Thailand Same same, but different! by Suzie Wong

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26.03.2008

12:01 Uhr

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Bamboo scaffolding, knotted aerial lines, hand painted signs or converted plastic bags: The objects photographed in Thailand by Thomas Kalak, the photographer from Munich, are sometimes unusual, both funny and peculiar, and often mind-boggling. Far from the world of clichés, Kalak finds motifs that complement and enhance the famous image of the country and simultaneously document the unshakable cheer of the Thai people as true masters of improvisation.

Thomas Kalak had to be the most nervous travelling partner I have ever worked with. Flying to Namibia, taking three separate flights, with the last being a Cesna four seater, was a most memorable day. Thomas ended up sitting next to the pilot while photographing elephants on the dirt strip as we came into land. His camera as quick as his eye, I am very happy he overcame his fear to be a global voyeur and follow his passion for life and people. Terry Jones, Editor London. Thomas Kalak war der am stärksten von Flugangst gequählte Reisegefährte, mit dem ich je zusammengearbeitet habe. Den Flug nach Namibia – mit drei verschiedenen Flügen, wobei der letzte in einer viersitzigen Cessna erfolgte – werde ich nie vergessen. Thomas saß am Ende neben dem Piloten und fotografierte die Elefanten auf der staubigen Landebahn, als wir gerade zur Landung ansetzten. Seine Kamera ist so schnell wie sein Blick und ich bin sehr froh, dass er inzwischen seine Angst überwunden hat, um ein globaler Beobachter zu sein, und seiner Leidenschaft für das Leben und die Menschen folgt. Terry Jones, Herausgeber London.

Deutsch | Englisch | 24,90 € (D) ISBN: 978-3-940393-04-3

THAILAND Same same, but different!

THAILAND – Same same, but diﬀerent! Bambusgerüste, Oberleitungsknoten, handgemalte Schilder oder umfunktionierte Plastiktüten: Es sind außergewöhnliche, humorvolle und oft rätselhafte Gegenstände, die der Münchner Fotograf Thomas Kalak in Thailand porträtiert hat. Jenseits der Klischees findet Kalak Motive, die das bekannte Bild des Landes ergänzen und vertiefen – und zugleich die heitere Unerschütterlichkeit des Thailänders als Meister der Improvisation dokumentieren.

Thomas Kalak

Beschnitt 16mm

THAILAND , ame same

S nt ! e r e f if d t u b s by graph von – Photo Fotograﬁen k

Thomas Kala

www.rupapublishing.com

Beschnitt 16mm

THAILAND , ame same

S nt ! b u t d iff e re

Fotograﬁen von Thomas Kalak Mit einem Essay von Jochen Müssig Photographs by Thomas Kalak With an Essay by Jochen Müssig

PREFACE

White beaches and breathtaking sunsets, picturesque temples and colourfully dressed monks, wonderful cuisine and endless massages – this is the Thailand that tourists fly halfway round the globe to visit. But, of course, this image only reflects a one-sided cliché of this fascinating country. Thomas Kalak’s photographs provide us with a different, an unusual view of Thailand and its inhabitants. Like an explorer, Kalak wanders through Bangkok’s streets and backyards in search of visual evidence of a hitherto unrecognised culture of everyday life, which reveals much about life within this city, about the Thai talent for resourcefulness and their amazing art of improvisation. Kalak shows us some pragmatic solutions to everyday problems, as well as a number of curiosities of which the practical use remains an enigma, even after taking a longer look. Some of these objects and arrangements do actually appear to emanate from a conscious, creative intention, but it is Kalak’s own personal, photographic views that give them the impression of sculptures and installations. Kalak doesn’t simply apply incidental aesthetics, but rather he specifically puts the respective

motifs in the right setting with the aid of visual resources and, thus, provides them with an artistic aura, which can sometimes produce surprisingly humorous results. His still life works, which consist of broken, used and converted objects, are not meant to be perceived as memento mori works, and they in fact contrarily exude reassurance, because they illustrate a continuing existence of things that wouldn’t even have scrap value within our throwaway society. I have worked together with Thomas Kalak for around 15 years and I greatly admire the positive vibrancy, the humour and the language of his pictures. I find it fascinating that he has managed to preserve his fresh and unprejudiced view, even after so many years. His great love of life and people everywhere on earth, his intuitive eye for hidden treasures and his work, which distances itself from common clichés, illustrates to us some of the exotic, new impressions that journeys to foreign cultures may hold in store for us. I always personally view the pictures as a challenge to keep my eyes open and for me to set out on a journey of discovery. Remo Masala Director Corporate Branding & Marketing Kuoni Travel Holding Ltd.

