I just got back from a trip to Chiang Mai. I haven't been up north for quite a few years. It was nice to get out of Bangkok for a while, but it wasn't the relaxing getaway that I'd hoped it would be. I think this is mainly due to the hotel we were staying in — right next to the Night Bazaar.
Once upon a time, I remember Chiang Mai — even the bits in that area — had some local and unique qualities that set it apart from so many other tourist destinations in Thailand. It used to have great little food stalls, right in the Night Bazaar, that sold lots of tasty Northern-style food. There were cute restaurants, good food stalls and nice, outdoor eateries that all had great food you could only find in the North.
But as I walked through the area this time, I could have been in any of the low end tourist centers anywhere in the country. There was nothing different that you'd find on Khao San Road or Patong Beach or Pattaya or Cha-am. Lots of seafood (in the mountains, really?) and Hallal restaurants and KFCs. But not much Lanna flavour at all.
I know that if we'd been staying in a hotel in a different part of the city, things would have been different. I know this, because we ended up taking long tuk-tuk rides to different parts of the city to find something good to eat. Something quieter. Something, let's face it, with fewer tourists. I hate tourists.
It made me realise that I'll never be much of a traveller. I hate other people. Well, not all other people. But most other people. I especially hate people who are travelling outside their countries and don't try anything new. Why come all the way from the Middle East to Thailand just to eat Middle Eastern food? Why sit in an English pub in Thailand when you travelled all the way from England to see the sights in Asia. I just don't get it.
I guess the problem is that I'm not a tourist here anymore. I don't want to go to places where I have to be embarrassed about the stupid, rude, fat farang that I see. I don't want to be one of them.
So next time I go for a holiday here in the Land o' Smiles, I'm staying as far away from the tourists as possible. And I'll never eat seafood in the mountains.
Sean Vale
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