Random thoughts for random people

Survival in Bangkok

"Life will defend itself no matter how small it is. Every animal is ferocious and dangerous. It may not kill you, but it will certainly injure you. It will scratch you and bite you, and you can look forward to a swollen, pus-filled infection, a high fever, and a ten-day stay in the hospital." - Yann Martel, Life of Pi

I didn't get bitten by any ferocious animal, but my faith in human nature has definitely been tainted with yesterday's experience. It was so contradictory to everything else that I have witnessed in Thailand, and although yesterday's experience may not be a true representation of Thai culture, it speaks loads of human nature, and our need to survive. I am a firm believer that most people do not lie, cheat, and steal unless it is absolutely necessary. I know it's a bit naiive, but I like to think, that for the most part, humans are good.

Yesterday, a group of exchangers and I decided to visit the Grand Palace, which is the King's residence in Bangkok. We had a difficult time finding the main entrance, and stumbled on this nice Thai man, who told us that the temple was only opened for half a day on Sundays. Supposedly, Sunday's were considered holidays for the Thai's, and that's why it was only opened for half a day. I was slightly suspicious, because I had recalled reading somewhere that the palace was opened until 3:30 Pm everyday. The friendly thai man then suggested that we visited one of the nearby temples - the Emerald Buddha. It would have been no longer than a 15 minute walk, but he suggested that we take a tuk tuk for only 40 Baht (8 baht per person). With the heat scouring at close to 40 degrees, the group and I decided that the 40 Baht trip would be worth it. The man continues to tell us about some Export centre that he wants to take us to, and that the centre offers a lot of cool gems, stones, and jewellery. Then it hit me, like a baseball to my face, I realized this man was lying. I've read the books on Thailand, and how Tuk Tuk drivers try to scam you. This is the first time that I have been so blatantly scammed. But after sitting in the Tuk Tuk for a good 2 minutes, and the driver refusing to drive us to the Emerald Buddha, unless we agreed to go to the Export centre... we got out. Mark, the human encyclopedia, decided to walk up to the nearby tourist information booth to ask for help. We were surprised to find out that the Palace was not closed, in fact we still had a good three hours to tour the landmark. That man was not so friendly after all, and the emerald Buddha was inside the Grand Palace!

I know it may not seem like a big deal. But I really dislike being scammed, and I absolutely hate being lied to. I appreciate that this man was probably doing what he needed to do to survive in Bangkok, but really to take advantage of the "farangs" is not a good way to go. For the rest of the day, I held my purse closer to me than normal for fear of pick-pocketers, which I normally wouldn't give a hoot about.

On another note, the Palace was a pretty sight of architecture. I'm not a big fan of sightseeing, but it was still a pretty spectacular sight. I'll try to score some better pictures of the architecture from my friends, and post them later. I didn't take too many, because I was lazy to take my camera out. :)

posted by knee-ohm @ 10:57 PM