Thailand is beautiful. It’s a famous and popular travel destination – a perfect place people go to relax, have cheap spa days, experience mother nature’s beauty, and even get in touch with spirit.
Oh, and there’s that other type of “massage” but that’s not what this is about!
I live in San Francisco and am used to hearing people talk about income disparity, social inequality, and the problem with having extremely rich neighborhoods next to extremely poor neighborhoods.
I see things every day on the city streets that I wouldn’t want my children, if I had any, to see. I mean, I frequently see things that I don’t want to see!
I still wasn’t ready for what I saw in Thailand. The level of poverty I saw made me feel terribly guilty for being a tourist there.
I walked through a shopping mall filled with elaborate gowns and jewels and stores by brands I’ve vaguely heard of in Vogue or something.
I didn’t buy anything, because, hello, rent in San Francisco, but that didn’t stop the pain in my heart when, upon exiting the mall, I walked by a person begging, bowl outstretched.
This person was covered in dirt and laying on the ground, and this person had no legs. I was shocked that so many people paid no mind and kept walking by.
Bangkok was beautiful and charming with questionable infrastructure and so many stray cats. The people seem content with what they have and there is a lovely spiritual undertone throughout the country.
The people I met there were lovely and I can see why so many people love to visit there.
I do think a much better trip to Thailand for me would be one where I could contribute directly to helping their communities that seem so much less privileged than my own.
I’ve long been interested in doing a volunteer trip abroad through a company like volunteerworld.com or unitedplanet.org but it was always cost prohibitive.
Updated January 21, 2020 – I’ve set a personal goal for myself to raise the funds to be able to do a volunteer-based trip during my summer break. I’m going to take this from “something I’ve always wanted to do” to “something I finally got to do!”
Picky Eater Abroad 