Thailand - Miscellany [and on being serviced by two Thai ladyboys.]

Random thoughts and observations on the Thailand trip.

The King worship is just creepy. You can see his majesty's visage on the side of the building below. Just one of many places he'll be staring down at you in Bangkok.

Before movies you have to stand for national anthem. All while watching Hallmark like video montages proclaiming "We love the King!" I'm sorry, I don't care what you chalk up to cultural differences, that kind of cult of personality and enforced patriotism nonsense is just absurd and creepy.

And to prove I'm an equal opportunity hater, I have equal disregard and disdain for such stupidity as the national anthem in the USA before sporting events.

Here's a tip - free of charge, you're welcome - neither your patriotism, country, or whatever you think your country means has a damn thing to do with scoring a touchdown, hitting a homerun or whatever else you do in a game. Nor does, - and here's another digression - your invisible sky daddy care about the score of your sporting event. Or, for that matter, your sex life, dietary choices or your Oscar. Please STFU.

And I carry equal disdain for the British and American public's ongoing interest and/or deification of Princess Diana.

Enforced, mandatory patriotism and/or religious worship is about as meaningless and inauthentic as you can get. The province of insecure worshipers and small minded authoritarians. It'd be ridiculous if only it wasn't the source of so much murder and death throughout history.

Okay, enough stupid soapboxing... on to...

Ladyboys! Kathoeys! Yes, Virginia, they are all over Thailand. Saw a bunch on the trains, subways, etc.

I, myself, was serviced by two of them.

One was a waitress/waiter [the approved nonmenclature escapes me] at a restaurant. The other gave me one of my Thai massages. Which you might consider to be slightly disconcerting, what with my Catholic-raised heteronormative upbringing, but honestly, all it really meant was "stronger hands = better massage."

Oh, wait... by "serviced" did you think I meant something else? Oh my. Some people.

No pics though. I thought that woulda been rude.

Oh, and in case there's any confusion - Kathoey - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia:

"The term kathoey or katoey (Thai: กะเทย, IPA: [kaʔtʰɤːj]) generally refers to a male-to-female transgender person or an effeminate gay male in Thailand... It is most often rendered as ladyboy in English conversation with Thais...

The term can refer to males who exhibit varying degrees of femininity — many kathoeys dress as women and undergo feminising medical procedures such as hormone replacement therapy, breast implants, genital reassignment surgery, or Adam's apple reductions. Others may wear makeup and use feminine pronouns, but dress as men, and are closer to the western category of effeminate gay man than transgender.

...Kathoeys are more visible and more accepted in Thai culture than transgender or transsexuals are in Western countries or the Indian subcontinent. Several popular Thai models, singers and movie stars are kathoeys, and Thai newspapers often print photos of the winners of female and kathoey beauty contests side by side. The phenomenon is not restricted to urban areas; there are kathoeys in most villages, and kathoey beauty contests are commonly held as part of local fairs."

Sandy's monk obsession. She very much wanted pictures of monks, and I don't quite understand why.




I will cop to taking this picture though.

Thailand certainly did activate my white liberal guilt circuit though. Lots of beggars and panhandlers. Some just tugged at the heartstrings. Moms begging with their babies. Really young children begging. People missing hands, legs, feet. Burn victims. I'm a pretty soft touch for people who clearly have caught a rough break in life. Whenever I had change I'd try to drop the coins in peoples cups, but I can still picture exactly which people I wanted to give to when I didn't have any change on me. Regret is obviously useless, but, well... you know.

Another random thought... Jr and I used to joke - Suuuuure we'd go to Thailand - once our wives divorced us, given Thailand's shall-we-say 'reputation' of debauchery and sex tourism. And no, as a married dude on a three day jaunt with the wife I certainly wasn't exposed to the underbelly or nightlife, but honestly, it didn't strike me as very different as any other place I've lived. Of course, you might chalk that up to 4 years in Hawaii and going on 5 in Japan. Though I will say, just from walking around observation, Thailand does rank up there with both Hawaii and Japan in the "apparent pretty girls per capita" ranking. Which does, to the best of my recollection, beat the hell out of the mainland US.

Slightly along those lines, advertising without the Judeo-Christian body-shame guilt complex. All out in the open, in the middle of a shopping center. Funny, too.

Elephants, national symbols of Thailand. Everywhere...


The skywalk in Bangkok was pretty cool. Gave some cool views. And much nicer than walking the [occasionally] litter strewn streets.

Egress.
All I need is a comic book.

Sandy wishes you peace.

And we're done. The End.