local news from Bangkok

[john@xxxxxxxxxx]

Dear folks,

Just to let you know what I am doing here in Bangkok (in Thai we say "krung
thep", which translates loosely as "city of angels", like in Los Angeles, USA.
Actually, there are millions of angels in this city, but nobody knows it. They
are all the bar girls and motorcyle taxi boys, who in an impossible physical
situation, and for pennies, provide cheerful, friendly and safe service for all
the burned out locals and visitors who are caught up in the insane money-and-car
making machine we call "modern civilization", slaves who have sold their souls
to the devil, whoever he may be...), as I occassionally join you on the 
internet for our communications.

Well, I just got fired from my last job, teaching business math at Rangsit
University (the "s" in Rangsit has a soft pronunciation, almost like "sh")
for speaking out a little to clearly to the administrative staff on the purpose
of higher education. Never mind, I am living on cash advances from my credit
card, and support a Burmese refugee family, as well as lots of others at the
border in Kanchanaburi Province.

Last month a 3 year old Thai child was killed by a car (that's pronounced "rot"
in Thai), by a driver who had nothing but money on his mind (that's pronounced
"gun" in Thai), so I decided to build a little shrine in the middle of the
sub-soi where I live. (Sub-soi means small lane, a branch of the soi, called
Suan Luang, which means "King's Garden" lane, although it's hardly a garden
these days, just full of plastic trash and poor people trying to make a living
selling food and other stuff along the street, which is full of -- you guessed
it -- "rot" and "gun", as well as smoke, dust and noise).

Anyway, as I am walking back from the hardware shop, my hands full of hammer,
chisel, and bags of cement, what should appear behind me but a Pepsi truck, two
or three of them, in fact, since Pepsi has a bottling plant on another sub-soi
off of Suan Luang, which people here call "soi Pepsi". Well, I thought, why not
just make a little statement against Pepsi's support of the hated SLORC regime
in Rangoon by bringing these fume-spewing mechanical elephants to heel. So I
showed them my tools and told them to slow down and follow behind me.

They actually had no choice, other than to run me down, because the soi is too
narrow to pass with the opposite side jammed with -- right again -- rot 'n' guns
coming the other way. The followed me at a crawl for about half a kilometer,
until finally a couple of poor ignorant goons jumped out of the cab of one of
the trucks, armed with tools similar to mine, intent on bashing this crazy
foreigner who was disturbing life for their bosses.

I did manage to escape with only a few scratches, but I think I made at least a
small point. I certainly felt good when I got home. I guess the point is that if
I am really going to make a stand here, I'll have to get better organised, and
gather people around me who understand and feel the same way. Then we have a
chance of getting some media attention.

Last week I had the bright idea of spending a day travelling around Bangkok
without any shoes. I figured that by going barefoot, I could do two things: the
first was to humble myself, as I tend to get carried away with the sanctity of
my mission here on planet earth, and forget that I am just another human idiot
like all the rest. The second reason was to really get in touch with the earth
and feel her beneath my feet, sense what she is really going through in this
little corner of the panet.

You can imagine what happened. I drew a lot of attention, more than the usual I
get by being a "farang" (loosely translated as "white boy") here in the brown,
tan and black lands of the orient (or the "south", as World Bank globalists are
fond of saying, as opposed to the north -- i.e., Europe, US, and Japan). My feet
have not been the same since, I can hardly put on my shoes these days.

Well, I'm not complaining. I like it here. It's as good or as bad as anywhere
else, and at least it's different. Thai people are actually great, they have the
warmest and freeest hearts of any people I know. A little short on brains,
perhaps, but then, who's perfect? It's summer all year round, and there is a
personal freedom accorded you here that is unmatched in societies like the US
which pride themselves on being free. I do what I like, and as long as I am
friendly and don't hurt anyone, I get by. It's nice.

Anyone is welcome to come over and visit. I intend to paint "Hotel California"
on the side of my apartment house, in honor of the song by the Eagles, which
everyone seems to play here. Food is great, available everywhere, and you can
order exactly what you want to eat from the friendly people who are happy to
serve you (when they get around to it in their own good time, that is).

See you here some time.

lOVE, JOHN