A big thanks to Erin M for her photography work! Couldn’t have happened without you…Check out my
FLICKR to see the rest of the wonderful shots for this post as well as the pictures I finally posted from
my trips to Burma from two posts ago (finally!).
Prepare for my longest post yet, folks…
Let me first apologize for not telling you all that I’m alive. After an emotional farewell to Liz and Hillary, getting settled back into school and adjusting to my new classes and schedule was a bit time consuming. Soon afterward, my mother arrived here in Thailand for a visit! Needless to say, I’ve been quite busy this last month, but I’m back, finally, and ready to tell you about my adventures.
During my first week back at school, I was mostly trying to find my way back into school mode. After a week of fun in the sun with my friends, putting on my uniform and waking up for my 9:00 am classes wasn’t exactly what I wanted to be doing. However, I soon found that my classes were so interesting (well at least three out of four of them) that I didn’t mind waking up and going. I’m currently enrolled in Economics of the Sex Trade in Southeast Asia, Contemporary Thai film, Thai Language, and Globalization in Mainland Southeast Asia. It seems like I’m going to have a lot of work this semester, but it’s work that for the most part I’m going to enjoy doing.
Additionally, I got back into my spiritual work for the first time in a while. Since finals were over for a time and the work for this quarter hadn’t started to pile up quite yet, I took some time to read my book for A Course in Miracles, the spiritual path that I follow. One day, while reading it, I came upon a quote that inspired my newest tattoo. Rather than explaining it myself, let me direct you to the lesson in the workbook from which it comes. The quote is, “let me not forget my function”
Lesson 64
“Let me not forget my function.”
Today’s idea is merely another way of saying, “Let me not wander into temptation.” The purpose of the world you see is to obscure your function of forgiveness, and provide you with a justification for forgetting it. It is the temptation to abandon God and His Son, taking on a physical appearance. It is this which the body’s eyes look upon. Nothing the body’s eyes seem to see can be anything but a form of temptation, since this was the purpose of the body itself. Yet we have learned that the Holy Spirit has another use for all the illusions you have made, and therefore He sees another purpose in them. To the Holy Spirit, the world is a place where you learn to forgive yourself what you think of as your sins. In this perception, the physical appearance of temptation becomes the spiritual recognition of salvation.
To review our last few lessons, your function here is to be the light of the world, a function given you by God. It is only the arrogance of the ego that leads you to question this, and only the fear of the ego that induces you to regard yourself as unworthy of the task assigned to you by God Himself. The world’s salvation awaits your forgiveness, because through it does the Son of God escape from all illusions and thus from all temptation. The Son of God is you. Only by fulfilling the function given you by God will you be happy. That is because your function is to be happy by using the means by which happiness becomes inevitable. There is no other way. Therefore every time you choose whether or not to fulfill your function, you are really choosing whether to be happy or not. Let us remember this today. Let us remind ourselves of it in the morning and again at night, and all through the day as well. Prepare yourself in advance for all the decisions you will make today by remembering that they are all really very simple. Each one will lead to happiness or unhappiness. Can such a simple decision really be difficult to make? Let not the form of the decision deceive you. Complexity of form does not imply complexity of content. It is impossible that any decision on earth can have a content different from just this one simple choice. That is the only choice the Holy Spirit sees. Therefore it is the only choice there is. Today, then, let us practice with these thoughts:
“Let me not forget my function.”
“Let me not try to substitute mine for God’s.”
“Let me forgive and be happy.”
“This is the world it is my function to save.”
Nothing major happened until the Loi Kathong festival rolled around, but life certainly picked up speed at this point, and has yet to slow down! Just to give you all some background, the Loi Kathong takes place on the evening of the full moon of the 12th month in the traditional Thai lunar calendar. In the western calendar this usually falls in November.
Loi literally means 'to float,' while krathong refers to the lotus-shaped receptacle which can float on the water. Originally, the krathong was made of banana leaves or the layers of the trunk of a banana tree or a spider lily plant. A krathong contains food, betel nuts, flowers, joss sticks, candle and coins. Modern krathongs are more often made of bread or Styrofoam. A bread krathong will disintegrate in a few a days and be eaten by fish and other animals. The traditional banana stalk krathongs are also biodegradable, but Styrofoam krathongs are frowned on, since they are polluting and may take years to disappear. Regardless of the composition, a krathong will be decorated with elaborately-folded banana leaves, flowers, candles and incense sticks. A low value coin is sometimes included as an offering to the river spirits. During the night of the full moon, Thais will float their krathong on a river, canal or a pond lake. The festival is believed to originate in an ancient practice of paying respect to the spirit of the waters. Today it is simply a time to have fun.
