Kat’s Window

Wallets, newspapers, cellular phones, books, briefcases, grocery bags and small pieces of paper very often go whizzing by held up in one hand over the head and supported by a 45-degree-angle elbow in Thailand. It’s almost always a woman holding the object and the most amazing part is that with her vision partially obscured, she still manages to cross the street without getting plowed over. It is like a magic system of radar or something. The reason for all of this? Sun phobia. The object being held up is to block their face, even if it is just a tiny part of it, from the evils of tanning.

In Thailand light skin is a sign of beauty. Even Thai men don’t like to be exposed to the sun much. If you think back in Western culture, there was a time when women wouldn’t go anywhere without an umbrella and gloves on. Why? Sun phobia. Having dark skin meant, and still means to some, that you have the misfortune of possessing a crappy job that requires manual labour in those wicked sunbeams. This outdoor job also indicates a low income. Having a nice pale face in Thailand is a symbol of social status and attractiveness. This is the reason many people walk around all bundled up in the sweltering sun.

If I were not aware of Thai sun phobia, I might just think that I’m surrounded by stick-up artists half of the time. I once saw a group of people riding jet skis on the Chao Phraya River. Everyone was wearing a ski mask. It looked like something straight out of a James Bond movie. Masked bandits sit in the back of pickup trucks and ski-mask-wearing gardeners rake leaves. Garbage collectors sit high up on their trucks fully covered except for the necessary eyeholes. It must be incredibly hot under there. But you know what they say: beauty has its price.

One need only go look in a drug store or department store to see what I am talking about. Whitening creams, whitening agents, whitening deodorant and whitening soap pack the shelves. There are a lot of cosmetic companies out their making a fat buck of this desire for paleness, that’s for sure. Some of the billboard advertisements in Bangkok show Thais that are so extremely pale I do a double take thinking it’s a fair skinned foreigner who has never seen the light of day in the advertisement. In my opinion, the Thai women who do manage to achieve that extremely pale look they long for end up looking sickly and strange.

Any kind of dark skin blotch is bad news. There are almost as many laser surgery businesses as there are dentists. Any mole or dark fleck is destined to go. I have a beauty mark on my left cheek. No problem until I moved here. Thai people have a different definition of being polite, so pointing to me and saying “Fat!” or pointing to my beauty mark and saying, “Ugly!” is just fine in their book. Beauty mark to ugly mark, just like that!

Despite these major cosmetic flaws on my part, I have amazingly pale skin. Imagine the distress I cause when I choose to sit in the sun and bake myself to a nice dark brown! Despite warnings about skin cancer, it is still hip to be tan in the West. Thai people fight off sunbeams with all their might while tourists bask in it and usually end up catching their return flights with nice crispy red skin. This is certainly bewildering to the Thais. Why would someone wish to return after a nice vacation looking like a poor manual labourer?

I once went on an elephant and rafting trip on the border of Burma. It was one of the brightest and hottest days of the year, at least 40 degrees Celsius. This very gentle looking young man had brought his fashionable girlfriend with him. Everyone rode on the elephants with delight while she hid under a canopy of shirts. He steered the bamboo raft all by himself while she tucked herself under a pile of clothing in a vampire-like fear of the light. Her gloved hand clutched a bottle of 45-protection sunscreen at all times.

My friends and I observed this whole show for the entire day. She was miserable. The consensus among our group? That boyfriend of hers was going to be in even bigger trouble when they got home. Probably he would not even be her boyfriend anymore.

Different strokes for different folks. Despite all of the free advice I have received on getting that ugly beauty mark removed, it’s still there. While I cook in the sun others, hide in the shade. While I wash my hands in the bathroom, a row of Thai women stand armed with talcum powder and puff it all over their face. If it puts more strut in their step, why not?

Looking for luck in Thailand can consist of asking a monk for an auspicious date to open a business, going to a fortuneteller, walking under the stomach of an elephant, wearing a religious amulet around your neck, getting a tattoo, or making a wish at a religious shrine. Buying a lottery ticket or placing a bet on a feisty rooster is another alternative.

As most Thais are Buddhist, personal destinies are seen as something that have been earned in one’s past life, but it never hurts to try to improve your current life (and cash flow). Animism plays a big role in the belief that there are a host of ghosts and gods waiting to assist one on the material plane and that one can indeed influence their own future.

When my Thai girlfriend knows that I am heading off to a particularly lucky temple or shrine, she always asks me to discover some lucky numbers for her. I once sat rubbing a tree coated in candle wax with my thumb for ten minutes trying to help her out and also to satisfy my own curiosity. Maybe I saw the number four pop up; you just can’t be sure about that stuff.

After a young girl made a wish to win the lottery at the Erawan Elephant Museum (under construction) on Suhkumvit Road and won the next day, it made the local papers. Now on the two days before the national lottery drawing every month (the 1st and 16th) the area is jam packed with people hoping for that extra bit of luck. Offerings of food, flowers, and incense are made to this gigantic three-headed elephant, which stands at a whopping 50 metres. On non-lottery days, the area is more or less deserted.

