Thailand, the prime example of the Asian "economic miracle," has been hit hard by the recent crisis. The rapid fall from a great height has produced sharply contrasting views of the world. PNS Editor Andrew Lam is taking a first-hand look at the "Asian Crisis" in Thailand, Vietnam and Burma.

BANGKOK -- Last week, my traveling companion Roger, a Vietnamese-American, was robbed by two policemen on motorcycles wearing white masks. When he went to the police station and created an uproar, they begged him not to go to the U.S. embassy and promised to look into the matter.

Thailand, rocked for months by the Asian currency crisis, has mounted an all-out effort to attract foreign tourists, proclaiming this the "Year of Amazing Thailand."

Hope or nightmare?

The two are vying for the soul of this city. Optimists see a sprawling metropolis, the prime example of the famed "Asian Miracle" with its frenzied economic development and, more importantly, a strong and thriving middle class. The pessimistic view, often heard from foreigners, sees Bangkok as an urban nightmare of clogged traffic, torrential heat and polluted air.

Since the currency crisis hit early last July, the nightmare version is slowly winning out. Prices of gasoline, rice and other basic goods have soared. The famous, easy-going Thai smile is slowly turning into a grimace.

Economists predict a loss of two million jobs this year. The health ministry recently announced it would increase the number of mental health clinics nationwide from 80 to 150 to cope with patients suffering from depression, stress and anxiety. Suicides are rising swiftly -- more than 230 suicides have been linked to economic problems in this city in the last three months alone.

Euagoon Wattnamonglon, general manager of a steel trading company, says that everyone he knows is hurting. "I have friends in construction businesses and they've all run out of money -- those buildings you see in the middle of construction will remain unfinished for a long time."

Immaculate shopping malls are full of gawkers who come in to avoid the heat -- but few if any buy. Luxury car sales are off 60 percent, and air conditioned restaurants are watching their regulars turn toward sidewalk food stalls.

Those who can afford these restaurants are mostly foreign tourists, and according to travel agent Kirtthaporn Sangramut, they are increasingly white. "It's OK, but I'd like to see the Koreans, Malays, and other Asian people come back to Thailand, not just white foreign tourists." But the economic crisis means fewer Asians travel while westerners flock to the region to take advantage of the sinking currencies.

Behind Sangramut's comment it's possible to see signs of another nightmare, one that is rooted in some five centuries of history. Many East Asians had hoped their new-found wealth would allow them to stand shoulder to shoulder with Westerners. But the worsening economic crisis raises fears that the region may just return to the subservient role of earlier generations -- producing goods for western consumption, tourism and prostitution, relying on the West for help -- in order to survive.

In the meantime, the hope of living in a more civilized society is fading. Taxi drivers turn off their meters in hope of overcharging tourists and the city's round the clock traffic is beginning to drive many crazy. Locals like to tell of the traffic cop who one day decided to let all the lights go green at a large intersection, then checked himself into a mental hospital.

SIDEBAR- 315 WORDS

Crisis or Not, World's Number One Traffic Jam

Bangkok -- Currency crisis or no, this city stays near paralysis of gridlock. The din of horns and engines reaches even the most exclusive neighborhood while fumes from a sea of cars and buses cast a constant brown haze of smog over this sprawling metropolis of over ten million.

Years of unchecked development have left Bangkok mired in a round-the-clock gridlock that would put LA freeways to shame.

How bad is it?

A few five star hotels have helicopter landing pads and provide limos complete with fax, computers, and cell phones. Traffic cops are all trained to deliver babies since so many women have gone into labor while stuck in traffic en route to the hospital. Brothels have scattered from the Patpong district since many customers can no longer make reach them in a timely fashion.

A one-way commute can take up to 3 1/2 hours, and the World Resources Institute estimates that Bangkokians spend an average of 44 days a year idling in traffic.

Health officials say more than one million Bangkokians -- one in ten -- suffer from allergy and lung ailments related to air pollution.

Observers say that the economy has grown too quickly for government planners to keep up -- not to mention corruption and bureaucratic confusion. But some of the blame belongs to the citizens of Bangkok: with loans freely available for the first time, car ownership became the symbol of middle class wealth. Before the currency crisis in July, cars were being imported into Bangkok at the rate of nearly 20,000 a month.

In the meantime, traffic throws life increasingly out of balance. A young woman in a traditional sarong trying to pray at a corner shrine must stop because her bus arrives. She runs backward, her hands clasped above her head, while the dark cloud from the exhaust pipe seem to swallow her up.