"""AMAZING""" Thailand

The Airport

So the list of complains go on and on about the new airport (name I still can’t pronounce nor spell). The tarmac is cracking up now and they have to close off many sections of the airport. Planes have to land elsewhere to refuel as traffic congested up due to section closure. Duty free shops breeching their contracts by occupying more space are now being faced with penalty and someone gonna get fried for “closing one eye”. Fortunately the control tower that somehow resembles the world’s largest inverted cigarette shoved into the ground is still standing. And just when you thought that things can not get any more worse or stupid, it hits you. Racing against the clock, I made it past customs. With ATM card on hand, I approached Siam Commercial Bank’s Currency Exchange.

I asked “Any ATM machine here? I need to make a withdrawal for exchange.”
Short answer back “No.”
“Where is ATM?”
“Outside.”
“Can I go outside now that I checked in?”
“No.”

Then the next farang beside me began to make a joke out of it “Mai dai mai dai, everything mai dai….(cannot cannot, everything cannot)”. My blood boils at airport planning. No ATM machines after check-in. Just what kind of image is the airport trying to paint about Thailand to tell the world? I flew with only 360 Baht in my pocket. Thailand – land of a Thousand Smiles. Airport – Terminal of a Thousand Dumb Asses. I wonder if wind too strong, the roof will fly off the airport terminal.

The Cinema

There is a great trilogy movie right now called King Naresuan. It is about the very detailed history of Thailand, how she was just provinces with independent Kings, about the wars, about the role Myanmar played during the pre-nationalized days of this country. The movie was made on a budget of BT$700,000,000. Yes, seven hundred million Baht. I asked if there were subtitles in English. A slow doubtful “Yes” came as the reply from the promoter beside the show schedule screen. Again I asked the same when I brought the movie tickets over the counter. “Yes” and the infamous Thailand smile I got from cashier. So I spent 3 hours in the movie, no sign of any subtitles. Gave a good one to the gay manager after the show and she-he only apologized. This is to be a BT$700,000,000 educational patriotic nation movie but what foreigners get to learn from it? We get to learn that Thai women in the past do not wear bras and are topless. Myanmar women however, are covered. King Naresuan, a great Thai movie rendered meaningless by incompetent useless clueless movie ushers. Second time I encountered this exact situation.