Going out in style

Going out of course is a universal thing. But the concept is the same everywhere. Dress up a bit and have fun with friends. Cultural differences happen to appear here also. For example singing Karaoke is the equivalent of going to drink a pint in Europe. But this I want to inspect discotheques.


Thailand

Going to a discotheque in Thailand is not a big thing, it is quite open for everyone and a mix of the population can be found there. A normal discotheque is safe and enjoyable. Only problem is that legally they can only open until 2 o'clock so you have to start going out early. If you want to continue partying you can follow the Thai crowds, who surely will invite you, to a more underground place.

The party will start with a warming up band which will play some cover songs. After the band some Dj's will spin their tunes until closing time.
Thai people will mostly order a bottle of whiskey or bring their own bottle and mix it with ice, coke, sprite, soda or any combination from these.
If you want to check out some discotheques in Thailand go to RCA (Royal City Avenue). This is a street full of major dance temples. Every weekend international DJ's will be invited and every sort of music is found over there.

I was in RCA on New Year's Eve in a smaller but cosy discotheque. As usual the band started to play first and the Dj took over. So after we heard some Thai classics the Hip-hop beats started to pour out of the speakers and the climax was of course the New Year countdown. Thai people are known for their "joie de vivre" and the bottles of whiskey got emptied. Some young teenagers started throwing with glass around. Immediately the music was stopped and the lights went on. The whole crowd 'booed' at these individuals and they were asked the leave the place by the other party people. So security took them out and the party could start again. A scenario I could not imagine in a European discotheque.


China

As for in China discotheques and nightclubs are a more new phenomenon. They tend to be expensive compared to other countries and are more reserved for the happy few. These are places for the trendy youth. Of course in China there is a lot of youth and thanks to the economical wonder and one-child policy these young adults are not poor. So the nightlife in China is an expanding business.
In contrary to Thailand there are no closing hours, so that means you can go out till the early morning. In China you will find the kind of discotheques as in Europe, so mostly no live bands and good danceable music.
The most common drink again would be whiskey; some places don't even serve beers. But the whiskey will be mixed wilt Chinese cold tea. Which sounds weird but isn't too bad, because it mineralizes the chance of a headache next morning.

The best know chain of discos in China must be Babyface. In all major cities in China this venue can be found, with even in Beijing 2 Babyfaces. If you are looking in Beijing for same places to hang out, go to the are of the Worker's Stadium, that's where all the big discotheque's as Vics and Mix are located. Also here International Dj's coming every weekend to impress Chinese youngsters.

Personally I find discotheque's in China very fascinating. Upon entering you will be stunned by the decorations. But the people who flock inside are my main point of attention. You will obviously find those fancied dressed girls who are dancing with their friends. Now they are not really dancing to the beat but just dancing like they have practised. Exactly those girls have studied some impressive steps at home and just come to show them on the dance floor; even they are not matching with the song, hilarious.
Around the dance floor are some private corners with tables where you can just sit down and relax. Some of these private corners are private spaces (balconies, rooms) and you have to pay for them. These spaces are located where so everyone can see you. Like in Babyface you will find separate rooms with a balcony on the second floor looking down on the dance floor. And that's where you will find the big guns of China. These people look like fat Chinese godfathers. These older, fat and especially rich Chinese want to be seen and do it in style. They have a couple of beautiful babes dancing around on there private balconies and they drink the most expensive drinks available. Again I found this behaviour a typical aspect of fast evolving China, but o so hilarious.

So yeah I don't go too often to a disco, but when I go I enjoy the music and of course the surroundings.

Karen Long Neck

The Long Neck women are a subbranch of the Karen. The Karen originally live in Myanmar in their own state of Kareni. As the political situation is not very comfortable a lot of Karen have fled to the neighbor country of Thailand where they can live in peace. There are about 600.000 Karen in Thailand nowadays.

Although the Karen population is spread over Thailand the Long Necks can only be found in the province of Mae Hong Son, in the upper North-West part of Thailand. A few Karen Long Neck have been moved to some tourist villages around Chiang Rai and Chiang Mai, but these are rare cases and not natural at all.