THE ART of i mprovisat ion She stands there laughing. She bends over slightly, as if her laughter were causing her stomach to hurt. She holds a hand almost apologetically before her mouth. A stranger might presume her laughter to be somewhat unfounded or maybe even exaggerated, but - and here’s the best part – her laughter is nonetheless, or perhaps just for that reason, wonderfully infectious. And so they both laugh, she and the man, the tourist from Germany. »What is that?«, is all he had asked as he pointed toward the plastic pyramid that stood next to the open restaurant. »Did you make that?« And she had answered his questions with laughter, sincere and bright laughter, shy and candid laughter.

The secret behind the laughter appears to be an ability to confront any issues and questions, which life might haphazardly

throw one’s way, in an easygoing, humorous and unbiased manner. And this easygoing manner seems a little bit like a performance: The whole world is a stage. We all play a part. We all take a bow. Sanuanghit’s stage is known as Tantawan, a beautiful white beach with a nice bungalow estate behind it. That is where she fortunate to be able to earn herself a living. She is fortunate because she originally comes from a village near Khon Kaen in the province of Isan, Thailand’s poor house. Unlike many girls from her area, she doesn’t work in a massage parlour, but as a waitress on the tourist island of Ko Samet, which is often visited at weekends by people from Bangkok, the country’s capital city. – And: Sanuanghit is an artist. She would never call herself an artist. The tou- 19

rist calls her one! And she laughs again, bent over slightly, a hand before her mouth. And now she laughs bashfully – that’s for sure.

Her artistic creations are made from plastic bottles: Hundreds of plastic bottles from which, day in, day out, people quench their thirsts. These disposable bottles are an enormous, a million-fold problem throughout the country. Sanunaghit does not concern herself with theoretical issues on the environment and environmental protection, waste and waste management or even the climate and global warming. She does not really quite understand the implications involved. But she does see what is going on around her: the daily growing heap of empty plastic bottles. Thus, she used the available material and built an impressive pyramid that reflects and sparkles in the sunlight. Not only a pyramid, but a work of art that would receive lots of attention and great reviews in the feuilletons if it had been created in Europe by a renowned artist, performance artist or publicity addicted Heller, Keller or Weller. A work of art that might have 20 shaken the world out of its apathy, shown

environmental politicians the way and put the artist herself in the limelight. However, all Sanuanghit did was she stacked a few bottles on top of one another. No one tells her that she has created both a work of art and environmental politics with her pyramid. Most people simply look, casually nod or say succinctly: »good idea«. Many of those who see the pyramid are secret admirers, which is probably a good thing. Otherwise Sanuanghit would never be able to stop laughing and laughing, slightly bent at the middle, until her stomach really does hurt. She laughs because compliments always seem to make her laugh bashfully. Of course, the idea isn’t exactly new. Due to relevant circumstances, a drunkard, living in California back in the 1920’s, built himself a house with the aid of beer bottles. An environmental delegate on the Grenadine Islands laid the foundation for Happy Island by having waste conch shells piled onto a sandbank. Sanuanghit doesn’t know anything about that. And she doesn’t really know what is meant when tourists describe her pyramid of water bottles as the »Giza of Samet«. She is just

reinventing her own wheel. That’s all. The foreign seems distant – the familiar close. Everyone talks about the Global Village nowadays. Everyone knows everyone around six corners. Mannis Pils-Eck (Manni’s Pils Corner) in Pattaya is now called M-Lounge. Society demands: Be mobile, flexible and act self-dependently. The paradox is: Intellectuals discuss the topic, politicians ramble on, artists reflect – and Sanuanghit, the simple-hearted country girl, simply takes pragmatic action. She doesn’t live in the Global Village, she lives on Ko Samet, sees lots of empty water bottles and makes something out of them. She sends money home to her family once a month. This is not a stage, but her life – without the aid of safety nets or prompters. This is her world, her mentality, and Sanuanghit consequently deals with her life and problems by taking a positive approach and a heart full of humour and courage. American scientists have discovered that, from a statistical point of view, there are currently around 14.86 solutions to each problem. A visit to Bangkok, without the usual temple tunnel vision, would have

