Apartments and a Note on Ethical Issues

It seems like distant past for us now, but I thought it might be fun to relive the apartment hunting experience. By far the easiest time I’ve had looking for a place to live in a foreign country. Everything was pretty straightforward, and, as per usual, imbued with a mix of Ariel and Julia approaches. To start us off, I found a list of the 140 condo complexes available to us in Chiang Mai, and then narrowed it down to about 50 or so that were on the west side (more about the west side later). From there we set to researching them all to see if they even had a web presence or were vaguely in our price range or comfort level, by which time we had about 20 places to visit and a rough map indicating where all of them were. Then we were off on our scooter, starting with the lowest prices! The first places (about half the price of what we are currently paying) were…pretty dismal. Dirty, sparse, dingy, and with furniture that was falling apart. From my research I knew that the quality would increase significantly if we were willing to pay just a little bit more, so we pressed on. In the end, we narrowed it down to the two complexes that seemed both livable and inexpensive, both with varying facilities and styles. One had included wireless internet, a pool, a sauna, and a fitness club. All the rooms in that complex are owned and outfitted by a central owner, and it’s located on a busy main street with very few shops in immediate walking distance. The décor was very IKEA-esque, and our favorite room had a glass door dividing the bed and eating area, which we really liked. However, we were slightly put off by the smell of what seemed like rotting manure that permeated the area, as well as things like banana peels in the shower of otherwise empty rooms. How does that even happen?! Our current apartment, which is cheaper, did not have included wifi (we have to pay for each of our 4 devices, and are constantly being logged out, which is annoying) or fitness club. There’s no pool and our view is nowhere near as nice. However, we have all new appliances, a kitchenette, a tv we can plug our computers into, and homier décor set up by a tasteful English fellow. When we walk outside, we’re right next to a 7-11, a Tesco Express, and a bunch of cafes, bars, and boutique-y stores. Not to mention our new favorite place, Salad Concept, which lets you make your own enormous salad and compliment it with a refreshing fruit shake and/or baked good!  

The west side of Chiang Mai is markedly different from the rest of the city, although only a couple miles from the center. Here, it’s easy to forget that the backpacker-filled area of the old city even exists. All the shops look very up-market and it’s obviously geared toward a trendy, coffee-loving student clientele. Because we’re close to the university, there are a lot of cultural events and moving showings we can attend. The local fauna is obvious, especially in the sois, and you don’t have to struggle to remember that the hills are literally right there. It’s definitely a better feel for us – it feels closer to nature, further away from transient backpackers that don’t make for very stable friends, and closer to other expats who are also trying to set up a relatively permanent life here. So in the end, I think we really lucked out by finding our current apartment, which is somehow nicer, cheaper, newer, and better furnished than all the other more expensive ones in this building. It’s a definite win. Having a home to come back to has made us feel a lot more secure, and being able to cook whatever we want in our little kitchenette has been so fun! Cooking has always been something of a comfort activity for me, so it’s nice to be able to rustle up some eggs, home fries, and whatever else we want on our little hot plate and then eat on our couch while we watch shows projected onto our nice tv. The kitchenette also gives us an excuse to go to our local market, which, as Ariel mentioned, is a great place to practice our Thai.

On to more exciting things! I believe we neglected to debrief you on our elephant trip. Which, I think, is the best way to celebrate one’s 22^nd birthday (aka the first birthday in your life where you start to feel sad about getting old. Adults, don’t give me any snark!). I think it’s cool that conservation and ecotourism is becoming such a big deal in Chiang Mai. Sure, there are a lot of debates going as to what’s good and what’s not, and there are a lot of inexcusably bad practices still going on that plenty of well-meaning people contribute to – for instance, elephant shows in which the elephants are forced to perform circus tricks for the crowd. More debatable are things like the visits to the Padaung tribe. But there is definitely a movement towards less damaging forms of tourism, whether or not these are going to be successful in the long-term. It’s always hard to know whether what you are supporting is going to help move the participants in a positive direction, or what repercussions the industry is going to have, but part of travelling is just trying to research and check things out and make your own decisions the best you can. It’s easy to get paralyzed by the thought of the damage you’re doing and it’s also easy to just let go and do whatever sounds good. I guess I live by the motto that conservation has its pros and cons. If, after research and my own experience, I can see definite pros of supporting a place, and can’t immediately think of alternatives, then it’s probably reasonable to support. I think it’s okay to disagree with parts of their model, just like it’s reasonable to find flaws in our own policies but still think they’re the best move forward. It’s kind of like saying you shouldn’t bother recycling because a lot of places just put it all in the garbage anyway. You just do the best you can.

