A Bit about Kanchanaburi

One of the first things I noticed when Tom and I arrived in Kanchanaburi was a lack of western women around the place. There were however an over abundance of Western men, mostly older western men.

Now, this being a town of historical significance, frequented by those interested in the history of WWII and for those looking to pay their respects to family members who, in serving their countries, ended up as prisoners in this place, I did realise that more men would possibly be interested in visiting. Don't get me wrong, I did enjoy the laid back atmosphere and what I experienced in the town, but, something did bother me about the place and I noticed this even more last night as Tom and I sat at a bar enjoying a couple of cold beers as the rain poured down around us.

In high school, I read a magazine article in French class concerning prostitution in Thailand. The details in that article combined with others I had read concerning the environmental problems, pollution and the continual opening up of Thailand's Islands, which had all once been a national park, made me wonder if I ever wanted to travel to such a place. Well, I am happy I did, and I being here did make me realise that a lot is being done to combat not only the air pollution, but to encourage people to think about what they are doing to their environment.

When it comes to prostitution, well I have been to Amsterdam, I've walked down and had a drink on Patpong Road in Bangkok, and sure, it bothers me to a certain extent, but I am not going to loudly voice my opposition to it. As long as those involved are safe from harm. However, it is another thing to not only have it so obviously thrust in your face, to see very young and beautiful Thai girls with unfortunate looking much older men, and then to be sitting at a small bar and have an English man in his sixties tell me about how many of the girls at the brothel across the street he had been with and how many more were on his list. Kanchanaburi seems to be the place to go if you want to meet very lost men with low self esteem.

Another English guy (they weren't all English, just those we bumped into) Tom met had been in the town four weeks. Over the course of his first week, he met a girl, bought a house worth 60,000 pounds and it being Thai law, put it in her name. He arrived home one day, shortly after the purchase to find the locks changed, the house empty and sold. Hasn't seen her since. How stupid can one person be.

All that being said, we are happy to be back with the backpackers and 5-star holiday goers in Chiang Mai. Haven't seen much yet, but plans are in the making.