snakehead lesson

Of special interest in this story are the cultural differences of Thailand and Indonesia. Bangkok has two worlds, the very poor and the very wealthy. Alex experiences the wealthy part in the hotel where he and Ash are disguised as refuges. Chinatown is an entirely different place where abject poverty has turned it into one big shantytown. Yet people somehow manage to survive with very little but in constant misery. Most young readers of this story will be repelled by the stench and filth, which is exactly the point. The author had visited this and many other places in Bangkok, so the images are not completely made up. In Jakarta, the only clean place that Alex experiences is the airport. The entire city looks to be terribly depressed.