Safety...Top 5!

Our families were a bit concerned about our safety since the recent state of political unrest began. We had a chuckle at this, not just because the strife actually gifted us 2 pleasantly unexpected school holidays, but also because their worries should be directed to our more mundane daily tasks.

Thai people are concerned with many things – white skin, good food, saving face – but safety is not one of them. Being safety conscious Americans, this all took a while to get used to, but we think we’ve adjusted quite well. It’s the small things, really, like not requiring seat belts for passengers in the backseat. In fact, most taxis have kindly removed those pesky back-seat belts altogether. While walking on the street you have to navigate through upturned cement bricks, potholes, and food stalls with boiling cooking oil and mini-barbecues. People in Bangkok walk with their heads down at all times because if you take your eyes off the sidewalk for a second, you inevitably end up tripping. We know this from experience. You have to look above you as well, as you might get clothes lined by low-hanging telephone wires. Crossing the street takes guts. You look one way, then race to the 2 foot wide divide. You tuck your butt in, suck in your stomach, look the other way, then quickly dart to the other side. Just this summer we used this same Frogger tactic in the States, only to be taken aback when the drivers stopped for US!

Two Thai women playing Frogger - I mean, crossing the street.

Holes in the sidewalk make walking an adventure.

Our workplace is full of its own hazards. It was built on a marsh, so the land is continually sinking, creating uneven steps that beg for ankles to be twisted. There is also a large pond in the middle of one of the playgrounds, and a few kids have even fallen in (or been pushed in jokingly) by their friends. Apparently the fish in it like to eat people. Last year, one of the cleaners attempted to rinse her hands in the pond and was bitten by one of them! The middle of our atrium has large marble benches, which is fine for sitting. However, when kids come running full speed on a rainy day through the atrium, I envision a major slip and a head bonk. The old me would have scolded the kids for running indoors and told them to walk. The new, Thai-accustomed me just asks them to reduce their speed to a slow jog.

There are definitely some bigger issues. Families and workers pile into the back of pickups and drive on highways on a regular basis. We’re a little unclear about the helmet laws, but many motorcyclists don’t wear them. This is fine for riding in our little neighborhood, but when you get on the main roads it is obviously very dangerous. Also, you will often see entire families riding on one motorcycle. Sometimes the dad is wearing a helmet, occasionally the mom will too, but the child(ren) standing in the front and babies in their mothers’ arms are usually without one. Also, many poor Thais and other immigrants come to the city to work construction. They stand on bamboo scaffolding many stories high with no hard hats, proper footwear, or other safety equipment.

In our ongoing quest to understand our host culture, we think we figured out the priorities here (but we're probably way off, par usual). They go a little like this:

1. Fun

2. Cost

3. Convenience

Safety and Aesthetics battle for fourth place.