The Long Neck women have different names. Padong is the name the Burmese have given them, while Kayan is the name they use by themselves, giraffe women is another term used to describe them.

Most of these Kayan people fled from Myanmar, because their status of outlaws. The state of Kareni isn't recognized by the Burmese authorities and the army is allowed to shoot any Karen they encounter. So a sort of guerrilla war is fought over there. A lot of locals have decided to leave the war and try to settle down in Thailand. In the beginning most of the Karen including the Kayan were kept in huge refugee camps. Bit by bit the Thai government let those Karen people have villages to integrate in Thailand. For the Kayan women it is a bit of a similar story, except that it is been told that some tourists asked the permission to enter those refugee camps as to see the Long Neck women. The government sensing some profit here have made a win-win situation. Giving the Kayan tribe villages around their natural environment and allow tourist to visit them, hence promoting tourism in the remote area of Mae Hong Son.

These Long Neck women should not be seen as a tourist attraction and they really wear the rings! They not take off the rings when tourist are gone and put them on again when they arrive, as some guidebooks say. They are perfectly happy and very grateful that they don't have to return to the war zone.

So why do they wear those rings. Different reasons can be given and a combination of these have to be seen as the reason why.

- In Myanmar (Myanmar is the current name of Burma, the name Burma was used during the English domination, as when this country was free they used the original name Myanmar again) the women stayed behind in the village, while the men went hunting. To protect the women rings were used to cover the vital parts (neck, arms and legs), especially protect against wild tigers who tend to attack the throat.

- Originally only women born on full moon AND on Wednesday were allowed to wear those rings. So before they showed the social status of a girl.

- In the Karen culture a long neck stands for beauty, so women wearing the rings could more easily find a male partner.

- The Karen have their own mythology. According to them the world was created by a mystical being , which looked like dragon-swan. This creature had a long neck and so the rings refer to this creature.

Nowadays every girl (no man) can choose if she wants to have the rings or not. Around the age of 5 the girl can start wearing the rings. Most of the time if her mother is wearing rings, the girl will choose to do the same. As in most Kayan villages now the rate is about 50-50. So half of the women population will wear the rings. As I can see more and more young girls start to stop wearing those rings when they grow older, so these phenomena might slowly disappear.

The rings as they are cold is actually one piece of brass (zinc+copper) bended around the neck. Every 4 years the girl can decide to add more rings. So the old ring is ceremonially being taken off and a new piece is melted and attached or a totally new ring is made and the old ring can be used by the next girl. When the girls are fully grown the total ring can weight to 5 kilos! With the maximum weight ever found of an amazing 7 kilos!

So does is hurt. Some say it hurts other girls say they are used to it and they feel nothing any more. Underneath their rings the have scars from rubbing the rings against the body. For sleeping they use a special pillow that supports the neck and the rings. Most girls also have little pieces of cloth between the space of the rings and the body as to stop the rubbing. The spcae between the rings and the neck is big enough to be able to wash behind the rings as otherwise the aspect of beauty would be neglected by the smell.

Belgian Dr Johan van Roekeghem studied this phenomena. He took some X-Rays of some Long Neck women in Mae Hong Son hospital. The results are totally natural and reveal that these Kayan women have no longer neck than any other human. The have the same amount of ribs and the length of there spine is identical with ours. But what can be seen is that these women have there shoulder pushed down by the weight of the rings. So the shoulders lose about 45°. And that is why we get the impression that the neck is longer! Dr van Roekeghem was found death in the jungle. Suicide or not? Rumours say that he had a relationship with one of the local Karen girls and that most villagers didn't appreciate it.

The Karen Long Neck that stay in Thailand get education thanks to Thai schools. They learn all normal class curriculum and get a lot of languages. They learn Thai, English, Kareni (there own language) and Burmese. They learn Burmese because there is a chance that they might go back to their relatives in Burma one day.

Trip Thailand August 2008

May 2008 become a marvellous Year for us all!
I already made my good intentions for this year and one of them is preparing a trip to Thailand for family, friends and relatives.

Because of the Olympic Games of 2008 in Beijing I will have no work in China at that time. So August would be the perfect time, which is also the time in Belgium to go on holiday!

