By Kerry-Ann

Being Malaysian, its not surprising to have asked, “what’s for dinner?” when you’re having breakfast.

Day 2

We visited Klong Toey, the slum area of Bangkok. Despite being able to hear the echoes of our growling stomachs, we were not very interested in the idea of a meal after what we saw. However, by nightfall we were ready to look at what the streets of Bangkok could feed us with.

I’m not sure exactly what it is with eating the same food in different places, but I guess you could say that’s what we did, because Tom Yam was on the dinner table for the second day in a row. Not as tantalizing as the first day, the Tom Yam in a little quaint shop along the heart of Khao San road, was perhaps catered for the less masochistic. Crab omelettes came as a recommendation, but I would say otherwise.

My favorite part of the day was dessert. Venturing out into the streets alone with my room mate at 1:30 in the morning, we found the most appetizing food – pancakes!

They were not like waffles or the Dutch influenced Apom Balik pancakes back home, instead they were actually made from dough and fried. In short, they were roti canai’s, topped with chocolate sauce or bananas and cheese.

Heaven.

By Kerry-Ann

The first tip I got about food in Bangkok was “don’t eat the food from road side stalls” Well, me being me, I planned to defy exactly that. Thai food has always been one of my weaknesses so I decided to write on cuisine just to see how real my love for this nation’s food was.

Day 1
Arriving from Kuala Lumpur was no joke. Let’s face it - we either didn’t have enough money or we didn’t want to be rushing to the loo 30,00 feet above ground level, so we settled with McDonalds. Both for breakfast, and then later for lunch as well.

We arrived at about 4 PM in Bangkok, with a plane full of hungry beavers. I mean, hungry eaters (either way, it sounds wrong). And all we wanted was to go makan.

As the cab hit the streets of Bangkok, all we could see was food! Chicken, pork, insects, fish (and humans depending on how you define ‘eating’). I couldn’t see how my peers eyes were ogling at the food, but their audible “ooohs and aaahhhs” was a definite sign that they were ready to gobble just about anything.

We were taken to the Balcony Tom Yam Kung Restaurant near our Inn. It was a rather cozy restaurant cum café cum bar (in Bangkok anything can cum la), with black and white photos of Bangkok decorating its white wooded panel walls to give it a touch of class. The building was a house, so it felt like we had a private function, (I would like to say, the celebration of buying my first jet plane).

Our student guides had ordered Tom Yam for us. This reminded me of my buddy Kristin who is always bragging about the Tom Yam fried rice in SS15. However, after tasting the Tom Yam our guides ordered for us…well, I don’t think we can even begin comparing Tom Yams from back home.

The Tom Yam came thick and ornamented with chilies of red and green, lemon grass, and coriander leaves. Its scent was enough to indicate just how torturous it was going to be. I took a spoon full and yes, I was the first Eurasian girl on the moon. However, the mango salad (kerabu) and catfish slices and lots of rice were enough to get around the sheer cruelness of the Tom Yam.

We were all astounded by the next dish - fish with slices of ham in it. I didn’t eat the ham, but apparently I didn’t miss much because it was just plain awkward. Looking forward to more surprises on day two!

By Fikri Jermadi

The first International Conference of Asian Queer Studies is taking place in Bangkok between the 7th and 9th of July. Jointly organized by the Office of Human Rights Studies and Social Development at Mahidol University and the AsiaPacificQueer Network, it aims to develop linkages between research about Asian LGBTQ cultures and communities and to promote recognition and respect for sexual and gender diversity in the region.

The conference takes place at the Ambassador Hotel, with the main lobby filled with booths promoting related products, as well as similar organizations and events. The day kicks off with a plenary forum, before a coffee break is quickly followed by panel presentations. The presentations take place simultaneously at different venues throughout the hotel, with two or three presenters on each panel. There are several themes throughout the day, including topics like queer cinemas and issues on queer rights and identities.

