03.29 "Toxicity"(System Of A Down)

Asia

Thailand

Phi Phi Don->Phuket->Bangkok

Woke up, and still Melancholia hasn't released her grip on me. Among other things, I can't avoid thinking about the title song: I feel my beloved island is being too exploited and I fear this paradise will be smothered in the next couple of decades. As always when I predict suffering, I hope to be wrong. 

But on humor lies the best way to cope with pain! Thai signs and printed tshirt in English are incredibly funny, and this one sparked a grin on my face: 

My last image from P.P.D (Perfect Paradise Decaying)

"Toxicity" also applies to another fact: Traveling with Traveler's Diarrhea is not fun. Traveling with fellow travelers with diarrhea is not fun either… but at least, so far, I haven't been struck by the weakening disease. Martusia is recovering and all indicates that Basia just got it… and we have to travel on a ferry 2 hours to Phuket, taxi to the airport (another hour), plane to Bangkok (1.5 hours), taxi (another hour) and (finally!) arrive to the hostel. 

This is how the girls felt:

:P

But we actually were in high spirits… and hungry… so we took a walk to a mall where Basia found great and inexpensive food. Here are some funny things we found:

1) I learned to say "Leonardo DiCaprio" in Thai (see detail of the handprint below)

2) pointless slogans (myriads like this one):

3) creepier-than-American Ronald Mc Donald

(As Martusia said: "I will eat your children… after fattening them up")

4) Fashion statements:

(Any similarity with wearing a large condom on your head is pure coincidence)

5) Happiness everywhere!

(We men just don't admit it, but we know a happy moment is just around that corner!)

Thais are particularly obsessed by happiness: "feeling happy" seems to be a very important variable to be achieved by individuals and the society. And that is something I admire from them: I prefer that brainwash to the "feeling safe" one!

6) check below: bars were closed just prior to the elections… but tourism must not be disrupted! ):)

Thailand is still socially unstable: the government is facing pressure from part of the population that included protests that almost shut down Bangkok.