Thailand

A Bit Of Thai Culture

Posted on by Laughingnomad

Thai people are usually friendly, warm, charming and hospitable. Sanuk, the Thai word for fun or enjoyment is paramount to the Thai�s way oflife. For something to be worthwhile it must be sanuk. If it is not sanuk it will become boring. Thais can be seen laughing and enjoying themselves in whatever they are doing and if the enjoyment wanes the activity will probably stop. This also is true for the workplace.

If you are visiting someone’s house, take your shoes off at the door. And always bring a gift– fruit or candies as a nice gesture to the hosts. When someone asked you if you have eaten, it is often the way someone asks how you are doing. Try at least a bit if food is offered to you.

In most Middle Eastern and Asian countries it is very rude to put your feet up in presence of other people, especially if the soles of your feet are showing. This is a very common American gesture when we are tired but frowned upon in many countries.

Thais love their country and are happy to be here; they are simply disinterested in going anywhere else unless they have to. They are also very proud, especially of the fact that they have never been colonized, and even though they know their country has many faults and you will hear Thais complaining about the Bangkok traffic etc, foreigners should be careful not to criticize Thailand or the Thai people or especially the monarchy. To do so is a huge insult; the culture is extremely complex and even expats who have lived here many years will still make cultural mistakes. But to the credit of the Thais they will more often than not overlook these mistakes and continue to smile and be happy. This happy attitude and the level of tolerance makes Thailand a very easy and pleasant place to live.� Even though you never know what they are really thinking!

The phrase no problem (mai pen rai in Thai), is a national/cultural phenomenon (not only in Thailand but in Africa, India and in other countries) that is used to solve many predicaments and to avoid many confrontrations. Expression of anger is a cultural no-no and causes the angry person to lose much �face.� It is good to remember �no problem� when business vendors act like they are doing you a favor by waiting on you. The entire concept of customer service is largely either unknown or undervalued outside the U.S. and to be honest with you that is the source of most frustration for US travelers. Traveling requires a great deal of tolerance and adaptability.

Thais are very fond of His Majesty The King and he is loved by virtually all Thai people. The world�s longest reigning monarch and his wife the Queen have done much for Thailand and the Thai people; they have not set foot outside of Thailand for more than 35 years. One should never make any negative comments about the King or the royal family. To do so would insult any Thai. Similarly, Buddhism is the dominant religion and negative comments about the religion are not tolerated unlike in the West where it is common to discuss and debate religion and ideas.

In Thailand there is a “rule” or a way of doing something for just about everything that is the Thai way of doing things. An individual is not encouraged to think outside the box because to do so is to question others and that is not done because it will cause someone �to lose face.� For example Bob and I decided to go to a movie in Bangkok and as we were in the theater about 15 minutes before it started we went up to the ticket taker to give him our tickets. He looked at the ticket and said 9:12 pm you can go in! We asked if we could go in and sit and wait for the movie to start and he looked at us like we were challenging him with a gun and repeated “9:12 pm! 9:12 pm! Then you can go in!” The implications of not being able to question a rule must have huge implications in the international business environment!

Also in Thailand, two plus two often equals three! When we checked into our hotel the receptionist told us that the restaurant at the front of the building would provide room service. One day, I assumed that we could just sign for service in the restaurant. So when I tried to buy a coffee and was told that I couldn’t sign for it I went to the hotel receptionist and asked whether the restaurant could provide room service. She said yes it does. When I told her I tried to use the service she said “Oh, the connection isn’t made yet…and when I asked her when the “connection” would be made she answered that it wouldn’t be made until the end of the month! But it is at times like these that we grit our teeth and remember that this is not our country and we are here as (usually uninvited) guests.

Thai Food!

Posted on by Laughingnomad

Our favorite in all the world! In Thailand a fork in the left hand is held upside down and used to push food onto a large spoon that is held in the right hand (reverse for left handers of course). The food is then eaten with the spoon. Chopsticks are reserved for eating Chinese-style food eg. noodles from bowls of soup. There is no end to the variety of dishes.

Suffice it to say that the best food is freshly made and is purchased for just a few baht from the ubiquitous street stalls or carts where you can see the food and point to what you want. Then you sit at a small table on the sidewalk, usually on very small child size stools with your knees around your ears or you just stand and eat.

