Ok, I have been in Thailand for approximately 1 week now. I am living in a small fishing town in the province of Rayong call Ban Phe. Ban Phe is the type of place where everyone knows each other, there are only about 2 bars on the main road that fill up, and westerners (or "Phalang" in Thai) stick out like a soar thumb where ever one may go. As far as Ban Phe is concerned, westerners come for 2 reasons : 1. To attend language school & 2. To catch a boat to the popular vacation island of Koh Samet. Needless to say, as a student, separating myself from the super-hip, travel guide wielding, Europeans and Northern Asians en route to Koh Samet has not proven very difficult whatsoever.
My accommodations are quite impressive (@ Christie's Bar). AC, view of the sea, television with all the Thai TV I could ever possibly fall asleep to, and a private hot shower - all for approximately $200 USD.
In my brief time in Thailand I have noticed and learned my things about the Thai people. First it is important to separate rural Thai from city (Bangkok) Thai. The people in Ban Phe are all very nice, and for the most part, seem quite content with spending the day watching cars go down the street. Motorcycles & scooters seem to be the transportation of choice, aside from the commonly used pickup truck / bus / open air taxi that is the sungtao. All it takes is one day in Ban Phe to realize why people watch the street - it is a performance. The first thing to note, is the motorcycle/scooter trend. First off, anyone from the age of 5-95 can be seen whipping a motorbike around town (or hanging off the side of one). Secondly, the culture of the motorbike operator seems to be that of a competitive nature. How much extra stuff can you do while riding your motorbike down the street at 40 mph? Eating soup, cooking food, reading a magazine, chatting on the phone, beating your child... all perfectly acceptable - better yet - commendable. With that, how many things can you fit on to your motorbike? a birdcage, your dog, your entire family... the list goes on. Anyway, side tracked for a moment, but getting back to the Thai people.. they are friendly, they are polite (almost too polite), they are complex, and they are far too many things to even try to discover in just one week in one city in Thailand.
Now, Bangkok - that's a different story. In my opinion, when the earth was created and God and the Devil each got to decide which city they would like to create just how they would like, God created Rio de Janeiro and the Devil created Bangkok. I'm not sure whether it was when I was getting fitting (suckered into getting fitted) for a tailor made suite, getting ripped off in an alley by a "Fortune telling Yogi", riding in a tuk tuk on the way to a "ping pong" show, or praying to be put out of my misery in the bathroom of a disgusting, loud, pay for the toilet paper bathroom in my Bangkok guesthouse that I realized - I think I'm in over my head on this one. Now maybe this is all my fault. Maybe I should have known better about the suite, and the yogi. Maybe I shouldn't have let my curiosity get the best of me when it came to the ping pong show, or the chicken and vegetables at the restaurant. All these things are possible. However, I can honestly say that I do not have a desire to ever return... Too bad I have to go pick up my suit in a few weeks.
My accommodations are quite impressive (@ Christie's Bar). AC, view of the sea, television with all the Thai TV I could ever possibly fall asleep to, and a private hot shower - all for approximately $200 USD.
In my brief time in Thailand I have noticed and learned my things about the Thai people. First it is important to separate rural Thai from city (Bangkok) Thai. The people in Ban Phe are all very nice, and for the most part, seem quite content with spending the day watching cars go down the street. Motorcycles & scooters seem to be the transportation of choice, aside from the commonly used pickup truck / bus / open air taxi that is the sungtao. All it takes is one day in Ban Phe to realize why people watch the street - it is a performance. The first thing to note, is the motorcycle/scooter trend. First off, anyone from the age of 5-95 can be seen whipping a motorbike around town (or hanging off the side of one). Secondly, the culture of the motorbike operator seems to be that of a competitive nature. How much extra stuff can you do while riding your motorbike down the street at 40 mph? Eating soup, cooking food, reading a magazine, chatting on the phone, beating your child... all perfectly acceptable - better yet - commendable. With that, how many things can you fit on to your motorbike? a birdcage, your dog, your entire family... the list goes on. Anyway, side tracked for a moment, but getting back to the Thai people.. they are friendly, they are polite (almost too polite), they are complex, and they are far too many things to even try to discover in just one week in one city in Thailand.
Now, Bangkok - that's a different story. In my opinion, when the earth was created and God and the Devil each got to decide which city they would like to create just how they would like, God created Rio de Janeiro and the Devil created Bangkok. I'm not sure whether it was when I was getting fitting (suckered into getting fitted) for a tailor made suite, getting ripped off in an alley by a "Fortune telling Yogi", riding in a tuk tuk on the way to a "ping pong" show, or praying to be put out of my misery in the bathroom of a disgusting, loud, pay for the toilet paper bathroom in my Bangkok guesthouse that I realized - I think I'm in over my head on this one. Now maybe this is all my fault. Maybe I should have known better about the suite, and the yogi. Maybe I shouldn't have let my curiosity get the best of me when it came to the ping pong show, or the chicken and vegetables at the restaurant. All these things are possible. However, I can honestly say that I do not have a desire to ever return... Too bad I have to go pick up my suit in a few weeks.
ahha funny story zach :)
ReplyDeleteJean-Francois