Consumerism, Shoulders and Elephants

April 25, 2006
(a little late posting this!)

I’ve just returned from 10 days in Laos and Thailand. I had a great time catching up with old friends, seeing new places and shopping til I dropped! After a great time in Chiang Mai and Vientiane, I spent the last couple of days in Bangkok.

Now, I don’t know if it is because I live in a pretty sleepy little place these days or if Bangkok is just so over the top, but I spent a good part of my 2 days there just shaking my head at the oddity of life in this mega-city. Technology is Asia is leaps and bounds ahead of the US. It’s just crazy, like something out of a sci-fi movie sometimes! People, the future is HERE. It just hasn’t come to the US yet!

Here are the things that I saw that just blew my mind, either because they were so unexpected or because they were just so unnecessary.

Hyper Tech Consumerism (generally, Bangkok’s malls easily trump anything found in the US in terms of excess, consumerism and all-around icky cultural experience.)
1. The elevators in the mall had 3-D TVs playing advertisements. I’ve never seen such a nice TV. It was in an elevator.
2. (Still in the mall) Ferrari’s on the fourth floor. Yep, Ferrari’s people. A full show room of them.
3. The Subways are super-futuristic by any standard I’ve ever seen. The tracks are closed off with glass walls and doors that magically line up to the train doors and only open when a train arrives. On the non-door windows: larger-than-life projected film advertisements.
4. And then there is the Skytrain system, which is just your typical elevated outdoor commuter train (but very clean!)…well, lest you not be bombarded with advertising images, there’s a large screen TV mounted on the top of the building just beyond the track, playing – what else – advertisements.

Just Plain Old Consumerism:
1. Inside the SkyTrain train is a listing of the SkyWalks connecting which train stations to which malls. I saw no other visible guides to anything else in Bangkok.

2. Khao San Road is the ‘backpacker’ area of the city. And EVERYTHING is for backpackers.. There are internet cafes, bars and hotels. And the streets are lined with stalls selling luggage, hippie shirts and used books. And that’s it. It could be in any city in the world. Just weird how such a rich cultural city can be reduced to pure consumerism.

Stupid Western Tourists
Regardless of the excessive consumerism, Bangkok is still an amazing city. Thailand has a rich traditional culture which is still very much alive. It is beautiful and interesting.

One of Bangkok’s biggest attractions is the Grand Palace. It is a complex full of intricately decorated temples and traditional buildings. It is a sacred Buddist site and there are clear dress codes. The dress codes are well posted and if you aren’t dressed appropriately, you are welcome to borrow – free of charge – more appropriate wear. Generally you are required to cover yourself from your shoulders to your ankles. A reasonably long skirt will do. We aren’t talking nun habits, just modesty.

My friend’s trousers went just below his knees and therefore he had to go borrow some longer ones. While I waited for him, I amusedly watched tourists try to skirt past the ‘fashion police’ guards. Generally, they were snagged and kindly asked to join the “free of charge appropriate wear” line – which most people did willingly. However, one European woman was quite intent on keeping her outfit just as pretty as she planned it.

She was wearing an appropriately lengthed sundress with spaghetti straps. She had clearly anticipated the upper body coverage issue by bringing along a shawl to wrap around her shoulders. However, it was a chiffon shawl and quite transparent. The fashion police informed her that the shawl wasn’t suitable. The fashion police man was very polite and clearly has such arguments daily. This woman argued and got annoyed and huffed and puffed and he said no. She, her husband and child glared at the line for a few moments, waited until the fashion policeman was otherwise occupied and tried to sneak past. Foiled! She was sent back. She finally got in line much to her chagrin.

Standing in line would have taken about as long as it took her to argue. So, this wasn’t really a time issue. It was a “I’ve decided I’ve done enough to satisfy your petty (1,000 year old) rules and won’t be told otherwise no matter how lame my attempt was” issue. I giggled and shook my head. My friend and I carried on after he was properly attired in what appeared to be a fairly clean and comfortable pair of silk pants.

We walked across the compound, paid our entrance fee and just before entering, he went into a shop to buy some water. As I was standing outside waiting for him, I saw her approaching. She had somehow finally made it past the fashion police without changing! I can only imagine how proud of herself she was. Unfortunately, when she and her family got within 10 yards of the entrance, another fashion police man (this one less calm as he probably didn’t get many shoulders at this inner gate) urgently stopped her. “No no no madam, I’m sorry.”, gesturing excitedly that she was clearly inappropriately dressed and must go back. Laughing out loud this time, I thought, why? What’s the point? Just put a tshirt on! Off they went. I wonder if they bothered to come back.

…And their Silly Tour Guides
At one point, my friend and I wandered past some tourists intently listening to a clearly well-informed “docent” authoritatively announce “This is China stuff from China” as she pointed to some ancient stone statues. Brilliant.

Other notables
1. I will require a breast-reduction before I am ever able to buy a shirt in Asia.
2. The best massage in the world can be gotten in Laos for $2.50 an hour.
3. I bought a long pillow-futon-thing for $5.50. It is the cheapest thing in my house and the most comfortable piece of furniture I own. When will consumerism come to Timor? The most interesting note of consumerism I can find in Timor is that there are five types of Philadelphia cream cheese in one supermarket (salmon, strawberry, chive, regular and light).

4. And Finally: As we were walking in one of the SkyWalks to the SkyTrain after watching a big Hollywood movie in the monstrous mall, we looked down and saw a small elephant on the sidewalk. In the middle of Bangkok at 9:30pm. Someone had clearly brought him there, but as to why: that was not clear.