Loi Krathong coincides with the Lanna (northern Thai) festival known as "Yi Peng" Due to a difference between the old Lanna calendar and the Thai calendar, Yi Peng is held on a full moon of the 2nd month of the Lanna calendar ("Yi" meaning "2nd" and "Peng" meaning "month" in the Lanna language). A multitude of Lanna-style sky lanterns are launched into the air where they resemble large flocks of giant fluorescent jellyfish gracefully floating by through the sky. The festival is meant as a time for tham bun to make merit. People usually make khom loi from a thin fabric, such as rice paper, to which a candle or fuel cell is attached. When the fuel cell is lit, the resulting hot air which is trapped inside the lantern creates enough lift for the khom loi to float up in to the sky. In addition, people will also decorate their houses, gardens and temples with khom fai : Intricately shaped paper lanterns which take on different forms. Khom thue are lanterns which are carried around hanging from a stick, khom khwaen are the hanging lanterns, and khom pariwat which are placed at temples and which revolve due to the heat of the candle inside. The most elaborate Yi Peng celebrations can be seen in Chiang Mai, where I am.
This year, it took place over the course of 3 days, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. Thursday was the full moon and therefore possibly the biggest day of celebration. My friends and I walked around the bridge and joined Thais and other international travelers in releasing lanterns, setting off fireworks, and floating krathongs down the river. The streets were completely packed and it literally felt like being in a different world. Fireworks were going off just feet away from me, people were running around as if there were no restrictions at all. The city was transformed with lights and decorations into a wonderland. Everything was glittery and gilded. It was gorgeous. What was more beautiful was looking up into the sky at the thousands of lanterns, knowing that each was set off with love and wish by a perfect stranger. It reminded me that the world is beautiful and that I’m not alone.
Thursday night was a little bit crazy. It was my first night at the festival and I did not arrive back to my dorm until 11:00pm. I had been preparing for my mother to arrive on Friday night at 9:05pm for about a week and had thought of all the things I wanted to do when she arrived. To my surprise, when I arrived back to my dorm on Thursday night I had anxious emails from my mother telling me that she was at the airport and had been stranded there without luggage or a phone for 2 hours! I was HORRIFIED. I freaked out and knew that I couldn’t do a thing about it. I felt like the worst daughter in the world and couldn’t believe I made such a mistake! Luckily, she was able to get a ride to my dorm and somehow I found a ride for her to a near by resort. The whole situation was a wee bit stressful and was not resolved until about 1:00am. At least I get an extra day with her!
Friday I skipped class and caught up on sleep so that I would be raring and ready to go later that night with my mom. She met my friends and I at the final night of the festival. It was so nice to share this experience with her. We ate street food, admired the scenery, people watched, spent time with my friends, set off lanterns, released krathongs, freed animals back into the river, released birds, and set off fireworks. We then explored a bit of the city and walked to my favorite bar, only to find that it was too busy to go stay and enjoy a drink. We decided to take that as a sign that it was time for bed so we grabbed a tuk-tuk and mom enjoyed her very first ride in one. The end to a perfect day!
Saturday my friends Berrett, Erin and I all woke up early and headed over to my mothers resort for a delicious breakfast and to enjoy some time by the pool. Mid afternoon, my mom booked us all 90-minute massages at the resort, which ended just in time for us to jump in our cab to Tiger Kingdom. We spent the evening playing and cuddling with Tigers and tiger cubs. It was unreal! At first we were uncomfortable with the tigers being kept in captivity, but felt relieved when we found that it was a rehabilitation and repopulation project for this endangered species.
Sunday, mom and I swung by the dorm to pick up Erin and Berrett and headed off to Sticky Waterfall (also known as Bua Tong). I have mentioned this waterfall in the past. It is the fall that you can climb and play on as if it were dry. This was one thing I knew I wanted my mom to get a chance to see and we had a wonderful time there with my friends. On our way back, we stopped and climbed just over 200 stairs to a temple inside a cave. Then, we headed back for lunch and enjoyed a little down time before showering and going to explore the Sunday walking market. It’s a HUGE weekly market that I knew mom would love, even though it can be totally overwhelming! We got some great Christmas ideas , heehee! Then we all sat down for the best pizza in Thailand before heading back to the resort to watch a movie.
Monday, mom and I were so exhausted from our past couple days that we slept until the early afternoon. It was a down day!
I then had to leave for a class trip to Bangkok and left mom on her own for a few days. She explored villages, caves and hot springs, climbed mountains and took in some of Thailand’s most wonderful sights. I’d say she did a great job!
