Martial law was declared in Bangkok a few days after we got here. There was no impact on us, despite the 10 PM curfew. Two days later, there was a full-blown coup d'etat.
Members of one of the warring factions opposing the coup were discussing this with the army while our taxi was stuck in a traffic jam in front of the McDonald's you see in these pictures. They were taken at about the time we were there.
Members of one of the warring factions opposing the coup were discussing this with the army while our taxi was stuck in a traffic jam in front of the McDonald's you see in these pictures. They were taken at about the time we were there.
I don't want to over-dramatize things. We have no skin in this battle and neither side would have targeted foreigners specifically, but the majority of the tens of thousands of demonstrators were coming down a side street and we could hear the noise of the approaching mob crescendoing every second, so it was still a fairly scary few minutes.
We did not witness any more incidents the next five days we were there, although we have heard reports of things getting worse.
We did not witness any more incidents the next five days we were there, although we have heard reports of things getting worse.
Dogma
Thailand is by far the most religiously fanatic country I've ever visited. Buddhism is not the State religion (what a frightening concept), but it might as well be. On a special Buddhist holiday, no one was allowed to sell alcohol for 24 hours, not even resorts catering only to tourists. This is puzzling, since you have to be high on something to believe what they believe happened that day. The statues of the Buddha are very fickle: they don't like to see shoulders and knees (of women only, of course - religion helping to further male domination: I am shocked!) and they cannot stand the sight of shoes, even in your hands. In one temple, at least one of the thousands of statues is also offended by men's knees. This constant taking off of shoes gets very tiring, and painful for me due to plantar fasciitis, but it is strictly enforced by lay people, not monks. Monks are an economically parasitic class and they do no work and have a lot of privileges. Granted, it is not as bad as Tibet (before the Chinese invasion), where the monks had the whole population in virtual enslavement.
Interestingly, Malaysia, where Islam is the state religion, things are a bit more open. There are enough burkahs to be seen to provide a steady level of rage at the men who have made women do this; at the same time, alcohol is freely available almost everywhere at any time of the day or night. The only restriction is that it may not be sold to Muslims, so if you look Malay, they will card you: if the word "Islam" is on your ID card, no sale. Every citizen must carry an ID card, the first of which is issued at birth, at which time you are assigned a religion (Malays are automatically called Muslims). This has to be one of the most egregious cases of continuing child abuse anywhere in the world. To cap it off, Malays are not allowed to convert to another religion, non-Malay Muslims can apply to a sharia court, who will more than likely send them to a rehabilitation camp! Certain interpretations of sharia also specify the death penalty for apostasy, so all in all, they don't get too many requests.
One of the strangest proscriptions on female dress is that of Hindu temples. Hindus today are extremely prude, but they don't seem to mind looking at all the naked women and priapic statues carved all over their temples. A rare case of a religion evolving backwards: priests cannot have power if there are no pleasurable activities to forbid.
Thailand is by far the most religiously fanatic country I've ever visited. Buddhism is not the State religion (what a frightening concept), but it might as well be. On a special Buddhist holiday, no one was allowed to sell alcohol for 24 hours, not even resorts catering only to tourists. This is puzzling, since you have to be high on something to believe what they believe happened that day. The statues of the Buddha are very fickle: they don't like to see shoulders and knees (of women only, of course - religion helping to further male domination: I am shocked!) and they cannot stand the sight of shoes, even in your hands. In one temple, at least one of the thousands of statues is also offended by men's knees. This constant taking off of shoes gets very tiring, and painful for me due to plantar fasciitis, but it is strictly enforced by lay people, not monks. Monks are an economically parasitic class and they do no work and have a lot of privileges. Granted, it is not as bad as Tibet (before the Chinese invasion), where the monks had the whole population in virtual enslavement.