Three papers were presented in “Transgenders in Islamic and Hindu cultures.” Sharyn Graham presented “Bisexual and Transgender Intersections in South Sulawesi, Indonesian,” which concerns the cilabai (men attracted to men but behaving more like women). She explained about how they tend to change their sexual orientationism going as far as describing them as AC/DC adapters: “They plug into both men and women.” Next, Fatemeh Javaheri then presented her paper, entitled “Empirical Study on Transexuality in Iran.” She discussed how transgenders are treated in Iran, citing parental pressures, societal discrimination and religious barriers as the main reason as to why people are afraid to come out. Fatemeh then related this to a study she conducted in 2004, saying that 83 percent became transgenders because they “want a better life and to discover their true identity.” Finally, Humaira Jami presented “Condition and Status of Hijra (Transgender, Transvestite, etc.) in Pakistan.” It explores the position of the hijra, who are defined as the third gender, having “elements of both men and women.” She described how they earn an income by performing at birth ceremonies, weddings and even in the theatre, as well as being involved in the sex business. She also talked about their public identities: though they dress like women, given their patriarchal society, they officially identify themselves as men.

After the break for lunch, another three presenters took part in “The Fluidity of Sexuality in SouthEast Asia.” Angela Kuga Thas’ “Silent Runs Around the Sapphic Bush” is a qualitative study she conducted in 2004 to clash myths with realities. One such myth, that homosexuality is a Western import, becomes less of one when she discloses that of those who had their first same sex experience abroad, it is usually with a fellow Malaysian. The second presenter is Dede Oetomo, whose “Indonesia’s Waria, Gay and Gay Dendong: Fluid Constructions of Gender Identity and Sexual Orientation and Their Essentialisations” deals with the waria (male to female transgender), the gay (male homosexuals) and the gay dendong (cross dressing male homosexuals), and how they are treated in mainstream society. He talked about how their linguistics practices, as well as cultural factors, have contributed to the waria’s longetivity. Continuing on the theme of linguistics,
the third paper, “A Semantic Look at Feminine Sex and Gender Terms in Phillipines Gay Lingo” was presented by Cynthia Suguitan. It described how the gay language has acted as a catalyst for empowerment. The proliferation of the gay language, especially within the mass media and the youths in the Philippines, has made it a ‘cool’ language. As an audience member later pointed out, knowing how to speak the gay language will earn that person respect from the gay community.

The second day ends with a plenary discussion on Asian gay films. The filmmakers themselves related their personal experiences in making such films, before clips from their respective films are shown.

By Sarah

We woke up today knowing we had to drag ourselves out of bed on time so we can attend the Sexualities, Genders and Rights in Asia Conference. After all it is one of the agenda of our study trip to Bangkok we were curiously looking forward to … but we arrived an hour late. There is a good reason of course, and always (our cab dropped us at the wrong train station and traffic was fantastic).

But more importantly, Ms Kanokrat Lertchoosaku, a notable political science lecturer in Chulalongkorn University mentioned a quotable quote last night, which seems an apt introduction to the conference we attended today. She said:

“Historically, the world has always been changed by minorities.”

Today we saw a gathering of minorities at the first ever Sexualities, Genders and Rights in Asia conference and it certainly promises a change of perspective to the gendered world we know of today.

The conference congregated academics, filmmakers, students, NGOs and many other ‘peoples’ and organisations, which are interested in the theories and practices of “queer” identities and developments. It is a new term which, seem to encompass every alternative sexuality other than heterosexuality.

Attending the different talks— as most of us hopped from one conference room to another to make the best of our only day there— Communication studies has undoubtedly made the conference seem more tolerable and comprehensible in its language and in the issues discussed.

After three years in Monash, I finally see some use to the theories and more theories we rehearsed in University. Today we saw how theories came to be realized in practice and such theories seem to play an integral role in the development of individuals.

After an entire day of attending talks and discussions, we headed back to our backpackers lodge in the little vehicles that resembled a hybrid of a motorcycle and a trishaw, called tuk-tuk. As it weaves its way through the rush hour we arrived at our backpackers lodge safe.

Today was certainly a worthy part of our agenda on this study trip to Bangkok, Thailand.

By Low Li Yien

For all the food lovers out there, Chinatown is definitely a place to go after dusk in Bangkok. This wonderful food haven is located along Yaowarat Road, Sampanthawong District. There are various food stalls that stretch along the road. Tables and chairs are set up along the sidewalk as wide as one meter or so, right beside the busy bustling street.

