GOOD MORNING BANGKOK

Siam Station at 730am this morning, and it was super vibrant and highly industrious already. I understand Thailand is the only Asian country (I may be wrong as I did not check the history books) that was never colonized. These city folks all very civil if what I saw this morning, my first impressions not as a tourist, were any guide.

Take one example; the trains are so packed passengers at the doors have to step off to allow those getting off to get off. They form another line after exit, one that has priority to re-enter the train, while those on the platform (at both sides of the door) wait their trun. As soon as the train is full, they stop and let the doors close. There is no 'please stand clear of doors', no 'mind the gap', no shutting/opening of doors as passengers still try to squeeze in, and lastly, no one in white gloves and megaphones enforcing. Why cant we do this in Hong Kong?

People dress simply for the weather but they are all clean and tidy. Most young women wear their hair long, some look like they just finished shooting a shampoo/conditioner commercial. If you happen to stand behind one on the train, you can smell it, as I did. Men still wear long sleeve shirts to work. I am sure those who wear a uniform in public had to pass a waist-line test first. One never sees a policeman with anything more than a 29 waist. With creases on their shirts, neatly tailored over flat tummies, they remind me of Officer Estrada in Highway Patrol in the 1970s.