Walking past the carts, especially at night, can be rather daunting if you don�t want to stop and sample food from each of the hundreds of vendors! Our favorites are the soups in almost infinitevariations…each according the whim of the cook…noodles, bits of grilled chicken and pork cut from larger pieces hanging in the little window on the cart…bean sprouts…a variety green vegetables of unknown kind…various spices and herbs each of which get added to the bowl and maybe some coconut milk. The heat from the burning coals as you walk past adds to the heat and humidity of the weather and you feel sorry for the sweating woman (usually it is a woman) vendor. However, one day I wanted a stickfull of marinated and deliciously grilled �pope�s noses� or chicken tails. The lady tending the cart had fallen asleep on the steps where she was sitting and as I woke her to buy my selection we both laughed heartily…it�s ok, it�s ok I reassured her sweet apologies.

Bob has become addicted to Thai iced coffee…coffee yen…at least two or three a day. The vendor pours a little plastic sack full of ice. Then in goes the hot filtered coffee that has had sweet condensed milk melted into it. Then you are given the plastic bag with a straw and you are on your way!

Skytrain Tuk Tuks Cycles & Boats

Posted on by Laughingnomad

The SkyTrain is an air conditioned jam-packed elevated transportation system financed by the World Bank that can scoot you quickly from one part of the city to another but for some reason, probably due to corruption, is in the red. A subway system is under construction.

My favorite way of travel across the city is by boat on the Mae Nam Chao Phraya (river). The boat is very long and low…about 60 seats-four seats across…with a driver at the front end and the signaler wit han ear- splitting whistle at the back end. The boat speeds past the dock and at the whistle of the signaler suddenly shoves the boat into reverse. Then in response to continued short whistles the driver teases the roaring boat back and forth until it bumps up against old tires nailed to the docks. The boat never really stops still while the riders hop across to the boat deck (or off.) Another long shrill whistle we are off to the next dock. For some reason this macho maneuvering is endlessly entertaining for me…and I would love to drive one of those boats but I suspect i trequires more practice than I would be willing to give it. There are many different boats on the river at any one time ranging from long tail boats (boats with a 12 foot long metal �tail� extending from the motor with a propelleron the end to large slow dinner cruisers.)

Tuk tuk’s are called tuk tuks because of the horrible noise this vehicle makes. It is a three wheeled motorcycle/rickshaw hybred similar to the ones in India but in Thailand are often decked out with bright plastic seat covers, multi colored lights that get your attention at night andother decoration. Usually it is better to take another mode of transpo…they can be relatively expensive and you often end up at a rug shop so the driver can get a gas coupon in exchange.

For short distances you can take your life in your hands and take a motorcycle like many of the locals. The kamikaze driver will weave in and out of traffic fearlessly for half a dozen blocks down the road for only 10 baht. The driver is helmeted; the passenger goes bare and rides behind–most often with little to grasp. The Thai women look quite comfortable riding side saddle with trusting hands holding a child and the day’s groceries.

For destinations far and wide and nowhere near the SkyTrain you can take a metered taxi. Then there are crowded buses we haven’t even begun to fathom. Traffic is a perpetual gridlock.

Pollution
Many people, especially policemen and others who are out on the street most of the day wear a white surgical mask. Others hold a folded handkerchief over their mouths and noses and still others pull up a scarf or other piece of clothing to filter out the black smoke. Word is that a day in Bangkok is like smoking a half a pack of cigarettes.

Krazy Khao San Road

Posted on by Laughingnomad

There is no limit to the colorful variety of activities that draw your eyes in all directions. Almost everything happens on the sidewalks or the canals and rivers…floating markets with fruit and vegetables andflowers, vendors selling everything under the sun…mostly made in China with even cheaper labor than Thailand…everything from knock-off Rolex watches to corny T-shirts. There are people eating, taking care of children, even sleeping…girls in short skirts waiting,hoping…buildings are being built (construction goes on 24/7), metal shop workers cut metal with no protective glasses, owner�s new Toyotas are parked inside their places of business after hours.

