The next weeks I will stay in Phuket and Bangkok. Touristic destinations, nice landscapes, dream beaches, swimming flower markets, colorful world, diving, fun. Holidays!
But there is another world, too. Have you ever heard of the slums of Phuket? The environmental issues? The poverty in the homes for children and battered women?
Not good vs bad
But I learned this does not mean happy vs. unhappy, the perfect vs. the poor people. Just thinking of the Patong Beach where a huge number of lonely men hope to find a partner, and be it just for a few weeks or days. Then, there are social organizations that care, even in the middle of Phuket, not that visible to the mass of tourists, such as the Good Shepherd organization that tries to set up mobile clinics, to offer vocational training to encourage women to start small businesses… Hope. Needs. Positive impact. Challenges. It’s like in most parts of the world. The happiness and sadness can be seen everywhere. If we want to see it. It’s not the rich world, not the tourism that makes people feel better. Of course, I look forward to see and live the wonderful pictures we find when we go to travel pages and to enjoy. But I travel there, too, to discover a small part of the other Thailand, some call it the real one. I would just say the other part, because there are at least as many realities as people. I look forward to sharing with you my discoveries.
Related Content
Go India, go future! 