Thailand pulls away

It’s not an unfamiliar feeling. It’s the envious tug on your heart when you are abreast with someone in a race and then suddenly, that person overtakes you. You once heard his footsteps beside you and now you are staring at his heels, and his heels are fast becoming a blur because he’s pulling away. And as you huff and puff and quicken your steps, you wonder: Where did I falter and when will I ever run abreast of him again?

When I pause from haggling at Chiang Mai’s markets, or take a breather after taking in the sights at Ayutthaya, when I scan the skyline of Bangkok from its skyways, or, most painfully, when I change my dollars to Thai bath ($1 to 42 baht, compared to $1 to P52) at the Don Muang Airport, I ask myself: So where did the Philippines go wrong? Not too long ago, one peso was equivalent to one bath. After the Asian crisis of 1997, my peso could buy more than one baht.

Once upon a time, there were about 10,000 Thai students in Philippine universities, a lot of them majoring in agriculture. According to a Bangkok Post editorial last year, many of those who had gone to school in the Philippines in the ’70s now occupy top posts in government, business, agriculture and the medical profession in Thailand. Their parents sent them to the Philippines because of the Philippines’ facility in English and its excellent schools, especially the University of the Philippines in Los Baños. Today, the Thai community in the Philippines numbers about 300, including the diplomatic corps. And Thai rice tastes better than our dinorado.

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A group of journalists were in Thailand recently on the invitation of Thai Airways International (which flies 10 times weekly from Manila to Bangkok) and the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT).

Ensconced in Thai’s soothing Business Class section, we were treated to the most delicious prawn curry I have ever tasted, the creamy and spicy sauce a perfect match for the aromatic Thai jasmine rice nestled at the corner of the plate. If this is airline food, then let me fly!

As our plane lands at the Don Muang International airport and as I marvel at the number of planes parked on the tarmac, Thai Airways GM for the Philippines and Guam Chertchai Methanayanonda tells me bigger international airport about 20 kilometers east of Bangkok (Suwan Naphum) will be completed in 2004.

"Don Muang can accommodate 35 million passengers a year, while the new airport can take 38 to 40 million passengers," said Khun Chertchai.

Last year, 10 million tourists visited Thailand. And this year, the kingdom is expecting an influx of 11 million tourists, according to Dave de Jesus, TAT’s marketing representative in Manila. That’s a cool million more than the entire population of Bangkok.

Tom, our able and articulate guide from KBS travel who took us around Chiang Mai and Ayutthaya, points out that each tourist spends an average of $1,000 during his stay in Thailand. Filipinos, who Tom says are among the biggest shoppers when in Thailand ("They get angry if you don’t leave time for shopping in their itinerary"), probably spend more. Of the 5,362,926 tourists who visited Thailand in the first half of the year, 70,119 are Filipinos.

Interestingly, KBS Travel is owned by a Philippine-educated Thai mechanical engineer, Kosol Boonma. Boonma came to the Philippines in 1982 to follow his girlfriend Nok, now his wife. Nok was then taking up Pharmacy at the Philippine Women’s University (PWU). The couple opened up a Thai restaurant, Sala Thai, across PWU, which became a favorite of Thai diplomats and expats. It continues to be one of the most popular Thai restaurants in Manila, even if Boonma has decided to spend most of his time in Bangkok nowadays, what with the booming tourist industry there.

"Agriculture is the main industry in Thailand, but tourism is the biggest revenue earner," says Boonma.

With another tug in my heart I try to recall if the Philippines was able to muster even two million tourists last year. Abu Sabaya’s face comes to my mind and I have my answer.

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Why is Thailand pulling away on the wings of its tourism industry? For one, it has the sights. It has centuries-old wats (temples), ancient ruins that can stand up to the ruins of Rome and Greece and palaces that rival the splendor of their European counterparts. It has the crafts–teakwood carvings, porcelain, silk, silverware. It has the shopping–Filipinos like the bargains in Pratunam, the Chatuchak Weekend market, the Baiyoke Tower, even the night market in Patpong. It has great hotels (the Plaza Athenee is my favorite, especially since it is only a walking distance away from Bangkok’s most popular Catholic Church), food that tastes like it was cooked in a fancy restaurant even if it was just prepared in a fast-food stall. Spas that are meccas of relaxation abound, and so do reputable hospitals.

And most of all, I think the tourists flock to Bangkok because they feel safe there. Although Bangkok imposes a 2,000 baht fine for littering, it has no stringent do’s and don’t’s for tourists (ladies, just remember to wear or bring a skirt if you plan to visit a temple, of which Bangkok has 400). Policemen are ubiquitous, but not intimidating.

There is a well-lit police outpost right in the middle of the night market, and so you have this feeling that as long as you’re neither too careless or too naïve, you’ll be safe.

My sister-in-law Edith Ramirez, one of two Filipino expats in Bangkok’s Telecoms Asia, sometimes has to work well into the night.

"But I have never felt unsafe on the streets of Bangkok, even if I am alone in a cab," she told me.

So there. That’s maybe that’s why Thailand is pulling away. And though I am staring at its heels, I find myself applauding.