I spent the past 4 days in Bangkok. It was one of those trips planned some many moons ago, the result of an impulsive response to an irresistible S$0.88 one-way fare offered by a local budget carrier. But of course, add up all the taxes and surcharges and the fare surged to S$45 one-way – still ok lah.

Barely 4 days before departure, Bangkok was rocked by a spate of new-year’s eve bombings that killed 2 and wounded many others, among them, tourists. But what to do? Our tickets had been bought and the hotel bookings paid. The show had to go on! Hence, my better half and me proceeded not without some trepidation, throwing what semblance of caution we had to fate and the wind.

Thailand is known as the Land of Smiles, and Bangkok, Thailand’s city of angels. Known for her warm and charming denizens, Bangkok did not fail me, even in her crisis of uncertainty and insecurity – the bombers and their cause remain unknown, and the fingering process is naturally in overdrive.

Two small observations I made during this brief visit seemed to create an immediate impression in my mind to remind me that I was not in Singapore.

First: The attendant jotting down our hotel particulars at the airport taxi booth (NOT limousine, mind you, but public taxi) handed us the paperwork with a broad, warm and sincere smile. This may seem like a small gesture, but given the crowds at that hour, and having just arrived from a place where the smile is an endangered trait, it was indeed refreshing and welcoming.

Second: At the Siam metro interchange, the throngs waiting for the train did so patiently in neat single-file queues. I thought to myself, this is so very UNLIKE Singapore. And to top it all, the Bangkok metro was built many years after Singapore’s. Why, just why, can’t Singaporeans have cultivated such a gracious habit of queueing-up to board their trains?
 
I arrived back in Singapore on Monday night and had barely been on Singapore soil for more than 10 minutes when I got a dose of the customary ungracious Singaporean behaviour. At the airport duty free check-out counter, the Singaporean (I noticed his passport) gentleman behind me seemed in such a hurry that he just had to place his check-out items on the counter immediately behind mine without even bothering to leave any separation space. True enough, his items and mine ended getting co-mingled which required the poor cashier to seek clarification on which items belonged to who. Isn’t it just plain and basic courtesy, not just to the person ahead in the queue but also to the cashier, to leave some separation space when lumping your check-out items on the counter?
 
Welcome back to Singapore, I thought…