Just Another Day In Paradise
The proud developing nation of Thailand eagerly tries to convey the impression that the country ranges among the more wealthy, more successful nations. A few glitter fronts and beach panoramas don’t make up though for real life. On the contrary, is Thailand losing ground?
Take the shots below provided by AFP/Getty Images – with one byline saying: “Like other countries in the region, Thailand’s economy is suffering from the global financial crisis, and domestic political turmoil has also sent the stock market tumbling since anti-government protests broke out in late May.” And shown are Bangkok shacks.
What a change of fortune. Suggested Thailand looks more like an African shantytown – and is regarded again as “poor.” Tells the byline of a Bangkok shot: “Aid to poor countries is dwindling as rich ones pump trillions of dollars into their crumbling financial systems, threatening U.N. poverty reduction goals, the founder of the U.N. Millennium Goal Campaign said.”
“A woman cleans peanuts outside her shack in Bangkok on October 28th, 2008″ (source):
“People sit next to a railway track in Bangkok on October 28th, 2008″ (source):
“A man cooks barbecue chicken as a train passes by shack houses in Bangkok on October 28th, 2008″ (source):
Slum Tourist I am not, though I have visited many a slum in my travels. I have also worked with NGO’s and done my bit, but I hear there is an increasing interest in Slum Tourism. Anybody know anything about this? Apart from the tours that NGO’s give to philanthropists, are there any commercially available tours to Klong Toey?
Tourism & voyeurism Peter?
Never far apart. Mumbai’s Dharavi, politely called the world’s largest “informal settlement,” would offer such tours.
Haven’t heard of Klong Toey tours – but a photographer just called me, touring Klong Toey, we’ll have a Klong Toey photo report online soon.
BangkokDan
Peering through lines of dirty washing, yes, quite the attraction. My curiosity was not an endorsement, more a search to evaluate where the next post-financial meltdown trends will be. American slums are maybe as dangerous as parts of Iraq or Afghanistan. Klong Toey is a walk in the park by comparison.
This is a bit offensive. Thailand has made great economic progress, and improved the lives of many of her citizens. Those pictures are hardly representative of modern Bangkok.
That being said, many people do live like this. Unfortunately, the rights of the less wealthy are not often respected in Thailand.
Timely reality check.
I could take a walk from my office in central Bangkok and within five minutes I could easily find similar scenes. For many Bangkok residents sadly this is life, however it’s a side of the city that tourists and many expats living here never see.
Pictures like these may not be good for Bangkok’s image but, as one of the comments about says, it’s reality.