Scratching the Surface

When I first arrived one of the Teachers at NIS said something to me that has really stuck. He told me "Thailand is all about appearances, but once you scratch the surface it's a different story." As I spend more time exploring and paying attention to things that aren't always in plain sight, I am noticing this more and more.

Disparity in wealth.
Notice the photos to the right. I lived here for almost 2 weeks before I noticed this first set of basically shacks and realized people live there. I drive by it everyday and it is just across the street from a bustling shopping center and billboards everywhere that advertise luxury living. On the surface this is all I noticed, but when I looked a little closer this is what I saw. It was actually the night/ morning that my bike broke down and I had to walk 2 hours home. Who knows how long it would have taken me to notice otherwise.
The second photo I took while exploring side roads down by the river one afternoon on my motorbike. I stopped to look at a beautiful scene of mountains and trees, and upon closer inspection came across this... I don't even know what you would call it. Small shelter maybe? Clearly someone had been or was still living there.
The third photo is of a middle class house nearby, this is what you mostly see. As nice moobans (housing developments) are in plain view and advertised everywhere. Places like the first two photos are more tucked away.

For a country that has so much disparity in wealth it was shocking to me when I found out I make 8 times the average wage of Thai person. By US standards my salary in dollars is alright, but here it is very high. Granted I do work hard, but still. Most people think of Thailand as beautiful beaches, jungle, and happy, friendly accommodating people. This is all true, but there is a lot more to life here than meets the eye. Life is hard for people living in poverty anywhere in the world. It's just amazing how the appearance on the surface and what you actually find once you dig a little deeper are not a match.

My most recent favorite example is the other day I was on my way home and realized to block the view of the central prison (which I just happen to live next to) there is a HUGE sign advertising culture, food and tourist attractions. You wouldn't even know the prison was there unless you stopped to read the finely printed "Chiang Mai Central Prison" sign, or peeked behind the sign to see the barbed wire and expansive prison walls.

We are talking about a place that regulated opioids so strongly you can bearly get a pain pill to save your life, yet Crystal Meth (which comes in the form of pills, and is known as "yabba" is everywhere.

Abortion is still illegal, and the teen pregnancy rate is sky rocketing. Yet every pharmacy you walk into there are birth control pills on display and condoms at 7-11 right next to the register. I'm gonna go ahead and guess that this is due to a lack of education and a conservative society which creates social stigma. In a conservative Buddhist country these things are very taboo, yet these ideals are not keeping up with reality. This means women with unwanted pregnancy's (with the exception of cases where the mother's life is at risk, or it was a rape) are forced to go to illegal clinics where they often end up with infections or other complications and must be hospitalized.

Now do not mistake me pointing out these issues as getting on my high horse and preaching about what is wrong with this country. We all know that the US has plenty of flaws. I am merely pointing out the things I have noticed or read about and am either trying to understand, or at least be aware of.

For now it is about figuring this place out, and trying to understand a culture that is very different. Sometimes it's really difficult to be the foreigner, and at times it even gets to me. Being called "Falang" everywhere I go is something I find slightly offensive, and I am still not sure if I should or not. There's just something about not understanding anything people are saying but knowing when you hear "falang" they are talking about you. Maybe I will get used to it, or maybe just need to keep my headphones on when I am feeling particularly on display. Either way it's good for me. I think everyone should have this feeling at least once in their life. Especially westerners (and by that I mean white people). I think we would all be a lot kinder to each other if we knew what it feels like to be on the other end as a minority.

I will leave you with one example of logic here- which on the surface seems to be a lack there of, I am baffled by things like this on a daily basis. This is not to say people in Thailand, or even Asia don't have common sense. It is a different culture so who am I to judge- a better approach is to try to understand and learn. However, I did get a good laugh out of this:

One of the teachers at school told me a story about how the fire department came to talk to her class last year. They were discussing fire safety. They told the children that if their house is on fire to get down on the ground, find a plastic bag, and tie it over their head.

Yep.