Kat’s Window

From kites to fruit to furniture, the roadsides of Thailand are always filled with people trying to sell their vast array of wares. On a day where temperatures were soaring into 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit) in the shade, I spotted a wicker basket vendor on the side of the road and decided to stop.

Sitting in a small plastic chair in the shade of some trees was a woman named Katin. She seemed more than happy to chat, perhaps to alleviate boredom. I figured she was hoping to sell me some baskets at the end of the discussion.

Katin is 49 years old and is from Korat. So are her wicker baskets. Korat is 250 kilometres away from Bangkok in northeastern Thailand, a region infamous for its poverty. Her family still lives there. She is still married but her husband left her. She is the mother of one son (24) and one daughter (22). They both attended school for six years. Her son sells baskets in Korat. Her daughter is married, has one child, and does not work. Katin travels between Bangkok and her home town, spending 14 days in the big city and 7 days back in Korat on average. Katin works on commission. She states, “the baskets do not belong to me. If I sell 1,000 baht (25 US Dollars) of baskets, I get to keep 100 baht (2.50 US Dollars).” At 3:30 p.m. she had sold a total of 300 baht in wares earning her a meager 30 baht so far.

When I asked her how much money she can make in one day she said, “I do not know. Sometimes I make 400-700 baht (10-17.50 US Dollars) a week.” This means she makes between 57-100 baht (1.43-2.50 US Dollars) per day. She says she needs 60 baht (1.50 US Dollars) a day for food. Basically Katin works just to feed herself: 7 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Friday and 7 a.m.-6 p.m. Saturday-Sunday.

Her employer provides free transportation for Katin and her baskets both within Bangkok and when she returns to Korat. She does not have a fixed area in which she sells. From the famous tourist vending corners to the less known neighbourhoods, Katin simply hopes for the best each morning.

On the weekends, she works at the gigantic and well-known Chattachuk Market. She gets dropped off in the morning, picked up at night, and returned to her one room apartment that she shares with other basket vendors. Her boss pays the rent of 700 baht (17.50 US Dollars) per month.

The small baskets sell for 60 baht. She makes 10 baht on the sale. The large baskets sell for 150 baht, giving her a 30-baht profit. When asked why she has this job, Katin stated, “I have no schooling. I cannot get a better job. I only went to school for two years, but I can read and write.” In fact, she had brought along a newspaper, a pair of reading glasses, a chair, and a small food cooler to keep her company through her long day.

Katin does not know how much the people who make the baskets by hand earn. When asked if her boss is rich she said, “I don’t know. Business is slow. We can’t sell the baskets.”

When asked if she likes her job, Katin stated, “I don’t like my job. It is really no good. I can’t make any money.” I asked her what she would do if I gave her 5,000 baht (125 US Dollars). Katin replied without hesitation. “I would buy food. I would buy a lot of rice. I would buy some things for my granddaughter.”

When asked what she likes to do for fun, Katin stated, “I don’t know what I like to do for fun. I work all year long.” Sitting in front of Katrin was a hubcap for a Mercedes. She had found it that morning and put it in front of her chair with the rest of her things. I asked her, “what will you do with this hubcap?” and she stated, “if someone wants to buy it, I will sell it.”

I stood in the blistering heat absorbing this information for some time. I contemplated buying baskets for everyone I know. They were quite nice actually. Then I realized that buying one or even six would not benefit Katin much. Instead I paid her for the interview, much to her surprise and delight.

I said goodbye to Katin with the bleakness of her situation hanging over my head like a cloud. What about retirement? Health care? Labour laws? What happens on the days when she does not sell any baskets and can’t even afford food? The worst job I ever had in my life pales in comparison.

If you are out at a local Thai restaurant or pub and you are a man, there may be a big surprise waiting for you in the bathroom. As you stand to ‘do your thing’, another man might come up from behind and give you a nice neck massage. This can cause quite a shock if you are not expecting it, but it is part of the service. Some men report enjoying this massage, others report that they find themselves ’simply unable to go.’

Unfortunately the women’s room holds no opportunity or standing space for this event. Instead there is usually a counter stuffed with cosmetic supplies and snacks. These can be used or sometimes purchased for a nominal fee.

Thailand is service oriented to a tee. These services are something you can expect everywhere. Service is not limited to five-star hotels and gourmet restaurants. Service is all around you. You cannot escape it. If you are used to doing things by yourself, it can feel a bit bizarre.

If you are shopping at one of the nicer department stores, clerks will swarm around you. When you decide to make a purchase, your goods will be hand carried to the register and carried back to you with the receipt. If you so much as touch a pocketbook, the clerk will wipe off your invisible fingerprints and pretend to realign it on the shelf, even if you did not budge it a bit.

Driving a car presents all kinds of service opportunities. If you want to park your car, there is always a traffic guard armed with a whistle. He will tweet away and wave you into your parking space. When it is dark, he arms himself with a flashlight. You usually can stay in a parking garage between one and four hours for free if you get a stamp from where you are shopping or eating.

