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decreaseThis states that the prosperity of a Thai village is in direct proportion to the amount of energy expended on unproductive activities.
I was walking the dog this morning and as we approached the sport’s ground I noted an old man on a new bicycle riding laps. Very slow laps but laps. It wasn’t the first time I’ve seen people exercising, some of the local police force jog every morning, well they’ve got to do something with their day. A plump middle aged man in a new tracksuit top, shorts and Nikes walks down the main road on weekends. He carries a metre of plastic pipe to discourage the village dogs who frown upon unproductive activities in their sphere of influence.
Something that really astounded me one night was when four middle aged ladies in identical work out clothing walked past my watering hole at an athletic pace. Seeing my interest the waiter said “Exercise group” and pointed to the new sports field.
I mean this is middle class stuff, the children run when they play and commuters on racing bikes head for Chiang Rai in colourful tights with their office clothes in small back packs.
Could it be claimed that the area is losing it’s character? Do children have to sit in the dust, too tired to play, for that authentic Thai atmosphere? Poverty is strange in this region, starvation is rarely a factor in normal years. In Vientiane I saw street kids waiting for the food stalls to close so they could get the leftovers. Even if they asked for food during trading hours there was usually something for them along with a scolding for being impatient. Money obtained from begging was usually spent on luxury items like sweets and ice creams or the small plastic bags of pop and ice that are so typically Asian. They use paper cups in the village now, another sign of westernization.
An enthusiastic beggar approached me in Chiang Rai yesterday, “Hello, hello” he said, “Thank you, thank you” His thanks were wasted, I don’t give to physically intact adult beggars. This is extremely unusual for Chiang Rai although I see a hills tribe woman with a child occasionally. I made the mistake of giving one twenty baht a couple of years ago and word got back to my Thai wife. (My God, what if I HAD slipped into that massage place?) She berated me soundly, telling me that these people were lay-abouts. There was plenty of work at a hundred baht a day for men and women alike in the province, she said, and giving them money only encourages idleness. She doesn’t like Lao, Burmese or people from Isaan either.
Begging is a more serious business elsewhere. In Indonesia and the Philippines you’re looking at real desperation. A middle aged woman offered herself to me for twenty pesos, about fifteen baht, in Cebu City.
Is it Buddhism that’s the difference? Personally I think so, Christians and Muslims tend to take care of their own first while a Buddhist will usually share willingly. Sure there are Saints in all religions but they’re getting few and far between these days.
Having put this theory forward I’m sure that amateur sociologists will come out of the wood work every where. Guys from Isaan will point to children flocking to mauy thai schools. People, this isn’t recreation it’s a career path. They’ll come back from Bangkok in twenty years mumbling and punching people every time a bell rings. Some will end up boxing in tourist bars hoping that the Farang opponent isn’t too good so when he takes his dive in the final round it won’t hurt too much.
Even when they work people here seem to enjoy themselves. Last rice harvest I went out with my camera and they posed and preened when their photos were taken. My house is on the boundary of the fields and I hear them laughing and joking all day long.
I suspect that little good will come of this, tourists like to go home with tales of people starving in the streets.
© Julian. All rights reserved by the author.
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