Bangkok
July 30, 2006
Last night we went to the Night Bazaar. It was so fun because you get to bargain with everyone over the price... it's like making your own sale! If you don't bargain, they don't really respect you.

Today we had a city tour. We saw the Grand Palace (which spans 60 acres) and the Emerald Buddha (which was lots smaller than I expected from pictures). We took a canal ride (Bangkok is the Venice of Asia) and went to a floating market on the canal. I found a pretty jade carving of an elephant which was only 150 baht (like 2 bucks) but the lady said it had already been sold... our tour guide said that I could probably find lots more in Chiang Mai. We then went to a local neighborhood and saw some local craftsmen making bronze dishes... Let me mention that it was high 90s today and they were working with a very hot fire...but it was really cool... I ended up buying a little bowl even though it was 800 baht (about$21) because it was so cool to see the process. We were all pretty exhausted when we got home to the hotel, so we lounged by the pool for awhile and then had dinner. I got something that ended up being a soup with lots of lettuce in it, so I ate the meat in it and plan to have a granola bar later! I have found some Thai things I like. For dessert at lunch today we had pineapple pancakes which are little balls that don't really taste like pineapple but they have a sort of pudding texture and are really, really good.

Aug 1, 2006
On Monday, we began our lectures at Chulalongkorn University. The morning was very interesting- it was a Q&A session with several Thai professors in the CUSRI department (Chulalongkorn University Social Research Institute) and it was very open and casual. We all discussed our first impressions and the culture shock that we experienced.

After lunch, we toured several buildings and learned EVERYTHING in the school's history! It was founded in 1917 by King Rama V and is the largest university in Thailand with 32,000 students. Even though it has about the same size student body as UC, the campus is the size of Ohio State! So different!

That evening, CUSRI treated our group to dinner at the world's largest Chinese restaurant. However, it took us an hour and a half to get there! It was all stop and go traffic. However, when we got there it was beautiful! Think of Newport on the Levee, but all one restaurant! They had traditional (Thai) dancing going on, but unfortunately, our table was behind the stage so you couldn't see that well. There were several meat dishes in the middle of our table and none of them looked appetizing to me (prawn heads, a full non-skinned fish with eyes that stared at me, a full duck) but they were pretty good... despite the bones in the duck and chicken (It must be a Chinese thing to just deal with the bones. I prefer the American boneless way).

In the afternoon we visited the US Embassy, which is the third largest embassy in the world. We talked a lot about how the US and Thailand are trying to negotiate a free trade agreement but it's kind of stalled for now because of the political instability here (they sort of don't have a government right now and elections hopefully happen in a week, but they haven't had a functional government since April). But if they don't negotiate the FTA by the end of the year, Thailand's tariffs in the US will rise a lot; meaning that trade will probably move more to China.

Aug 2, 2006
This afternoon we visited a slums area in Bangkok that is near the port. It was really eye opening. You wouldn't believe the absolute poverty these people live in. They are all technically illegal squatters but the community has been there for over 50 years. The port doesn't want to have them sign leases or anything because then it would be harder to evict them (which they do periodically). The "houses" were all shanties made of scraps of wood and aluminum and whatever else they could find. Most didn't even have four complete walls. The area is historically a swamp and the sewage/ drainage seemed to not exist. It was one of the saddest things I have ever seen. We went to talk to a day care that has been set up so that kids have somewhere to stay while their parents work (most people do work in the area, they just are street sweepers, garbage collectors, food vendors, etc. and often don't make minimum wage because they are in the informal economy.) The day care was very nice and clean and the organization is also doing a lot of other projects to help the local community. Surprisingly, there isn't any movement to help people move out of the area (that seems not to have worked in the past) but they mostly focus on making the area more inhabitable. Because of their efforts the area now has paved walkways, electricity, and tap water. They did have a small store where you could buy crafts some of the residents had made and so I bought a few things which I really like and it's supporting the area so I was happy I found things I liked.

