Meditations in Bangkok -3

A tourist favorite

Despite all our adventures in improving the world economy and trade, I realized at the mere sight of the infrastructure in the capital city of Thailand how much Manila and the rest of our dear Republic has been left behind. Moreover, the quality of service and the variety of offerings of our Asean neighbor made it inevitable that tourists would be flocking there like bees converging in a hive.

Seeing all those US dollars being converted into Thai baht at stalls all over the city meant some dynamic and exciting event continuously takes place, pumping economic life into that country through tourism. Even if Thai cab drivers can make their Filipino counterparts look like saints on the road, no one was ripping off any awkward tourist… not unless you are a willing victim or comes from a genetic pool overflowing with nincompoops. The honesty of the people mixed with their charm proved so much more alluring than any bargain offered by the stores.

A typical question asked of anyone who spent a few days in Bangkok is: "Did you get to see any of the shows in Patpong (the red-light district and shopping center)?"

Yes, we did. What we saw made me cringe. I realized that the scenes I shot of the sexual gymnastics in my most celebrated and controversial movie looked like they came from a Walt Disney movie. In Bangkok, "Live Show" would have looked like "Tanging Yaman."