Interestingly, Malaysia, where Islam is the state religion, things are a bit more open. There are enough burkahs to be seen to provide a steady level of rage at the men who have made women do this; at the same time, alcohol is freely available almost everywhere at any time of the day or night. The only restriction is that it may not be sold to Muslims, so if you look Malay, they will card you: if the word "Islam" is on your ID card, no sale. Every citizen must carry an ID card, the first of which is issued at birth, at which time you are assigned a religion (Malays are automatically called Muslims). This has to be one of the most egregious cases of continuing child abuse anywhere in the world. To cap it off, Malays are not allowed to convert to another religion, non-Malay Muslims can apply to a sharia court, who will more than likely send them to a rehabilitation camp! Certain interpretations of sharia also specify the death penalty for apostasy, so all in all, they don't get too many requests.
One of the strangest proscriptions on female dress is that of Hindu temples. Hindus today are extremely prude, but they don't seem to mind looking at all the naked women and priapic statues carved all over their temples. A rare case of a religion evolving backwards: priests cannot have power if there are no pleasurable activities to forbid.
In 1926, someone in Vietnam invented a new religion called Cao Dai. It was based on Buddhism, Confucianism, Taoism and Christianity. You would think that they would at least get a fantastic holiday calendar, but they seem to be a pretty dour bunch, at least in their temple.
I don't know what all their taboos are, but it's dollars to donuts that they frown upon sex, drugs and rock'n'roll. They, too, have a thing about shoes. This is the Buddhist part of the equation, I guess.
Things are complicated since, inevitably, despite being less than a hundred years old, the religion has splintered in at least 6 versions of The Truth.
Men and women worship in the same temple at the same time, but on different sides. Only men (some of them) get to wear armbands, which, as always, turns them into insufferable, pompous little dictators and shoe police. They make sure to boss the congregation around by making a random selection of worshipers shift their position a few millimetres before the service begins.
While women can rise up a notch or two above the status of mere worshiper, only men can aspire to wearing coloured robes and the really cool hats.
Silent Movie
We have missed going to the movies, until this week in KL (Kuala Lumpur), where we saw two of them. The only English language movies they show seem to be Hollywood summer blockbusters, short on intelligence and long on special effects, but what the hell, it's fun to go to the movies. Tickets cost only three to five dollars and you don't have to take a second mortgage to buy popcorn. On the other hand, the salty popcorn was sweet before it was salted, so not a great treat. We have seen Edge of Tomorrow, which was better than I hoped; I think the 3D version would be great. We have also seen the latest infliction of the X-Men franchise, which ended up being more entertaining than I feared it would be. One disturbing element was the censorship of the movie, with at least one "fuck-off" being blanked. I abhor censorship and the prissy prudes who enforce it. The movie was rated the equivalent of PG13, but you should at least have the choice to see the uncensored product. Next week, A Million Ways to Die in the West, the latest Seth MacFarlane vehicle, opens in KL. It is rated 18, but apparently even films rated 18 have been censored in the past. If a Seth MacFarlane script is indeed heavily censored, we should only get a few words every minute. It will be interesting to see.
We have missed going to the movies, until this week in KL (Kuala Lumpur), where we saw two of them. The only English language movies they show seem to be Hollywood summer blockbusters, short on intelligence and long on special effects, but what the hell, it's fun to go to the movies. Tickets cost only three to five dollars and you don't have to take a second mortgage to buy popcorn. On the other hand, the salty popcorn was sweet before it was salted, so not a great treat. We have seen Edge of Tomorrow, which was better than I hoped; I think the 3D version would be great. We have also seen the latest infliction of the X-Men franchise, which ended up being more entertaining than I feared it would be. One disturbing element was the censorship of the movie, with at least one "fuck-off" being blanked. I abhor censorship and the prissy prudes who enforce it. The movie was rated the equivalent of PG13, but you should at least have the choice to see the uncensored product. Next week, A Million Ways to Die in the West, the latest Seth MacFarlane vehicle, opens in KL. It is rated 18, but apparently even films rated 18 have been censored in the past. If a Seth MacFarlane script is indeed heavily censored, we should only get a few words every minute. It will be interesting to see.