Whopper virgins Chiang Mai blahdiblah
Ha ha, just sounding off in my own quiet space after googling around. Just saw one of those "whopper virgins" ads and felt a little incredulous about the "remote Chiang Mai villagers," having been to Chiang Mai; don't remember in particular but wouldn't be surprised if there are both McD's and BK there (posters in the blogosphere confirm this, plus Thai fast food chains). Anyway Chiang Mai isn't the boondocks. Someone called it the #2 tourist destination in Thailand; I'd guess maybe #3, after Bangkok area and Phuket area. It's no San Francisco, maybe somewhere between Galt (of garlic fest fame) up to, at most, Napa/Sonoma. The traditional clothes of the taste-testers indicate that they're Hmong. My mom had an outfit like that, gift from Hmong friends--my hometown of Stockton, CA has a good size Hmong population. Maybe the villagers were remote because they were from the outskirts of town. Probably they were "whopper virgins" for lack of interest/need for a burger.
On the web I found a lot of outrage and counter-outrage and deciding who was more stupid and ridiculous. Actually I don't think it's that big of a waste of time; one might ask, in this shrinking world: what does it mean to be "remote"? What can the word "authentic" possibly mean these days, or what do we secretely think or want/wish/hope it to mean? I.e. authentic culture, authentic deliciousness, authentic research. Ha ha, pick at me if I'm silly or not framing this well enough; ex-English major turned wannabe speaking. But anyway here are the points I wanted to add to the fray:
1) Here and there is the web opinionator giving the credential that they've been to Chiang Mai and visited the "hilltribes." In Thailand there's plenty of tourist ads for trekking to go meet hilltribes. A Laotian-American friend from my hometown (oh, her opinion would be fun on this) explained to me that "hilltribe" is Thai people's somewhat derogatory description of various distinct ethnic groups up in northern Thailand or in Laos. Regarding that, sometimes she'd disparagingly say Laos is just some mountain by Thailand. I crossed the border between the two and felt the wealth difference was palpable (like driving into Tennessee from Arkansas, if I remember hwy 40 right?). Anyway there's plenty of history to appreciate regarding Indochina; none of that here. Just was looking for somewhere to make the point about the word "hilltribe." My credentials being ex-English major: prone to problematize, overanalyze, destabilize notions like "credentials." For better or useless or worse.
2) "Boondock" is a word coming from American GI's pronunciation of the Tagalog (a major Philippine language) word "bundok" meaning mountain. So I lied when I said this mountain region Chiang Mai isn't the boondocks! Really I meant, it isn't as simple as "remote village" would imply.
3) Back to the BK ad, saw some Hmong posters here and there mainly jazzed about the publicity, complaining that many Americans are ignorant such a people even exists. Point taken.
Eh, why am I opinionating so late? Sending my love to all and any who still somehow wander this way--Johanna
On the web I found a lot of outrage and counter-outrage and deciding who was more stupid and ridiculous. Actually I don't think it's that big of a waste of time; one might ask, in this shrinking world: what does it mean to be "remote"? What can the word "authentic" possibly mean these days, or what do we secretely think or want/wish/hope it to mean? I.e. authentic culture, authentic deliciousness, authentic research. Ha ha, pick at me if I'm silly or not framing this well enough; ex-English major turned wannabe speaking. But anyway here are the points I wanted to add to the fray:
1) Here and there is the web opinionator giving the credential that they've been to Chiang Mai and visited the "hilltribes." In Thailand there's plenty of tourist ads for trekking to go meet hilltribes. A Laotian-American friend from my hometown (oh, her opinion would be fun on this) explained to me that "hilltribe" is Thai people's somewhat derogatory description of various distinct ethnic groups up in northern Thailand or in Laos. Regarding that, sometimes she'd disparagingly say Laos is just some mountain by Thailand. I crossed the border between the two and felt the wealth difference was palpable (like driving into Tennessee from Arkansas, if I remember hwy 40 right?). Anyway there's plenty of history to appreciate regarding Indochina; none of that here. Just was looking for somewhere to make the point about the word "hilltribe." My credentials being ex-English major: prone to problematize, overanalyze, destabilize notions like "credentials." For better or useless or worse.
2) "Boondock" is a word coming from American GI's pronunciation of the Tagalog (a major Philippine language) word "bundok" meaning mountain. So I lied when I said this mountain region Chiang Mai isn't the boondocks! Really I meant, it isn't as simple as "remote village" would imply.
3) Back to the BK ad, saw some Hmong posters here and there mainly jazzed about the publicity, complaining that many Americans are ignorant such a people even exists. Point taken.
Eh, why am I opinionating so late? Sending my love to all and any who still somehow wander this way--Johanna
posted by fragments of angry candy at 11:42 PM
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