Sunday 21 July 2013

SOME PEOPLE SHOULD NOT HAVE PASSPORTS

If there's one thing I try and save for (and on the meagre wages of a freelance film journalist and occasional producer of Blu Ray supplements that means a lot of saving) it is travel. I remember John Waters - and it may have been in his book Shock Value, which I don't have handy at this very second - mentioning that it is impossible for him to be bored at an airport. To which I would suggest the poor bugger has never been stranded at LAX, but - regardless - it is a solid point: when you know you are going somewhere, how can you not be excited?

A passport is a thing to cherish and I am still baffled when I meet people who have the means to travel but choose not to. I'm sure I'll die penniless, I doubt I will ever be able to afford a car (I can't drive anyway) and goodness knows if I might ever be permitted a mortgage but if, on my deathbed, I've ticked off all of the places on my bucket list I will pass away happy. Travel opens your mind - to new languages, cultures, attitudes, religions... I would wager that the more you travel, the less patriotic you get - whilst still appreciating the best of your homeland. Or at least that is my experience.

However, just because you have the right to go somewhere does not mean you should act like a douchebag when you clear customs and set foot in your latest exotic destination. And this is the reason behind my new blog: asshats and passports. Take a look at the picture below:


This is a picture of The Bridge on the River Kwai, located in Kanchanaburi, Thailand. The story behind the building of this bridge is harrowing - allied POWS, from numerous nations, forced - under slave labour conditions and stuck in disease-ridden camps in the South East Asian jungle - to build a connecting train line between "neutral" Thailand and Japanese-controlled Burma (then a British colony and now known as Myanmar). Over 100,000 people died constructing this hellish project.

And in the above image you can see that some tourists have arrived here and decided the only sensible thing to do is to scribble graffiti on it.

Now look at this image:


This is Angkor Wat. Yes, the Angkor Wat. You know, the Hindu Temple (eventually becoming a Buddhist place of worship) that has awed people for centuries and centuries? You know, the ancient civilisation that can be traced back to over 1000 years? Located within a short driving distance of Siem Reap in Cambodia, Angkor Wat is one of the wonders of the world. The many temples which are located there are a must-see destination for millions of people. They withstood even Pol Pot's Khmer Rouge (indeed, prior to the Vietnamese liberation of Cambodia, ol' Saloth Sar himself - the man who had closed his own country and executed nearly a third of his people - was giving tourists from Thailand the opportunity for day trips to this incredible site - such was the obvious interest that Angkor Wat still held. Not to mention the obvious monetary benefits that come with it). 

But none of this is good enough for the above tourist - "Vanna" - who decided that, despite standing for over ten centuries - what Angkor Wat really needed was her name chipped into one of the pillars.

Unfortunately, immortalising herself as an ignorant asshole is not just Vanna's goal in life. It is the goal of plenty of other people. In fact, there is graffiti all over Angkor Wat and its neighbouring temples:






Depressing isn't it?

And here's another thing: Angkor Wat is still considered a place of great religious respect by both Buddhist and Hindu people alike. No matter what time of day it is, you will see young Buddhist scholars walking around the various temples:



Guesthouses, hostels and hotels all across Siem Reap ask visitors to Angkor Wat to show respect and cover up. I am a firm believer that men should not wear shorts and sandals anyway so that is never a problem for me. I don't care how hot it is (and Siem Reap is hot) - I don't want to inflict my man-legs on anyone. 

I understand it is a little trickier for women who, on holiday in a roasting hot climate, will want to show a little skin. But rules are rules. You don't like them? Go to Ibiza. 

Naomi, my travelling companion, was quick to respect these rules. Did she sweat lots? Yes. Did she get respect from the local people? Yes. It makes all the difference:


But, mostly, this 'ask' seemed like too much for many white tourists. Take a look at this lot (and this is just three pictures that I took, knowing - at the time - I'd need some examples for the blog I was then writing in my head):



Well, at least they didn't dress like that when they were visiting a mosque. Oh hold on, that actually did happen. It was in Kuala Lumpur. And once again, some of the tourists seemed shocked they were expected to cover up.  

Sigh...

And here's the very clear entrance to the Royal Palace (and temple) in Pnomh Penh:




You see that? Is this clear enough? NO FREAKING SHORTS!!!!!



Here's the people in line in front us mulling over the likelihood of them being turned away:




Perhaps even worse was the graffiti I found on the walls of the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum - a place where the Khmer Rouge murdered and slowly tortured thousands of people (up to 20,000 seems to be the rough estimate). I didn't take any pictures here (I don't think there's a reason for a camera to be out in a place like this) but there were tourist scribblings on the walls of places where bloodstains remain - where people, in agony you and I can never, ever comprehend - were starved for months and tortured for extended periods of time. A place so horrific, Naomi would not even walk into one of the cells.

Suffice to say, my faith in humanity crumbled even further when I saw people's scribbles all over Tuol Sleng - a place which still personifies an almost unthinkable terror.


Cambodia, and to a lesser extent Thailand, are both countries where the locals will attempt to sell you anything. You might haggle for something only to find you've been ripped off when, a few stalls later, someone has the same thing for $1 instead of $10. It's not so much dishonesty as it is the result of having no welfare state and a huge gap between rich and poor. Cambodia, in particular, is what would happen if Ron Paul's Randian lolbertarian ideal ever took place - mothers and children sleeping homeless, kid beggars, a lack of police on the street, unsafe roads and pavements, litter everywhere and mansions next to makeshift cardboard homes. 

