Working out in Thailand

Who would have thought that I’d ever miss stupid 24-hour fitness?! Ever since the REC (the fantastic gym at WSU), I’ve thought that 24 hour was a nasty place full of creepers and filthy, gross equipment. But now, I MISS IT SOOOOOO, SOOOOOOO MUCH!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Working out in Thailand is pretty much miserable. If you’ve ever done hot yoga, you probably understand the hell that I’ve gotten myself into. Everyday the thermometer in the gym taunts me… 32c (89.6 degrees Fahrenheit). I’m unemployed and bored so I spend about two hours in that hell-oven every day. I’ve never in my life sweated so much from working out. And the gym itself- oh my god. It costs $20./month (white people price – if you’re Thai it’s free – I’m not kidding) which is the same as what I paid for the gym back home but here’s what I get: four stationary bikes (only one works), an elliptical that isn’t adjustable and doesn’t even have a timer, two treadmills (but I can’t use those cuz of my broken foot), free weights and a bench that’s covered in bugs and sweat. And there’s a FAN which is my savior. Brandon gets really frustrated with the free weights because they’re obviously meant for Thai people as they only go up to 12 pounds. And the bench only has a 35lb bar and only 72 pounds worth of weights.

Thai people are pretty thin but it’s probably from the heat, the hepatitis and the water that makes you puke violently. It’s definitely not from exercise. We live in a huge apartment complex with over 1,000 people but I’d say only about ten thai people a day use the gym. But when they do, hilarity ensues!!!

Their work out clothes are probably my favorite part. Jeans, button-up blouses, work uniforms, suite pants, collared shirts…. They wear the funniest things while working out!! I even saw a girl on the tread mill in kitten heels!!!

The girls are the funniest. Brandon does the best impression of a Thai girl trying to run on a tredmill. They all run like they’re drunk and wearing a tight pencil skirt. They’re incredibly uncoordinated. Whenever they’re in the gym my work outs end up being twice as long just so I can watch all the funny things they do. My all time favorite moment is when a girl started to use the elliptical and fell off!!! Hahahahahaaaaa!!!! I’m going to hell.

The guys are funny too (except for when they work out while smoking cigarettes) and they make me feel really good about myself. I’ve never seen a guy lift more than 60 pounds on the bench which makes me really happy because even I can do more than that!! They almost always just bench the bar (which is small here – only 35 pounds) five or six times then stop completely.

The most frequent users of the gym are a group of four kids that play in the gym from around 8am-4pm every day. They’re all around 5-8 years old. I have no idea where they come from and why the hell they’re not in school but they’re there every weekday!! There’s a bowflex (ish) machine in the gym that’s covered in sticky stuff and broken beyond complete repair – why? Because of the kids. They use it like a jungle gym.

Food

I know no one cares but for the record, being a vegetarian in Thailand is hell. HELL!!! Thai people put meat in everything. And I mean EVERYTHING. I have to eat stir fried vegetables with rice EVERYDAY. Literally, my only sources of protein are peanut butter and the luna bars that my amazing mom sent me. I haven’t found a single store that sells beans and there’s only one restaurant that has them on this island but it’s 15 miles away. My goal was to go vegan once I got here but it’s turned out to be impossible. Half of my diet is peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and they obviously don’t have vegan bread in this country.

We miss cooking so bad!!!

Thailand is pretty backward compared to home when it comes to food prices. We were warned about this and it turned out to be true: eating at a restaurant is less expensive than buying groceries and cooking at home. And eating from a food cart (which seems to be where most Thai people get there food) is a tiny fraction of even that price. As a result, it seems that most apartments don’t have stoves, ovens or microwaves. I’ve heard that some people buy a single, plug-in burner and a microwave for cooking at home but apartments certainly don’t seem to come with them.

Sophie

I miss my weiner!!!!!!!!! I say it a million times every day. If it wasn’t for that long-dog, I’d prolly be fine with living so far from home. I want to bring her here so bad but she can’t come here because of the gazillions of diseases that would eat here alive. So, she's at home with with Grandma - Brandon's mom. It’s unbelievable how bad my heart hurts for that little dog. WEINERRRR!!!!

