Travelling Through Bangkok

Blog Human Rights

Its been a long time since I last wrote. Been extremely busy, travelling. The adventures were too tempting to resist. So what the heck, I left my country and flew to Bangkok.

For the first few days, Bangkok spun like a top. The metropolis was buzzing with activity, people to meet, discussions to facilitate, wet markets to visit and many things to learn. My guide, frantic from her own workload and family responsibilities, took me to places. She was initially puzzled on why I had a fetish for visiting slums. I told her, I’ve been almost everywhere, seen the world, and I learn about the culture when I visit slums. So swiftly I shared with her my experiences in the slums of Bangalore, Jakarta and other exotic places that people would never consider visiting. To my delight, and with a twisted shy smile, she took me across the city, into the damp, dark places of the back lanes.

The slums. Poverty and misery ruled supreme. Spent hours on the first day, listening to the stories and observing the lifeblood of the slums. Dusty, carnage everywhere. Though, I have seen similar situation in the other countries I had visited.

People living and working in the slums are hard working. They seek what other city-folks want: a better life. Others view slums as wasteland, or merely land that is temporarily, and unlawfully owned by the “undesirables” which usually means the poor and homeless folks, and the forgotten refugee. The nature of Bangkok is as such that one can never remove the slums from the city’s borders. The slums sits in different districts of the city. You can usually tell from the high fence that surrounds the slums, trying it’s best to hide the poor from the towering vibrant buildings. Unfortunately people can’t hide what they need. Kuala Lumpur, Jakarta, Manila and other cities in South East Asia are similar to Bangkok. In a way, the slums provide the lifeblood to each city, nurturing the corporate rat race of the fucking greedy and those seeking to make more money than the rest.

Don’t get defensive, please. You and me and the other shitload of pricks sit comfortably in our homes, being able to afford most things like a bloody laptop, but don’t fucking deny the poverty that is behind your home or office. I’m quite cool if you’re aware of the injustice and poverty that runs amok, but its not fucking cool to be complacent about it, much less cruelly treat those who are living a disadvantaged life. Don’t fucking give yourself excuses. You can always make a difference by helping out. Though I am not talking about charity, giving coins to the beggar doesn’t do her any good. Make a difference by changing your behavior, and start with compassion and mercy. Good qualities to have.

For more stories:

http://mzzainal-straten.blogspot.com/2011/09/balance-in-bangkok-poor-and-elites.html

http://mzzainal-straten.blogspot.com/2011/10/maze-of-complexities-travelling-in.html

 

 

 

Zashnain

An avid blogger, twitterer and photojournalist, Zashnain Zainal suffers from an incurable addiction to social work, helping marginalised communities since 1989. Nowadays he travels from the plantations of Malaysia to the slums of Thailand. He can be found at zashnain.com and @bedlamfury

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