After thoughts from Bangkok

I felt I had more to talk about this trip esp my thoughts and directions in life ... after writing so much about my daily itenaries. It bores ppl sometimes...

This has been a great trip for me..the best of all my trips to bbk to be exact. This is my 4th trip within 2 years. the first few has always been a rush ..3 days at the most. It always rushing to shop, eat and party away in clubs and no time to chill and think about life. This time, I stayed for 6 days and in a guest house right in khao San. Very laid back but it suits me.. theres plenty of cheap side cafes to chill and ppl watch. I ahd the time to observe the life of the local thais.

Singaporeans are a pampered bunch , I am no exception..we want comfort and are often arrogant when we are overseas....sonetimes insensitive to others feelings. We have the tendencies to talk big ..might be due to our country achievement..everything must be number 1. I seen some thais who are unhappy about us..esp the way we bargain over prices..shows how uncouth we can be. We can be over-demanding in service too.

After a few trips, I have grown accustom to the way how thai ppl operates... they are pretty much friendly ppl in general...courteous and lead a simple lifestyle. Things there are already cheap compared to Sing and if I can get further discounts of 30 - 40% , i 'll be happy. No point wasting breath in hardcore bargaining down to the minimal as I find it very tiring and mental boggling. I am for a good time not here to haggle over prices. These ppl had to make some profits too.

In between my shopping trips, I had time to sit down and chill, pondering over certain issues which I faced at this point of my life. I like the local thai life..its much laid back, simple...the environment is a hybrid of new and old culture. Ppl still live in villages/shop houses. like the 70s.
Going to work in modern buildings and malls....see the clash? Its cool after a hard days work, you can return to a home where the feeling is not concrete. You are facing 4 walls and your neighbours are just a call away. My friend gary talked about his wife home in a village whereby if you just shout , ppl all over will hear ya..no need to make a phone call. There's no KTV or night entertainment. the village will come alive at night if someone is cooking a feast. Your neightbours will just drop by and gather at your house to eat. Very warm feeling..no walls bet ppl. if you happen to have a drink outside your house, neighbours will come around with tehir beer bottles and chat thru' out the night. That's the Kampung spirit. and integrity. Sadly, in sing , we lost that. ...its a cold feeling and it eats my spirit away.

The thais in general are easily satisfied.. as long they can earn a living and have enough to provide the basic necessities for the family, they are happy. ..at least that's how i see it where I stay. Every time I visit bbk, I see familiar faces doing the same stuffs.. the satay man still selling his delicious chicken , beef and pork satays, same lady peddling accesorries by the street, old man selling books on his push carts is still there... some are doing a roaring business and I ask tehm why won't they open up a shop? Common ans will be they are just happy to get thru their lives. No ambitions to make it big as overheads are high. That's what i like about them... simple and true. of course there are exceptions, I find that local thai chinese are more ambitious and business like... fair enough..guess tis has been our traits for thousands of years..

I can picture myself, working in bbk, settling down with a cute thai wife..the gals on the streets there are quite fair skin and docile looking. The japs and koreans will have a tough competition. Their feature are in general pleasing to the eyes. Most important of all, they are caring and sensitive to man 's feeling. I am a bit chauvanistic here but which guy don't. The thai gals put man b4 them... and the local thai guys are a bit disappointing..in general, gary says they are more lazy and tend to bum around compared to the gals. The gals can work from morning till night without a complain.

I know of a few foreigners who left everything back home and came settle down in Thailand. They took the risk, and some did quite well. Some got enough to live by. But I see the happy faces I know they have found true happiness. They got wife and kids too. I wonder if I have the courage to do so...probably not now..a few years down the road when I am more mellow and financially stable...

When I came back to Sing, I don't feel really happy..its like I don't belong to here...is this normal? People always says the moon in foreign land is always seems rounder. We tend to compare to our own country when we travel..its unfair but we judge..I am still searching for my identity. Hopefully 2006 is a good year to start with...