On the face of it, much of Bangkok represents the apotheosis of capitalism. Its vast air conditioned malls boast designer shops with names like Prada, Mont Blanc and Bally. American chains are everywhere. The hotels are world class - the Marriott, Hilton and Sheraton compete with the famous Oriental Hotel.
The only fly in the capitalist ointment is the Thai sense of the absurd. For example, Japanese companies based in Bangkok had to give up on the daily singing of their corporate songs because their Thai employees just couldn't keep straight faces.
This morning I was in a large branch of Starbucks in the centre of the city and was given a book for collecting vouchers. I asked the smartly uniformed and extremely pretty senior manageress what it was for and she told me that if I collected 20 vouchers I'd get a special Starbucks planner.
"Yes," she continued adopting a highly portentous tone and pointing dramatically at the trashy thing "one day this could be yours". At this point she was so overcome with a fit of giggles that she had to sit down.
No comments:
Post a Comment