Sir Arthur de la Mare's valedictory despatch on the "indolent ... feckless ... vain ... charming ... irritating ... frustrating and endearing" people of Thailand
A sojourner in 1967 and a resident historian on Thai entertainment since 1975, I find the views presented to be (to be entirely Thai-polite) very, and only, British. An example - discussion on the Bowring Treaty being poorly researched. Such treaties had been negotiated with the French and Dutch since the reign of kings of Ayuthaya, each treaty, or agreement was to gain similar economic access. Not to mention, the Bowring Treaty was preceded by the US - Thai Amity Treaty. This is a great historical read, am looking forward to future issues.
A few months ago, BBC reported that Bangkok will be under the water(permanently)at the end of this century. That’s only 76 years from now. Can you research and write about this issue?
Readers may be interested in the 1973 valedictory despatch from Bangkok by British Ambassador Sir Arthur James de la Mare, who painted a vivid picture of the city, noting issues such as: 'decayed garbage left for months on the side of the roads; stagnant canals serving both as cesspools and dumping grounds for dead dogs; buses belching clouds of diesel fumes; scarcely a pavement without potholes and open manholes to break the legs of the unwary; prostitution on a scale astonishing even in Asia; and no proper drainage, so large areas remain flooded for weeks in the rainy season.' Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose!
A sojourner in 1967 and a resident historian on Thai entertainment since 1975, I find the views presented to be (to be entirely Thai-polite) very, and only, British. An example - discussion on the Bowring Treaty being poorly researched. Such treaties had been negotiated with the French and Dutch since the reign of kings of Ayuthaya, each treaty, or agreement was to gain similar economic access. Not to mention, the Bowring Treaty was preceded by the US - Thai Amity Treaty. This is a great historical read, am looking forward to future issues.
A few months ago, BBC reported that Bangkok will be under the water(permanently)at the end of this century. That’s only 76 years from now. Can you research and write about this issue?
Regarding the Tonkin despatch: I regret to inform that I will not be around in 2089 to get the full skinny!
parts of de la Mare's dispatch was quoted in Bangkok Post comments this morning, with no accreditation to you having reported it
That’s interesting! Where can I find it online?
in Bkk Post comments, it was an article ystrdy about floods
i will look later and see if i can find the article wherein the comment was made
found it! turns out it wasn't about flooding, it was about garbage at Mor Chit (oops lol) https://www.bangkokpost.com/thailand/general/2884457/piles-of-bus-garbage-anger-suriya
here's the comment, by a user named Mescalero:
Readers may be interested in the 1973 valedictory despatch from Bangkok by British Ambassador Sir Arthur James de la Mare, who painted a vivid picture of the city, noting issues such as: 'decayed garbage left for months on the side of the roads; stagnant canals serving both as cesspools and dumping grounds for dead dogs; buses belching clouds of diesel fumes; scarcely a pavement without potholes and open manholes to break the legs of the unwary; prostitution on a scale astonishing even in Asia; and no proper drainage, so large areas remain flooded for weeks in the rainy season.' Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose!