Am I Thai?

I finally have a computer again, and it's even a pretty one. People now admire me for my new Macbook Pro. I'd rather keep it hidden away and admire it myself. I hate showing off things and I didnt not buy this baby to show it to anyone else.

I find the new laptop surprisingly easy to use, nevertheless, I have to get used to quite a few novelties.

Lately, the taxi drivers have gone a bit strange. I dont know if this is in line with Silom Farang's doomsday predicting, or if I have just been using them a bit more than usual.

Strangely, a lot of taxis just stop next to me these days. They have the feeling that since I am a farang, I would have this huge urge for a taxi, even when I go to 7eleven, the bus stop or the motocy stand.

I am hugely annoyed by this. Are they stupid or what? If I want a taxi, I actively search for them, and hail them down. Walking on the footpath innocently doesnt count.

Once I am in the taxi though, the mood brightens. In the last few days, most drivers thought I was born in Thailand for some reason. The Thai-Chinese taxi driver who was singing 1980's power balads thought I must have a Thai mum or something.

The taxi driver who used to live in Chiang Mai and not shower often because it was too cold for him outside (18C) thought I must definitely be Thai.

The Roi-Et taxi driver asked me: why do you speak Thai? When I continued, he also thought I was Thai and surprised to hear I was born in the land of Heidi, watches, chocolate and snowy mountains.

The hustlers in Pantip Plaza (the ultimate electronics mall of Bangkok) didnt think I was Thai. "Movie, series, dvd for you sir". One even held a DVD with a naked Japanese women in my face. I shrieked.

I hope the man understood I was not into his Japanese ladies. I was walking around with my French friend who lives in Laos and visited me for a day in Bangkok by the way. Most people thought we were a couple of course.

How rude of the Japanese porn man to just push a DVD with a naked lady into my face while I was accompanied by a lady! A week before, when I was in Pantip with my bf though, a hustler recognised my sexual preferences and wanted to offer me boys.

Well done, at least he spotted that I am a faggot, but I would have rather told him that he if he would have a good look at my boyfriend, he might realise I only need one boy:)

Walking around Pantip with my friend from France was great though. We were looking for an external hard-drive and since we both have no idea about computers, we quickly shifted our attention away from specifics to DESIGN.

You can not believe how liberating it feels, when you can finally admit you are looking for beauty in an electronic product, and not feign some sort of interest in speed, price, warranties or size.

We quickly realised: Samsung it must be. I bought a brown one (called Chocolate) and my friend the sexy red one. We were both pleased:)

I dont want to open up a huge discussion on what it means to be farang in Bangkok, multiple identities, the concept of home etc...but it feels a bit strange sometimes to be treated like a local by one person, only to be relegated to tourist-status by the next person.

Sometimes I wish I had a different skin colour - I wonder how it would be to live in Bangkok as an Asian foreigner.

By the way, tonight is a big Bangkok faggot blog meeting. Sadly we are only three:) Bkkdreamer, Kawadjan and me. Other bloggers should join us!:)