probably made the whole analysis obsolete. The art of improvisation, which is practised at the roadside and in many bakkyards, leaves the 14.86 solutions per problem looking a little meagre. Or didn’t the scientists visit Bangkok, where a large part of life still takes place on the streets? Where survivalists meet the challenge of everyday toil in a somewhat chaotic, yet laid-back and peaceful manner? This is where even children of an early age learn to be mobile, flexible and to act self-dependently in order to be able to solve problems both great and small. The Thai people seem to have a knack, often borne through need, of cleverly solving everyday and technical problems in their own special way, or any way they can. Thais often plan and react spontaneously. They have the ability to rearrange and improvise if something doesn’t seem to work. Longterm planning, as we know it in Europe, is unusual to a large extent. A Thai acts flexibly, situation orientated and pragmatically. To make adjustments to suit personal interests is a much more important factor than strictly maintaining principles, even if this means that compromises must be 21

made. Many of those compromises would probably be described as »Pfusch« or »botch jobs« in Germany. But not many Europeans would be able to come up with some of those Thai ideas. Hardly any of those improvisations come across as botch jobs in Thailand. They don’t appear meagre, but clever, sometimes a little funny or just plain sensible, as the primary problem has shown us. However, the Thais do have distinct advantages: They can practice the art of improvisation without having to take the dogmatic and narrowminded bureaucracy of public authorities into consideration and without having to deal with a sometimes absurd jungle of paragraphs. And: If the respective improvisation doesn’t quite work out as planned, the Thais are also able to laugh at themselves. Good ideas are as good as hard cash – no question about it. Good ideas point a long nose toward the throwaway society within the Global Village. »Mai pen rai«, »it doesn’t matter«, and »chang thoe«, better known as »no pombem« or »no problem«, are more than merely popular, flowery phrases 22 in Thailand. They are fundamental princi-

ples that are intended to prevent life from becoming an all-dominant monster that eats up the individual. »Mai pen rai« is always delivered with a smile ... Live and let live would also be an excellent alternative translation thereof. Because »mai pen rai« demonstrates the great level of Thai tolerance and stoicism. A phrase with a key function. Thais speak of life as if it were a kind of suffering and they enjoy it to the full. That is not a contradiction, but if it does happen to prove contradictory, no one will pay any attention anyway: Amidst an infinite tangle of overhead power lines hangs a gigantic comb that sends an advertising message. This is possible in the chaos of Bangkok. European marketing strategists wouldn’t find the area at all appealing and would probably dismiss the advertising location as »unsuitable for our product«. A copying machine stands before a rummage table in an underwear shop. This would probably cause any self-respecting, German branch manager to have a stroke. In Thailand, however, things somehow seem to fit together, even though they apparently have nothing to do with one another. Thais

like to mix and blend things, which may sometimes appear a little bizarre, sometimes unintentionally funny, but never ridiculous. Buddha might even be found serenely reclining upon a hydrant. If need be and no other space is available … Thais also love to mix all kinds of food to their heart’s content. No matter how many pots and bowls are served, each dish is tested, and the soup can be sipped in stages between bits and bites of other delicacies. Some mysterious Thai objects remind one of the traditional art of objet trouvé, or found object: Works of art and arrangements comprising of (re)discovered everyday objects and garbage, or socalled ready-mades. Objects, accidentally discovered products or spontaneous art: Many visitors don’t notice them. The tourist’s tunnel vision is unfortunately often only focused on the golden Chedis, Bangkoks last tuk-tuks and impressive, modern multi-storey buildings. We don’t usually immerse ourselves in a foreign everyday life and culture when on holiday, but rather spend a picture book

vacation. And that is why we often don’t see the forest, because too many trees are in our way. We are blinded by temples, beaches and markets and overlook many pictures along the roadside, outside our angle of vision. The Thais affectionately call their kingdom Land of the Free. And when they speak of muang thai, their voices are filled with justified pride about their freedom. On the streets – not in politics – this freedom also means independency from the forces of globalisation. Bangkok’s side streets often seem like forgotten islands. And islands, such as Ko Samet, are only blessed with true charm when inhabited by survivalists and creative artists, such as the young lady who built the pyramid. »Tell me and I will forget. Show me and perhaps I will remember. Involve me and I will understand«. When in Thailand, one should often spare a thought for this wise proverb, which is around 2500 years old. And back home in Europe, one should consider the Thai art of improvisation instead of heading off to the nearest DIY Centre. However, this wise proverb actually comes from a Chinese philosopher named Kong Tse, better known as Confucius. 23

SAME SAME,

Thailand ­ Same same, but different!

Thailand Same same, but different!