Day 1 (4th Jan): “firsts” in Chiang Mai + beautiful Chiang Rai

I was both tired and famished in the morning since we came back so late from the Sunday street market last night. It was regrettable that we only arrived at the market when it was only an hour away from closing hours. When we were at the Sunday Street market, we came across a lot of stalls selling street food. Skewered squid, meat kebabs, fried quail eggs, to papaya salads – more food than you could ever think of. The street was reminiscent of Chatuchak Market in Bangkok due to its sheer size.

Some people would have second thoughts about trying street food because of the presumption that the preparation of food by the streets are less hygienic. While they cannot be blamed for having such thoughts, it is a pity to miss out on street food which I feel embodies a country’s culture. Jennifer Berg, director of graduate food studies at New York University once said that food is the last vestige of culture that people shed. If you think about it, the entire conception of snack/dish by itself is a melting pot of history, local palate and ingredients. The cultural richness of street food is simply tantalizing.  Moreover, the activity of eating street food per se has heartwarming undertones to it. Eating street food is usually done sharing style. Exchanging food, taking photos of food, to waiting in line at the food stalls bring people together.

Unfortunately, I had my fill already at a food court in another night market that was clearly more geared towards tourist (as seen in the photograph below).

I am going to recount my first night in Chiang Mai simply because it is the night of many “firsts”. One of them was taking a “Song Tael” together with my group mates. It is a red van-lookalike which can seat up to eleven people. A trip in the Song Tael costs 20 Baht which is less than a dollar.Basically, the “Song Tael” operates like a taxi and ferries people to their travel destinations. Yet, it is different from a taxi that you would get in Singapore. The “Song Tael” would pullover at random locations in the middle of the journey to pick up other passengers. Passengers with different travel destinations in mind could share the same “Song Tael”. The driver would just rework the driving route a little to accommodate everyone’s destinations. Although this system may not be ideal and could result in a longer travelling distance for some passengers, it meets more people’s needs and is certainly more environmentally friendly. The beauty of this system is that it encompasses the essence of the stock expression “give and take”. No one is pressed for time. Nor are they calculative about the time wasted in travelling additional distance. It is not necessarily bad to move slower. Moving slower gives you ample time to appreciate the beauty around you and look at things with perspective. Sadly, urban life in Singapore has made it rather difficult to live life slowly. I guess every thing comes with a cost and this is the price we have to pay for economic progress.

It was so therapeutic just to look at the passing scenery as the Song Tael zoomed along the noisy roads. The hustle and bustle of the night bazaars could be felt by looking at the street hawkers selling their merchandise and people ambling around.

Another first that I am going to talk about was encountering transvestites. We saw a group of transvestites at the night market and went to take a group shot with them. It was entertaining to watch the transvestites tease the guys in my group. The transvestite would only accept the payment from Yong Jia. He had to stuff the wad of Thai baht into the transvestite’s corset-looking top. He even got a farewell kiss on his cheek from one of them. Our group just kept squealing and hooting when we witnessed the entire exchange.

The sight of the transvestites tickled my senses culturally. Looking around me, both young and old Thais were all looking at our group and the transvestites with amused faces. I saw that a young boy lingered around the group of transvestites and interacted with them playfully. I suppose that they are acquainted with each other.

It was interesting to note the wide social acceptance towards transvestites in Thailand. Although Singapore may be more of an economic powerhouse than Thailand, it is less progressive in terms of acceptance towards the minorities. I have always been curious about the reasons for discrimination towards the Lesbians, Gays, Bisexuals, Transexuals (LGBT) community. How could people have the heart to give such harsh treatment against others? This goes the same for the discrimination of black-skinned people that was pervasive in the past. Had I been living as a member of the privileged in that era, I used to think that I would definitely not be part of the mob that engages in the open discrimination of the different minority. However, I discovered that standing at the sidelines does not absolve one from the guilt of causing involuntary hurt. It is merely another form of discrimination. I thought through my entire thought process. I feared that I would be segregated had I gave my open support to the minority. I would then be lumped together with the helpless minority and be subject to the tyranny of the majority.

Difference defines the lines of segregation. In the face of ignorance, difference engenders fear which could drive people insane enough to cause harm to others. Indeed, the right thing may not always be the popular option to take. Ironically, the right thing may not even seem right at that point in time.