At one junction of the Yaowarat Road, we can find small stalls and shops that offer a variety of seafood such as fresh crabs, fish, prawns, lobster, cockles and others. You could either have it grilled, stir-fried with chili paste, curry powder, black pepper or steamed. These dishes can be eaten with rice and other stir-fried vegetables available on the menu. After seafood, you can hop on to the next stall opposite the street. Along that stretch, you will find a row of stalls that sell chicken noodles, pork-rib rice, fish noodles and other varieties at about 40-60 baht per bowl.

Besides noodles, there are some Chinese delicacies such as ‘yu piew’ soup (fish stomach) at 60 baht per bowl, bird nest desserts that range from 50 baht-300 baht depending on the quality as well as shark fin soup that cost above 300 baht. The food available here are a hybrid of Thai and Chinese cooking. You can have it spicy or not, unlike most Thai dishes you find in Bangkok. For snack lovers, there is a variety of finger food or light items you can pick on. Besides that, there are steamed spring rolls, lin chee kang (dessert with jelly, sago and lotus seed), fruit stalls, roasted chestnut, toast bread, cookies, taco balls (flour ball with vegetables and meat served with mayo and sweet sauce), sweet snacks and others.

This part of the town is rather different in comparison to other places. We can find food sign boards and the names of shops written in Chinese characters as well as Thai. Most traders and food sellers here speak and understand Mandarin. English is rarely spoken. In the night, there are not much places available for shopping. You could find items such as bags, bracelets and clothes in Chinese designs only in a few shops. Besides that, there are CDs and VCDs spread randomly along the way.

For those who want to shop in Chinatown, they should go there in the morning. The hawker stalls in front of the shop lots will disappear in the morning. We can find a number of shops selling Chinese herbal medicine, gold and jewelry, stuff for Chinese people to put in their house or their spirit house as well as dry food (snow fungus, mushroom, seaweed, nuts, red dates and etc.). Other than that, you can get cheap stuff such as toys, souvenirs, and others along Sampeng Lane. Morever, there is also the Pahurat Market where you can get great bargain on clothes and textiles. (http://www.thaistudents.com/guidebook/chinatown.html). Therefore, Chinatown Bangkok is a shopping haven in the morning and a food haven when the sun sets.

By Aaron

Arriving at the Bangkok International Airport was pretty much of an excitement for me. Had no idea what to expect from the people, the place and especially the means of transportation. I’ve heard so much about the famous ‘tuk tuk’ and the infamous taxi drivers! I hate it when I’m right.

We took cabs from the airport to our inn, and the first thing that caught my attention was the cab itself. Why? Because it’s a Toyota. As luxurious as the cab may be, the cabbies were sure ‘Proton’ quality. Out of the three cab rides I’ve had so far, two drove like Michael Schumacher and one like Alex Yoong.

Another thing I found rather amusing was how little these cabbies knew about the roads. It was funny watching these cabbies jumping out of the car and running on a busy road towards another fellow cabbie to ask for directions. The irony of the situation was simply overwhelming. We reached the inn 20 minutes after everyone else, but funny thing is, our fare was the cheapest.

On the second day, we had to take buses as they were far cheaper compared to cabs. The bus ride was horrifying, and getting into one is like an eternal wait. The heat in Bangkok played a major role in the torment as we waited restlessly for the buses to arrive under the hot and humid weather. The first bus we took had no air-conditioning. It was so hot and stuffy I had to admit it wasn’t fun. After that, all
the buses we took had air-conditioning, but by then, the weather had cooled from the dark clouds and rain.

The roads in Bangkok are frequently jammed up, filled with tuk tuks, cabs and colourful buses. But there’s no stopping Bangkok drivers from dodging anything in its path. It’s like David Beckham attempting to dribble past an Italian defense - get the picture?

So far, we have encountered several near collisions and seen a motorcycle slammed against a cab at the traffic lights.

Riding a tuk tuk was simply an experience for me today. I’ve ridden tuk tuks in Haatyai before and they were pretty decent in terms of accelerating to a safe speed limit, but the ones in Bangkok are like turbo charged. Tuk tuk drivers here tend to speed as much as they can and then suddenly jam their breaks to either avoid collision with another vehicle or stop at the lights.

