He sips from an engraved steel vessel eight inches across, its rounded base resting on a filigree rimmed tray that doubles as a lid. "The metal depended on your class: gold silver, bronze, brass, tin and so on. Just as people share food from the same dishes, they drank from the same bowl. Glasses only came in with fashion and concern that germs might transmit."
Though their descendents may favour modern glass, ceramic or plastic, during meals, it's stil possible to see older family members supping from such a bowl. And floridly embossed aluminium bowls are still found everywhere, thought usually of smaller size. One often rest upended on the lid ofan insulated plastic tub of iced water, which Thais keep handy by the household daybed, in the hut of a security guard, or by the bench of a motorcycle taxi rank .
The electric water cooker has brought soggy paper cones cones to gyms and offices, but not to every water dispenser. Metal cups, often secured to a chain, are still the norm for quenching visitor's thirs at state offices, museums and temples. The more sanitary public drinking foutain has hardly caught on, depite new ones in Bangkok, as people see them being used as standpippes for washing hands and
much else. But simce Thais prefer their drinks shared, they happily sip from the same metal cup or plastic bag