Sawadee Ka World Peace!
Many in Turkey no doubt already know about this story. However, good stories deserve to be retold. Thus, with the understanding of those who are already familiar with it, I would like to retell Bariş Manço's adventure in Thailand once more.
In 1997, when a group of people from the Gülen Movement were trying to establish the third Turkish school in Thailand's city of Chiang Mai, the late pop star Bariş Manço stopped by the city. When he learned of the sex trade being conducted in a massage parlor called the Turkish Bath, he was angered by the use of the word Turkish in the name of such an establishment and decided to cover the story for TV. Acting hastily, he forgot to obtain permission to shoot footage, mandatory under Thai law. Upon a complaint from the owners of the bath, he was detained in the hotel room where he was staying. Offended, Manço called the Turkish Embassy in Bangkok and explained the situation, demanding "urgent help." The officials at the embassy told him they would not be able to extend any immediate help since Chiang Mai is considerably far from Bangkok.
While Manço went through the pangs of despair in the hotel, he heard a knock on the door. When he opened the door, he was greeted in Turkish: "May you recover from this soon, Bariş abi. We heard you were in trouble." Manço felt a big relief before asking with surprise "Who are you?" The visitor answered: "Abi, we are teachers from a Turkish school here. We will help you. Don't worry. Everything will be alright."
It soon surfaced that after receiving Manço's call for help, the Turkish Embassy phoned the executives of the Turkish school in Bangkok and told them the story. "Can your colleagues in Chiang Mai go to Bariş Manço's hotel to learn about his condition?" they asked.
The teachers from the Turkish school in Chiang Mai first visited Manço and then the judge who order his detention, telling him that Manço is a famous singer in Turkey and would not do any harm to Thailand because he was an envoy of good will who wanted to promote Thailand in Turkey. The case against Manço was then quickly dropped. He was released from detention and was able to complete shooting footage in the city without a problem. Thus, Manço's adventure, which started as a nightmare, wound up with a happy ending ― all thanks to several Turkish teachers. I can remember with clarity how Manço enthusiastically told the whole country on his TV program his adventures in Chiang Mai and his thankfulness for the help extended by the Turkish teachers.
You may be wondering why this story came to mind and why I am retelling it. There are two reasons, both of which have impressed me deeply: First, I have been in Thailand now for about one week, and the Turkish school in Bangkok was one of the first places I visited upon my arrival, witnessing how Turkish teachers here work at the cost of great sacrifice to do great things. Second, I believe that every school and every teacher who raised the students who arrived in Turkey from 115 countries for the 7th Turkish Language Olympiads, an international contest that has been on Turkey's agenda for the last 10 years, has similar stories. I would like to make a small mention of their efforts to promote global peace.
During my stay in Thailand, I sadly realized that relations between this "country of smiling people" and Turkey are not as they should be. Recently, there has been an increase in travel between the two countries, but we Turks still do not fully understand that Thailand can be a very important partner in the Far East. In 2008, more than 30,000 Turks visited Thailand, and about 8,000 Thai tourists came to Turkey. Trade volume between the two countries stands at around $1.1 billion. However, of this, about $1 billion consists of Thai exports to Turkey, while Turkey's exports to this country are stuck at a mere $100 million. Actually, this $900 million gap in trade serves as the best example of Turkey's failure to attach due importance to Thailand.
Nevertheless, there are also those who understand the importance of Thailand. These are none other than the volunteers of the Gülen movement whom Manço met in Chiang Mai in 1997. Today, about 1,700 students attend three Turkish schools operating in Thailand. Of 200 teachers educating these students, 30 are Turkish, 50 are of other nationalities and the rest are Thai.
There are also Turkish businessmen who did not leave these teachers alone in this remote country; they, too, moved to Thailand with their families and organized to form a small Turkish community here. Some of them married Thais and had children who grew up to attend these Turkish schools. For instance, a Turkish businessman migrated to this country when his elder son, who is now at the age of 15, was only a 3-year-old kid. This boy was among the Thai boys playing local drums during a welcoming ceremony upon my arrival in the school. It is thrilling to even to dream about how this boy, who can speak Turkish, English and Thai fluently, and other Turkish children who were born in Thailand can contribute to Turkish-Thai relations.
Sawadee Ka is a Thai phrase meaning "hello."
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