Saturday, April 15, 2006

Scantily Clad Foreigners

The water festival is wrapping up today.. thank goodness.

The first two-three days were fun... but today is the 5th day, and honestly, I'm happy its over. I've spent the better part of the last two days hiding in internet cafes, just to avoid having more water splashed on me. For a few hours each day, it's fine.. but esp. as the afternoon fades, it becomes pretty annoying.

I must have seen tens of thousands of people in the streets the past few days. The crowds were jam-packed, traffic at an almost standstill, and you could see an endless stream of buckets-on-a-string being thrown into the moat before they were hoisted up, thrown on someone, and then plunged back into the water again.

In the last few days, with all those people.. so many people - The only topless people I've seen have been foreign men. Thats right, during a period where everyone is joining in with the local festival (which constists of water fights and getting drunk), quite a few foreign men (and unfortunately, most with American accents) seem to think it's cool to strut around in their swimming trunks and bare chests.

I'm not sure what goes through their heads - the thousands of other drenched men are still wearing t-shirts.... Do they think they're the first people to realize that it might be a bit more comfy without a t-shirt wet stuck to their back?

You can see the reactions amongst the Thai people..you hear the whispers, and the dirty looks...

And alas, we all get lumped into the same boat - damn farang.

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