King BF

My sister, her boyfriend and I just came back from a frustratingly-short trip to Bangkok. We had a grand time searching for the cheapest clothes, bags and shoes, and wasted no time sampling the best pad thai we can find. I absolutely love Thai food, and I was happy that I could vacation in a country where the food is as cheap as here in Manila. Last time I went to Bangkok was in 2000, and I was amazed at how far and fast Thailand has progressed since then. I recall that the baht was roughly the same as the peso the last time I went, and the Bangkok roads were about the same as in Manila. So imagine how floored I was when I saw the majestic Thai airport (having just left NAIA three hours ago, where all I saw was trash everywhere) which could definitely rival other major airports in terms of size and beauty. [Sidebar: I love exploring airports, down to riding those moving flat Jamiroquai-esque escalators and being politely told to 'please watch [my] step... following a Chinese translation', onto going inside smoking rooms] Then, I was more shocked as we passed through the huge, flawless roads going to the city center. World-class talaga. I couldn't help but feel sad somehow, just thinking of my beloved PI.

Teka, my blog is about King BF, so back to that first.

Everywhere you go in Bangkok, be it to a mall, a restaurant, inside a cab, literally EVERYWHERE, you are guaranteed to see a picture, billboard, poster, of their most-revered King - Bhumibol Adulyadej.

Thais appear to love and respect their king so much, and his myriad photos all over the city attest to that. I understand that it is not mandatory for Thais to have his picture placed everywhere, but they voluntarily do it just the same [Please correct if I'm wrong].

So, my sister and I came from our vacation and passed Edsa on the way home. There, we saw huge posters of MMDA chair Bayani Fernando peppering Edsa MRT islands, as in literally, every kilometer or so. [I searched google for the exact same picture posted along EDSA but I couldn't find it] Government money was obviously used for those hundreds of posters, because they bore the pink MMDA color and an MMDA message.

Tired and sleepy from the trip, I let out a huge laugh when my sister remarked: "Eh si BF ata ang King natin eh." Then I realized her comment wasn't funny at all, but actually pretty disturbing. So I went back to sleep.

BF, please take down those posters. I want you to take them down not only because I do not see the point AT ALL in those posters, and because I have a major issue with the huge cost those must have entailed to the government. I traverse Edsa everyday, and this past week, traffic going to Makati has been especially horrible. So when I see your poster, I can't help but get mad at you. You don't want that, do you?