admin Posted on 3:59 am

Thailand Catch Phrases

Before going to Thailand, I was ignorant of Indochinese in the same way that I discovered that many Americans were ignorant of the essential differences between Japanese and Chinese. I guess I also thought of Indochinese as a kind of variant of Chinese. I was in for a big surprise when I arrived in Bangkok in 1986 and even though I did come across a lot of East Asian ornaments, I quickly realized that Thai culture was completely different from the East Asian culture I was used to. And it’s not that the fact of this difference really took me by surprise; it’s more that I had no idea what Thai culture was and it was a whole new world for me, full of wonders, kind people, scammers and mean-looking soldiers.

I want to do without scammers from the start. Thailand appears to have more than its share even now, as the nation grows more prosperous. But to be fair, it seemed like there were fewer scammers when I was there in the mid-eighties, even though Thailand was a much poorer country than it is now. Maybe they just didn’t know that tourists mean a lot of money. In any case, scammers are prolific in any nation that is poorer relative to the tourists it hosts. This is true all over the world and Thailand is no exception.

What I suppose I liked the most about the Thais was their lack of formality, their honesty, their happy laughter, and their nonchalance. Mai pen rai may now be a clichéd Thai, but I remember a distinct no-matter attitude when I was there. And I remember that among strangers the Thais were more than willing to build an ad hoc relationship. I remember the time I went into a pharmacy to buy a prickly heat powder, and the lady pointed to my face, laughed and said: Don’t shave (I hadn’t done it). I remember the high school boy from boarding school on the night bus who fell asleep on my chest like he was his brother or something (what was I going to do, push him?). And I remember the pretty lady at the ship’s locker who looked me straight in the face, smiled and said, You’re a handsome man (I wasn’t flirting, just watching). Similarly, I remember an attractive girl from the vegetable market who suddenly grabbed my arm and said, You shop. It doesn’t make sense, just Thai-style high-pressure sales.

But Thais seem to be more professional and less confident these days. Mai pen rai.

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