So, no, I don't blame anyone in these developing nations for trying to get money any way how. I do, however, find it depressing seeing white men with young prostitutes on their arm in Phnom Penh or in Bangkok. I think it is disgraceful that tourists in the Thai capital and Phuket think it is acceptable to pay to see a women from a developing nation pull razor blades or live animals out of her nether regions or blow a whistle or fire ping pong balls at your spoilt, arrogant little tourist mug from the same bodily area. I can't even begin to explain my hatred for third world sex tourists (or any kind of sex tourist) who has not the slightest concept of the politics involved in this hateful industry. Go ahead and defend your idiotic actions but your sexual curiosity, or gratitude, is what gives tourists to Thailand and other South East Asian nations such a bad name. It is also what makes some of the locals see us as nothing more than a walking dollar sign - to be shamelessly exploited. Given the circumstances I cannot say I blame them.



Another thing that bothers me is idiots and animals in these countries.

In Patong I spent an evening drinking some Tiger Beers (Tiger Crystal Lite is now my alcoholic beverage of choice) and watching tourists having their pictures taken with exotic animals. How about a pic with a baby leopard? Or an iguana? Or a lemur? That would be cute wouldn't it? Nothing dodgy going on there. I can only mention my utter horror as person after person lined up to be pictured with a baby leopard which, after they scattered, was roughly hit by its handlers. And why wouldn't they hit it? It's a fucking wild animal. It's not a play thing for pricks with passports.

The worst offender of this has to be the various tiger "temples" that are all over Thailand. 




Now I love tigers. I'm sure you do too. But something is a bit fishy about paying to sit on their backs, or at their sides, or snuggling up to them. I mean, imagine if Edinburgh or London Zoo offered that? They would make a fortune! So why don't they, right? Well, maybe it is because the tigers in these Thai establishments are badly treated and even drugged. There are reports all over the internet about the bad treatment given to tigers in these places and, rest assured, if my old, beloved, late, great tabby cat of 17 years was consistently petted for 10 hours a day by strangers, it would attack your hand and leave you with some nasty gnaw and scratch marks. And that is a tabby cat. So the excuse that these tiger temples give - that the animals are just "tired" and used to human contact - is really quite ridiculous but, hey, some tourists will believe anything. Unfortunately, we saw a lot of people lining up to plan trips to these centres of reported big cat brutality whilst we were in Thailand. Depressing.

I've not even started on the abuse of elephants - from idiotic circus shows, to street begging to riding on their backs - but there is one final positive. It is called the Elephant Nature Park and it is a rescue centre based in Chaing Mai:

Elephant Nature Park


The subject of documentaries on National Geographic and Animal Channel, the owner is a wonderful woman called Ek, and her husband, who also save stray dogs and cats. The elephants in this incredible retreat range from animals blinded by circus lights or cruel owners to battered and bruised creatures who have spent their lives on the streets of Bangkok to gain money from tourists wanting a photo opportunity. The animals in Lek's park are well treated and, as a tourist, your money goes towards her amazing conservation efforts.

You might not be riding on their backs, but you can pat these amazing mammals and even feed them.



Those who do engage in some sort of ethical travel would be well advised to spread the word to others about respecting the countries we choose to visit and even recommend, as I'm doing, places such as the Elephant Nature Park. And if you see someone scrawling graffiti on a famous landmark? Don't be afraid to tell the relevant authorities. Remember: wherever we go in this world, we are the guests. Let's try and act like respectable and responsible ones because, as I said at the start of this blog, a passport is something to cherish. But some people don't deserve one.



The tigers are badly maltreated to make them compliant and perform for visitors, for example, it was observed that Temple staff would drag tigers into appealing photographic positions by pulling their tails or punching and beating the animals. Staff also controlled the tigers by squiring tiger urine from a bottle into the animal’s face, an act of extreme aggression in tiger behaviour. - See more at: http://www.careforthewild.com/what-we-do/campaigns/previous-campaigns/tiger-temple-the-truth/#sthash.pxbzpEXJ.dpuf




The tigers are badly maltreated to make them compliant and perform for visitors, for example, it was observed that Temple staff would drag tigers into appealing photographic positions by pulling their tails or punching and beating the animals. Staff also controlled the tigers by squiring tiger urine from a bottle into the animal’s face, an act of extreme aggression in tiger behaviour. - See more at: http://www.careforthewild.com/what-we-do/campaigns/previous-campaigns/tiger-temple-the-truth/#sthash.pxbzpEXJ.dpuf
The tigers are badly maltreated to make them compliant and perform for visitors, for example, it was observed that Temple staff would drag tigers into appealing photographic positions by pulling their tails or punching and beating the animals. Staff also controlled the tigers by squiring tiger urine from a bottle into the animal’s face, an act of extreme aggression in tiger behaviour. - See more at: http://www.careforthewild.com/what-we-do/campaigns/previous-campaigns/tiger-temple-the-truth/#sthash.pxbzpEXJ.dpu