Marie Antoinette In Bangkok

Bill wrote surprisingly this morning from Bangkok, on one of his many vacations, no doubt. Although being a programmer he may have a gig there. I was surprised that I found on Google Images, a picture of the McDonalds at the Siam Centre he refers to. But what really surprised me was the skyline in the Highway picture below. It looks like several Manhattan's strung out together. I really need to get out more. Now, here's Bill. (S.Williams)

Dear Stan et al:

Hope you are all OK. Am writing email from the i/net cafe inside the Siam Centre, an enormous supermall which is about as Siamese as George Bush. Among the first things you see on entering are a McDonalds and a Haagen-Daaz ice cream stand. But it is a break from the heat and humidity. Bangkok lives both up and down to its reputations. On one hand, the numerous temples and Royal Palace are stunning. On the other, I was propositioned 5 times in 500 yards on my way to my hotel last night. You can buy everything in Bangkok, including every perversion in the dictionary. Thank God for American cultural imperialism; nearly all important signs are in Thai and English. As
for all other foreigners - in the spirit of Marie Antoinette, Let Them Speak
English.

Best wishes, Bill

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From a later post:

In the amazing Siam Centre in Bangkok, there is a superb bookshop crammed with mostly English language titles. There are also large French and German language sections, which is more than you would get even in good English bookshops. One of the titles in the business section had a surreal ring in that context: "The Starbucks experience" analyses the reasons for this coffee chain 's success (it certainly isn't the quality of their cappucinos). Under the one vast roof of the Siam Centre there are at least three Starbucks on different levels. I failed to find the 1,600 seat opera house which is allegedly on Level 5, the same level as the 14 screen multiplex, the Imax cinema and the bowling alley. So there may be another few Starbucks secreted around the oceanarium in the basement or the Maserati and Aston Martin showrooms on Level 2.

The first thing you see on leaving the Customs hall at Hong Kong airport is another Starbucks. But Hong Kong is otherwise deficient in this respect; I found only two Starbucks inside the Times Square megamall, which is spread over 11 levels and possibly even larger than the Siam Centre. Lacking the time and specialist tools for a professional survey, I am not sure if Times Square is larger on a volume or square footage basis. But it contains just about every designer label known to shopping woman and any which may have been omitted can be found in other malls within a five minute stroll.

The energy and commercial zest of this tiny ex-British colony beggars belief. You would not believe that so many businesses could be crammed into such a tiny space and all somehow contrive to flourish. I am staying in the centre of Kowloon and the surrounding streets are more brightly lit and crowded than London at Christmas. Strangely, the only service it took me some time to find is an internet cafe, which is why I'm typing this in a room at the top of some narrow stairs off one of the main streets in Kowloon.

The weather is slightly cooler and less humid than Bangkok's and the prevailing breeze off the surrounding sea makes walking much easier. The population is far more salubrious; I have not been pursued down the street by a pimp peddling his hookers, as happened in one of the main streets in Bangkok, and I cannot believe that I have not seen a beggar yet, unlike the numerous indigents crowding the streets in Bangkok.

The influence of Western culture seems sad in many places. Go into the bookshops, record shops or video stores and Chinese products are a minority section. In one glossy video store, a state-of the-art home cinema system was playing the DVD of "Celtic Woman" - five Irish women vocalists performing at Slane Castle in Ireland.

It was a bizarre experience sitting in Pacific Coffee on Sunday morning, reading the excellent "South China Morning Post" (entirely in English) and listening to one of Neil Diamond's worst songs droning from the sound system. One of the SCMP's Sunday sections is aimed at the teenage audience. Page 3 recorded the death of James Dean on this date in 1955 and Page 2 quizzed several local teens on their favourite poetry. And what moved these young Chinese souls? Shakespeare, Robert Frost's "The Road less travelled"......