Editorials

 


 

Pensioners' Paradise: Letter from Bangkok

Solitude in a would-be paradise. Many pensioners in Thailand see their dreams collapse.

January 2, 2012

Bankok

From Essen-Margarethenhöhe to Bangkok: From a friendly-sized, nearly village-like garden city to a noisy, hectic and humidly hot mega-metropolis. The change was brutal. For six months we have been sharing the pastorate of the German-language Protestant congregation in Thailand. At first, life here seemed like a book with seven seals.

Signs and labels in the supermarket are mainly in Thai, and Latin characters are rarely to be seen. Thai is a language that has no resemblance to any other language we know. We quickly saw that the day-to-day living infrastructures are excellent-from transportation facilities, to the availability of goods, to health care.

People are friendly and courteous. Despite the city's hustle and bustle, people move about slowly and in a relaxed manner. That soon rubs off on the impatient, always in a hurry and efficiency-driven "farang," as they call Western  foreigners here. Only with time did we realize that the smiling friendliness was due to the Thai philosophy and lifestyle, which is heavily focused on harmony and respect for the prevailing order and hierarchies.

Accustomed to making contact quickly

In the Protestant congregation one is accustomed to comings and goings. Many German firms have branches in Bangkok. Hence, the currently almost 60 congregation members are so-called "expats," that is, employees from Germany who live here temporarily with their young families.

The pastors are assigned to the congregation for six years, but there are short replacements in-between. So most of them are accustomed to making contact quickly, networking, getting things done, thinking flexibly and being pragmatic. Here, traditions play are far lesser role than in Germany. One has to always be inventive in order to reach people and invite them. That suits us and we have the feeling that we fit in well!

The congregation building with the pastor's lodgings is a quiet, green oasis in the big city. The spacious, luminous living room with its rattan furniture doubles as a place of worship and as a parish hall. The garden is a playground for the numerous children that come regularly on Sundays. A Sunday school is held in parallel to every worship service.

The congregation rarely meets during the week, for the distances in this gigantic city are too great. As a result, the Web site and the emailed monthly church newsletter are important lifelines to congregation members. These include German-speaking Protestants in more distant parts of Thailand and in neighboring Laos, Cambodia and Myanmar, whom we also serve.

A congregation on the beach

Around 150 kilometers from Bangkok is the seaside resort of Pattaya.  This is where the largest group of Germans who have settled in Thailand for the long-term live. They are more than 10,000, not including the many "overwinterers" from Germany between October and April. Most of them are men, nearly all of retirement age. Many have long-standing marriages with a Thai woman. There are also sex tourists. They ensure that the resort's bad reputation remains firmly established. But Pattaya for a long time has also been a popular retreat for serious people with relatively good pensions. The resort has become an exotic alternative to the Canaries and the Balearic Islands. However, many who aspire to a peaceful old age in Thailand, see their plans upset because of illness or accident. Not all are well-enough insured to be able to afford expensive care and treatment. Thailand does not have a public social safety net as Germany does.

Genuine friendships are rare

At present, a small congregation center is being set up-the new worship area was inaugurated on the first Sunday of Advent. The need is great, for material want often goes hand in hand with spiritual want. Thai society apparently shuns foreigners. Many "farangs" have the impression that a glass wall comes between them and natives as soon as the conversation goes beyond noncommittal small talk.  Many claim that Thais are primarily interested in profitable business relationships. Hardly anyone finds genuine friends among neighbors and colleagues. Many, who originally went to Thailand with great illusions of a worry-free life in an earthly paradise, now complain of solitude. All the more so since many had broken off all ties with Germany.

Many Germans are living in Thailand illegally and no longer have valid passports or visas. To obtain an unlimited visa, one must have a regular income or sufficient assets. And one must regularly report to authorities, which is time-consuming and expensive. Anyone who is caught for "overstaying" and cannot pay the fine risks the infamous Immigration Detention Center-the prison for illegal immigrants. The pastor is then called upon to obtain the appropriate papers from the German embassy, to bridge financial emergencies and to help find a new future perspective. If the person concerned has relatives in Germany, an attempt is made to set up contacts. For this, we work in collaboration with the German relief organization Thailand e. V., which was founded in 2006 upon the initiative of the German ambassador.

No time for sight-seeing

The work in a German congregation abroad offers much opportunity for creativity. After the first several months, we noticed how we were involved in many areas simultaneously. And how we often can merely react: to the many requests, aspirations and complaints that come to us. For example, from German prisoners held in Thai jails. Or people who hope to find sources of additional income through the congregation.

At present we are answering many worried requests from Germany because of flooding in Bangkok. The inner city where we live was not affected, so that this flood has somewhat unreal about it-including because the mood of the population, despite the questionable management of the crisis by the political authorities, remained relaxed. Something entirely different from what could have been expected in Germany.

Again and again we must devote much time to taking care of our visas, work permits, local driver's licenses, transcribing the congregation's bank mandates, etc. Many other things then have to be put on hold-for example, redesigning the congregation home page or another language course. It is quite possible that tourists see more sights in Thailand in three weeks than we will in three years.

A wandering people of God

But perhaps that is precisely the blessing of a pastorate abroad: being able to experience what it is to be a "wandering people of God." A community of people, many of whom have "no lasting city" [Heb 13:14]. And a community that despite a subsidy from the Evangelical Church in Germany (EKD) lives primarily on goodwill-both in the form of the involvement of its members as well as financially from their contributions, the level of which they determine themselves.

Meanwhile, we are growing accustomed to this country where there are no seasons, but rather continual growing, blossoming, fruit-bearing and decaying.  During Advent it was hot and humid. We struggled with the artificial Christmas tree. But we realized: the essence of the Christmas message remains the same. We have arrived-and yet are still on the road.




 


 

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