They also do not hesitate to pile passengers into small seating areas. The seats, which are probably able to fit three skinny Asians are packed up to four and sometimes five people! I sat at the side, next to the seats on a small curb in the tuk tuk, as there were already three people in it. After the tuk tuk ride, my butt felt seriously ill and my legs were in a coma.

I’m beginning to appreciate the Malaysian public transportation much more now.

By Juli

Barely minutes after breakfast settled down in our empty stomachs, the troops from Monash University Malaysia aka us set ahead for what the activities of the day would bring. And wishful thinking if we were expecting to be chauffeured to our first destination ….. the Foundation for Women (FFW). One 15 baht bus ride away brought us to what would look like a shophouse in Chinatown, then again this is generally consistent with what a Non Governmental Organisation (NGO) would expect to look like. Our Thai hosts greeted us graciously with traditional salutations followed by generous servings of cakes and more cakes. When the talk began, what began to unfold seem to suggest an ardous struggle for the cognition on the rights of Thai women in a patriarchal society. Our host who is a staff of the centre informed us that FFW provides services to women and implement activities by applying human rights principles aiming at respecting , protecting and promoting the rights of individual women and ‘girl child’. Anecdotal evidence were peppered throughout the whole session about the abuse, exploitation and trafficking of Thai women that the centre has had to deal with since 1984. The underlying factor for most of these activities seem to stem from poverty.

Next stop, a very long bus ride away to Chulalongkorn University where lunch awaits us. Just before you begin speculating, allow me to put that to rest. All we had was dreadful canteen food. I felt as if I was 10 again, eating food from my primary school canteen. Yes, it was dreadful. After this our very helpful guides, Masters students from the university brought us to Siam Square, which was supposedly the heart of youth culture in Bangkok. There was nothing here that one cannot find in Sungei Wang Plaza.

Just around 4 pm, the rain decided to pay us a visit so all 19 of us had to ridiculously run to get a bus back to Chulalongkorn University where our next set of speakers were waiting to educate us on media policy reforms in Thailand. Suddenly what was taught during our core subject Communications, Industries and Policies began to see the light of day. We were informed of the government controlled media situation in Thailand and how the civil rights movement usually fronted by student rights activist like ourselves were the reasons for media policy reforms in the past and present.A comparative analysis was also made on the media situation in Malaysia and Singapore vis a vis Thailand. A colourful question and answer session closed the day.

Having sat through two hours of talk, we were visibly tired and hungry. The feisty looking speaker from Chulalongkorn University was kind enough to walk us through the streets to a hawker centre for some Thai dishes of tom yam, mussels, omelette and fried rice. Filled with Thai delicacy in our tummies , we were all ready to see the other kinds of Thai delicacies, the kind that decorate the streets of Patpong at night. Patpong, the infamous red light district of Bangkok is usually a must see destination for tourists and we were no different. A kaleidescope of colours, music and skin is exactly what Patpong was. The streets were lined with male strip joints or what they call the ‘Ago go’ bars. Here, men were the object of the gaze; well formed, honey skinned beautiful men were parading in their tight little white shorts for the whole world. Moving on, our guides walked us through a series of bars, strip joints filled with women, and men who are now women aka transgered men in their glorious outfits beckoning us to come in and watch them shake their tushy. But of course being the greedy pseudo tourist that some of us were, we did not fail to buy almost every single crude T-shirt from the street shops.

From here, the groups parted into two, those who wanted to see only women parading their everything and those of us who also wanted to see the Adams of Bangkok showing some flesh and perhaps more. The night ended very differently depending on which side of street you were at. But it was truly Bangkok in all its senses : gloriously colourful.

By Meng Yoe

Bangkok, in terms of appearance, feels almost the same as Kuala Lumpur, where buildings scrape the sky, trains bullet through the city, and traffic jams spread through every single road. The one aspect of Thailand that makes Bangkok a unique place is its people.

When I say “people”, I do not mean Thai people alone, but rather the complete social make-up of the city. The working class Thais, businessmen, monks, students, tourists, among others, makes Bangkok a city of diverse discourses, each performing their own sets of unique practices that ultimately form Bangkok as a people.

