Although having faith in yourself sounds harmless enough, there's actually a fine line between honorable self-belief and wicked self-righteousness. In fact, to engage in excessive pride in one's own importance or beauty is considered the 'original sin' and the most serious of all seven. To find it in Bangkok, you needn't look too far - plenty of places and people are full of it.
With hot competition for media space, there's little room for modesty when it comes to business. Opening to great fanfare, Siam Paragon displayed none of it when it self-righteously named itself 'The Pride of Bangkok'. A world-class shopping and entertainment giant, its initial conceit may have been misplaced - it's been overtaken in the largeness stakes by the new CentralWorld.
The genuine, bona-fide pride of Bangkok, is the pride the Thais take in the sights and attractions the city offers, especially revered, beguiling classics like the Grand Palace and Wat Phra Kaew. Equally righteous and well-placed, is the capital's Gay Pride. And justifiably so: Thailand is a beacon of tolerance.
For amusing displays of personal pride, be sure to catch sight of locals grooming in public: squeezing spots, touching up make-up, perfecting hair in any available mirror or reflective surface, usually the rear-view. But, while humorous, taking some pride in your cosmetic appearance couldn't really be called excessive. Could it?
No, instead, reserve condemnation for the fashion models who won't even sneeze in the direction of more modestly attractive folk at Bangkok's Models Nights. They're the only ones who truly fit Dante's definition of pride, the mother of all sins, as "love of self, perverted to hatred and contempt for one's neighbour".
Alas, with quality cosmetic surgery at one of Bangkok's private hospitals readily available and oh-so affordable, this is anyone's chance to achieve perfection and to exercise vanity in its purest form... But, by all means, why the heck not!?
If excessive vanity doesn't yield you an excess of sin, try some Envy, Greed, Lust, Gluttony, Anger or Sloth.
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