Thai culture seems to have a comfortability, if not attraction to what I might consider clutter, chaos and inconsistency. Some of it comes from economic change and revolution.
Men ride around on mo-peds with vending carts attached - going up and down sois, selling things like household cleaning supplies and roasted insects including crickets and grasshoppers. Need a mop? Not to worry, the mop and duster guy rolls through the soi at about 3pm. Need a traditional Issan province snack? The bug guy should stop by in an hour…
This is the old Thailand, the old Bangkok still alive and kicking.
Meanwhile in Siam Square, six different malls – a few brand new ones – stand tall, clean and beautiful with things like KFC, McDonalds, Burger King, A&W, Swensen's, Pizza Hut, Sizzler, Outback Steakhouse, TGI Friday's, Dunkin' Donuts, Krispy Kreme, and at least eight Starbucks. This is on top of the Gucci, Prada, Hugo Boss, and every other designer and brand name you've ever seen. In every single mall.
In front of the malls, there are food carts selling fresh fruit, roasted sausages and freshly squeezed orange juice for a fraction of what food costs just inside the doors. Old and new, together in a way that seems to make perfect sense to Thais. In fact, it did to me too – because I expected it. No matter how much someone here can afford, everyone still likes fruit and sausages off the cart – it's in their blood. Just like no matter how nice a restaurant you can afford to eat in, Grandma's cooking is still the best.
In the middle of Siam Square, there are vendors selling cheap clothing out of boxes on the sidewalk where 50 feet away, inside the mall there's a department store.
Around the corner, people eat noodle soup from a cart sitting at folding tables on the side of an alleyway, while in the mall people are having sushi from one of the at least six sushi restaurants we counted. It's not that the people eating soup are necessarily poorer than those eating sushi either. It's old and new Thailand living side by side in frenetic harmony in a way that makes perfect sense when you've been around to understand it.
Thais have a way of adapting and changing. Bangkok is a city in flux. It's one of the most interesting parts of their culture and what makes Bangkok and Thailand subtly fascinating.
Last night, we went to Siam Square for a movie. Thai movie theaters in my experience, are the best in the world. No one does it with quite the flair and pizzazz that Thais do. In a country where many people make 3000 Baht ($100) or less per month, movie theaters almost always are state of the art in technology and personal comforts. They were when I lived here, and they have become over-the-top cool now.
Our theater last night replaced my favorite theater in the next mall over in Siam Square. This new theater has two 3D IMAX theaters, plus 14 state-of-the art regular ones with reclining, plush seats and large, spacious love seats in the back. Sound, digital quality – all top notch. Plush hallways with seats and coffee tables if you're outside waiting for your movie or taking a call.
But what sets it apart is the lobby. A gourmet popcorn bar, gourmet snack bar, giant lounge, Starbucks, Hagen-Daaz, video screens everywhere previewing current and future movies. One box office for IMAX, another for regular theaters and a bank of touch-screen terminals for self-serve purchasing as far as the eye can see. The lobby was both frenetic and classy in the strange hybrid of style and bustle that Thais love and achieve so well.
There is absolutely nowhere else I love going to a movie so much.
Unfortunately, in all of the improvements, they made a sad downgrade on my favorite part of a Thai movie – the King's Anthem. Before a movie begins, everyone must rise to pay respects to His Highness whose anthem (a separate one from the national anthem) is played with a montage celebrating him and all the amazing things he's done for the Thai people.
The king of Thailand is a truly great man. He's a true genius, forward looking, benevolent, charitable, educated and sophisticated. The king has done more for his people than any Thai prime minister and has, to the best of his ability, pushed Thailand along the path to a functioning democracy. He has kept order when political chaos has broken out. It's no surprise that with his recent decline in health and move into a hospital that the political battles giving rise to frequent riots in Bangkok broke out.
The king has been Thailand's stabilizing force for more than almost 65 years. He is the world's longest reigning monarch. While he holds minimal political power, he holds absolute power of the hearts and minds of the Thai people. Even without authority to rule, he remains Thailand's most powerful man.
All of that said, the montages to the king are some of the best and most moving propaganda I have ever seen. I love them the way some people love soap operas. I know they're cheesy. I know they're part of keeping an image. I can't get enough of them. When it's over, I want to throw myself down at his feet and profess my love and adoration – that's how well done they usually are.
I chose our movie theater in part because it was the one that had the best king's montage. I sampled many theaters in my time in Bangkok and EGV had my favorite. It began with the image of a lowered stage curtain.
Then as the song started…"Kha…. Wora Phutthachao….." as the shadowed images of children appeared, looking like they were in the front row. "Ao….Mano Lae Sira Kran…." and a shadowed group of children appear in the front row of the other side of the theater.
Then the curtain lifts and images of all the king's visits to villages, orphanages, and disasters appear. You see him helping to plan dams and improvements to water supplies for the people. He dreams of a better future and helps make it happen. He talks to kids. He takes pictures of beautiful parts of Thailand. He is a benevolent leader, a brilliant mind and a caring soul.
When the song crescendos at the end, with the final "Chaiyo!!!!" you and the shadow children in the front row that don't actually exist have shared an experience of this amazing man. I could leave the theater right after that – it's so good.
None of that last night. The song was well performed, but the montage was rather blah and was more focused on how Thailand has improved and grown through the king's reign. Perhaps they're downplaying him a bit because he's getting so old and unhealthy? A change will come soon – and it may be disastrous for Thailand. People here fear what will happen without their current king. Rightfully so.
Whatever the cause, I was deeply saddened and feel like I need to see another movie at a different theater chain to find a better montage.
At least the movie was good.
Chaiyo!!!
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