My luck continues

Will my luck in Thailand ever get better?! Weekly food poisoning, car accidents, bike accidents, giant bug bites, evil land lord, terrible job..... and now theft. YAY!!!!

Last month I got money from an ATM and I noticed that my account balance seemed really low. I checked my online banking the next day and low and behold: 12 charges in Australia totaling $4,950. made four days earlier. Great. I canceled my card, contacted my bank (which is in the States), and filed police reports with the Thai police, the Australian police and even Interpol. I assumed that the purchases were made online because I hadn’t lost my debit card.

After my bank started their investigation they told me that a debit card was physically present when all the charges were made which means that my case is “suspicious” because I never lost my card. It’s clear to me that someone stole my card number/expiration date and created a fake card in Australia. Brandon and I googled that scenario and it’s fairly common. It must be what happened. The customer service person at my bank was exceptionally rude to me over the phone and told me at least five times that if I “insist” that the bank continue their investigation and if its revealed that I’m committing fraud (“which appears to be the case”) I will be criminally prosecuted. Unbelievable. It’s great to have your own bank (whom I’ve had an account with for almost my whole life) treat you like a criminal. I obviously had them resume their investigation and I was assured that a final decision regarding if they’ll return my money would be made within ten days. Of course, I asked why my debit card was allowed to be used outside of Thailand which is the only country that I authorized use within. The CSR told me that it’s “not the bank’s responsibility to play big brother” and that they would never freeze a debit card while one of their customers is traveling internationally. That’s right – somehow I found the one bank in the world that doesn’t freeze accounts when you travel. I’ve seen three friends have their cards frozen when making one little purchase in Vancouver BC (500 miles from home) but apparently my bank thinks it’s ok for charges to be made on my card ON A DIFFERENT CONTINENT. To my bank’s credit, they did “flag” the charges as suspicious so they contacted my mom (whom I added to my account prior to leaving). All they did was ask her if I was using my card internationally. My mom told them that I was in Thailand but they should have already known that because I had them “put a note” on my account before I left. They never mentioned to my mom that the charges were in AUSTRALIA at high end jewelry stores!!

Long story short, it has been over a month and I still have yet to hear back from my bank about if they’ll be replacing my stolen money. The police have been surprisingly unhelpful. I only use my debit card at one particular grocery store and ATM machines so I’m 95% sure that my debit card’s information was stolen (and sold) by one of the rude little cleaning ladies at our old apartment, but the Thai police absolutely refused to help me because they think that the Australian police should be doing the investigation. And guess what the Australian police said? The Thai’s need to investigate. Great. And now neither department will return my e-mails at all – same with Interpol in BKK. Thanks cops!!!

I just found out a couple days ago that my bank finally obtained copies of the receipts. 32 two days after the charges cleared. God. Survallence tapes? Still no. I’ve been promised a decision by my bank on July 25th at the latest. Holding my breath…

Thailand would be great if it wasn’t for all the Thais.

Sounds horrible, doesn’t it? I’ve always detested racist people but I’m ashamed to say, I think that’s exactly what I’m turning into. I’ve been in Thailand for three short months and I’m already developing a very negative view of my hosts: the Thai people.

Day after day I’m shocked with the awful behavior, xenophobia and dishonesty that I encounter from Thais. I have never before seen men treat their wives so disrespectfully. And the overall hygiene standards (particularly the fact that hands are very rarely washed) in this country appall me. Hepatitis A from dirty kitchen practices is rampant. And recycling, “what’s recycling??” The food: loaded up with MSG and a sickening amount of pesticides. Did I unknowingly enter Thailand: The World’s Largest Trailer Park?

Before arriving in Thailand I was under the impression that this was a relatively safe country and that due to the high “deeply-Buddhist” population (85-90%), the theft rate is very low. Apparently this is not the case. Within our first two months all of these things were stolen right out of our apartments/hotels.
-Josh: 7,000 baht ($200.) was stolen from a hiding spot in our hotel room
-Nelly: several shirts and her only sweater
-Brandon’s helmet and his only two watches (Fossils) which were gifts
-My debit card number was stolen and almost $5,000. (US) was charged (long story!!!)