If your car has not been parked in a parking garage, there is usually someone there who you must pay to ‘keep an eye on it.’ The fee is usually no higher than 20 baht (50 US cents). While your car sits there, someone may come over and decide to wash your windows.

It is not always easy to leave a parking lot. Because there are too many cars and not enough parking spots, people park each other in. They leave the car in neutral and the parking brake off so that the car may be rolled out of the way when other cars wish to leave. In addition to the whistle blowing people and the window washers, the parking lot may also have someone there who will roll the cars out of your way.

Eating out is another service adventure. There is usually a large number of staff milling around. Your glass will be refilled before it hits the table. A bucket of ice cubes is always provided and the waiter or waitress will drop ice cube after ice cube into your drink using a pair of tongs. The only thing you are expected to do is order and consume.

I recently went to get my first haircut in two years. Not only did they wash my hair two times and condition it two times, they gave me an amazing head, neck, and ear massage. After that, I proceeded to the chair, got five centimetres trimmed off, and then sat patiently as they used a round brush to dry my extremely curly hair into perfectly straight locks. At the end I looked really strange. Nice service though.

When I go grocery shopping, someone will be waiting not only to give me a grocery cart, but also to push my cart out for me and unload my bags into the trunk. Doors get opened for you. Doors get shut for you. It is almost uncanny.

Some reputable massage parlours will offer you the opportunity to be hand bathed with a wet cloth or in a tub both before and after the massage. Something to remember is that you always have the right to say, “No, thanks.”

Once upon a time in New York City I ordered some food. It arrived ice cold. When I went up to the counter to complain, the waitress put her hand on her hip and shouted, “Now listen baby, you didn’t order it hot!” No service. No smile. Certainly no tip, even though technically I should have left fifteen percent of the bill.

Whether or not you chose to tip for all of the attention you get in Thailand is pretty much up to you. Porters, hairdressers, and taxi drivers expect small financial gestures. At some restaurants and hotels a ten-percent service charge is added to the bill. The real question is if the staff actually receives this money. There is no question that they deserve it.

I decided to write this article on Friday night. Here is why. I got stuck at one of Bangkok’s most ridiculous intersections. It is here that five major roads meet under an overpass. The street vendors know that this is a real hot spot. Not only do cars get stuck there for up to fifteen minutes, but the overpass protects them from the rain. I sat in the car as flower, newspaper, fruit, and peanut vendors all peered into my window hoping for a sale.

Then came the elephant. A gigantic male elephant walking down one of Bangkok’s major traffic arteries with one rider and two people accompanying him on foot. The elephant was so out of place that perhaps an alien landing would have caused me less shock. Elephants are always out of place in Bangkok, but on this particular intersection, it was even more pronounced. Then my greatest fear came true. The humans decided the elephant was going to cross this intersection when their light was not even green. Yikes.

The two people on foot simply stepped out in front of the zooming traffic, making it stop by frantically waving their hands. The elephant proceeded through the intersection. He almost got run over by a gigantic tour bus that could not have possibly braked in time. Close call. He went through the rest of the intersection in a hurry and turned right.

I watched in total fear as the elephant and the people with it walked along the very edge of this busy highway. There was a guardrail forcing them to stay on the pavement. Friday night chaos traffic went flying by missing collision after collision by centimetres. One very unhappy elephant indeed. Poor guy. They had not even bothered to attach some reflectors to the elephant’s tail or legs.

Having elephants within Bangkok city limits became illegal in February 2000. Obviously to no avail. This elephant had a pack slung over his back. He was working. His job? To sell the bananas on his back, which are there so he can eat, to tourists or locals and to make good money for his owner. The current elephant problem is all about money. Aren’t most things?
An elephant costs between 100,000 to 300,000 baht (2,500-7,500 US dollars) although old, overworked, or drug-addicted elephants can be had for much cheaper. Yes, it’s true; some unscrupulous owners feed their elephants amphetamines to make them more productive. Then it is up to the elephant not only to make enough money to feed his owner, but to pay off his purchase price, and feed him or herself as well. Not an easy task at all.

An elephant working in a field can only make about 60 baht a day (1.25 US dollars). When the seasonal ploughing job or tourist gig is finished the elephant gets to hoof it to Bangkok to work some more because an elephant hustling the streets of Bangkok can pull in 800 baht (20 US dollars) a night or more. Temptation prevails for the owner but the elephant is definitely getting the bad end of the bargain.

Elephants in Bangkok are highly symbolic of man’s clash with nature. As forests grow smaller, food supplies fall short, elephant work grows scarce, elephants wander into plantations to eat what is not “rightfully” theirs, and overworked, abused, angry elephants attack and kill people, the problem emphasizes itself. What to do with Thailand’s 2,705 domestic and 1,975 wild elephants? It leaves everyone scratching his or her head.

