A time to reach out.

A time to reach out.

Whether you are a Bangkokian or not _ and I doubt how many people would be able to claim they are originally from Bangkok, being the melting pot that it is _ you will feel sad for the city. For one thing, most of us must at some time have been at one, if not all, of the places that were bombed. We can easily identify with the victims. It could have been us.

While we may never know who set off the eight bombs _ and who are those psychos playing bomb hoaxes that add to people's trauma? _ one question people who live or work in Bangkok will have to face is, how would we like to live our lives from now on.

One thing is clear. We can't trust the authorities. People who may pin their hopes on a return of Thaksin Shinawatra should stop dreaming about it.

For those who went to give flowers and food to soldiers who rolled the tanks in during the Sept 19 coup, it's about time they wake up to the reality that there really is no political saviour out there.

Every ruler has his or her interests to protect. The public safety and well-being are not on top of their agenda. Well, they could be, if power or benefits can be gained from that.

For Bangkok people, the dilemma is whether we want to wall ourselves up _ erecting gates, hiring security guards, building more prisons _ or start to reach out and engage with people who live with us in this city.

Think about it. The situation is not a dilemma. There actually is no choice but the latter, if we are to survive. Even if we can afford it, will we feel at peace living in a gated community? Having to hire guards to protect our safety at all times? And who will these guards be? Can we trust that they will lay their lives down for us?

Like any major metropolis, Bangkok is a multi-racial, multi-cultural hotpot. And like dwellers of other big cities, people who live in Bangkok seem to cope with people who are different from us by ignoring them. We shut ourselves in our houses. We buy an ipod. We watch more DVDs. We don't want to get to know our neighbours, people who sell food in our area or our migrant household helpers.

When was the last time you went to a temple in your neighbourhood? I have never been to one since I moved here 20 or so years ago. And no, I do not know my neighbours. I do not know their names. I do not know who they are or what they do. I don't think any of them know me, either.

I don't think we can afford to live like this, considering a future of insecurity which, like it or not, is our common future. To survive the insecure future _ insecure because the powers-that-be will be too busy fighting one another to take care of us _ Bangkok people must create communities of their own. Considering the surge of interest in matters spiritual, I was going to suggest that one could be built in the many temples that we have. But on second thought, a proliferation of clergy-related scandals and commercialisation of wats reminds me that it is perhaps not a good idea.

How to reinvent a sense of community in Bangkok? How to make use of our strong group culture, a common heritage among Asians that has been weakened in the age of globalisation and modernisation? If revived and reinforced, the urban bond may be the answer to more problems than the threat of bombs. Think about drugs scourge or juvenile delinquency.

The New Year's Eve bombings ruined lives and shattered many people's sense of security and peace of mind. If there is going to be a silver lining in this otherwise dark and brutal affair, it is that the bombs might shake city people out of their habitual cocoons and get them to start thinking seriously about how to ''live together'' in safety and in peace.

That people are visiting department stores less often is a good start. What to do with the time they have gained is a large question and opportunity.

Atiya Achakulwisut is Editorial Pages Editor, Bangkok Post.

Bangkok Post
Friday January 12, 2007