Thailand is called “The Land of Smiles.” I’ve also heard that if a Thai person smiles at you, you should run the other way. I’ve found the later to be accurate. With only a few exceptions, all the Thais that have been “warm” and polite to us have been trying to rip us off. It’s terrible but in hind sight, even the Thais that we thought were our friends were actually just trying to cheat us: our lying, evil landlord in particular. The dishonesty that we hear on a daily basis has sadly made us very untrusting. I now have no doubt that every single Thai believes that it’s their civic duty to rip off farangs (Westerners) as often as possible.

Restaurants: Many restaurants have both Thai menus and English menus. Go figure – the English menus have much higher prices listed. One of our favorite restaurants (Wanjai) finally started giving us the Thai prices (occasionally) but we never knew what our bill would look like because they varied their prices for us every time. And our very favorite restaurant (Cow) overcharges us by 5, 10, or 20 baht every single time we go there even though we’re there at least four times/week. It’s so frustrating!

Although I’m sure bargaining may be fun for some travelers, I’ve found it especially exhausting. After three months of negotiating over bottles of drinking water and for every other single thing that I buy, I’m getting really tired. Really, it wouldn’t be that bad if I didn’t have to pay the “farang price” which is at least double what a Thai would have to pay. Just today Brandon and I stopped at a fruit market. I choose two mangos and one small watermelon. The staff showed me their calculator (as most Thai people do) and the total price was 149 baht. 149 baht?!?! That’s insane!! We just watched a Thai guy buy four bags of fruit for 40 baht!! I weighed my mangos myself and showed her that they should only cost 19 baht according to her sign that said “Mangos 35 baht/kg” she said “mai-chai, mai-chai, mai-chai” and showed me the calculator which said 45 baht. 45 baht for two mangos? No way!! So I offered her 104 baht for just the watermelon. “mai-chai, 140 baht.” Let me get this straight, if I buy just the mangos, they’re 45 baht. And if I buy just the watermelon it’s 140 baht. But together they’re 149 baht? Terrible math aside, she was completely ripping me off. The mangos were totally over priced even at 19 baht for two and the watermelon should have been 30 baht MAX!! I’m a jew so I didn’t buy either. It’s a matter of principle.

My parents are sure that I’m overreacting. They believe that I should be OK with the higher “white people prices” because I have more money than most Thias and I should want to support them. Obviously my parents aren’t taking into consideration that I’m a JEW and when I can tell that I’m being ripped off, it bothers me. BIGTIME!! Hahahaaaa!!! I don’t know, maybe they’re totally right. But like Brandon always says, “In America, should we charge Bill Gates $500. for a hamburger just because he can afford it?”

Motorbikes: There is probably nothing that makes me more furious than seeing a Thai holding their INFANT while speeding around on their motorbikes (aka: “deathtraps”). They ride around holding babies or balancing their children on their laps on those amazingly unsafe bikes. Helmets? Absolutely not. All four of us have had students in our classes that have needed skin graphs from the amount of damage they’ve gotten while riding with their parents on Motorbikes. Those bikes are insanely unsafe. ESPECIALLY when tons of people driving them are children!! Kids start driving motorbikes (alone or with their friends piled on the back) on the streets when they’re 10-12 years old. It’s so disturbing. Why do parents allow this? I would never, ever let a child do this. Do Thais care about their children’s safety less than Americans do? I don’t understand. I’ve been told that if you have a child in Thailand you have to bring a car seat from home with you. Apparently they don’t sell them in Thailand. WTF?!?!

Crossing the street: It’s shocking. I don’t care if you’re holding three crying babies and it’s pouring down buckets of rain; not a single car will stop for you to cross the street. It’s so scary having to dodge your way across one lane only to have to wait in the very center while more cars and bikes speed past before you can run to the other side. I wonder how many pedestrians die from just trying to cross streets?! Thai people are f’ing crazy.