Anyway, I think we did a pretty good job in selecting Baanchang Elephant Park. I’ve heard the Elephant Nature Park is also great, but we chose the former because we wanted to be able to ride the elephants. At baanchang, they at least give the illusion that you are learning the basic commands for the elephant (lie down, left, right, stop, go), even though the mahout did most of the maneuvering and the elephants are used to the path. They clearly care a lot about their elephants and view this as the only viable alternative to keeping them in the (quickly shrinking) jungle, which the elephants are not prepared to live in anyway. They expressed frustration at not being able to keep them in a larger, grassier area, but explained that this is all the land that is available to them, close enough to the city and tourists which comprise their livelihood. Being able to ride the elephants bareback (commonly used seats hurt the elephant) was a novel experience, and while a little painful it was so cool to feel the elephant move underneath you! I think the best part was getting to bathe them at the end of the day, although it felt like it was cut a bit short. Somehow while scrubbing my elephant I ended up sprawled on its back while he decided to take a walk around. At this point he was my buddy, so I just lay there and enjoyed the ride! While I understand the very necessary touristy aspects, it would have been nice to just spend some more time playing with the elephants and getting to know their varying personalities. You could tell they were rushing us through a bit so the next group could get in the water. Elephant Nature Park also has the option of paying to volunteer for 1, 2, or 4 week long positions, but at a hefty cost. Still, it would be nice to have such a rare experience and actually get to know the elephants!    

We’ve already received some flak about going to pet the tigers, so I’ll explain our stance on that as well. Here are some pros: at Tiger Kingdom, they actually seem legitimately offended if you ask if the tigers are drugged. I imagine it would be like asking a mother if they gave their baby Nyquil to keep him asleep. Of course I don’t let that convince me – we spent time watching the tigers before we decided to buy time in their cages. I’m no vet, but the tigers just clearly aren’t drugged. They’re constantly playing with each other, unelicited by the trainers. They’re feisty. Some we weren’t allowed to go near, as they were feeling grumpy that day. All ages of tigers are available, not just the cute and cuddly babies, so it’s a sustainable environment for them for the long-term. I was frustrated by the trainers, who were constantly trying to get the tiger to look at the camera or give us various other photo ops. I really just wanted to lie down with the tiger and not bother him. I didn’t like the enclosure, as the ground was mostly concrete and there wasn’t much actual dirt or greenery for the tigers to enjoy. It was annoying that the area was obviously set up more for tourists than the tigers, but maybe the tigers don’t actually mind…who knows! I definitely got the impression that the tigers here were happier than tigers in a zoo – there was no pacing and they actually interacted with one another. So if you’re willing to support a zoo, where tigers are trapped in inappropriately small cages and stared at yet understimulated all day, I really don’t see much of a moral difference. I appreciated that Tiger Kingdom was using their funds to build another sanctuary where tigers aren’t bothered by tourists. So, mixed feelings about this place. To sum it up, cons: lackluster enclosures, annoying trainers, poor sleepy tigers. But it provides a sustainable way to breed more tigers, a way to get money to feed the tigers, and is equivalent to or better than a zoo.

Real time update: Ariel just made bomb thai tea on her second try! There are a billion recipes and ways to do it so getting it right is actually a bit of a feat! But now we know we can make it ourselves, cheaply, whenever we want! We also received our teaching licenses today, so we will finally be off to Laos probably Sunday night. I’m not particularly looking forward to it, as the visa run system seems to be a bit of a cash cow. Basically anyone who wants to work here has to do one every 90 days, and it generally entails a 12-14 hour overnight ride in a cramped minivan, lots of transfers, a $35 Laos visa, and a $160 Thai non-immigrant B visa. For reference, $160 is how much the two of us have spent on food this month. Total. The whole process takes a couple days, if you rush, but you generally don’t have much time to enjoy the city. As always I’m sure we’ll make the best of it, so look out for or update about it coming soon!