Gems, Shopping, Politics

The street we stayed on is always busy, so we spent the next morning checking out the vendors before meeting up with Baitoey again.  (Shamefully, we rejoiced at finding a Starbucks).  Today, Baitoey happily told us, we were doing more shopping.  Brianna and I were a little shocked when we arrived at a gem factory. Rows of brightly colored jewels glittered behind glass cases. ‘We cannot afford any of these,’ we thought.  We wandered through, looking yearningly at sapphires and rubies, before realizing the prices. While some of the gems were huge, and still very expensive, they were a fraction of the cost in the US.  Giant, shimmering stones were priced at 6,000 Baht, or about $200.  “These would cost thousands at Tiffany’s,” Brianna said.  The gems are so cheap because they actually cut and treat the stones right there at the factory. Jewelers in Thailand are known as some of the best in the world for the way they cut rock to ensure maximum sparkle, and they start training at around age 15.  We had heard of the infamous gem scams in Thailand, and were wary about making any purchases, but Baitoey reassured us that this gallery was legitimate. We limited ourselves to one ring each, (how can we pass up a $35 gorgeous gem that would be hundreds at home?), and vowed to not buy anything else for ourselves.  From here, we went to a much less glamorous market downtown, crowded with teenagers and young adults hitting up end of summer sales.  I stuck to my vow and didn’t break out my wallet, but it was hard. Adorable dresses for $4, nice shoes for $10, business skirts for $6….why don’t we have this at home? The market was interesting, with cheap street shops right next to nice boutiques and Baitoey said she and her mom love coming here for all their clothes shopping. We stopped in the center of  all the commotion for black jelly mixed with crushed ice and brown sugar.  I’m not sure exactly what it was, but it tasted like molasses flavored jello. I love molasses, and haven’t had it in years so this was great! After wandering around some more we grew tired of the market and went out for dinner at a Thai restaurant in a mall, where again Baitoey ordered so much food we could barely move afterward. Fish cakes, spring rolls, seafood soup, pad thai, fried pork strips, vegetable stir fry, scallops and dumplings… “But you have to try a lot of Thai food!” Baitoey kept saying.  “I will come visit you wherever you move in the US and you will do the same for me.”

Baitoey had a lot of homework, (it was exam week), so we said goodnight a little early. Thai students study a lot more than Americans. The night before, Saturday, she said she was up until 2am doing homework, and woke up at 6am to do more.  No one goes to College Library in Madison on a Saturday night! She told us how when she studied in the US she was so surprised because after school students have so much free time. In Thailand, after class students go home to study before dinner, she said. “But in the US maybe after school you can go play tag, or something. I like the US better I think.”  Baitoey absolutely loves Wisconsin, which we found funny because of all the places to travel in the United States it may be one of the prettiest, and the people are fun and nice, but it’s definitely not the most exciting. “I can’t wait to go back to Deerfield!” she said over and over.  In my opinion Deerfield is about the most boring place you can go, but she said it was the Vogel’s and the rest of the people she met that made it so wonderful.  I guess I can see that. Brianna and I studied in Irbid, Jordan last summer, which is much less exciting than Amman, but it was the shop owners, professors, hotel staff and fellow students that made us love it so much. 

On the way back to our hostel traffic was completely stopped. Bangkok is always really busy on weekends, Baitoey told us, but today there was a ceremony for a member of the Red Shirts who was killed in a fight. In very simple terms, the Red Shirts are Thailand’s opposition party, loyal to former leader Thaksin Shinawatra, and comprised mostly of working-class and rural Thais. Yellow Shirts, on the other hand, support the party currently in power, and hold more elites among them. The parties clash often through protests and in some cases acts of violence. They wear red and yellow shirts to show which party they support, and in Thailand citizens take pains to not wear these colors if they don’t want to be associated as a member or run into problems in their daily life.