The Thai military uses a lottery to determine the men who will serve at the age of 18. A black ticket means you are home free, while a red ticket means you should get ready to march for the next two years. I believe this is a cause for many a young man to go somewhere special and hope for a black ticket with all his might.

Most forms of gambling are illegal in Thailand but that does not seem to deter those looking for a fast cash fix (or loss!) “According to (The Thai Farmers Research Centre), 70 percent of Thai adults gamble regularly, especially on the underground lottery. The gambling business also generates about 360 billion baht a year, amounting to about one-third of the national budget.” (Bangkok Post, June 17, 2000)

State lottery tickets can be found for sale at every possible street corner. A ticket costs 90 baht (2.25 US Dollars) and the seller makes 10 baht profit from each sale. These vendors are very often blind people trying to make a living. Since I have lived in Thailand, the license plate numbers on my car have won three times. I am always amazed at the number of people who point this out to me! Should I start playing that number?

Besides the state lottery, it is also legal to bet on the horses. There is also a thriving illegal underground lottery, which is very common to a betting pool a group of friends might form.

Pool halls can provide lucrative income to a talented player. Cockfights draw big crowds and card games can go on all night, or at least until the police come. Once while looking for a hotel room up country, the owner explained to us that it would be a great place to stay because the police never stopped by to see if there was an illegal card game happening.

There are countless advertisements reminding the population that most forms of gambling are illegal, for all it is worth. Efforts are being made to educate people about the dangers of gambling and sometimes there are violent disputes over unpaid gambling debts. There are raids on illegal casinos and other betting venues. There are also talks of making gambling legal. I believe gambling is just part of human nature. I once had a short affair with ’scratch tickets’ in America and have also attended more than a few rounds of Bingo.

In my opinion, the Thai sense of gambling is best represented in the ladies’ room. If all of the stalls are full, people do not wait their turn in an organized line and proceed in the order that they arrived in as the stalls empty out. Instead each woman chooses a door to wait in front off upon entering the bathroom. Maybe it is a lucky door and the occupant comes out in a jiffy. Or maybe you stand hopping on one foot for a long time while the person inside appears to be reading a novel. It all depends on how lucky you are.

I met Nattawud Daoruang via email about three months ago (his friends call him Gor). This 15-year-old Thai student asked me to check out his website http://www.thailandlife.com. The more time I spent on his site, the more awestruck I became. Over 300 pages and 800 pictures give a comprehensive, honest, and professional overview of this teenager’s life and culture.

Topics include fast food, teen pregnancy, a virtual tour of a Thai city, a Thai wedding, Nattawud becoming a novice monk, plus a secret diary, to name but a few. Put simply, his website rocks! Before reading on, I urge you to take a moment to see for yourself what Nattawud has accomplished.

Nattawud and I decided to meet up so that we could learn more about each other by swapping interviews. Waiting for me was a slightly shy and very earnest young man.

His website started in 1997 with a humble three page beginning. The goal of his website is: “To show my life in Thailand and that it is not different from other teenagers’ lives. To let people know that we all don’t live in the jungle, or ride elephants to school, and that we have TV. I got the idea for it during summer vacation. My friend and I were bored. We started to play on the computer. I designed my own homepage.”

He gets his inspiration from…”all of the email I receive and the reporters that visit me.” I am definitely not the first person to have their eyebrows raised by Nattawud’s abilities and personality.

According to Nattawud, the biggest problem facing Thai teenagers is boyfriend-girlfriend issues. He says that his generation “…has more freedom and more technology. In the past girls and boys could not go out together.” His secret diary has many insights into dating rituals although it is in fact a secret to most. He does not want his parents or teachers to read it. The fact that it is written in English does help keep it confidential in a way, and his open discussions on dating have received criticism. When questioned about all the tourists that visit his country he stated, “Most of them do not know about Thailand. They think only of jungle. Then they go back home saying Thailand is great and beautiful. I feel strange when I see backpackers. We don’t have backpackers in our own country. Sometimes they are acting the wrong way. They should wear more polite clothing.”

When asked his opinion on ‘Kat’s Window on Thailand,’ he stated, “It is interesting. I read about the bed. I think it is a good story because it can teach other foreigners to be calm.”

The majority of his Internet traffic comes from America. When he hears the word ‘America’, Nattawud thinks of: “Freedom. American teenagers can do what they want. And snow. I would like to become an exchange student there. I am interested in western cultures but they all seem the same to me for now.”

Nattawud hopes to be a diplomat or an ambassador someday. When asked if corruption and vote buying within the Thai government was O.K. he said, “Of course not!” His solution to the problem would be for all people to take the money from the candidates but not vote for them. “I think if the government cannot fix its own problems, then it can not fix the problems of the people.”

