Slow Boat Activists

A relatively post-dated entry. Our slow boat ride from Chiang Mai to Laos about 1 week back spelt bad news for buttocks – it either makes you wish you had more flesh on them, or it may remind those who had paid for expensive exercise regimes targeting the posterior.


In any case, we thankfully got seats. One miserable family didn't. They ended up dwelling in the engine room amidst a mountain of backpacks. These harsh conditions of rattling eardrums and breathing exhaust fumes are perfect for nurturing activists. And so came along two outstanding younglings no older than 10-years-old, intent on seeking public opinion regarding their plight and the general boat ride experience.


My picture here shows the interim collation but the results are predictably heartening. Majority of the 100+ passengers voted against a recurring experience, and indeed nobody was crazy enough to want to sit in the engine room. But still, we're just tourists. I shudder to think of illegal immigrants all packed up in the suffocating hulls of benign-looking ships, dreaming of a better life in foreign lands provided they survive the trip in intact health, and manage to find a non-exploitative job upon arrival. Maybe that's what my grandparents were thinking of when they migrated to Singapore...