Aug 4, 2006
The last two days have been pretty busy. Yesterday we had three lectures all day long! We started at 9:30 and didn't get finished until 5:30. We heard from representatives from "Focus on the Global South" which is an NGO that is against globalization. I can't say that I agree with their views, but it was really interesting to hear their viewpoint. They were actually pleased that the Doha round of the WTO talks failed because they see fair trade as harmful to developing countries. The second lecture was on tourism in Thailand and it was really interesting to see how Thailand is positioning itself to become a tourist hub. It was also interesting to hear some of the concerns about having a strong tourism industry in a country. For instance, there is the concern that the country adopts too much of the servant mentality and becomes just a playground for tourists. We also heard from a professor from Chulalongkorn University who had researched the effect industry has on urban development. In the area around Bangkok, unplanned placement of industrial factories has led to unplanned residential zones and overcrowding in residences and traffic in the area. She asked us as business students to consider the community implications when investing in an area. What was interesting though was that she seemed to think it was more a corporate responsibility than a government responsibility to make sure that communities were developed in a healthy way.

Today we had two company visits but they were kind of far away so we ended up spending the majority of the day driving around. First we visited Mitsubishi. It was really interesting to walk through the production line and see the truck being assembled. They finish a truck every two minutes. It was also cool because I could compare it to my visit to BMW in Munich. BMW had a lot less people working on the assembly line it seemed and a lot more automation. Mitsubishi had some machines but they were mostly used for lifting and most of them had to be operated manually whereas the BMW machines were timed down to seconds and automatic. We asked about this and they told us that it's cheaper to employ people than buy machines. The average worker there gets 6,000 baht a month (plus about 1000 baht of overtime depending on demand) so that is like $162 per month plus about $30 overtime. But I guess it works for them... Thailand is a lead exporter of 1 ton pickups. Our second visit was to Betagro which makes animal feed, chicken and pork among other things. It was really interesting to hear how the bird flu has affected them and how they have dealt with it.

Tonight is our last night in Bangkok and tomorrow we move onto Chiang Mai. I have to admit that I will be glad to leave the traffic and pollution behind. I'll let you guys know when I get to Chiang Mai.

Monday, August 07, 2006
Sa wat dee khrap (or Hello)
We arrived in Chiang Mai on Saturday and as soon as we landed I knew I liked it better than Bangkok. First and foremost, there isn't all the pollution there was in Bangkok. The area is beautiful as well with mountains on the western side of the city and lots of green space! After dropping our things off at the hotel, we headed to a tailor so I could get a suit made. I'm really excited because I am getting a three piece cashmere suit and three dress shirts tailored especially for me for only 7000 baht, which is about $192 USD. I went back last night to try things on (they already had my jacket, pants and one shirt done and my skirt about 90% done in just 24 hours!) and they all look really good. I get to pick up the final product tonight and I'm really excited.

After finishing my fitting, we walked out onto the night market on the street. It was just about 6:00pm so shops were just opening up. This incidentally worked pretty well to our advantage because we found out that they believe it is really bad luck if your first customer walks away without buying something so we got some really good deals since they wanted a sale so badly. We also had to be careful not to look at anything we didn't want though because they got really distressed if they couldn't entice us to buy something. After a few hours of shopping, we decided that we needed a facial in order to revitalize our skin from the Bangkok pollution. For just under $5 USD I got a 40 minute facial that left my face feeling lovely.

Sunday we visited Wat Phra That Doi Suthep which is a 600 year old Buddhist temple on top of Suthep Mountain. It was very interesting and ornate and the views of the valley and city below were beautiful. We had to climb 309 stairs to actually get from the road to the temple, but it was well worth it.

Also on top of the mountain is the Orchid Jade Factory which we visited after the temple. Chiang Mai is a major jade jewelry trading center for SE Asia and it was interesting to learn more about it and see the artisans carving and polishing the jade. Interesting enough, when jade is polished; it is polished three times; the last time with bamboo which apparently is the tried and true way to bring out the best shine to it. I was also surprised to find out that jade comes in a variety of colors other than green. There is dark green or emerald jade; a lighter green they call apple jade; black jade which is actually a very dark green but looks completely black until light is shone through it; white jade; lavender and blue jade which is becoming very rare; and orange, red and yellow jade.

