LatASIA

Poorer families throw some of the best parties in Thailand and Laos, much to the annoyance of the irritation of wealthier families who want to 'regulate' their fun! Maybe Scrooge was actually a Thai?The New Year celebrations in Bangkok were impressive, with many people lighting up the sky with fire rockets and parties and celebrations going on everywhere. From high society ("Hi-So") celebrations to the countdown at Central World to street parties with Isaan music blaring out along with drunken boys doing Karaoke loud enough for the whole neighbourhood to hear. 

Thais love to party and New Year is a fine example of the fun that Bangkokians have at the drop of a hat!  You are guaranteed a good time here at New Year.

There is an enormous amount of poverty in Bangkok and it seems that the best parties are the ones that the poor have.  They remind me of my youth when I caught the 'fag end' of some New Year parties that were spectacular examples of alcohol abuse.  Endless supplies of drink, music, family, friends and loads of fun.  Great times and I always felt a bit jealous of missing out on that sense of community and pulling together.

Of course, these days we are all too wealthy in the west to be bothered with any community nonsense.  We like to look down our noses at the poor, with their seemingly endless supply of cheap whisky.  But why?  The best - and I do mean the best - party I have been to in Asia was in Laos at the October Boat Festival.  I tagged along with some young Laos lads who took a colleague and I to a string of house parties around town, mostly in the less affluent neighbourhoods.

These parties were based around a stack of Beerlao crates, a huge ghetto blaster, food and a significant gathering of family and friends.  Often there were only a handful of glasses at the party and I had to quickly drink the glass of beer offered by my host so that the next person could have his glass of beer too.  People just forgetting about their troubles and having a really nice time for the evening.  Awesome!, as my American Missionary friend would say!

I went to other parties held in the gardens of rich families homes and they were very nice too.  But they did not compare to the get-togethers at the poorer houses, where people let their guard down a lot easier and the relaxation and fun flows, much, much quicker.

If you get along to Bangkok or Vientiane during a celebration time, then I would recommend that you try to hunt out an invite to a family party from the poor end of town. You wont regret it unless, of course you are a xenophobe type!

Sad Start to the Year

We woke up this morning to some awful news in Bangkok.  In amongst all of the joy and celebration was some upsetting news that has made the world headlines.  

A nightclub fire that has killed over 50 people.  The club was in Thong Lor, a trendy part of town.  It is really sad and you must feel real sorrow for the mother, father, brother, sister, lover or friend who is told about the death of a loved one at this time of year.

There will be much debate about Bangkok's corruption and how you can get around any planning regulation here if you have the right 'bribe man' on your company books.  It's true.  But for now I think we just have to reflect on what is a disastrous start to 2009 for the city. 

I hope that those affected by this disaster find some source of comfort at this desperate time for them.

You can read about the fire and resultant inquiry here.