Actual Christian Christmas Music Disorients Expat Shopper

BANGKOK – A long-term foreign expatriate found himself disoriented and oddly displaced yesterday afternoon when he paused to listen to the Christmas music coming over the intercom system at the Emporium Shopping Center. While searching for a pair of Croc sandals for his upcoming dive trip to the Similan Islands, Douglas Vanhof, formerly of Vancouver, stopped to listen to the entire first two verses of “O Little Town of Bethlehem.” According to Vanhof himself, it had been at least ten years since he had heard the song. “Even when I’m back home they never play this stuff in public anymore,” he explained. “It’s always ‘Jingle Bell Rock’ or ‘I saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus’ or songs that aren’t religious. Nobody in Canada plays the hardcore Jesus stuff except in church.” During the song, Vanhof had several flashbacks of his childhood, including singing in a chorus with his 4^th grade class in 1977. “The weirdest part,” he said, “was snapping out of it and being in Bangkok.” According to the assistant manager on duty, the choice of intercom music is made by their PR department and reflects no specific opinion on Jesus.