when an anti-establishment hippie is established...

Barring politics, religion and puffy-sleeved colonizers, the similarity between Thailand and the Philippines is uncanny. As even Eddie, our sometimes cheerful, sometimes surly Thai guide told us over bowls of shabu-shabu at a Japanese restaurant inside one of many gleaming Bangkok malls, “In terms of looks, Thai people and Filipinos are the only two races in the world you cannot tell apart.”

I concur. That, tight traffic jams, little pockets of commerce and a shared passion for tacky evening soaps make Thailand our likeliest Southeast Asian Siamese twin. Last week I was navigating the bustling bellies of Bangkok , and I may have been anywhere in Central Manila. The scene---hordes of splayed-out wares, and hordes of people unflustered by the blazing tropical sun---was so Filipino I half expected the stalls to bust out Flo’ Rida.

Unlike us (and our hip-hop-blaring habits) however, Thailand has their King, street shrines, a staunch belief in the Law of Karma, barely any English translations for their signboards written in Thai, blissfully fat birds and street dogs (who happily consume food offerings left on the sidewalk) and the entire cast of Antz deep-fried as snacks. They also have a tourism industry fuelled by billions of dollars in investments and revenue, a hotel, a mall and presumably something exciting being built in every corner, and close to 15 million tourist arrivals just last year alone.  (The Philippines welcomed 207, 272 arrivals --- a sum slightly bigger than the number of Filipinos who went shopping in Thailand in 2007).

In the several instances I’ve seen their proud culture on display, references to our country’s own automatically surfaced. They had the tinikling, the bao, the bobbing, dancing, oversized paper-machê heads. Their dances were our dances, their instruments were our instruments, and their rituals --- at least in terms of agriculture--- were our rituals. The islands and beaches touted in the domestic and international Travel Mart were our kith and kin. The fruits, the rice fields, the smiles---they were mirror images of ours. Even the laidback Thai mentality, translated as “Mai pen rai (‘never mind’),” is curiously akin to our notorious “Bahala na.”

Only, in Thailand, everything looked better produced, more efficiently executed, more developed, more understood, generally bigger, better, and altogether sweeter.

For all our conviction in Pinoy hospitality, the Thais own the title “Land of Smiles,” not us.

One stall I came upon sold atis fruits as large as melons and mangoes as long as my feet. (I literally held one against my size 8 foot). 

Moreover, Thailand’s baht, although higher than our peso, buys clothes, shoes, electronics, and pretty much everything cheaper there when you compute it.

Fact of the matter is that the Philippines and Thailand are so alike that the differences therefore quadruple in size and sprout gargantuan wings, impossible not to notice. And for the rest of the world, these differences spell out which tropical country wins their bid ultimately, to plunk their euros, dollars and yens in.

Sadly for us, Thailand---undecipherable street signs and all--- remains the undisputed choice.

Posted by: Hoon at 14:39 | link | comments