Sunday, 23 June 2013

22.06.13 - Stereotypes in Thailand

And so oo-day dap fai gay hai Thai-gok yesterday morning (we took a plane to Thailand, which we laboriously learnt to say with the help of our early morning taxi driver. Who thought Thailand was ‘Very good, haha, yes, very pretty’.).


What a treat living in HK can be in terms of a regional travel hub…for those in the UK our age, do you remember meeting those Aussies doing grad jobs or even bar jobs through the Facebook venn diagram on sunny days on Clapham common, just after we all graduated, who seemed to have been to each and all eastern European countries? And seemed to go away every other weekend to explore every cranny of Europe? Well, now that's us in Asia - Thailand is a mere 3 hours away! So for out cotton anniversary here we are.
 

Scene from our window this morning below for you, more on our resort in the next post...but for now let me address the pic above.
 

Within 30 seconds of landing, 2 of my top 3 'stereotypical stuff I think of when I think of Thailand, even though that probably isn't fair' happened at us. On the gangway off the plane we passed a 'ladyboy', in air hostess garb and make up but with a chiselled , stubbled, masculine chin and shoulders that would do a rugby player proud. 10 seconds later, we passed huge vases of over spilling bagonias.


But we're off to a fairly posh resort. So surely no hint of my third probably-prejudiced preconception - the sex industry. Right?
 

Hmm. See the picture at the top (apologies it’s unclear, I had to snap it quickly). It’s a mass of symbols depicting the services available in international signs on the door of our transfer service to the resort. Many are standard:


DVD player? Massage chairs? VIPs only? Extravagant, but fine.

 
Karaoke? Random but fun

 
No dogs, no smoking? Too right.


And...er...here it veers off course.

 
The other symbols seem to be:

 
Bong smoking

Sexual acts of various forms

Strippers

 
So when it’s  not ferrying people to a resort, this taxi is an orgy hippy stripper VIP karaoke bus (but NO smoking, because that's just TOO MUCH, ok?!).

 

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