Friday, August 11, 2006
Tuesday we had lectures again all day. First Ajon Lamar and Ajon Noi (Ajon means professor) talked to us about Thai culture and gave us a crash course on speaking Thai. I have to say that it wasn't that hard because there are very few grammatical rules and there are only 5 tones you use, all of which are normal tones used in English. I could see how you could become pretty good if you were living here for 6 months or so.

In the afternoon we heard from Mr. Shane Beary, who has done just about everything there is to do in life. He ran away from home, was in the navy for some African country for 6 years, did deep sea diving for a while and now he owns a variety of businesses in Thailand. He talked about some of the difficulties and opportunities of doing business in Thailand.

On Wednesday we had two site visits. We first visited SME Manufacturing which makes jewelry for export to the US. The factory has about 100 people working at it and is run by an American expat. He told us about the rules Americans have to follow in order to have a business in Thailand and how the Treaty of Amnesty between the US and Thailand makes things a lot easier for US citizens as opposed to the rest of the world. (For instance, we can own land where as others have to go through some loopholes to own land). We then went to Charles Michelle Apparel which is a Thai owned and operated. Among other things, they make sports apparel for a French store that is a lot like Dick's. My group is doing our big paper on the textile industry so we asked about 4 million questions and hopefully we have everything we need from them now! It was rather surprising that both companies established their customer base years ago and now do no advertising in order to gain new clients and aren't really interested in growing.

Thursday we visited the Board of Investment. This government body helps attract local and foreign investment in Thailand. We then went to Lamphun Industrial Park (which is a zone set up by the government to attract investment outside of the Bangkok area. Companies there get special incentives.) and visited The Hanna Group. Hanna makes electronic components for a wide variety of things. They do no R&D or design, just make what customers want. But parts they assemble go into most laptop touch pads and an unmentioned very popular MP3 player among other things.

Today was probably the best day of the trip so far. We were studying the "Eco-tourism Industry in Thailand" but it was a very experience based learning today (aka, we were full blown tourists today). When we got to the Maetang Elephant Park, we first saw an elephant show. I don't know who first decided to train elephants, but they can do some amazing things. One was playing basketball and two of them painted pictures (yes painted... one was flowers with a heart and the world "love" and another one was just flowers.) Then we got to ride in ox-carts. They actually let us each drive for a while. About all I picked up was that to get them to move forward you say "hoi." But they didn't really listen to me. We went to this little village where we could buy things and it was really cool because all of the ladies were dressed in their traditional garb. Then we got to ride the elephants!!! There were even baby elephants walking next to us! We were probably on them for a good hour or so. We went through the jungle and walked across a river twice (the water was up to the elephant's mouth almost). About half way through it, it started raining (it's the rainy season here, but in the spirit of attracting tourists, they have recently started calling it the "green season"). But the rain didn't spoil our fun. There was an umbrella that Tim and I could use to keep mostly dry in our seat. Alicia and Matt's elephant didn't have an umbrella, so the driver bit (yes, with his teeth) huge leaves off of a plant so they could cover with them. It was better than nothing I guess. We then had lunch and after lunch we got to go rafting down the river. We had to wait a while for the rafts to come back up river to start, so we played with the baby elephants that just walk around this place as they please. Rafting was a lot of fun. We just floated down the river and there were two guys that made sure we didn't run into rocks or the bank. The raft was made out of bamboo and not water tight! My raft was light enough but the raft with 5 of the guys on it sat just a little bit under the water in the middle so they got their feet wet.

Monday, August 14, 2006
We are now in Chiang Rai. The bus ride here wasn't too bad. At times going up hills though, we weren't quite sure if the bus would make it, it was going so slow. I found out though that the bus only had a very small engine in it because Thailand has a large tax against vehicles with large engines! We stopped for lunch today at this place called Cabbages and Condoms for lunch... all proceeds go towards AIDS education and prevention, but it was rather an interesting place. The owner has been rather successful because though only about 1% of the Thai population has AIDS, it hasn't spread nearly as fast since this guy opened up shop in the 70s.

