During the last months I have been wandering whether my relation with Thailand has not come to a watershed. There have been a lot of negative news since September, many of them being possibly forerunners for bad things to come.
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| Burmese boys accused of murder in Koh Tao |
First there was this awful crime in Koh Tao, showing that lives are worthless for some people living there. And then there were these two young Burmese who look rather like scapegoats to me, the Royal Thai police having obviously botched the investigation. The boys could now face life imprisonment or death penalty for crimes they probably did not commit, either to protect some high interests, or because of the laziness and prejudices of the Thai police. I feel deeply sorry for these two migrant workers who wanted only to have a better life and to help their families. Of course, no link with the fact that these were two rather cute 21 y/o lads – at least before these gruelling months spent in Thai prisons.
Then there were the new beach regulations, aiming to wipe out the beach operators that most of us love so much when we travel to Pattaya or Phuket or elsewhere. No more chairs to laze around in the heat, no more umbrellas to provide some shade when needed, no more massage boys or sellers, would have been a nightmare, even if I do not go every day to the beach. I understand that, at least in Pattaya, things have not changed a lot and that there will be only some more free space for those who do not need these amenities – which is not bad. As for the reason behind this umpteenth crackdown, there is probably one ...
And we also had the police controls in Sukhumwit, the up and downs in immigration rules, the growing numbers of crimes against farangs in Pattaya, road accidents, higher prices and Euro plummeting, Chinese tourists as ill-behaved as ever .. no need to throw any more in. And I do not even dare to think of the forthcoming political turmoil when a certain sad event will inevitably happen.
Finally I chose to spend less time reading Thaivisa, where some contributors are Thai-bashing professionals. I also could read some really good travel reports on the web-boards. And I rather use Facebook where more and more cute boys throng into – including in certain groups where some bluntly offer their (paid) services.
All in all, my glasses have lost some of their rose hue (there was not much left anyway), but I am still as eager as ever to go back very soon, in fact at the end of January.
I could manage to plan a short stay in Cambodia – just in case …
