Bangkok

Final chapter of the Thailand journal: conclusion to the journalist exchange project.

Every exchange must come to an end, as has mine. In only a few hours, I will have to exchange the summery temperatures of winter Thailand for the snow, ice and below-zero temperatures of my homeland Germany. What am I left with? This is an attempted summing up.

In Germany, Thailand’s world role is, in many ways, more than merely underestimated. The country has far more to offer than friendly smiles, sunshine, beaches, palm trees, great food and sex tourism. Until the very end of my stay, I was surprised almost daily by how close Germany is tied to this country over 8,500 kilometres away.

Yet, I must also state that Thailand has years of realignment ahead of it – primarily in the political spheres. For one, there is that deep rift in society between the red shirts (opposition) and the yellow shirts (loyalists), which will probably not be bridgeable even by next year’s elections. Then, there is the major question of what will become of the monarchy when King Bhumibol, who is now 83, has been ailing for a good while, but is highly venerated by the people, is no longer among us. It’s gotten to the point that scenarios are no longer just discussed behind closed doors.

But, let me return to happier things, the surprises, oddities and head-shakers of the past exciting weeks. I already reported on many things over the weeks in the Thailand Journal. Yet, who would have thought, for example, that Leipzig’s top football club RB was sponsored in the figurative sense from Thailand? The explanation: the responsible sweet energy drink is produced under license by the counterpart Krating Daeng (“Red Gaur”, a gaur is the largest living cattle species in south and Southeast Asia), which has been particularly popular in Thailand since the early 1970s. The alleged pick-me-up practically began its triumphal procession around the world from here and now makes sure that there is sufficient cash available to stay involved in things such as football and the Formula 1 business.

My perhaps strangest experience was in a huge Bangkok supermarket, where, while searching for a new tube of toothpaste, I suddenly found myself holding a package of Hallorenkugeln from Germany’s oldest chocolate factory near Leipzig in Halle. Why are they here? I have to shake my head and grin, too, at the fact that the rather German word “sofa” has found its way into the Thai vocabulary.

For me, the by far greatest surprise was an email from a schoolmate from the old days. The last time we had seen one another was in the eighth grade before I changed schools. While browsing the internet, she stumbled upon LVZ Online’s Thailand Journal and contacted me after so many, many years. Besides the many stories I will be doing my best to tell over the upcoming weeks, a meeting with Kathrin will be at the top of my to-do list.

What will I miss? Surely the open and friendly people, the ideal temperatures (for me), and, naturally, the food. I will not much miss the typical Thai penchants for setting the air conditioning so low that icebergs form in glasses of beer or the craze for plastic and drinking straws in all of life’s circumstances. What I will try to hold onto is the serenity with which the Thai people deal with both organized and functioning chaos and the renewed awareness of how lucky we Germans on average are. Auf Wiedersehen, Thailand! I hope we meet again soon!