This afternoon I had a plate of rice with garlic fried pork in Jomtien. The price was 30 baht or $1US. Last night I ate quick kee-oh for 30 baht. Both were delicious. Cheap eating on the street is still possible in Thailand despite the current inflation of food staples. People are struggling to get by, however one Bangkok hotel has decided to show the other half ie the rich how the other half ie the poor eat by first offering a 5-star meal cooked by world-class chefs followed by a tour of Thailand's famed street cuisine. The sidewalk cooks all greed to the evening's labor.
"More people. More money."
The Lebua hotel had more difficulty finding a Michellin chef to provide haute cuisine tres extraordinaire after the French newspapers published the preliminary information about this $300,000 excursion for the rich. At least a dozen refused to avoid any controversy about the chasm between the rich and the poor. The hotel is still enthusiastic about the idea, which is a gift to Lebua's top ten big spenders, who would be asked to open their wallets to finance charity projects for the poor of Thailand.
It's all very reminiscent of Marie Antoinette's saying, "Let them eat cake."
Misunderstood as well, since she was suggesting that they should feed the poor of France with gateau left-over flour and water combination covering the ovens rather than throw it into the poubelle or trash. She should have had a better press agent or given them bread and wine, the latter sparked the Bastille riot when a wine wagon tipped over and spilled gallons of wine into the gutter. The poor were not so fussy about the bouquet and voila la revolution.
As for this tour I'm out having never spent a baht at Lebua.
Maybe next lifetime.
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