Reasons I love Thailand

Since all of the news that seems to be coming out of Thailand sounds bad, I thought I might post just a few of the many reasons why I love Thailand. Some you've probably heard before; others show the uniqueness (and quirkiness) of "Amazing Thailand."

1. So I'll start with the obvious - Thailand is a great place to live because it's also a tourist destination, with some of the best SCUBA and snorkeling sites in the world. It's also a place of great cultural and historical relevance.
2. Holidays galore - I mentioned this in a previous post, but in Thailand, they love holidays and accept holidays such as Christmas and Halloween with a fervor I've only seen in places like Bethlehem, PA, or Salem, Massachusetts. Plus, there's Thai New Year (Songkran), many Buddhist holidays, and royal holidays (King's birthday, Queen's birthday, Coronation Day).
3. Another famous reason - the food (and drink). I'm completely addicted to chaa yen (Thai iced tea) and there is no end of tropical fruits (mangoes, guava, lychee, rambutans, mangosteins, watermelon, oranges, papayas, pineapple... durian). Plus, I've started craving noodles and rice, and completely eliminated the use of knives in my eating habits.
4. A little, strange reason - privacy and consideration in public bathrooms. The stalls are more room-like (lower on the bottom and higher at the top, so you can't look under to see who's in there), there's a hose next to the toilet bowl that people use to cover up bad sounds (really, who likes to hear someone else pooping?), and today someone came into the bathroom, spritzed it with air freshener before using the toilet. Plus they're usually SUPER clean.
5. Thai people are polite and friendly - best exemplified by the craziness of Songkran. Before people splashed me with freezing cold water or luke-warm moat water, they would say "excuse me." Or apologize after. Plus, there's no one word for "no" in Thai. If you want to say "no" you have to pay attention to what the other person said. For example, if you ask someone if they like Thailand (choop muangthai?), they can't just say no - they have to say "no like" (mai choop). Which is annoying for someone learning Thai, but an interesting cultural phenomenon. And, as far as I know (with my limited Thai), if you want to say something is bad, you say it's not good (mai dii).

Quick protest update: The hopes of last week's reconciliation plan, proposed by the PM (Abhisit Vejjajjiva), were doused after red shirt leaders proposed their "Red Plan," demanding a firm date of Parliament's dissolution, the surrender of the deputy prime minister to the police (which he may or may not have done, depending on whether you consider the Department of Special Investigation part of the police and not a political tool), and the immediate withdrawal of police and soldiers from around the rally site. In response, the government (after a week of red shirt procrastination) demanded the protesters leave or they would shut off electricity, water and phone service to the area (leaving businesses and residents scrambling). The utilities are still on at the protest site, despite the ultimatum and a "crackdown" by the government is predicted to be imminent (although that threat has been popping up for the past month or so). None of this really affects me - in fact, the soldiers who had been posted along the Asoke Skywalk have stopped patrolling during the day, so my daily routine is still unaffected. Here's an interesting article in the Bangkok Post - an opinion.

The last week's Red Shirt activities

Tuesday - oh poo! Don't throw tires onto the Skytrain track! It makes commuters unhappy! Luckily, the trains were up and running by 10:30am, although the Skytrain now has reduced hours (6am-8pm).

Wednesday - well, that's bad. As red shirt protesters caravaned out of the city to meet with other supporters in the outskirts of Bangkok, police and soldiers halted their progress. Several protesters were injured in the conflict that ensued, and one soldier was killed by friendly fire. Sadly, it had only been 6 days since the last violent conflict ended in death.

Thursday - Don't invade hospitals... it's just a bad idea in general. First of all, bad international press. Second, in the event of the proclaimed "crackdown" by the government, don't you want the hospital across the street from your current protest site to be up and running (and nurture, if not positive feelings, then at least not resentful and pissed off)?

(The opinions in these articles might not be fair and are probably not unbiased. I included links to both Bangkok Post articles and BBC. The Bangkok Post has more articles that provide a real-time look at the issues in Bangkok. The BBC tends to provide more unbiased reporting of events. I also like the BBC reporting because they include relevant links on the right and they have great graphics.)

I'm still fine. It's annoying that the Skytrain closes at 8pm, but other than that, life's been pretty uneventful. It's been raining more frequently and I appreciate watching thunderstorms roll in through my office window.