|
Just when you thought your troubles were over
Get up early, catch a cab to Central and wait for a bus to Poipet, Cambodia, a ritual I know is filled with the yin and yang for the foreign traveller expecting to get a 15-day visa extension.
We waited an hour, and I was pleasantly surprised as a double-decker bus rolled up and I was given a front seat with plenty of legroom. Then my friend, a Thai, was charged Bt100, while I had to pay Bt300 for the round trip. The second we got off the bus in Poipet we were hassled for money, but no problem because we were on a bit of a visa runaround. Back in Thailand there was no problem, except for: "Oh sir, you farang, I understand you pay roundtrip Bt400 for two, but you farang, you pay another Bt100."
What a dummie! I thought discrimination in Thailand was a thing of the past!
THEODORE CARL SODERBERG
)8/16/09 re- printed from Bangkok Nation newspaper
BANGKOK
Just when you thought your troubles were over Get up early, catch a cab to Central and wait for a bus to Poipet, Cambodia, a ritual I know is filled with the yin and yang for the foreign traveller expecting to get a 15-day visa extension.
We waited an hour, and I was pleasantly surprised as a double-decker bus rolled up and I was given a front seat with plenty of legroom. Then my friend, a Thai, was charged Bt100, while I had to pay Bt300 for the round trip. The second we got off the bus in Poipet we were hassled for money, but no problem because we were on a bit of a visa runaround. Back in Thailand there was no problem, except for: "Oh sir, you farang, I understand you pay roundtrip Bt400 for two, but you farang, you pay another Bt100."
What a dummie! I thought discrimination in Thailand was a thing of the past!
THEODORE CARL SODERBERG
BANGKOK
|
Having lived many years (20) in Thailand I can tell you that discrimination is, most definitely, a thing of the past...the past, present and future. It's one of the reasons I live in Cambodia now.