me manicures, I could not help but burst out laughing. In our culture we have set prices, here in Thailand like the most of asia they have a history of bartering. So we take this element of their culture and use it against them. I watch people bargaining these hawkers down, and most of them are living in abject poverty. They will spend half hour bargaining away, and it is just worth maybe 1 or 2 australian dollars is all they are saving. I think it is jsut a form of entertainment. The generla behaviour of westerners is really appaling. This trip has really highlighted why in many parts of the world globalisation has not worked, here it is destroying the people. In Australia we have the political and social structure to sort out the negative aspects that globalisation and free market forces inflict upon a society. We have been developing our economic models over many centuries, and many of the fundamentals we inherited from Europe. Here this has all been thrusted upon the Thai people in less than 30 years, and they are not coping. It has created chaos, and undermined their old values and systems that do not fit well or correspond with western ideals. Many of these countries once had a form of communism, that probably would have given some balance to their society, at least when it comes to wealth redistribution, but even that we took of them by force. I could catch a 12 hour train ride upto Chang mei, it is where the hill tribes are located. Poeple go up their to gawk at the ancient culture. Thailand does not really have many ethnic thai's, they are a mixture of Cambodians, Sri Lankans, Chinese, etc... In the hill tribes you will see a different group of people, much darker skin, and faces that look more Mongolian. The have a funny dress, and lots of jewelery, and have been reduced to making small trinkets that they sell to the western tourists. If i was going to come back this is where I would head to do some hiking of the trails. To just head up their to gawk at these people seems rather pointless, if I want to see an ancient peoples have a look in our own country, we have the most anceint civilisation on the planet, that would outdate the Thai hills tribes by many thousands of years. I ran into the dutch people I had meet on the mini van yesterday waling along the beach. We had a great chat, and they too were not realy enjoying Pattaya, they were feeling guilty for being here, and a great sense of sadness. So I am not the only one who is struggling to come to terms with what I am witnessing. They said much of Thailand is fabulous, but they also fretted for what their presence was doing to the people. I do not think my presence in this country is very good for the locals. I feel a great guilt for actually being here, we have turned them into beggars, and just trhow them a few scraps as we enjoy a dirt cheap holiday. I can only imagine what this country once was like. When Brenda looked at me strangely after I told her I was going to Thailand, I thought Brenda just does not have a sense of adventure. Well I think I am having a similar experience, if only I had payed more attention to my auntie.I caught a taxi back from Jometin beach just after sunset. You pay 20 baht and I stood at the back of this crowded ute on a metal rail. I felt like I was back at woodside on the farm, it was a bumpy ride. The streets were alive with people and activity, and absolute madhouse, maybe this is what old Sydney town was like back in the days of first settlement and the convict era, anything goes. It feels a bit like the wild west. I went to bed early and watched some Australian tv, and I missed my home country, the smells, the colors, and beleive it or not the rules and regulations, particularly traffic laws. I feel asleep to the sounds of people singing karaoke in the bars that surround my hotel, and of course the usual sexual activity that is happening in the rooms around me. When i woke at 6:30am, I could still here the vile screeching of people singing karaoke at the top of their lungs, this is just no let up with this place.