It’s been over two years now and it seems the old adage applies, it feels like it’s been much longer.
Still fascinated by the haphazard and cultural contradictions of life in Bangkok with what is seemingly civil in the US, and then realizing it simply comes down to perception and experience. In Thailand, you live your life in a confinement of proper etiquette and respect to the royal family and the elders, yet there are daily bombardment of contradictions that are obscenely ignored or dismissed. Stopping at red lights for pedestrians appears to be a simple guidance and not law. Driving over the speed limit is acceptable if not expected. Setting up stalls in the middle of the sidewalk so that you have to walk on the street to get to your destination seems simply the norm. Being loud is considered rude, yet spitting on the sidewalk and coughing open mouth is the way of life.
Foreigners dying in Thailand is simply the farang way (foreigner’s way) and almost predictable. The death of US actor, David Carradine, albeit tragic, can be explained away by the mere fact that he was a foreigner and that’s what happens to foreigners in Thailand. Is it just another foreigner that died in Thailand while engaging in questionable behavior or it purely the beauty of living in Thailand? It has been two long years.