There she is

Thai play

Yesterday was the Queen's birthday, a big deal in Thailand, and a national holiday. She's considered the mother of the country, so it is also wan ma, Mother's Day. Indeed, when the Queen speaks, I can almost understand her, because she speaks very slowly and uses simple words, like a mother speaking to her children.

The old part of town, Ratanakosin Island, was all decked out in lights and was quite beautiful. And suan luang, the big empty field by the Grand Palace, was packed full of people, listening to the music on the five stages, watching a play, or watching muai thai boxing. It was a huge event. One of the boxers was a farang woman. I didn't get a chance to see how she did, because the ring was surrounded by too many people. Also, a farang man and woman sang Thai classical music, surrounded by dancers. Weird.

Today's my birthday, and as a present to myself, I was going to buy a ticket to Chengdu, China. But my ATM card was expired. So I'll have to wait until I can get a new one sent here.

Click here to see a short clip of the play

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I bought my ticket to Chengdu today with he last of my baht, and will leave at the end of the month. From there I can try to arrange permits for onward travel to Tibet. I say "try" because I just found out that next month is the 40th anniversary of the founding of the Tibet Autonomous Region by China. It's not a happy anniversary for Tibetan people, and the Chinese government is going to crack down on everything to avoid any negative publicity. Perhaps even on foreign tourists. So maybe I'm just not fated to visit Tibet.

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I'll sort of miss reading the Bangkok Post. Reading about the government's latest hair-brained schemes is entertaining. Take the new plan to eradicate poverty: "One Tambon One Singer." Each tambon (villiage) will enter a singer in a nation-wide reality TV show like Big Brother, and the winner will get a million baht (about $25,000).

That may be insane, but at least it will only waste tax money, and not get people killed, like the latest plan to end the Southern insurgency, in which people on motorbikes are murduring monks and teachers: free TV's in cafes showing English Premier League football, to keep the killers entertained. I swear I'm not making this up.

Then there are the constant scandals involving members of the Prime Minister's family or cabinet (his cronies). Reading about these is difficult, because if the papers provide too many details they will be sued for libel by the culprit.

Finaly, as an American, the most frustrating thing is reading about PM Thaksin's bastardization of democracy. He got his overwhelming majority in Parliament, but even that is not enough. His emergency decree is going before Parliament, and he has threatened any government MP that dares to debate it with expulsion from the Party (wich will kick them out of Parliament). That's not how a democracy works. What's the point of even having a parliament if they just rubber stamp what the PM decrees?

So next month I am going to China, a party dictatorship. As much as I may hate this kind of government, at least it doesn't make any bones about what it is. Its unelected leaders rule by decree, censor everything, and basically do whatever they want without caring what the rest of the world thinks. They don't pretent to be a democracy because they aren't one.

What's so frustrating about Thailand is that it's supposed to be a democracy, but it's really not. I guess I won't miss reading the Bangkok Post.

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I guess I'm pretty unlucky. The first time I try to go to Tibet, from Nepal, they close it due to SARS. This time I planned to do it by the book, so bought a ticket to Chengdu, China, where I can get all the proper permits and "tours," and arrange onward travel to Tibet. Immediatly after buying my ticket, I find out about the 40th anniversary of the TAR.

Finding information about what's going on in China is sketchy, especially Tibet. But the latest news is that they're not going to let anyone in until the 5th of September, and they may extend that.

I'm not too worried. I'll just start my tour of China first, then hit Tibet on the way back. Third time's a charm, right? Of course that means starting in Chengdu, which is sort of like starting a tour of the USA in Denver. If I would have known about this, I would have bought a ticket to Beijing instead.

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So I contradicted myself. After complaining about foreigners complaining about the Thai government, I went on a bit of a tirade. See how easy it is to get sucked in to that kind of attitude? Especially for me. I'm the kind of person who likes to stay informed. But it's not my country, so I have no right to complain. So I've been careful to avoid the Bangkok Post. If I ever come back here, I will just pay the extra money for the International Herald Tribune.

Less than a week until China. I'm going to try to go to Tibet, and that is really complicating things and stressing me out, what with the uncertain situation due to the anniversary of the TAR, and permit/visa issues. Any sane person would forget about Tibet, and concentrate on mainland China. But I never claimed to be sane, did I?

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Today I left Bangkok. My feelings about it are complicated, and I'm still not really ready to write about it. I need time and distance to come to terms with my experience.

And, I haven't been a very good writer. By tending to focus on the day to day tribulations of living in a developing country, I presented a one-sided view of the Kingdom. But obviously I love Bangkok; I did spend two years there. With time and distance I can give a more fair account of my experience.

So today I start my last big adventure for a while. I actually want to go home, but this is a good opportunity to see some of China, which has fascinated me for some time.

But it also sort of frightens me, due to its extreme Communist legacy, huge cultural divide, and communication problems.

My goal for this last chapter of Terry's Trek is to try to present the big picture, rather than focusing on the difficulties of independent travel in a developing country.

Next stop, China.

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