ชีวิตที่พอเพียง : 98. มองต่างประเทศจากต่างมุม

        อีเมล์ จาก ผอ. พรทิพย์แห่งฟุลไบรท์ ต่อไปนี้ สะกิดให้ผมเขียนบันทึกนี้     

Ma eek laew ka! Is my mail haunting you all???
 
My presentation at Ladkrabang went okay ka...though the conference there was so huge that I felt real nervous chiew ka!!
 
Just got back from Hanoi with several stories to share ka.
 
I've been going to VN during the past 11 years and seen many developments made, from the first time when I was there, eating real low quality of rice until present when the quality's much much higher. Our American teachers said that they missed our Thai rice, though.....well! I wonder (and sure am worried) how many years the country will take to come up with comparable rice quality!! Their people just got out of the food ration in 1987 and so I think they have great determination to survive much more healthily and wealthily. They're extremely hard working and working toward a clear goal to use education for the better of their people and country.......where are we and how are we doing la ka?
 
However, despite the very positive picture, the younger generation is moving to be more modernized and materialistic. On weekends, younger ones/couples enjoy themselves along the West Lake while some others gather in coffee shops to drink coffee and others. A lot more 'sai+ diew+' tops can be seen from everywhere ka whereas 'au+ yai' is common in restaurants (waitresses ngai ka.....similar to our country's situation na ka.) The country's also suffering from HIV/AIDS ka.
 
Like any other country with fast development, gaps between the rich and the poor, the urban and the rural are widened....social problems will get to be more and more serious ka.
 
This was the first time I went to Halong Bay ka. It seems like it's going to be 'a Pattaya' very soon since construction and souvenir shops are everywhere. Many boats are sailing along the Bay.......beautiful nature could be harmed by pollution from oil and other wastes, like other resorts/ tourist attractions.
 
On this trip, one of our teachers had an extreme dryness in her eye which made her eye teary and hurt. We were staying at the Halong Bay then so we'd prefer going to Hanoi to visit a doctor. Our local host was very kind to help find an international clinic for us. Though without full eye-check equipment (basically questions and answers and regular eye/ear/nose checks), she was charged $90 for that visit with one bottle of eyedrops ka.
 
Our organizing team agreed that our country's much better equipped and charges much less for a better physical examination na ka. We were happy we stressed to the participants the importance of health insurance package.  We all need to have some form of health insurance too na ka, not only when traveling abroad but in our country since the costs will be only on the rise na ka.
 
We only learned that there is a clinic nearby that is operated by Bumrungrad hospital. I'd think that we all would have a lot of confidence if visiting this clinic na ka nia! Another lesson we learned with a note of the phone number of the place too ka.
 Anyway, please stay healthy ka. I'll try hard too ka!
 
Warm regards.
Porntip
 
         เป็นมุมมองต่อต่างประเทศ     หรือประเทศเพื่อนบ้านตามแบบที่อเมริกันมอง     คือมองเป็นอื่น เป็นคู่แข่ง      ผมถามตัวเองว่า มีมุมมองแบบอื่นไหม     เช่นมองว่าถ้าเวียดนามเจริญขึ้น เศรษฐกิจดี ก็จะช่วยให้การค้าขายแลกเปลี่ยนกับไทยดีขึ้นไปด้วย      เราเองก็จะพลอยอยู่ดีกินดีมากขึ้น     ได้มีโอกาสไปเที่ยว และเรียนรู้ประเทศเพื่อนบ้านได้มากขึ้น

        ผมมักตั้งข้อสงสัยกับตัวเองบ่อยๆ ว่าเวลาเราคิดเรื่องโน้นเรื่องนี้     เราสวม "หมวก" อะไรคิด      "หมวกความคิด" นี่มีความหลากหลายมากกว่า The Six Thinking Hats ของ Edward de Bono นะครับ     ผมสงสัยว่าเราโดนวาทกรรมอเมริกัน  วาทกรรมตะวันตก ครอบงำวิธีคิดจนคิดแบบอื่นไม่เป็น หรือเปล่า

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