When asked whom he admires the most, Nattawud stated, “Richard. Without him I could not do it.” Richard is the head of the computer department at the private Sriwittayapaknam School (http://www.sriwittayapaknam.ac.th/), which Nattawud formerly attended. This school has the largest Internet presence in Thailand and hosts 29 dot com websites.

The future seems intensely bright for this clever young man. Despite his talents, at the end of the day he is just an average teenager like the rest of his friends. He enjoys watching football and his favourite team is England’s Liverpool, not Manchester United like most Thai football fans.

As written on his homepage: “I want you to know about the real Thailand. This project is never-ending. I will continue to update over the next 10, 20, 30 years or so. Keep coming back as in the future you will be able to see my graduation from school, first day at work, my marriage, birth of my children, their first day at school…” Welcome to the new wired generation of Thailand!

I know I will continue checking in on Nattawud. Being only one of 290,183 visitors to his website, I am certain not to be the only one waiting to see what the future holds for this talented young man. When I left him at 6 p.m. he planned to stay and work on thailandlife.com and his other seven websites for four of five hours.

Prostitution is illegal and does not officially exist in Thailand but we all know it is out there. In Thailand these establishments take on interesting second identities. Thousands of coffee shops, karaoke bars, massage parlours, disco halls, and clubs offer much more than a song, a dance, or a drink. This can make figuring out which door to enter quite a difficult task at times. I was once in a proper massage parlour when a group of men came in asking how much a room and a woman would cost. How embarrassing, especially for them!

I have come to accept this side of Thailand as part of its landscape. It is what it is. Now that I am aware of all of the sexual activity happening in Thailand, I think the whole country should be bouncing up and down.

Don’t get me wrong, not everyone is going around doing it. But if you look at the basic law of supply and demand, there are enormous numbers of businesses providing this service and well, they are not going out of business. There are also numerous hotels that provide hourly rates. I once stayed at a hotel that provided hourly rooms in the front and daily rooms above the office. Returning to my room after a nice stroll, I was propositioned by a man. Now there’s a first!

Contrary to popular belief, Thailand’s recreational sex industry does not only exist for the tourists who come to Thailand looking for ‘a good time.’ Patpong, Soi Cowboy, Nana, Phuket, and Pattaya are some of the areas and towns that cater to this tourist industry. These are really just drops in the bucket. The rest of the country is chock full of businesses serving domestic clients. Recreational sex is a popular pastime in Thailand and so is having more than one wife. (See: http://www.bangkokpost.com/050201/050201_News03.html)

I have observed some of these establishments both intentionally and unintentionally, both within Bangkok and out in the countryside. The businesses that cater to tourists are definitely different from the local variety.

In the tourist spots the people for hire are usually much more aggressive and expensive. The entertainment provided usually consists of naked or almost-naked dancers and a variety of ‘props.’ It is much more of a ‘let’s just get down to business. I would like to order person number 17′ kind of atmosphere (Yes, the people for hire often wear numbers). There are fewer mating rituals involved and it is pretty much like you could imagine.

The venues for locals focus more on entertainment. Upon first arriving one could think that they have accidentally turned up at a bad Las Vegas nightclub. Karaoke machines, live bands, and poorly-synchronized dance routines with tacky matching outfits are common. It is much more possible to hang out at these venues without being harassed or grabbed.

At the local venues, plastic flower garlands can be purchased by the suitors and placed around the neck of the man or woman whom they are interested in. In some places this even allows the suitor to join in a dance on stage. When the person for hire gets enough garlands and also decides that he or she is interested, they go and join their suitor’s table. You can figure out the rest for yourself.

Prostitution is something you cannot escape. Some of Bangkok’s finest hotel lobbies have guests bringing their nightly companions through the doors. Expatriate bars have a side order of ‘working girls’ available. Thais who have a few extra bucks in their pockets know where to find what they may be looking for. Heterosexual, homosexual, transvestite, transgender, tall, short, thin, or heavy; something to suit everyone’s taste and wallet is available.

Prostitution is one of the world’s oldest professions. Although Thailand receives large amounts of criticism regarding this issue (and also large amounts of praise from those enjoying themselves within its circles), I have never been to a country where prostitution did not exist. Even in postcard Switzerland, red lights in windows really do mean something.

It can make it difficult for foreigners to visit Thailand and not be viewed as sex tourists. Non-sex tourists report receiving suspicious and knowing looks on the airplane and return home to get needled about their presumed adventures. I choose to believe that the majority of people still visit Thailand for its amazing non-sexual attractions.

Those that are here to enjoy the other side of the coin should remember that AIDS also exists in Thailand. It is also a good idea to bring your own condoms because they are very often improperly transported and stored in the blistering heat, rendering them ineffective.

Right or wrong, good or bad, what door you choose to open is up to you. Just remember that the words karaoke, massage or disco may mean more than you think. Having a good time in these places is possible without buying the goods. I just spent Friday night in a Laotian ‘disco’ and had a blast! Sometimes curiosity does get the best of this Kat.