Line cutting. Oh my god! You have to shove your way to a counter before eight thai people elbow their way in front of you. I swear, it’s like a game to them – Who can keep the farang from the front of the line the longest?!?! They even elbow and push sweet, little Nelly!!

I may be becoming racist against Thai people. But they’re DEFINITELY more racist than I am. Thai people do not like black people. Period. From everything I’ve heard (including information from my TEFL class), if you’re black, it’s excruciatingly hard to find work in a Thai company or school. The recruiting agency I work for, they’re very open about only hiring white people. We’ve seen them turn down black applicants twice when we’ve known that the agency desperately needed teachers. It’s so awful. I just got done reading the blog of a black man that reported that he couldn’t even get a “date” with a bar girl (hooker) in Patong because of his skin color. It’s awful.

“Why don’t you just hit them?” These were the only instructions I got from my school when I asked about discipline procedures. No, you can’t send naughty students to see the principal. Just hit them. And hit them, they do!! Thai teachers beat the hell out of their students. Yes, most of the little brats do deserve it but I think it still says a lot about a culture that allows and accepts such violence. BUT, I guess it’s better for children to be beaten in school than not to go to school at all. We’ve met lots of child-laborers here that don’t get to go to school at all. Lovely.

Animal Abuse: PETA needs to get the fuck over here. Some dogs in this country are so mangled and disfigured that I can’t even look at them. It’s worse than anything that you’re picturing. It’s pathetic and terrible that the government doesn’t go on a shooting spree and put all of these poor animals out of their misery. Elephants: When Brandon and I were in Singapore I read a poster that talked about how elephants used to be controlled by sharp metal hooks being placed behind their ears. The poster explained that this is thankfully not a modern practice and it was only used in Myanmar. Ummmmmm, every time I see an elephant in Thailand it’s always being led around by a bloody-tipped hook.

I just read a book called “Only 13, The True Story of Lon.” It’s an autobiography of a Pattaya (“Sex Capitol of the World” just south of Bangkok) prostitute. Besides wanting to read some dirty stories, I bought it because the book promised a commentary on Thai culture as a whole which is something that I’m especially interested in. I want to understand these people!!!!! I thought that this book would bring me more understanding and tolerance of Thais. I really don’t want to be racist!!

Bad move – this book made me even more angry. Here’s a few things that I learned:

Shockingly, it’s terribly common for families to force their 13-15 year old daughters into prostitution. The family acts as pimps and pockets all her earnings. The author of the book slept with dirty, farang men 365 days/year for five years and had to give all of her earnings to her mother and brother to “quench their insatiable need for cash” so that they could buy luxuries. The book went on and on describing all the ways her family destroyed every opportunity that she had for happiness. And according to the author, this is a devastatingly common story among Thai prostitutes.

The author writes that one of the many reasons that Thai girls prefer dating farang men over Thais is that Thai men are apparently notoriously unfaithful to their partners and that rape (especially of young girls) is very commonly committed. I suppose this is true of men of all races but it still just adds fuel to my fire and makes me more pissed at Thais.

Lon writes about how she found people in Europe to be incredibly kind and sincere compared to Thai people. She seems to think that Thai people are cold, rude and uncaring too.

There are a million more things I could write about but I’m sure that I’ve already embarrassed myself enough.

So, am I being a crazy, ethnocentric American? Definitely. But I can’t seem to help it. Brandon, Josh and Nelly feel just as strong if not stronger on the subject than I do. Most farangs that we’ve talked to tell us of their “love/hate relationships” with Thais. I don’t know what to do!!! Am I looking at these people in the wrong light?! Help!!!!

UPDATE:
I decided that I’m acting like a republican. I may be from Battle Ground, WA (hick central) but I refuse to be racist. I’ve been continuing to have awful experiences with inconsiderateness and theft but I’ve decided that my attitude is only going to make the situations worse. I still only have one Thai friends (a little black lab that lives downstairs), but I’m doing my best to meet people! Here’s to having a more open mind!!!