February 02, 2003 Bangkok, Thailand
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After a week in Bangkok, I finally decided to visit a couple sites. I wanted to see at least one wat, or temple, before I left Thailand. However, it helps to realized before hand that "take me to Wat Poh" in Thai is "I am a stupid tourist. Please rip me off."
The fun began with trying to get a tuk tuk from Khao San Road. The first guy said he'd take me for 100 Baht. That's total bullshit, since you can take a taxi across town for 50. When I pointed this out he said fuel was expensive, but he would take me for 80. Screw that. I wonder how many tourists who just got off the plane pay that much. So I asked another guy. "Wat Poh closed today. Special day." Uh huh. Then he offered to take me to a shop instead. No thanks. I got the third guy to take me for 40 Baht, which was still too much. He conveniently dropped me on the other side of the compound so his friends could have a go at me. A helpful guy came up and said the entrance is around the corner, but that it was closed today. Yeah right, that's why all the busses are here.
I walked past a tuk tuk driver. "Wat Poh closed, Thais only. I take you to standing Buddha. Ten Baht." No thanks. I walk past one of the busses and a uniformed driver asks me where I'm going. I gave him the benefit of the double, since it looked like he may have a legitimate reason to be hanging around there. "Where you come from? How long you in Thailand? Where you go next?" Then he wishes me happy Chinese New Year and says it's the last day of a special New Years sale at a suite shop in Chinatown. At this a nearby tuk tuk driver snapped to attention. No thanks.
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I finally made it in to the Wat, which was open to all, tourists and Thais. I followed the huge procession of tourists in to the chapel to view the huge gold reclining Buddha. Unfortunately the chapel is only as big as the Buddha, so you can't see it all at once. A bunch of Thais where praying as the horde filed past, snapping photos as they went. I briefly felt bad, but then figured they could just close it to tourists if they really wanted to. Of course then they'd miss out on the 20 Baht entrance fee.
Then I wandered over to the massage school, the home of Thai massage and the place all the Thai masseuses are trained. A one-hour massage was twice the cost of a massage on Khao San Road, but it was indeed twice as good. It featured working of the shoulders with the masseuse's elbows, and the legs with her feet. Weird but good.
Next I walked to the city pillar, home of the spirit of the city. This site wasn't on the tourist circuit, and I was the only white person there. It was full of Thais praying and leaving offerings of pineapples, flowers, incense, and Fanta (complete with straws for ease of drinking) to the spirit. There was also some kind of play going on with the actor wearing traditional costumes, but with an active Thai vocabulary of five words, I didn't get much out of it.
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Finally I crossed the street and braved the gauntlet of tuk tuks to visit Bangkok's answer to Disneyland: the Grand Palace. The place was packed with Japanese tourists and praying Thais. The most interesting part was the Temple of the Emerald Buddha. Not the Buddha itself, which was tiny and up on a huge pedestal, but the surrounding buildings, chedi, and statues, which were finished in gold and ceramic.
There was also a scale model of Angor Wat, which used to be part of Thailand. Did you know Thailand almost went to war with Cambodia? A Phnom Penh newspaper reported a rumor that a popular Thai actress said that Angor Wat should be returned to Thailand. In response angry Cambodians stormed the Thai embassy and Thai-owned businesses in Phnom Penh. According to the Bangkok Post, which I'm not sure is an objective source, the Cambodian government allowed the riot to take place to divert attention from complaints about it. Thailand sent an aircraft carrier to the coast, and was about to deploy commandos to protect the embassy. They didn't, but Thailand is still pretty pissed. Here's a story:
Flag burned, Police open fire, Staff evacuated, Rioting spreads
Phnom Penh, Agencies
The Cambodian army was deployed to quell rioting in Phnom Penh last night after thousands of students stormed, looted and set fire to the Thai embassy.
Flames engulfed much of the embassy building as the mob ran amok in the embassy compound, setting bonfires and creating mayhem.
They burned the Thai flag, about 20 embassy vehicles, motorcycles and furniture and showed disrespect for the Thai monarchy.
Military police fired shots into the air to disperse them and about 200 police later secured the embassy compound.
Foreign Ministry officials in Bangkok said all 10 embassy staff were safe.
In other parts of the city, angry crowds set fire to overturned cars and attacked Thai-owned businesses into the night. Fires were reported in the street in front of the building that houses Shinawatra telecom, the company controlled by Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra.The building was nearly destroyed and youths were seen tossing computers out of windows. Mobs also threw stones at other foreign-owned businesses.
There were no immediate reports of casualties.
The riots were sparked by remarks reportedly made by popular Thai actress Suwanan ``Kob'' Khongying that Angkor Wat temple complex, Cambodia's top cultural icon, belonged to Thailand. She has denied making the comments.
Students began their protest by marching through the city and burned a Thai flag and a photograph of Suwanan outside the embassy.
The size of the demonstration swelled to around one thousand and the crowd became more aggressive as the day progressed, burning tyres and throwing rocks at the embassy. After a day of flag-burning and anti-Thai chanting, the crowd massed outside the embassy towards nightfall.
About 50 protesters climbed the embassy walls and threw rocks into the compound, smashing at least four windows, before the burning began.
Some rioters breached the embassy's gate and forced their way into its main building.
Reporters outside could see them hurling curtains, chairs and documents out from its windows. Many were seen carrying away computers and other equipment.
After a while, flames were seen coming out from a section of the darkened building, but the fire died down. An annexe to the embassy also was set on fire. That blaze was continuing hours later.
Fire trucks arrived on the scene but made no attempt to extinguish the fire. Deputy fire chief Sok Vannra said the mob threatened to burn the trucks if they tried to put out the flames.
An outnumbered posse of about 50 policemen initially also stood by as the mob went on the rampage. Reinforcements arrived later but were still outnumbered.
The protesters burned tyres, smashed lamps and scaled the embassy's gate to lower the Thai flag from its flagpole as onlookers cheered.
A Cambodian staff member at the embassy said all 20 vehicles in the compound were burned or destroyed. The Thai staff escaped through the back door while the Cambodian employees emerged from the front, said the employee, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
There were no injuries and all were safe, he said.
``The protest is because we hate the Thais inside Cambodia and because the Thais encroach on Cambodian border territory,'' said Virak, an 18-year-old law student.
Scores of military police assembled to try to disperse the protesters but were outnumbered by the crowd. Five fire trucks, some with smashed windows, were parked at some distance from the embassy because they could not approach the blaze.
``I am taking action to try and disperse them. We have the military, we have the police, but we just don't know what to do about them,'' senior police official Moung Khim said.
Suwanan has denied saying she would not go to Cambodia unless the 800-year-old Angkor Wat temple complex was returned to Thailand.
She said her comments, reported in Cambodian newspapers, appeared to come from a line one of her characters uttered in a TV drama which aired two years ago.
you should research first before write something that is false which may be propagated by your readers. Angkor Wat was built by Cambodians. Cambodia used to be a powerful country covering all of southeast asia.
so please correct your statement, "There was also a scale model of Angor Wat, which used to be part of Thailand."
Sincerely,
Jason Blake
Posted by: Jason Blake on May 9, 2003 08:07 PMAnkor Wat was indeed built by the Khemers, and I did not mean to imply otherwise. However, in 1431, the Thais invaded Ankor, and after a seven month seige, the city fell. From this time until 1860, Ankor was a vassal state of Thailand. Hence the model of Ankor Wat at the Royal Palace, and the Thai actress' alleged comments about how Ankor should be returned. I stand by my statements.
Posted by: Terry on May 10, 2003 02:46 AM