It is in the observation of how these diverse groups of people interact, or not interact, that, in the case of this article, create and solidify certain cultural identities as well as stereotypes.

As a case study, I will take one location, Khao San, and a group of “people”, the tourists, and specifically Caucasian ones since they’re easy to identify, to illustrate my point. Khao San is an extremely popular tourist hotspot, where thousands upon thousands of tourists check-in and out of the little guest houses, or shop along the street with hundreds of different stalls that sells almost everything.

Staying in Khao San myself, I had the opportunity to make observations during my meals and aimless walkabouts. The observation that stands out the most is the tourist make-up in the area. Almost every single tourist look good physically. The term “look good” is based on the standards set in magazines, movies, and other forms of mass media. In other words, the notion of the “perfect” body is very powerfully practiced here.

Foreigners fill the streets of tourist hotspots in Bangkok

I actually did ask myself while I was pondering over a midnight drink with my friends whether I’ve seen an “ugly” tourist so far. I really can’t remember.

This is disturbing for a two reasons. Firstly, what is it about this place that draws only “attractive” tourists to the area? Perhaps there is an unspoken rule that is enforced in the home country of these tourists, where media representations of attractive people in foreign countries drive the “attractive” people to the tourist spots and the “others” away from it. True or not, the fact is there are powers at work outside Thailand that enforces and maintains this phenomenon.

Secondly, what disturbs me is how this issue, can potentially hamper the process of the Asian community trying to bridge the social gap between East and West. There are two obvious discourses at work in Khao San road. The first is the Caucasian tourist, who is the consumer with a lot of money, ready to bargain to their advantage. Second are the Thais, who are sellers at the lower rungs of the economic ladder with little bargaining power.

Throw in a third active discourse, which is the media that causes Thai people to be so used to watching “perfect” white people on TV, then have the exact notions reinforced before their very eyes with each passing Caucasian customer. Then, because these Thais are completely unable to shake off the West superiority mentality, the tourists will continue to view these working class Thais as weak.

This is a scenario of discourse making discourse. Perhaps it is the discourse of Westerners that reinforces the discourse of the working class Thais, or vice versa, or most probably both discourses are working simultaneously to make local-foreign perspectives of each other an almost permanent and unchangeable thing.

By Wanie

Sawasdee…

It was our second day in Bangkok and we had to wake up as early as 7 am. (And for me, 7 am is way too early.) Activities for the day included: a morning visit to Duang Prateep Foundation in Klong Toey, a slum area located in East Bangkok; and in the afternoon, a visit to the Pommahakan community which is ironically located opposite the Grand Palace in Bangkok City. Six students from the Political Science faculty of Chulalongkorn University, selected by Miss Kanokrat, acted as our patient tour guides-cum-translators.

At 7.30am, we divided ourselves in groups and took off in five taxi’s. Members in my group were Shazana, Joana, Yasir and myself. It was a tight squeeze. Sigh…

Traveling in the morning in Bangkok is just like traveling in Kuala Lumpur: massive jams everywhere. But in my opinion Bangkok jams take the cake. I think this could be due to the rich variety of vehicles available in Bangkok: cars, taxis, buses, tuk-tuks and even motorcycle taxis. So… try to imagine having all these vehicles vying for space at the same time. I also think that perhaps taxi drivers in KL are much better - at least they speak English. On the way to Klong Toey, the taxi that we took met with an accident. Thus, there was a jam, an accident and not to forget the heat (it was really hot)… what a great combination! We had to change taxi. The good news is that we paid less.

The journey to Klong Toey took around two arduous hours. My first impression when I reached Klong Toey was that it looked like one of the kawasan setinggan (squatter) area. But I was wrong. The visit to the slum area started out with a tour around the slum guided by the representative from the Duang Prateep Foundation. The slum area was way beyond what I thought. It was not even like the setinggan area. The houses were so small (I think the setinggan houses are bigger) and the lorong (lanes) that we used to walk around the slum was just satu depa (one arm’s width).

After touring around the slum area, we walked back to the Duang Prateep Foundation building to attend a talk by Vitahavas Khongkhakul. The talk by Vitahavas was enlightening. One statement of his that I will never forget is: “Dog cages in a rich man’s house is [often] more comfortable than the slum people’s home”.

