Transportation and Racism in Bangkok

Transportation

Bangkok has an ill-conceived public transportation system. It does not go to a lot of the places that people want to go. Sometimes they set up temporary stations, which are not designed for many people, but the planners don’t estimate demand well so not enough rails are built. One of the temporary stations is actually the busiest station in the system. However, if you have the fortune of being near a stop and your destination is on the line, the experience of riding the metro is enjoyable and the commercials they play on TVs in the cars are amusing.

Don't sit in the seat reserved for monks

A variety of motorbike taxis, taxis, and buses fill the gap and they are quite affordable for tourists. Buses come in many types and you can choose those with or without air conditioning. I was able to experience a variety of different means of transportation.

Motor taxis

The most exciting is the motorbike taxi. You jump on the back and hold on for dear life. One morning, the B.P. wanted to give me an authentic experience and hailed one for me.

Motor bikes! My driver went much slower than he does for locals.
Still, I worried that he wouldn't factor in how large my legs were
when we tried to pass by cars, but he faithfully steered us to safety

Buses

The B.P. has an amazing ability to quickly adapt to new environs. Within a couple months, he knew the bus system better than most locals who had lived in Bangkok for years. When I was stuck across town, I called him, told him where I was, and he knew all the different buses I could take to get to where I needed to go.

After our day at the school, we rode a bus to get to our next destination.

This is the kind of bus we rode

Sitting on the bus

Racism

Thailand was one of the most racist countries I visited. The treatment you receive depends on the color of your skin. Locals said that if your kid goes to a tournament, it doesn’t matter what place your child finishes. If they rank higher than a white child, it is seen as a big accomplishment. Thais are treated most poorly by other Thais.

At the Grand Palace, the guards profile you based on your skin color. Many Asians who know the Thai word for “Hello” can get in for free and walk by the guards without getting asked for any identification. All the white people are stopped.

Taxis

My skin color was bad for taxis. At the airport, people get completely gauged at the arrivals lounge, so I went to the departure area where locals normally get metered taxis. As a white person, none of the taxis would take me on the metered rate. After I was denied five times, I finally negotiated a rate that turned out to be multiples of the going rate. When I asked for change, the taxi driver tried to take a 33% tip on the inflated rate we agreed upon, even though tipping isn’t part of the culture.

Later on the street, my friend tried to hail a taxi. When taxi cabs stopped and saw me, they asked for a much higher price than it should have been. My friend protested in Thai and told the driver to drive off. Finally, the fourth driver said, "C'mon, he is a foreigner, he has a lot of money." He tried to get nearly five times the actual metered fare! As a result, I had to hide until we agreed upon rates with new drivers.

My disguise worked surprisingly well

Metro

But, my race gave me perks in the metro.

The guards would salute me and open up the special access point for me. I always liked to salute them back. My non-white friends did not receive similar treatment, even if they were foreigners. 

Receiving discriminatory pricing was frustrating and preferential treatment was awkward. It would be a lot simpler to live in a culture where you're not easily identifiable as “other” so that people interacted with you based on your personality instead of who they assumed you were. It made me not want to live in Thailand and have to put up with it on a daily basis.

Yet, I was able to understand why everyone did what they did. The guards only stopping white people because that is the most effective way. If they stopped everyone, it would cause long lines to develop. The taxi drivers know that white people have resources and don’t care about a few dollars difference in fare so they can improve their income by playing foreigners. The soldiers know that white people are typically richer so if they have a positive experience in Thailand, they will be more likely to invest, which will help their people. Everyone responded to incentives and reasonable expectations. Stereotypes are so hard to root out because they are most often grounded in fact. A lot of people get caught in the crossfire and compassionate people should strive to overcome their internal biases to work for a more just world where people are treated as individuals, but it is very difficult to change perceptions on a societal level if they are grounded in a general shared experience.