Moving away from such serious notes, the night bazaars in Chiang Mai are very lively affairs. You have shops peddling little trinkets, clothing, food to the crowds. Nearing 11 pm, street vendors start packing up and the space that the stall previously occupied becomes empty.  I suppose these makeshift stalls operate on an ad hoc basis and do not pay any form of rent. Perhaps, a lack of governmental action is what helped the market to flourish. Without rentals, people are attracted to set up businesses, creating a vital mix of activities that continually attracts throngs of people to patronise. The closest Singapore has to night bazaars is “pasar malam” which means night markets in malay. The “pasar malams” in Singapore are usually situated near residential areas and are not permanent fixtures. After a month of so, they are taken down. These “pasar malams” are less busy compared to the ones in Chiang Mai. Fairs organized in Singapore seemed, at least to me, very artificial and sterile. While the markets organized in Singapore do have their own merits (i.e. greater hygiene), I do feel that it loses out on some authenticity.

The next morning, we took the coach bus to Chiang Rai and there were many rice field paddies to see. We made a toilet stopover at a natural hot spring on route to the hotel that we were going to stay for the night. People boiled quail eggs at the natural hot springs and you could see people soaking their feet in the waters.

Before I came to Chiang Mai, I had unknowingly formed the impression of Chiang Mai as a place that would be teeming with smokers. This could be due to the presumption that poorer groups of people smoke. Behind this presumption lies another one where poorer people are less educated and therefore less aware about the ill effects of smoking. I was proved wrong when there were hardly any people (locals) smoking in any public areas that we been to. The absence of local smokers was startling. Smokers we saw were overwhelmingly foreigners. I was getting worried about my group’s research topic as the absence of smokers would be a great obstacle in obtaining findings. We raised this to our local tour guide Patt and she said that the governmental ban on smoking in public areas has greatly reduced the number of people smoking in public areas. Violation of this ban would incur a fine of 2000 baht which is a heavy cost to the locals living there. On the other hand, you can find smokers everywhere in Singapore. You can see them congregating outside shopping malls or any open space that you can find. The high sin taxes slapped onto cigarettes is not great enough a deterrence for people to smoke. Singaporeans know all too well about the negative impacts that smoking has on health. While older smokers continue to smoke because of an addiction that stayed with them for decades, younger people pick up smoking due to peer influence and an attitude of “Why not?” I suppose smoking has cachet for young people. With a cigarette in between your fingers, you seem like someone who has bore the brunt of the harsh reality. This particular image is rather appealing to young people who seek to impress in my opinion.

We eventually spotted a few smokers who are locals at a local shopping centre whose name I cannot remember. The first group of smokers we spotted were a group of Tuk-Tuk drivers. With the help of Mohn, who was the Chiang Mai University (CMU) student attached to my group, we went forward to the Tuk Tuk drivers and asked them if they were comfortable with being interviewed.

We got ready for them to sign forms of declaration that they were willing to be interviewed. Yet, it was difficult to get them to sign the forms. In the end, we decided to do away with the forms and obtain their verbal consent instead. Initially, I was puzzled at their unwillingness to sign the forms when they were unconditional. Later on, Patt told us that their reluctance was due to them being uneducated and consequently the subsequent fear of being taken advantage by others. Apparently, these Tuk Tuk drivers unknowingly signed forms handed out by the Thai Army and it resulted in them having to go down to the police station and being subject to long procedures. In contrast, another smoker who was educated, had no qualms about signing the form as he was able to read it. The difference was jarring and further illustrated the importance of education to me. Education is truly empowerment. A learned individual has more access to opportunities in life.

Early evening, we headed down to the tulip festival. The air was cool and crisp while the flowers blooming in beautiful colours.

Again, smokers were far and few. Shi Wei and I, with the help of Professor Natalie’s Thai friend Luk Pong, managed to interview three smokers who were all male. It was hard getting the footage of people smoking because people threw away their cigars when we began interviewing them. Thinking back, it was very considerate of them to do so as they did not want us to breathe in secondhand smoke.

There is always the apprehension of approaching a stranger and asking him/her for an interview. The fear of rejection adds more dimension to the apprehension. Personally, I feel that it is the self-consciousness that forms the main bulk of apprehension. “Am I being too rude?” “Do I look professional enough?” “Do I look friendly and approachable?” These are the considerations that play through my mind when I am stuck in an indecisive state of wanting and not wanting to approach the stranger. The fact that I was in a foreign country and did not speak Thai added another whole new dimension to my apprehension. As a foreigner, I was apprehensive about the idea of going to people and ask them for an interview because I think that I was intruding on them. Luckily, there were our Thai friends to help us bridge the communication barriers. After a while, I became more practiced and confident saying “Hello” in Thai which is “Sawadee Ka”. My intonations were more accurate and I was more comfortable with the idea of approaching them and letting Mohn take over from then. Rather than approaching them saying “Hello”, I choose to clasp my hands together and say “Sawadee Ka” because it shows that there is effort on my side to relate to them. Moreover, I hope that by doing so, it makes me more likeable and there is greater likelihood that they agree to being interviewed.

Here’s to more fruitful interviews for the next few days! And, Chiang Mai, you are beautiful 🙂