Travels in the Land of Hunger

CHIANG MAI, THAILAND

We soon found a place and as I ate he told me about the work his father did in Mexico as well as some aspects of PRI's (Partido Revolucionario Institucional) 71-year hold on the nation's political system that finally came to an end in 2000. As he spoke I recalled from the news that I had seen or read, bits and pieces of the political events that he was referring to such as the assassination of PRI presidential candidate Luis Donaldo Colosio-Murrieta in 1994. I spent most of the day with him, and we talked about everything from yoga to his travels in India, to my travels in Myanmar, to our families, to the importance of respect and loyalty in all relationships.

This morning (May 6) I walked in the area southeast of Tha Phae Gate and was disappointed to see what looked like streets in Niagara Falls or Wisconsin Dells where tacky tourist shops and fast food restaurants reigned. On one particular four-way intersection–just a block or two from the tourist information center–there was a McDonald's, Starbucks, and Häagen-Dazs. And further down the street I saw a Pizza Hut and Baskin-Robbins. There was also a strip along the infamously sleazy Loi Kroh Road that had several German restaurants complete with German flags, German beer, and Thai staff wearing either Bavarian lederhosen outfits or dirndl dresses!

I saw tourists along these streets in all directions buying Thai shirts and pants that had been altered from their traditional design to satisfy the apparel needs of foreigners. Most of the restaurants that I saw accepted Visa and MasterCard and offered Italian, Mexican, and Japanese cuisine, as well as other types of ethnic food. It was obvious that the city thrived on tourism. And at night there was no shortage of bars that catered almost exclusively to foreign men by providing billiard tables, beer, and Thai women ready and waiting to be picked up.

I felt–to a degree–that this part of Chiang Mai, along with many other towns and cities throughout the country, had lost itself in its quest to gain the $, € or ¥ from tourists (travel and tourism made up 17.2 percent of Thailand's GDP in 2004 and increased to 20.8 percent in 2015).1 There were many travel agencies in Chiang Mai that provided one, two or three-day trips through the northern regions of the kingdom. And because tourists continue to come by the train, bus, and airplane load (11.6 million visitors in 2004, which increased 29.8 million in 2015)2 the exotic essence, which was perhaps the initial reason why tourists began coming here, is being lost to the increasing number of Western franchise businesses. As a result, tourists, in the years ahead, will go to other Southeast Asian nations in search of the exoticness that is being eroded by the tourism boom in Thailand. Perhaps Laos and Myanmar will become the next hot tourist travel destinations (I already heard predictions from backpackers I had met in Thailand that Laos would soon lose the unique (as perceived by Westerners) essence that had made it so special). At this rate, Myanmar will be the last of the Southeast Asian nations to fall to the armies of marching tourists and the capitalist demands of a globalized free market economy.

While living in Japan I came across the website for a DJ who went by the name Yukalicious, and on her site, there was a link to a Japanese not-for-profit organization called Ban Rom Sai based in Chiang Mai. Ban Rom Sai (www.banromsai.org) is an orphanage for Thai children who were born with HIV. I contacted Ban Rom Sai a few months ago informing them that I would be traveling to Chiang Mai and that I would be able to help them create an English version of their website–which I later completed with the aid of my incredibly talented friend Janusz Migasiuk–so that they could begin soliciting and getting donations from individuals and organizations from English speaking nations. This afternoon I was able to contact a volunteer at Ban Rom Sai by the name of Nanako, and we arranged to meet at Tha Phae Gate.

Posted by The Legacy Cycle at 2004-05-06T22:04:00-07:00

Friday, May 7, 2004

Chiang Mai is a popular destination for tourists because it is a starting point to visit the northern hill tribes of Thailand and to trek through the surrounding mountains. Travel agencies abound offering package tours of all the overexploited sights and sounds of northern Thailand, as well as package journeys to Luang Prabang, Laos. On the exterior, Chiang Mai appeared to cater solely to tourists (particularly the following roads: Loi Kroh, Chang Klan, and Tha Phae), and because of that I quickly lost interest in the place. Prostitution and sex tourism were apparent; rare was the moment when I didn't see a lone Western man on the prowl for a young Thai girl. At night, I saw Western men of all ages with a Thai girl or two.