Last Saturday we visited Chiang Mai Cooking School. We made one of Thailand's most common soups... which was pretty tasty but I didn't add any chilies or garlic so it wasn't that spicy. We also made a stir fry... which was pretty good and a curry dish.. and my favorite was the banana pudding dessert. In the afternoon Dom organized a trip to see some waterfalls in the park nearby. We had a lot of fun even though we only went to 3 but they were so pretty. Saturday was also Mother's Day and the Queen's Birthday here (not a coincidence) so things were a little tricky trying to use the internet cafe and pick up our clean laundry. Places were only open for a few hours, and not usually when they said they would be open... The laundry place was supposed to be open 6-8 pm and I got there at 7:30 and got my clothes fine, but Lisa went at 7:40 to get her clothes and they were already closed... luckily they opened today before we needed to leave town!

Wed. August 16, 2006
I can't believe it is Wednesday already and we have left Chiang Rai. I have to say that I liked what I saw of Chiang Rai, but I don't feel that I saw hardly any of it. On Sunday I did nothing but work on homework. Monday we heard from a representative of the local Chamber of Commerce. It was pretty interesting because the Chamber of Commerce in Chiang Rai does so much more than ones in the US (like international trade negotiation type stuff). Then we heard from this family that owns a dried fruit business called the Fruit House. They were particularly fascinating because they kept saying how they have so many more people that want to buy from them than they have capacity, but they don't want to expand because they feel they already have enough money. They even stopped advertising because it was too effective. Completely different mentality than the US, I can tell you that much! Tuesday was unbearably hot. We had a two hour drive to go to the border and then another one to come back. We did get to see a port that will soon become the major port between China and Thailand (through Laos). Going into Laos was pretty cool just to say that I have been there, but they didn't stamp passports. In the evening after finishing homework, we went to the local night market for about an hour. We were excited to find that although the selection was a little less extensive, things were cheaper!

Well, right now I'm in the airport on my way to Ko Samui.

Thursday, August 17, 2006

You would not believe how beautiful Ko Samui is. We took this tiny little plane to the island that was painted with fish and was kind of funny looking. The airport we landed at is very "islandish" aka, the terminal is all grass roofed huts. Our resort is awesome. We each have our own little bungalow and it is literally right on the beach. The area we eat at is like 15 feet from the waves.

Today we had a lecture on tourism in Ko Samui in the morning and then we had the rest of the day to work on homework. The program actually ends tomorrow! Which is exciting, but that means that all our journals and our presentations are due. I'm looking forward to having it all said and done so I can be on vacation!!! We still have our big industry paper due the 25th, but I think I'm going to ignore that at least tomorrow night.

Saturday, August 19, 2006
I cannot believe today is my last night in Ko Samui, and in Thailand for that matter. This trip has been so amazing!

Friday night was the last day of our program. We all gave our presentations and were done around 2:30 in the afternoon so we all ran and changed and then hit the beach. I have to say that it was superb. It was sunny; the sea was so blue, the beach our resort is on isn't that crowed at all. I had a delicious banana, coconut shake which was scrumptious. Before tourism became big on Ko Samui, the island was actually a coconut plantation. Actually, in Chang Rai,  Sweta and I split a fresh coconut. It was so fun to drink all the milk out and then you can scrape off the inside of it to eat too. At 7:00 we had our official party on the beach to celebrate the end of the program. The food was amazing, freshly grilled shrimp and some sort of fish and a variety of fruit and veggies. My favorite fruit that I have discovered here is the mangostine. It is hard and a deep purple on the outside but then you break off the skin and it is fleshy and white inside sort of like an orange. I don't know what to compare the taste to, but it is very good... tangy and sweet. Raj gave a speech and said he was really impressed with all of our presentations and that we were a really good group. Actually, it was really sad because we were all parting ways.

Well, that's about all for Thailand, I guess. This has been so wonderful. I really have to say that I don't think I would have enjoyed it nearly as much as just a tourist. We have really gotten to know and understand a lot about the Thai people and why things are they way they are. This is such a beautiful place and it's fascinating because it is still on the road to being developed. I actually hope that it never gets to be like the West, it would lose part of its charm, I think. I really kind of like the fact that the room I am writing in has little lizards crawling all over the walls and ceiling and using a squat toilet isn't really that bad.

Well I hope that everyone is well at home.
-Sarah

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