Bus
may be considered as an important mean of transportation in Bangkok. Most
people, particularly students and employees, take public bus back and forth to
schools or workplaces. It has since become another part of their life. However,
for those who could afford a private car, they would choose their own way of
traveling.
During
rush hour, significantly when the students and workers leave their schools and
offices heading home, the terrible traffic jam have annoyed me once I’m on the
bus. It doubles the time I usually spend by walking to get to my place from
school. I need to take more than half an hour on the bus with crowded
passengers, and flooded vehicles on the road. I am extremely fed up with traveling
by bus, and soon I prefer walking rather than taking any bus to school.
Again,
on the bus, there are overloaded of passengers heading different destinations.
It is therefore bored that you could not do anything freely but stand still
breathing smoke into your lung shared by the motorist engines, and, at the same
time, there is overpowered by various products of perfume and bodies’ odor. Sometimes,
I close my nose or try to turn away from the source for I could not well
breathe. However, it does not mean any discrimination against them.
If
you are lucky enough, you could find a seat. Unfortunately, most of the time
the seats are full once the rush hour falls. Anyway, I do not want to challenge
for any seat for they should serve women first. While I am standing on the bus,
I could have chance to observe surrounding people: what do most people like
doing?
Observing
someone does not mean that I want to dig into their privacy, I just want to
learn about other people and, the reason is that I am a foreigner who knows
little about Thai people in term of daily life specifically young people – my
target.
On
the bus, besides sitting, I saw some young people were reading books. Wasn’t it
good to kill your time by reading a book?! It could help improve our reading
skill as what I would say. But the question is that what books are they
reading? With my curiosity, I continued my observation. I found that the books
they were interestedly reading were filled with black and white color of drawing
which covered almost every page and left small space for some text. The text
was written exactly in Thai language, and I had no idea what it was about for I
cannot speak Thai, let alone read. I guessed it was comic book since I used to
see similar kind of this book when I was young, but I did not have enough
saving to get one at that time. And the text should be the dialogue between
actors presented in the book. The readers did not care about others, for the
book was so interesting that you forgot surrounding once you started a page.
They did not even catch a glimpse whether or not what was happening around. They
would get off only if their destination was alerted. They then got off the bus
and folded the page they had read, and disappeared in long distance.
I
guess that kind of business is good to run in Thailand nowadays. I could see comic
book stores set up in many department stores around Bangkok supplying their
customers with diverse choices. I saw flooded of young people wandering around
those stores choosing the ones of their favorite – maybe of their favorite
actors or heroes – during the weekend. I was born curious, I wonder if they
ever choose their books according to the writers or the content of the books
for their selection? I asked myself. Still, I did not want to interrupt them.
In fact, I cannot speak their language.
I do
not know what content is written inside each book – whether or not they help
educate their fans, the readers, or the book is just only for fun? It is worth
to read a book. However, we have to decide which book could help improve our
knowledge. Book is an important source of knowledge, at the same time, it could
lead us to either good or bad because of both good and bad influential actors
exist in the book. Most importantly, it much relies on the way the readers
interpret information of what the authors are trying to transfer.
Besides,
reading comic books, other youth also like focusing on their phones. There
might any interesting thing consisted inside that I wondered since they could
not take their eyes off! Moreover, their hands were busy too, taping buttons of
the phone’s keyboard very fast. Was there hot news happening that they wanted
to share with their friends? They were extremely busy. In fact, they were using
Facebook – a kind of social network through which you could chat, upload
photos, post information, share comment on something, and many other
possibilities – and is very popular now among teenagers. (I knew these usages
for I used to possess a Facebook account of which I found it distracted my
study later.) These young students were reading their friends updates on their
Facebook profiles and/or commenting something posted on their friends’ wall (I
unintentionally saw it). They are very clever and are quick learners that they
could skillfully use Facebook or other social networking blogs in communication.
I could only make use of it 2 years after I completed my undergraduate degree
in 2008.
We
could see, because of the advancement of information technology, nowadays,
people could connect each other almost everywhere around the world within
seconds either through cell phone or computer. More convenience than that,
scientists integrate internet program in hand phones so that the users could freely
contact their friends and loved ones with their mobile phone everywhere within
network coverage and, it is more convenience though they are traveling. However,
we have to bear in mind that because of technology, some serious traffic
accidents have been reported almost every day which caused by using cell phone
or internet during driving.
Those
students who were surfing Facebook with their phone looked busy; still, they
were quiet for they talk nothing and were only active with their hands. The other groups of young
adult, their hands were not busy, but their mouths were rather busy by talking
with their mates. Their dialogue seemed like a kind of happy hip hop
or rape song with high key volume of music attached with laughing and smiling
of which they might think their loud voice could help create better atmosphere
for the moment while other aunties, uncles, and elderly on the bus were having
a nap. Those elderly usually take the chance of when they are on the bus to relax
after whole day of hard work.
Meanwhile, at the other side
of the bus, there also existed low and slow romantic music performed by couples
of youth. That atmosphere was so sweet that sometimes I felt shy and jealous looking
at them for I was always alone witnessing that kind of sugar sweet
relationship - they were holding each other's hands, talking and often their
eyes created a very sentimental connection of which I could tell as once I used
to have that sort of experience.
I believe that it is only a
small part of Bangkok people’s life I observed and, I will not generalize that all
youth are the same. Frankly, I like observing, for from observation I learn
something new and often interesting.
Now, I rarely witness any
kinds of the above experiences since I decided to walk to school…
.JPG)