Tom Robbins on Bangkok

"Simultaneously a frantic, high-tech juggernaut and a timeless Asian dream, Bangkok straddles like no other metropolis the boundary between acrid and sweet, soft and hard, sacred and profane. It’s a silk buzz saw, a lacquered jackhammer, a steel-belted seduction, a digital prayer. Its numerous temples and shrines are obscured by clouds of mephtic exhaust, its countless vices and crimes by smiles of tender delight; and through it all, Bangkok manages to maintain the most graceful balance, a grace no less genuine for being well-rehearsed and no less pure for being supported by con men and whores."

- Tom Robbins (Villa Incognito)

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For those of you who don't know Tom Robbins, this post-hippie writer spent much time in Thailand and out of this time spawned a number of books. In my creative writing class, he was recommended to me after I read some pieces that included my experiences in Bangkok. I decided to look him up online and ran across this quote from one of his books which struck me as a profound (if secular) view on the paradoxical nature of Bangkok.

Bangkok is a nation of smoke and mirrors, the land of smiles masking (as he says) vices and crimes in the form of political corruption, human trafficking, massive pollution and prostitution.
And so it is that Bangkok draws people escaping from pain into a place where Hedonism brings meaning. Or at least that is what "Bangkok" represents to the west.

What do I hope to see? This summer I hope to press in and discover who actually lives, breathes and works, beneath the gilded exterior that is promoted to the rest of the world. How do they live? How do they interact with the dual reality that is Bangkok? What does justice and shalom speak prophetically with judgment and hope to a well-rehearsed grace, that is ingenuous and supported by con artists and whores...

Bangok 09: Thoughts

"Thai history compresses what happened in the US in 100 years into 10!"

This was my U.S. History teacher's favorite piece of wisdom and insight and he had us map and compare the country we all lived in (Thailand) against the country we were studying (USA) all year long. And it was true! The industrial revolution took place in a decade in Bangkok, dizzying growth, exports, economic gain. When I arrived as a 4 year old in 1988 one of the tallest buildings was the six story YMCA. Go back down Sathorn road and you won't even see it! It's still there, hidden behind all of the 40+ story buildings around it. The old and new would clash in urban Bangkok, temples against sky rises as the country grew by leaps and bounds.

But in 1997 the Asian Financial Crisis hit, and in 2001 the war on terrorism caused new tension with the Muslim south, then the coup, now political turmoil and most recently the recent Global Recession... what is happening in Thailand?

The country has seemed to fade a bit. The height of its popularity being the mid-90s when all was well for the country. And now it is another South East Asian post-industrialization, still developing, nation.

Without God

Still

after 150 years of Christianity in the country.

Why God, have you not moved in Thailand like we would hope? And if you are... where is it? These are the questions I am going to Thailand asking along with one critical third question: What is my role?

So tell me what you think. What do you think of where Thailand stands? Is the country on the verge of crumbling, or is God doing something new/unseen that I have yet to discover.

More specifically, what role will Bangkok, the capital city and economic hub, play in the economic and spiritual revival of the country as a whole?

Let me know!