June 21, 2011

Scavenger - Flash Fiction on Thailand Stories

My flash fiction submission about a garbage scavenger who makes a gruesome discovery to Microhorror was politely declined by the Editor. He said that it needed a little bit less exposition and more action. I attempted to fix it up a bit posted it on Thailand Stories here, if you're interested.

Thailand has an entire sub-culture of people who go around picking through garbage to find aluminum cans, cardboard, or anything else they can get a few baht for. You see them solemnly pushing carts down streets all the time with heaping piles of junk. I have a lot of respect for them, as it is obviously not a fun job, but shows what people must do to survive.

Asian cities can be strange places. In America, the bad neighborhoods are typically cordoned off in certain parts of the city where "you just don't go". But in most of the Asian cities I've been to, you will have high-rise condos with college-educated professionals right next to the slums. It's quite disorienting at times, but somewhat fascinating. I try to teach my kids a little bit about both worlds, and where I live in Bangkok, there's no isolation from poverty.

If you really want an interesting juxtaposition of poverty and high-society in Bangkok, check out the abandoned skyscraper Sathorn Unique.
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9 comments:

1001 Secrets of Successful Writers said...

Hey Paul. Great article about abandoned buildings. I checked out the link you supplied. Amazing. Thanks for the info.

Darrell Pitt.

Paul Salvette said...

If you ever come to Bangkok, it's probably the most famous "Ghost" building (i.e. the buildings under construction that ran out of money during the Asian financial crisis). It's smack dab in the business district too.

Mihnea said...

For flash fiction markets, I recommend www.pillhillpress.com . They have some great anthologies!

Paul Salvette said...

Thanks, Mihnea. I'm trying to submit a story about a water buffalo to their hunter anthology. They've got a lot of cool stuff!

Mihnea said...

Also, have a look at the Static Movement projects: http://staticmovement.com/projects Good luck!

koh samui villa rentals said...

Great article, it got me really interested in Thailand. Thanks.

first class airline tickets said...

I remember seeing ghosts when I went on a vacation in Thailand last year.

Melissa said...

Well it is exciting if we get to see ghosts when we visit Thailand. I would tell my friends to have a ghost hunting in our schedule and see if we would see ghosts there. But hopefully no one would get harmed. koh lanta hotels

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