Friday 6 July 2012

Editor's Last Words

By Low Jia Wei

As I stepped into the familiar 7-Eleven corner store of my apartment back in Malaysia, something rang different about it. Sure, it had the iconic ‘7’ and the familiar dee-doo ring that greeted patrons, but there were some things amiss. As I stood in front of the beverage chillers, my eyes searched the cans, looking for that refreshing manao soda and the cultured milk drink we so fondly dubbed ‘wizard drink’. Sadly, there were none to be found. At the cashier’s desk, in place of rotating sausages of all manners (pork, chicken, cheese filled, spicy, etc.) were breath mints and condoms. When I received my change from the cashier for my paltry pack of Chips Ahoy, the words that were my mantra for the past 9 days escaped my lips. Khob kun khap.

******

It’s been quite the journey for me, this year’s study trip. I had a feeling I might have bitten off more than I could chew when I unceremoniously became Chief Editor (which I shamelessly vied for). My premonitions were correct. This year’s team of travelers had quite the personalities, from the headstrong leader of the video team, Farah to the sassy (I mean that in a good way) webmaster, Leena to our very wary chaperone, Andrea, who must have needed a ton of eye drops from keeping her eyes peeled all the time in the dusty city of Krung Thep. In the immortal words of Helen Sneha, “This can go either really badly or really well.” Thank the divine it was the latter.

We’ve been mostly free of major conflicts throughout this trip, for which I am very much grateful. Indeed, our journey through Bangkok and Buriram was very much drama free and our team really did well in working together. Special commendations should be given to the writers, editors and the online team (basically everyone) for maintaining an excellent work ethic and updating the blog on time every night. Ironically, however, I am writing this post five days late.

For the ‘study’ portion of the study trip, I for one had a fantastic time with our speakers and facilitators. It’s really the opportunity to see the underbelly and lived experiences of a place that makes it all the more special to me, and that we did. Learning about the politics and history of Thailand from Professor Thitinan was especially enlightening to me, short as it may have been, and it really was quite the eye opener to learn of the many, many coups that Thailand has experienced in a century alone. And talking to Empower and learning about Bangkok’s sex tourism industry was also an experience unto itself which I hope has cleared some preconceptions that some of us might have had about sex workers. And I daresay all of us got quite a kick out of watching a spunky, five foot, middle aged lady wear a sparkly bikini top (it’s less sordid than I make it out to be). Learning about Thailand’s supposed LGBT acceptance is also a learning opportunity that was invaluable. So many of us (don’t deny it) associate Thailand with the kaythoey (ladyboys), gay Thai boys, and society’s perceived tolerance, that we automatically assume it must be a Mecca for LGBT people. But as always it’s never quite as cut and dry as it seems. I guess while I’m at it, I should say that Muay Thai is really, really fun. Though the experience could have been made better by not having to put on extremely sweaty gloves and handwraps. And not having a professional Muay Thai fighter send bullets of sweat flying onto a certain editor’s face via backflips.

It’s nice to be home, but at the same time I will miss things about Bangkok and Thailand. I’ll miss the food. I’ll miss the clean streets of Bangkok. I’ll miss the 7-Elevens. I’ll miss Dr. Moore chattering away in Thai and calling us lunatics. I’ll miss singing loudly in a tourist bar with reckless abandon. I’ll miss the polite nature of Thais. I’ll miss the 30 baht cans of beer. I’ll miss watching other tourists squirm at the sight of fried insects. I’ll miss being able to practice my badly mispronounced Thai, limited as it may be. I’ll miss being able to have a delicious meal for less than 40 baht (~RM4). I’ll miss waiting for the ridiculously packed BTS train and chatting with my fellow comrades. I’ll miss discussing politics, religion, shopping and music with my fellow travelers.

But most of all, I’ll miss the mangoes. By Jove, I’ll miss the mangoes. 





Low Jia Wei, 24, is majoring in Writing and International Studies and enjoys the simple things in life, like 6x6 Sudoku and beginners level Minesweeper.




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