I had one of those chatty and friendly taxi drivers yesterday. He was a 30something with a small moustache. As often is the case, this joviality led to him pulling out a glossy spread with pictures of naked women when we stopped for red light on Satorn road.
- You wan massass sir? asked the driver.
- No thanks, I said in Thai.
- Have beautiful lady!
- I don’t want it.
- Why?
- No thanks.
- Too expensive?
- They give the taxi driver money. How much is it? 500 baht? 1000 baht?
The driver looked at me in the mirror with an expression first of surprise, then he was offended. The conversation was over. The driver turned up the radio. The atmosphere turned decidedly frosty and we drove the rest of the trip without speaking.
Arriving at my destination I gave him what the meter said. The driver was still angry with me and accepted without a word.
I had made him lose face. In Thailand it often isn’t the person who has done something bad who gets the blame. No, the blame goes to the person who said it aloud, exposing the cheating and the trickery, thereby upsetting social harmony. My role, as seen from the taxi driver’s perspective, would be to at the very least smile and pretend I understood nothing of his kickback scheme. Throwing it back at his face was bad form.
Thailand is not a good place to be a whistleblower. Hush!