I on the other hand, had a very interesting few days. Wednesday we spent the entire day traveling and after a 15 hour bus ride from Chiang Mai to Bangkok, it was time to get out of and stretch my legs! My friends Stephanie, Chelsea, Chelsea’s visiting boyfriend Nate, Berrett and I found a cute little Thai restaurant in which to eat before hopping into a cab and heading over to the tallest building in Bangkok to enjoy a drink at Bangkok’s highest bar. This place was so swanky that I actually felt uncomfortable! We enjoyed some wonderful conversation and beautiful sights. Then it was time to hit the sack and prepare for our early day ahead of us!
the Banyan Tree roof top bar
Thursday was jam-packed full of places to go and things to do. We left our hotel around 7:45 and made our way over to Parliament, the National Assembly of Thailand. This is the
legislative branch of the government of
Thailand. The National Assembly of Thailand is a
bicameral body, consisting of two chambers: the
upper house, (the
Senate of Thailand), and the
lower house, (the
House of Representatives of Thailand). The Assembly is composed of 650 members: 500 Representatives (MPs) and 150 Senators. The National Assembly was established in
1932 after the adoption of Thailand's
first Constitution, which transformed Thailand from an
absolute monarchy to a
constitutional monarchy. The Assembly took its current form after the adoption of the
2007 Constitution of Thailand. There, we met with the first deputy speaker of the house, the second most powerful man in Parliament. He spoke through a translator and allowed a few questions. To be honest, he seemed disinterested and like a typical politician. He actually had the gall to say outright that child prostitution does not exist in Thailand. Ridiculous.
Next, we met with Chuvit Kamolvisit . Chuvit is a controversial
Thai politician who was once the country's biggest
massage parlor owner. After an arrest in 2003, he went public with his claims of having paid large bribes to hundreds of police officers. He then sold some of his massage parlors, formed his own political party and unsuccessfully ran for
Bangkok governor in August 2004. In 2005 he was elected for a four-year term to the
Thai House of Representatives, but in 2006 the
Constitutional Court removed him from parliament. In October 2008 he again ran for governor of Bangkok as an independent but was not elected. In the
July 2011 general election his party won four seats in the House of Representatives. He did a wonderful job of dodging our questions, talking in circles and basically saying nothing at all. To me, he seemed like a corrupt mobster who found a way to make more money than we was before while simultaneously helping the mob get a foot in the door to Parliament.
Even though the day had felt like it had been a year, we weren’t done yet. We were then taken to the democracy monument followed by the memorial for victims of the Thammasat University Massacre. The massacre was an attack on students and protesters that occurred on the campus of
Thammasat University and at
Sanam Luang in
Bangkok. Students from various universities were demonstrating against the return to Thailand of Field Marshal
Thanom Kittikachorn, a former military ruler. By the official count, forty-six people died in the attack, during which protesters were shot, beaten and their bodies mutilated. A great tragedy for Thailand and for the world. Being in Thailand, a place with a lot of student activists, has inspired me. Sometimes we forget that our youth gives us power and enthusiasm to make real change in the world. I plan to begin to take advantage of that.
The Democracy Monument
Thammasat University Massacre Memorial
We then returned home for a short dinner break. Although we were all emotionally and physically exhausted, the day was far from over. We met at 10:00pm with the professor for our class on the Economics of the Sex Trade in Southeast Asia, Professor Ho. He took a small group of us out into the Patpong Night Market which is known to be a region with a great deal of prostitution and strip clubs. We walked through the narrow back streets, nearly blinded by the bright, flashing neon signs and practically being suffocated by men trying to herd us into clubs to watch “shows”. Professor Ho was not interested in going into the clubs himself since he had taken classes here before, but said that he would not judge us if we wanted to go in and take a look first hand at what we were studying. Not to get too graphic, but in all honesty, I saw things I never wanted to see in my life. I watched women manipulate chop sticks with their vaginas to pick up rings and place them over bottle necks. I watched a woman pull a strand of razor blades from her vagina and proceed to make a paper chain cut out. A woman even shot a pickle at my friends and I from her vagina. Those are just a few of the disturbing things I saw. What confused me is how those are supposed to be erotic. Men (and women...but mostly men) travel here from ALL over the world in order see these shows and sleep with these women, but the looks on their faces made it hard to believe that anyone could still find that sexy. The women looked pained and humiliated. Not ONE of them seemed to be enjoying their work.
sex show "menu"
To be fully honest, I don’t know how to feel. Responding to what I’ve seen feels nearly impossible. The entire issue of sex work, like everything else in the world, is so very nuanced and intensely complex that I don’t even know how to feel or what to think. Sex work in general is an occupation that I feel I can support as long as the worker chooses the work completely willingly and voluntarily without any level of simply complying or capitulating to outside pressures. I personally believe an individual is entitled to enjoy sex and choose to make a career from something they enjoy. That being said, what I saw was not enjoyed, nor did it seem something that these young men and women willingly chose purely because they truly want to be sex workers.