Before we left they served us lunch and desert. All of us (the Monash party as well as the Chulalongkorn students) actually helped with the food preparation. It was fun. We left Klong Toey around 1.30pm.

The next destination was the Pommahakan community. We took taxis but were exhausted. In the taxi Shaz and Yasir slept soundlessly. I was tired too but could not sleep. When we reached Pommahakan, everyone else was there except for one group. They were lost. The talk in Pommahakam was informal, given by Tek, the sub leader of the proud community. After the talk, I was impressed by his passion, spirit and devotion to the cause.

We left Phommahakam area around 5pm. Some of us decided to walk back to the hotel and some decided to brave tuk tuks. I chose the latter and enjoyed riding it. It felt like one of those wild rides at fun fairs.

By Kwan Suet Yeing

Thailand first heard its people’s outcry in May and June 1973. Students and workers rallied in the streets to demand a more democratic constitution and genuine parliamentary elections in contrast to Thanom Kittikachorns’ new interim constitution where the appointed legislative assembly consisted of two- thirds of the members of which would be drawn from the military and police.

The victorious removal of Thanom resulted in a free environment where students and activistｓ could express themselves through community radios and their own publications such as The Sovereign. A wide spectrum of political ideas were introduced to the public when Western literature on political ideologies and reform were brought in and translated. But the people’s political and social mushrooming were clamped down after a short period of three years when the military again surfaced and came into power under Sucinda Kraprayoon, a former army commander.

The turning point came in May 1992 when military crackdowns on pro-democracy protesters and the total blackout of all state-run television stations during the crisis provoked strong criticisms from the public and print media on government controls over Thai media.

As many as 30,000 demonstrators, mostly young middle class and students, gathered at Sanam Luang, demanding Suchinda to step down. The democratically-charged climate persisted after the crisis, after general elections were scheduled in September 1992 and Anand Panyarachun was appointed head government.　

With encouragement from Anand, radio stations began to report politics more openly. Interactions between the radio broadcasters and the audience persisted. To a certain extent, television seemed to have also developed a more liberal attitude. That is, some political talk shows (such as Nation Talk hosted by famous journalist Sitthichai Yoon of The Nation newspaper and Mong Thang Mum [an alternative media]) which allowed audience participation, became more popular (http://www.busakorn.addr.com/thaitcom/thaitcom-may92.htm).

The most significant policy change in Thai electronic media as a result of the crisis was made in the Anand interim government. That is, private ownership was approved for television for the first time. Four new UHF (ultra high frequency) TV stations were offered for bidding.

One significant individual whose policies have largely impacted the media’s direction is Sangchai Sunthornvut, the late director of the Mass Communication Organization of Thailand (MCOT). During his term, MCOT awarded several licenses to private companies to operate cable services. The main motive, as openly verbalized by Sangchai, was to break the near monopoly by IBC, a Shinawatra subsidiary which formerly controls over 90 percent of the cable television market. This forced IBC to improve its quality due to competition, costing Shinawatra over 300 million baht. Sangchai (who was recently assassinated speculatively due to his recent drastic changes in several policy areas and serious clashes within the board of directors) strongly pushed for open economic competition in the media industry. He called for more participation from different private companies, abolition of monopoly, and more transparent and expansive role of the MCOT as a national media agency to serve the “public interest”.

But Sangchai’s assassination put the media liberalization move to a halt and with the current Thai government under Thaksin Shinawatra, most TV stations and key agencies are forced to use Shinawatra’s Thaicom satellites. And due to the fact that Thailand’s political system remains a multi-party system – which is plagued by political stalemates and competition among politicians, military old power, and influential business groups – the policy of Thai media remains hard to change.

This is especially true for electronic media that is extremely important as means of political as well as economic control for these groups. Initiatives to bring about any drastic changes which counter the existing political and economic order can result in violent reactions from such order, as demonstrated in the case of Sangchai’s assassination.

In sum, the power relations between the media and the authority will always exist. This crucial issue remains: to what extent does the government exert its control, and who among the Thais would take a stand and dare break away from the system?