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PHILIPPINE President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo is not alone in her
woes as an embattled head of state where over half of her people
want her ousted. Her male counterpart in Thailand is also being
pushed out of office for abuse of power, corruption, and nepotism,
among others.
The man used to be emulated by our very own presidential wannabe
Ping Lacson for his supposedly no-nonsense heavy-handed leadership
that a graft-ridden country like ours direly needs. He is
Thailand’s Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra who is presently on a
hot seat.
The Thais have been staging mounting protests after Thaksin’s
family sold to Singapore government Shin Corp., Thailand’s biggest
mobile-phone operator and Internet provider which the Thaksin
owned and managed until he became Prime Minister in 2001. The
Thais were upset that a major utility like telecoms would have to
be sold and controlled by a foreign conglomerate. They also
resented that minority shareholders were shortchanged by the
buy-out while the biggest windfall went to Thaksin’s family.
The Thai press even speculated, quite correctly, that the sale
provided the Prime Minister with a hefty war chest should he
decide to campaign for a third term. Soon, the P1.87 billion deal
— yes, billion dollars — sparked protests across Thailand, opening
more skeletons in Shinawatra’s closet. Too, ethnic violence in the
southern part of Thailand was ignited into conflagration that
reminds us of the unabated Muslim conflict in Mindanao.
While in Bangkok sometime ago, I could see that Thais had their
own gripes about bureaucratic excesses and high-handed leadership.
But unlike Filipinos, Thais’ discontent is somehow tempered by
their passive Oriental faith and deep loyalty to their King,
particularly in times of tumult and conflict. While we fight for
our food on the table, the Thais are fighting for their pride as a
nation. That’s why they are mad that their flagship telecom
company which ironically was owned by their highly-popular Prime
Minister had to be sold to a foreign firm.
The Thais are proud at the thought that their ancient Siam, unlike
its neighbors, had never been colonized by a foreign power. What
is absurd now is the fact that their present-day women and young
daughters are being cavorted and “conquered” by people of
different races due to widespread prostitution which has become a
de facto enticer to charge up their tourism industry to global
status. Truth to tell, their fruits, except for durian that also
abounds in Davao, taste bland compared to our succulent mango,
melon, pineapple, and chico. Moreover, our malls look cozier than
theirs. We have fine beaches such as Phuket’s but we don’t have
their distinct architecture, temples, and exotic cuisine that
speak of their truly Asian character and mystic.
There is no denying that tourism is a zealously pampered industry
in Thaksin’s land; one could say that the whole of Bangkok is
tourism-friendly and large amount of state funds are allocated to
keep it that way. Sidewalk vendors are disciplined; they keep
their wastes and junks in their proper places, even while on busy
street corners. Hotel rates are reasonable and you can have an
old-model but smooth-driving Mercedes Benz with its driver for
only P1,600 the whole day even if you were three in the tour. The
driver serves as your guide who, before the sun is away, would
open his car locker to seduce you with a brochure of pretty women
in their awkwardly horny poses. Each photo is tagged with a
contact number. “Thigh massage, sir?” the enterprising driver
would at least thrice ask you as the night sets in.
Well, Filipinas back home are much prettier and their skin
smoother, I told myself while making sure that my wallet was still
in my pocket. Just so we may not look like sissy Filipinos who
enjoyed riding the elephants, we agreed to have an ocular trip to
Bangkok’s widely-known red light district. After a sumptuous meal
of fresh shells and mollusks cooked in curry and coconut milk
laced with lemon rind and variant chili and spices, we sped off
and queued towards a bar with a circular stage ringed by about a
hundred seats amphitheater style; as we took our seats, we felt we
were all of a sudden thrust into the vortex of a secret cove of
the United Nations headquarters. Beside us, at our back and in
front were people, men and women, of different tongues and races:
blonde and red hair, turbaned or bald top, chink eyes, sharp nose,
beard, hairy chest. Like us, they were there for a grand show
featuring exotic Thai girls in their birthday suits (some of whom
may actually be transvestites fresh from Thai clinics, we later
learned). For less than an hour, they did live acrobatic stunts
that a mom would not like her children to see. The fee? The baht
equivalent of about P800 per pax, almost the same amount we paid
for a one-way hydrofoil ride from Hongkong to Macau during a side
trip. But that’s another story.
