I startled to wakefulness by the sharp crack of nearby lightning. I had resolved to synch into the local time by remaining awake until evening, but failed shamefully. I stumbled to my feet and walked to the rain spattered window of my 21st floor room.  From this vantage I could study the cityscape of Krung Thep (Bangkok) and marvel at the activity on the muddy Chao Phraya river below. 

The television blares out that reassuring theme music of the BBC- the one with the swirling red pattern against the beeping time signal in the background. Despite all of my travel, it still boggles my mind how comfortable it is to go to distant places. You sit in an aluminum tube for a while, get out, and hop into a taxi.

The conference is in a 5-star luxury hotel, filled to the brim, it seems, with nattering western 60-somethings on holiday. Prosperous Europeans and North Americans out for a taste of exotic Siam. Nothing too strong mind you, just a taste.  The air-conditioned, hospital-clean hotel offers the one thing that you can’t get otherwise in Krung Thep- solitude.

A step into the streets of the city is, for this North American, a step into the heart of metropolitan Asia. It is monsoon season, so the air envelops you like a hot, wet sweater smelling of diesel and oily 2-stroke motor exhaust. Everyone is busy. Some are just moving from point A to B. Others are eyeing you from their narrow kiosks and calling out for your business.  Like the stationary bivalve that eats only when it can suck in some bystander, the kiosk proprietor has but 15 seconds to get catch your fancy before you leave the field of view. As a westerner, you resemble a big block of cheese and everyone wants a slice.

All of the motion, the incessant bartering and angling for prices is always a shock to Americans who are used to the economic firmament of price tags and the taboo of public bickering over prices.  Americans pride themselves on capitalism, but are reluctant to let it equilibrate to the microscopic level of one-on-one haggling with shopkeepers. Too untidy and confrontational. Americans would rather go to another store than attempt to haggle for a better price.  But this reluctance only serves to dilute the power of the consumer. This is a lesson we can take from Asia.