I went into these establishments. I had drinks. I watched the shows. I spoke to “mamas”. I watched women being bought and sold. I saw women giving men lap dances. I saw old, drunk, white men dragging young Thai women around by the arm. I saw the blank stares on their faces. Not only blank stares, but humiliation. How can a woman enjoy pulling a string of razorblades from her vagina? These women looked ashamed and humiliated. They looked bored. The one thing I did not see was joy or happiness. None of them looked happy.
Bottom line: I feel totally helpless. I look at the issue of sex work and prostitution and feel completely helpless in the face of this monster. It’s SUCH a huge, multi-faceted issue. I do not feel like it can ever be resolved. The industry itself cannot be eradicated because there will always be a demand for the service. Human beings are inclined toward sexuality and as long as that is true, there will be a service outside of monogamous relationships or personal relationships where that service will be found. As long as the service exists, the issues that come along with that service will exist. There will always be a demand for children. There will always be a demand for exotic women. It is so deeply ingrained in our society that this is sexy. As long as this all remains true, how can there be reform?
As a Gender Studies major, these are questions I must ask myself. I also feel I must consider where this stereotype about the "exotic East" comes from, why asians choose to perpetuate it, and how something that sustains their already unstable economies can ever be eradicated.
The next day, we began by stopping at the Duang Prateep Foundation. This organization got it’s beginnings “in the nineteen sixties [when] one Klong Toey Slum dweller, a teenage girl, was working on the docks to pay her way through a teacher training college. Prateep Ungsongtham had spent only four years at primary school but this was enough to show her that education could transform lives. As a 12-year-old worker she began to save from her meager wages to pay for secondary education at night school. She was awarded a place at a college of education and, since there were no schools for the slum children, she decided to open one herself at her home in the slum. She soon found that much of her time was spent helping the children and their families cope with the conditions of slum life rather than formal teaching. Her prime educational concern was giving these deprived families some belief in themselves and hope for the future. When they were threatened with eviction, Prateep’s neighbors asked her to put their case to the landowner, the government and the news media. It was a formidable task for a slum girl not yet 20, but she rose to it triumphantly. This was to be the first, unexpected step in a career of public service on behalf of the urban poor. It was to bring Prateep the Magsaysay and Rockefeller awards that enabled her to establish the Duang Prateep Foundation, as well as gaining her the trust of both slum people and the Government” as stated by a pamphlet from the foundation. She since has made a huge improvement in the lives of children in Bangkok’s slums. We had an opportunity to watch the children at school and even interact with them. Their smiles and hopeful futures warmed our hearts. Their innocence was refreshing beauty amidst the horrific conditions in which these people lived. The founder’s compassion and motivation was so inspirational. When we asked her how she found the strength everyday to fight for the rights of these children, especially as she approaches 70, she simply answered that she’s “a hard worker” and that there is a lot of work to be done. She does not feel she can just stop now.
After our tour of her school, we were taken on a walk through the slums where these children live. We walked through an endless maze of forgotten faces in shantytown. The stench was almost as overpowering as the crippling sadness I felt as we made our way past these garbage heaps people called home. It’s something you would have to see to understand. I will never forget what I saw that day. Having gone to the foundation first provided me a glimmer of hope as I looked out over the bleak scene before me. I knew that at least someone was making change for these people, and that meant that I can too.
Later that day, we had the privilege of meeting with two men one from the UN and one from UNESCO (United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization) who work tirelessly to combat human trafficking. We learned some staggering statistics about men and women being forced in work, coerced, abused, used, and neglected. It was eye opening information and the message was well received. Change must be made, and we are the ones to do it. Their passion and positivity in the face of seemingly endless challenges motivated us all to stand strong against our own personal obstacles and work to make change to help our fellow man.
Saturday and Sunday are what I like to refer to as “the lost weekend” since Saturday, I skipped an optional trip to sleep in ALL day due to pure exhaustion and Sunday was another 15-hour car ride. Obviously, nothing to report on. Sorry.
Monday was my last day with mom, so we WENT BIG! One of mom's dreams has always been to come to Thailand and play with elephants. I needed to make sure that dream became a reality. Berrett had not gone to an elephant camp yet, so mom invited him as her guest for the day. We had SO much fun. We enjoyed a delicious lunch, fed and bathed elephants, learned to give them commands and of course, ride them!! The camp was beautiful and we had a wonderful time together. I'm so glad I was able to live one of my mother's dreams along side her :)
After this insane amounts of activity packed into just three short weeks, I’m pooped. I have hardly had time to reflect on anything that I’ve seen, let alone any time to consider what kinds of personal changes I may be experiencing during this time. I have just three weeks left here and although I have a pretty heavy work-load ahead of me, I’m going to try to get back to the deep reflection I was doing in September and October. Be on the look out for more from my journey!!
Thank you all for reading, as usual. I love you!! xo
