15 November
I woke up this morning at my grandmother’s house near Chachoengsao – a medium sized, rapidly expanding town about 80 kilometres from Bangkok. Chachoengsao is a busy, noisy, dirty place and, perhaps for this reason, all the heavy industry from Bangkok is being gradually relocated there.
Fortunately, my grandmother’s place is still very much in the country. Her house is a peaceful, old-fashioned style wooden house on stilts by the Bang Pa Kong river. The garden is full of orchids, bougainvilleas, ladies’ finger nails. The air is clean and only the incessant sound of the television set disturbs the peaceful tranquility.
After breakfast, I went into town with my parents and met my friend Kik at Big C. I had not seen her for a while and was immediately struck by her appearance.
“What have you done to yourself?” I asked.
“No do anything! I more beautiful! You crazy!” she added. “And you fatter than before!”
I stared at her, trying to work it out. Was she taller? No, she was simply wearing high heels as usual. Was her face paler? No, that was the whitening cream. Her fake nose? But she’d got that done last time. Sure, her hair colour had changed but she dyed it a different colour every week. Then I got it.
“Your eyes!” I said. “You’re wearing green contacts, aren’t you!”
She nodded proudly. “Beautiful huh?”
“I didn’t realize that you needed glasses. Are you short sighted or long sighted?”
“My eyes very good. I wear contacts this colour so that I look farang…”
I went to have coffee while I waited for my parents to finish their shopping. I picked up an Off Road magazine and idly turned the pages. The prices of prestige cars in Thailand are staggeringly expensive. Especially when you consider how poor most people are.
A Porsche Cayenne turbo costs 16,750,000 baht. That’s over a quarter of a million pounds or half a million dollars, whatever way you like to look at it. A humble Volvo XC90 costs more than a Range Rover in Britain. A Range Rover in Thailand is the same price as a Bentley in the UK. In contrast, a plumber or electrician is lucky if he gets 7,000 baht per month. And yet, the Bangkok traffic jams are full of Range Rovers, Porsche Cayennes, Volvos etc.
Unlike its near neighbours, Thailand was never Communist.
I woke up this morning at my grandmother’s house near Chachoengsao – a medium sized, rapidly expanding town about 80 kilometres from Bangkok. Chachoengsao is a busy, noisy, dirty place and, perhaps for this reason, all the heavy industry from Bangkok is being gradually relocated there.
Fortunately, my grandmother’s place is still very much in the country. Her house is a peaceful, old-fashioned style wooden house on stilts by the Bang Pa Kong river. The garden is full of orchids, bougainvilleas, ladies’ finger nails. The air is clean and only the incessant sound of the television set disturbs the peaceful tranquility.
After breakfast, I went into town with my parents and met my friend Kik at Big C. I had not seen her for a while and was immediately struck by her appearance.
“What have you done to yourself?” I asked.
“No do anything! I more beautiful! You crazy!” she added. “And you fatter than before!”
I stared at her, trying to work it out. Was she taller? No, she was simply wearing high heels as usual. Was her face paler? No, that was the whitening cream. Her fake nose? But she’d got that done last time. Sure, her hair colour had changed but she dyed it a different colour every week. Then I got it.
“Your eyes!” I said. “You’re wearing green contacts, aren’t you!”
She nodded proudly. “Beautiful huh?”
“I didn’t realize that you needed glasses. Are you short sighted or long sighted?”
“My eyes very good. I wear contacts this colour so that I look farang…”
I went to have coffee while I waited for my parents to finish their shopping. I picked up an Off Road magazine and idly turned the pages. The prices of prestige cars in Thailand are staggeringly expensive. Especially when you consider how poor most people are.
A Porsche Cayenne turbo costs 16,750,000 baht. That’s over a quarter of a million pounds or half a million dollars, whatever way you like to look at it. A humble Volvo XC90 costs more than a Range Rover in Britain. A Range Rover in Thailand is the same price as a Bentley in the UK. In contrast, a plumber or electrician is lucky if he gets 7,000 baht per month. And yet, the Bangkok traffic jams are full of Range Rovers, Porsche Cayennes, Volvos etc.
Unlike its near neighbours, Thailand was never Communist.
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