The Telltale Signs of Freedom

Thailand and Burma provide a splendid illustration of the difference between capitalist and socialist ways of dealing with man and his community.

On this, my third, visit to Bangkok in 16 years, I was amazed at the ugly Westernization of a once-accommodating Oriental town: wide avenues choked with traffic, hundreds of high-rise buildings, gigantic hotels—all in the cementgrey uniform of progress. Take away the almond-shaped eyes, and it could be any super-efficient, nondescript, industrial/commercial center located anywhere in the world. With all these visual drawbacks, though, Thailand is prosperous. It figured large in the movement of supplies and men during the Vietnam War, and subsequently it became a fertile ground for investment by Germans, Japanese, Americans, Italians, Australians, and others. The sleepy Oriental town of Bangkok has turned into a bustling metropolis: orderly, efficient, prosperous, crowded, and ugly.

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Thomas Molnar

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Thailand and Burma provide a splendid illustration of the difference between capitalist and socialist ways of dealing with man and his community.

On this, my third, visit to Bangkok in 16 years, I was amazed at the ugly Westernization of a once-accommodating Oriental town: wide avenues choked with traffic, hundreds of high-rise buildings, gigantic hotels—all in the cementgrey uniform of progress. Take away the almond-shaped eyes, and it could be any super-efficient, nondescript, industrial/commercial center located anywhere in the world. With all these visual drawbacks, though, Thailand is prosperous. It figured large in the movement of supplies and men during the Vietnam War, and subsequently it became a fertile ground for investment by Germans, Japanese, Americans, Italians, Australians, and others. The sleepy Oriental town of Bangkok has turned into a bustling metropolis: orderly, efficient, prosperous, crowded, and ugly.