18 October
Today I am back in Bangkok. I went to MBK to buy some shirts for work. I met up with my cousin Gook and we browsed the shops together. The shops were very farang friendly with lots of signs up in English. One notice proclaimed:
No Refund
No Return
No Change
No Discount

I wanted to photograph the sign to put in on my blog but when I took my camera out, I was told “No photo!”

We ate dinner at Fifth Avenue in MBK. This is an excellent place to eat. The brochure advertises it a place to “Savour the Craving Satisfaction” but in reality, it’s a souped up food court cum International restaurant. There are uniformed waiter types and a man playing classical guitar. There’s a huge variety of food from all over the world to choose from. Each stall has sample dishes on display, you chose and then they cooked it up for you then and there.

While we ate, Gook told me about Kik in Chachoengsao. The reason why Kik tries so hard to look like a farang (dyed blonde hair, fake nose, whitening powder, green contacts etc.) is because she wants to attract Thai men – not farang men. Apparently, Thais like the farang look, so Thai girls must look like farangs in order to attract them. If a Thai girl wants a farang boyfriend, then she must have dark skin, small cute nose, slim figure etc.

It is, I reflected, a strange world that we live in….