This is a section which I am posting now, even though I will probably be adding to it over time.
In so many ways Thailand reminds me of how life was in the UK 50 years ago. This is not surprising as the modernisation of Thailand has only been under way for the last 30 years, so they are somewhat behind the west.
The first thing I noticed here was in the cinemas. Before a film starts everybody stands for the national anthem. This was the practice in the UK until I do not know when but certainly it was normal practice in the 50's.
HEALTH AND SAFETY
If a Health and Safety Officer came from the UK, they would close down Thailand.
The Thai people do not seem to be aware of catalytic converters as many of the vehicles spew out carbon monoxide into the faces of motor cyclists and pedestrians nearby. Just like the UK in the 1950's
So many Thai people do not wear crash helmets when on their cycles or motor bikes and often drive recklessly and without regard to the safety of other road users. Drink driving is rife here, so it is a good idea to avoid the roads after midnight. Similar to the UK in the 50's. The number of people killed on the roads is very high. A friend who is a journalist on City Life (a local English magazine) did an article about the safety of various forms of travel and the Chiang Mai authorities would not tell him how many were killed on the roads every year.
I visit a gym 2/3 times a week and the equipment is old and inefficient. The weights are loose and look in danger of falling apart. Loose wiring trails across the floor, plus the carpet is very threadbare and loose in certain places so running the risk of accidents. There are no attendants available either in the gym or in the swimming pool.
Watching building work is an education. The brickies carry full hods up normal ladders that have not been properly secured and usually there is no scaffolding or wearing of safety helmets. The workers scramble across roofs and walls without any harnesses, safety nets or anything else to prevent them from falling. Their safety shoes are often nothing more than threadbare trainers. The welders do not wear those large helmet things to protect face and eyes (not sure of it's proper name) they usually just wear sun glasses - scary. I've watched electricians just grabbing bare wires without any apparent fear of the dangers. I have never been involved in the UK building industry but my guess is that protective legislation was in its infancy in the 1950's.
Every November there is a major festival called Loi Krathong and I had the pleasure of witnessing the 2008 event. There are hundreds of spectacular floats that take take to the main streets of the city. It is slow going because many of the floats are tall and guys with long poles have to walk in front and lift electric cabling that hangs across the streets to enable the floats to pass underneath. I am no electrician but the dangers are obvious - fires and knocking out whole community's electric supply. My mouth dropped open in sheer horror the first time I saw the cables being lifted.
A NATION OF SHOPKEEPERS
I well remember when the UK was a nation of small shopkeepers. Every week the family would visit busy streets and call at the grocers, greengrocer, butcher, fishmonger, bakers, hardware store, newsagents, chemist and any other store that supplied items for the weekly shop. My mother would call into Mr Ives grocery store in Baker Street, Enfield to order all the tins, packets, jars etc. needed to stock up the family larder. Mr Ives himself would deliver the items in a cardboard box on his way home the following Friday evening. The only similarity I can remember to the Supermarkets of today was the Co-op. I was a delivery boy for one and had to ride a trade bike overloaded with boxes of groceries from the Co-op in Lancaster Road up several steep streets, Morley Hill and Browning Road coming to mind. Had several spills and accidents when attempting to laden the bike with too much weight. I also remember how thriving the local markets were, selling all sorts of foods, clothes and household goods. Every market stall was filled with traders selling their wares and the place was buzzing. Those days are gone now, as is Mr Ives and his shop, to be replaced by faceless, finance sucking supermarkets who do very little to contribute to the community. All the small shops are now trendy bars/restaurants, building society's, estate agents or fast food outlets and the markets are bare with just a handful of traders attempting to eke out a living. This transition, for me, has resulted in the character of our community's disappearing
Thailand reminds so much of the UK, and especially my home town of Enfield, from the 1950's. They are a nation of shopkeepers. Every street has shops, usually family run, selling a variety of goods, plus eating establishments and drinking venues, usually for the Thai men. It seems easy and possibly unregulated for anyone to set up a stall, lay out tables and chairs and cook simple food. Usually rice based with vegetables, meat and sea food. The various markets in Chiang Mai and surrounding towns are heaving with traders and buyers and it is an event for many local families to visit these markets. Again like the UK in the 50's. Unfortunately, supermarkets are gaining a foothold in the community, led by Tesco's, so probably if one could visit Chiang Mai again in 50 years time, they will not be a nation of shopkeepers any more. How I wish we Brits could pass on the wisdom of our experiences from the UK.
PATRIARCHAL SOCIETY
In the 1950's emancipation for women was in its infancy as a strong movement and only a glimmer in the eye of Germaine Greer. Then, it was the role of women in the West to look after their man, look pretty, keep a good home, cook and bring up the kids. Men were the hunter gatherers and went out to work, brought home their wages, gave the wife a portion and spent the rest in the pub and at a football match on a Saturday afternoon. Things changed drastically during the decade of the 1960's and quite rightly in my humble opinion. However, here in Thailand it is very much like the West of the 1950's. The girls dress very pretty and feminine and have not yet learnt the ways of dressing down. They are taught to look after their man, be at his every behest, beck and call, be good homemakers and mothers. They are educated that having a husband and home should be the height of their ambitions and desires. I met a family in central Thailand recently who says that the girls in a family are expected to wash up and do chores around the house from a very early age. "That's good," I said, "But what about the boys." I received some puzzled looks and was told that boys are not expected to do any chores. As stated in previous posts the men, when not working are drinking, whoring and smoking away the household income. I've heard stories of men beating their wives or just walking out of the house because the children are crying. Abuse of women by the men is rife and very similar to that in the UK in past decades, check out Sons and Lovers by D. H. Lawrence. However, let me finally say that the green shoots of womens' emancipation for Thais is appearing and that has probably been affected by Thai women learning and experiencing how western women live.
DIET
I well remember taking the ration book down to the corner shop for a bag of sugar or flour in the early 1950's. In those days it has been reported that people's diet in the UK were healthier, full of fresh foods and fruits. That changed in the 1950's when food processing company's bombarded us with all types of foods supplied in packets, tins and bottles for the consumer to just heat and eat. These foods were the way forward, cheaper, easier to cook and very healthy containing all the necessary vitamins, minerals and nutrients required for a healthy existence - corned beef, fray bentos steak pies and spam come to mind. In the 1950's, even though food in tins, jars, etc had been around a long time the food processing marketing and advertising people did a thorough job of persuasion on the consumer and people's diets changed. Through scientific and various experts' information, we now know different and diets are becoming healthier. Thailand however, is going through an amazing transformation in their diets very similar to the 1950's in the UK. The reminder for me of food processing is the volume of salt, sugar and other nasty chemicals contained in the processed food available here. People love smothering everything with salt and sugar with the food processing company's throwing in other unsavoury chemicals, laboratory produced additives, dyes, preservatives etc. I saw some fresh strawberries recently that were very inviting but I discovered to my horror they were covered in salt and sugar - horrible. At present the food processing revolution is well under way and I wonder how long it will be before the people realise that fresh foods are better. It took us 30-40 years. In the UK, processed food diets became popular with the advance of the middle classes after world war 2 on the back of the introduction of the social services. As Thailand does not have any social services and many millions are very poor, maybe the processed food revolution will not be as thorough as in the UK. Also, lets hope westerners can influence the Thais to rescind their eating habits quicker than we did in the west.
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