Sightseeing

I've just completed a book titled Sightseeing by a young Thai, Rattawut Lapcharoensap and am blown off by how simple yet powerful his collection of seven stories is. As the cover says, the writer “takes his readers beneath the surface of Thailand to a place that is dynamic and corrupt, full of pride and passion and fear.” He was born in Chicago and raised in Bangkok.

I picked the book up at a sale and am glad that this unassuming book has been absolutely rewarding. As a newcomer to Thailand, I am trying to understand what the country is about. Fortunately for me, I work with a great bunch of people, Thais and non-Thais and am able to learn a bit. Because I work and stay outside of the city centre, I get to see a bit more of the daily routine of the folks around me who don't necessarily work for an embassy, an MNC or an NGO:)

But the reality is, Thailand is a place for foreigners to get wild, to shed their skin and be something else. No one back home will know. Its a secret shared with the people here. Shake off your clothes, let your hair down. Its almost as though the locals expect you to do that. Some do, its money for them. But if you stop and think about it, how do they really feel about it?

We all need it sometime, this craziness and maybe we just have to thank the Thais for letting all of us experience that, in our own ways.

Back to the book.

In Farangs, Rattwut's lead character, a half-white half Thai guy is obsessed by white women but ends up always being heartbroken. But the scene that drew me into the above train of thoughts was when one of the farang girls “luk” wants to impress is taken to his uncle's elephant corral, and the uncle is immediately irritated by the sight of the girl in her bikini.

“'Tell the girl to put on some clothes,' Uncle Mongkhon growled. 'It's unholy.'”

The uncle, who has had his business affected by a big tourist company, scolds the nephew for disrespecting his establishment and asks if the Americans would appreciate it if the others stripped down to their underwear and rode on the eagle!

And his Ma sums up her view of the farang tourists: “'Pussy and elephants. That's all these people want.'” She says that Thailand has so much to offer, the temples, the food, the culture, yet all the foreigners want to see are the elephants, go for the sex and and get skin cancer burning their skin on the beaches. Bitter and disappointed because of being abandoned by a farang with a baby, yet cashing in on the only currency driver there: tourists.

In his other stories, Rattawut explores the struggles of families against poverty, death, desire and lust. In Cockfighter, Wichian almost dies after a streak of losses in cockfighting, to a local bully who imports a Filipino cock and trainer. The story is told by Wichian's daughter, Ladda, who watches how the father is losing his mind, how the mother struggles to work sewing laces and sequins onto bras, and who wants to be out of this place.

Priscilla the Cambodian has no links to the queen of the desert:) Its a very telling account of resentment and xenophobia so close to many of us. Here, the writer touches on the fate of Cambodian refugees in Thailand through the story of Priscilla, a young refugee and two local Thai boys who befriend her. Then there's a story about a lady who is going blind (the book title) and goes on what is probably her only and last holiday trip to the Andamans with her son, who thinks he will have to give up his studies to take care of the mum. And in Don't let me die in this place an American, Perry comes to live with his son and Thai daughter-in-law in Bangkok after suffering from paralysis. Perry thinks its the worse thing to happen to him, living in Thailand, but soon begins to appreciate the love between his son and daughter-in-law and to accept being taken care of by them.

In Draft Day, a young man risks his friendship to avoid being drafted into the army because he has the benefit of his family's high connections and in At the Lovely Cafe, the story is about a young boy and his older brother after their father dies (and mum goes a bit off the edge) using the typical symbols like riding the motorcyle, visiting a brothel, drugs...but in vivid images and ones that move you.

I think its wonderful how Rattawut weaves through the different personalities and characters and offer the readers fiction that is so personal. He writers brilliantly, I like the humour but he captures the conflicts and dilemma well. Anyway, I have to share my favourite line in the book, can't help it. From Farangs:

“I knew it was love when Clint Eastwood sniffed her crotch earlier that morning and the girl didn't scream or jump out of the sand or swat the pig like some of the other girls do. She merely lay there, snout in crotch, smiling that angelic smile, like it was the most natural thing in the world...”

There's a photo of the author on the back cover. He's a nerd. But hey, nerds rock!

Some real reviews here, and here.

Now off to pick something else from my depressingly tiny book collection.