Elephants still are the national symbol of Thailand although the elephant is no longer displayed on its flag. There is a great love and respect for these animals but they have lost their traditional function over time. They no longer carry warriors into battle. There are more efficient forms of transport. Logging was banned in 1987. Thailand’s old friend is somehow turning into a foe at no fault of the elephant. Although I understand why the elephants come to Bangkok to work, it does not make seeing them any easier.

What to do when faced with a hungry and overworked elephant on a Bangkok street? It is only natural to want to feed it. I am guilty of doing this in the past but I have decided to stop. In my opinion, its better to go take an elephant ride with a reputable elephant camp or go see an elephant show. Somehow seeing an elephant dressed up and performing tricks seems ludicrous too, but it beats having them walk the city streets while tour busses whiz by.

There are foundations that have been set up to help the elephants get off the streets and back into the jungle. Elephants need land and money, but they are not the only ones in today’s overcrowded and often struggling world. Thailand is indeed making efforts to help the elephant but will it be enough and will it be in time? The elephant I saw Friday night certainly wants to know.

To learn more about the plight of elephants in Thailand, you may wish to look at Asian Elephant Foundation of Thailand http://www.aeft.org/ or Friends of the Asian Elephant http://www.elephant.tnet.co.th/.

Songkran, otherwise known as Thai New Year, takes place from April 13th until April 15th. Songkran is vacation time. Many residents of Bangkok return home to celebrate the most important holiday of the year with their families. This makes for amazing traffic jams. It is also an interesting visual spectacle when pickup trucks, busses, minivans, and cars filled to the brim with people and possessions slowly chug out of town. Roads become dangerously busy and all of the merriment and drinking along the way causes some unfortunate and horrible accidents each year. Bangkok becomes eerily deserted.

Songkran is becoming increasingly identified with its water throwing ceremonies, but in actuality there is a much deeper religious and personal sense that goes with it. Songkran is a time to wash away the old and bring in the new. If you are in Thailand during this time, I highly recommend that in addition to attending a water fight, you visit a local temple to watch the events that take place.

Buddha images are taken outside and given a ritual cleansing with water scented with jasmine petals. Offerings of food and gifts are made to the monks. Ritual cleansing of the monks and the temple grounds is performed. People also bring buckets of sand to the temple grounds and build miniature pagodas.

Many Songkran activities focus on paying respect to elders. They have water gently sprinkled upon their hands or necks by the younger generations as a symbol of respect and well wishing. They are also presented with gifts, and offerings at the temple are made on behalf of parents, grandparents, and ancestors. Songkran is a time for not only cleaning the temple grounds but for a major ’spring cleaning’ at home, too. Buddha images get washed. Things that are worn out get tossed away. It is also a time for beauty pageants and fairs. These are the more quiet and gentle aspects of Songkran.

Another feature of Songkran is the smearing of white powder or paste on someone’s face and neck. The white paste is a symbol of protection and some say it wards off evil. This paste smearing along with the water splashing also provides girls and boys the opportunity to flirt with each other.

The infamous free-for-all water fight also happens throughout the entire nation at this time. The water splashing ceremony is only one facet of the celebration of Songkran but is becoming the focus point of the festivities. If you do not want to get wet, best stay inside. Both the water splashing and paste smearing ceremonies have grown not only in popularity, but also in aggressiveness. Some would say it has gotten totally out of hand.

As April is the hottest month in Thailand, getting drenched can be very refreshing. Songkran is the time to avoid wearing a white T-shirt. Water will come at you from every possible direction. Don’t walk around with your mobile phone or camera out, unless you have been smart enough to put them in plastic bags. No one is spared and even policemen take a good soaking with a smile on their faces. Songkran requires everyone to be very good-natured about getting wet, regardless of whether or not they want to be. I doubt this water fight could take place in any other country without people getting incredibly miffed.

Plastic water pistols, PVC pipe with plunger action, buckets, and hoses are favoured water weapons. Roaming pickup trucks are loaded with large buckets and containers to keep participants in good supply, and sometimes a large chunk of ice is added to the ammunition for good measure. If you are driving a vehicle during this time, groups of people will stand by the road to give it a free car wash. The secret hope is that you have accidentally left your windows open.

I spent last Songkran in Chiang Mai, a town renowned for its water splashing. The town square of Chiang Mai has a nice large pond, making it the focal point for the festivities. Unfortunately one section of this water definitely was host to some dead fish.

Everyone everywhere was spraying water. Even the novice monks at a temple left unattended for a moment procured some squirt guns. I spent over eight hours in water madness. Water in big buckets. Water in small buckets. Fishy water. Ice water. Muddy water. Water from a large squirt gun. Water from a hose. Water thrown from a passing motorcycle. Water from homes, tuk-tuks, cars, trucks, and busses. Water sprayed shyly or violently. Water stored in huge vats along the street. Water. You can actually get sick of it after a while.

I returned to my hotel absolutely exhausted, sunburned, and smelling like dead fish. It was a fun time indeed but three days of water fights can leave you a bit frazzled. This year I have chosen to spend my Songkran underwater. I am going diving.