I worked out a program for a 2 weeks round trip which has accents on culture, nature and entertainment. The concept of this trip is to travel cheap, but with some necessary comfort. So basically a trip defined between backpackers and normal organized tours. The program presented is a mix of some standard round trip but tuned to my preferences.

The hotel or guesthouses are not decided yet. They will be cheap but still have the needed comfort like own bathroom and airconditioning, ...

Cost will be kept low, as I get no commission and the bigger the group the more deduction I can get. The major cost will be the international airplane ticket. The best (cheap+comfort) airline at the moment is Etihad airline, which has good connections to and from Brussels. Hotel and guesthouse costs will be average less than 10 euro/day/room. And during your stay for transport and excursions about 25 euro/day should be enough. If I get some interested people about this tour I will publish a detailed pricelist, after I negotiate with local accomodations.


Program from August 1 (Friday) to August 15 (Friday) :


DAY 1 Friday Aug 1

Boarding Airplane to Bangkok Suvarnaphumi


DAY 2 Saterday Aug 2 - Bangkok
(very relaxed day)

Arrival Bangkok
Transfer to guesthouse in the neighbourhood of Khao Sarn.
Lunch in Khao Sarn
Visit Chinatown
International buffet dinner with Calypso show (Most famous Ladyboy Cabaretshow of Bangkok)


DAY 3 Sunday Aug 3 - Bangkok
(Relax day)

Visit of Royal Palace, Wat Po (temple of reclining Buddha)
Lunch
Klongtour (Boat tour through old town of Bangkok), visit Wat Arun (temple of dawn)
Free evening (Go to RCA, Suan Lum Night Bazar, see Bangkok nightlife)


DAY 4 Monday Aug 4 - Kanchanaburi
(some hours of bus)

Early departure from Bangkok
Visit local train market
Visit Floating Market
Driving to Kanchanaburi, Lunch
Visit famous Bridge over River Kwai, war cemetery and museum
Night safari (washing elephants and elephant ride) + dinner


DAY 5 Tuesday Aug 5 - Phitsanulok
(Long transfer day)

Driving to Lopburi to visit Prang Sam Yot (Old Khmer temple full of wild monkeys)
Lunch in Chainat in most beautiful restaurant of Thailand
Afternoon driving to Phitsanulok
Visit insect market and dinner near river


DAY 6 Wednesday Aug 6 - Chiang Mai
(Long transfer in afternoon)

Visiting Sukhothai (UNESCO-ruins of first Thai capital) by bicycle
Lunch in Si Satchanalai
Driving to Chiang Mai + Visit local wild market in Lampang
Dinner in Daidomon restaurant (all you can eat Korean BBQ)


DAY 7 Thursday Aug 7 - Chiang Mai
(relax day)

Elephant show + Safari (Elephant ride, oxcart ride and bamboo raft)
Lunch in elephant camp
Free afternoon
Khantoke dinner (local food and Thai traditional dances) + go night market


DAY 8 Friday Aug 8 - Chiang Mai
(Fun day)

Visit Doi Suthep (Most important temple of Chiang Mai)
Lunch at lake
Adventure afternoon (paintball, quad, giant trampoline)
Dinner in food court and Karaoke evening


Day 9 Saterday Aug 9 - Mae Hong Son
(Relax day)

Morning flight to Mae Hong Son
Lunch in city
Visit Phasua waterfall, Hmong and Shan hilltribes and Lake near Burma
Dinner and free time on night market


Day 10 Sunday Aug 10 - Mae Hong Son
(Very relaxed day)

Visit local market
Visit Long neck village by boat
Lunch near river
Visit Doi Kungmu (Temple that gives the viewpoint on Mae Hong Son)
Moo-kata dinner (All you can eat)


Day 11 Monday Aug 11 - Phuket
(Transfer day)

Flight to Chiang Mai
Lunch
Flight to Phuket


Day 12 Tuesday Aug 12 - Phuket
(Beach)

Visit Krabi
Free


Day 13 Wednesday Aug 13 - Phuket
(Beach)

Free


Day 14 Thursday Aug 14

Flight to Bangkok with connecting International Flight


Day 15 Friday Aug 15

Arrival home