The Three Ts:
Tsunami, Thailand, and Tourists

by Paul Techo

I hate my country. I hate the country of my ethnic origin. Of course, I do not hate Thailand, but since I have grown up, there are things about my country that has made me extremely uncomfortable. Thailand is not even my favorite place to visit anymore; it isn't even in my top two favorite Asian destinations. Even if that is the case, my heart is still there right now with all of the Thai citizens (emphasizing Thai citizens), especially with the villagers who are being overlooked. And if there weren't so much red tape, bureaucracy, and bullshit through the volunteering process of organizations like UNICEF and the Red Cross, I would be in Southern Thailand right now. Do not get me wrong, I am very proud of my Thai heritage, and even though I grew up in the middle of the American heartland with folks you see on Jerry Springer and Maury Povich, I still manage to hold on the my language and culture. But what has me perturbed and peeved even more than all the Southeast Asian lives that has been lost, is the treatment of the tourists in Thailand. Or should I say the treatment of the tourists, and the lack of treatment and help that the native Thais are receiving.

I thought that my country's pandering to tourists cannot get any lower than this past fall, when the Thai authorities started to hand out condoms to foreign tourists complete with an “international size” for foreigners (see here, if you don't believe me). But now, through out the worst natural disaster of the last 100 years, it seems that my country has hit a new low.

The lead from Alisa Tang's AP article read, “While foreign survivors of the ocean's onslaught were put up in an international school complete with beds, TVs and Internet connections, Thais from a devastated fishing village slept outside, many without blankets, burning wood to keep warm and keep mosquitoes at bay.”

Reliance on tourism is detrimental to the heart and soul of a country, and in Thailand, tourism generate 40 percent of the country's income. Tourism is the modern day indentured colonization. Tourists, especially white tourists, are bestowed with the kind of respect and treatment somewhere between royalty and a rock star. They have it so good that even the ugliest balding, one-armed white man can get the Thai girl of his choice (true story from personal observation). The abundance of tourists and their superior attitudes have made some natives like me very uncomfortable each time I returned “home.” The number of tourists is equal to or exceeding the number of locals on the islands and beach areas. Phi Phi Island does not even feel like Thailand, it feels like a white colony with Thai people as guides, small time merchants, servants, and call girls. All of this was bound to happen as the Thai government and business people developed (and overdeveloped) the Andaman coast and the islands. But putting the tourists' health and well being above the needs of the native people, while predictable, is appalling and unacceptable.

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Thai soldiers carrying coffins after the tsunami.