Freak Show on Khau San Rd. (�backpacker� area)
There are two web sites that give you the down and dirty on Bangkok, philipwilliams.freeservers.com and stickman.com, bangkokbob.com, all expat web masters who have lived here for some time. Even the website for the Thai student association lists these web sites as two of the best. Here is Philip�s description of Khau San-I couldn�t do it better:

�Khao San Rd in the Bamglampoo area of the city has become almost world-famous helped by the exposure it received in the movie �The Beach.� The 100�baht a night dog-kennel does exist and if you remember the magical scene from the movie where the brilliant Robert Carlyle talks to the hero through a dividing wall of chipboard and torn wire-mesh,you already have a decent idea of the standards of those rooms. Frankly if you can stay ONE day in Bangkok, and be willing to return to a room like that after a hard day pounding the city’s hot sticky streets, then you�re a far better man than I am.�

Both sides of the sidewalk are lined solid with vendors and food stalls that only allow very thin people to maneuver the narrow walk space sideways and with people going both directions it is quite a trick. Negotiating the streets is not helped at all by being stopped every 100 meters by an Indian tailor just because you are wearing a pair oftrousers (this is a man who obviously dresses up) �special deal for you Sir.� But the uniqueness of Khao San is in the range of services that are offered by the enterprising Banglampoo folk. These include fake I.D cards, fake university degrees (for the would-be English teachers), body piercing while-U-wait, and street-side hair braiding for those looking torecapture the 70�s Bo Derek look.�

These days, however, the hot look is dreads and along the sidestreets you can watch Thais use a crochet hook to absolutely ruin a lovely girl�s hair! Bob warns me away from making any judgement but the fact is that locals everywhere are very wary of this traveler look. Yes, we are backpackers but hopefully not what the locals the world over consider unwashed ingrates. In Avignon France we wanted to stay at a lovely little Inn so Bob called ahead on the phone. No vacancy, the guy said immediately. But Bob kept talking and finally at the end of the call a vacancy miraculously became available. We felt that the innkeeper was �screening� his clients and he probably was.

�It�s a fun place to while away a few hours watching the travelers with their long straggly beards and bushy armpits,� Stickman says on his web site. �And that�s just the women. You should see the male of the species. But fair�s fair, the Khao San Rd Thais have a remarkably high tolerance to all the idiosyncracies of these travelers and you rarely see them get hot under the collar because some scruffy kid is losing it over apparently being cheated out of 5 baht. I take my hat off to the Thais in that respect.� The Israeli’s are the worst.

Bob and I think that many of these travelers rarely leave the area while in
Bangkok because we hardly ever see them. But fair is fair here too. Not all in this age group who truly are looking scraggly from traveling are selfish ingrates looking for a free ride. (My apologies to two of my sons-one who stayed in �The Green House� on Khao San several years ago and the other who likes the Koh Samui beaches. My hat is off to Josh who spent a month eating toasted insects and completely immersing himself in the culture in a small Isan village in the north of Thailand near the Laos border.

Sex In The City of Angels

Posted on by Laughingnomad

August 6 2002 Bangkok Thailand
The Indian pilot lovingly set the Air India wheels down on the Bangkok tarmac…

Being in Thailand feels good even when you know Thais will use those beguiling smiles and soft voices to extract three layers of your soul (and your money)…

Sex In The City
“When the American troops left Vietnam and all the Rest and Recreation programs ended,” says Paul Theroux in The Great Railway Bazaar, “it was thought that Bangkok would collapse. This was when the city had 2 million inhabitants. Now it has 10 or 12. But this hugely preposterous combination of temples and brothels (among many other things of course) requires visitors…it is a city for transients. And is a place where even the most improbable foreigner can get laid,” says Theroux.

Whether on the SkyTrain or trying to get a meal in a restaurant at night the common traveler is witness to the white haired 60 plus year old pot-bellied man looking longingly at the pretty little Thai girl at his side. Most of these girls migrate here from the country to help their families earn their way out of poverty. Most Thais just turn their heads because they like to think it is a matter of survival and with a lack of education there are few other alternatives for girls from the country.

There are live shows featuring talented �Thai Boys� in drag. There are go-go bars with young girls standing around on an elevated stagelooking very self conscious with a number pasted on one shoulder in case a male client wants to ask for a special one.

There are all-Japanese karoake clubs with bored girls in gowns standing on the street in front waiting for a bid. The Japanese tourists are often the ones with big spending money. Stickman, a website writer, says if sitting in a private room with an attractive hostess feedng you tit-bits and rubbing your back while you peruse an extensive list searching for the next song you�re about to murder, Bangkok is the place for you.

That is Bangkok at night…closing hours are seldom observed…there are just as many people in the streets in some areas at 4am as at 4pm as in many other large Asian cities.