About the Buyer

Dino's Travel Blog

Thailand - Interesting Culture

Tue June 2, 1998

Written on Thu, 26 Mar 1998

Ok, so I thought I'd give this another try. Yesterday I had my first computer nightmare. I was finishing off composing a 2.5hr letter when we had a power failure, and even though I had used the save key, everything was lost! I was so disheartened that I couldn’t start over right then and there. So off I went to the movies to see "As good as it gets". Now let me tell you… they have fabulous theaters here. When you buy your ticket, you pick out your seat at the price and location of your choice, like buying a concert ticket. Before the movie starts all must stand for a salute to the king with a video montage of pictures of his life. Surround sound, a good size screen and comfortable reclining seats make these theaters the best I've been in yet. The price is around $3.00, and that includes a soft drink!

So this will end up being pretty long, and maybe a little long winded. I will talk about my travel plans and attempt to give you a sense of the Thai culture; how extremely different we are, and most of the time diabolically opposed.

I've been kind of stuck here in Chang Mai, northern Thailand a lot longer than I ever expected, but that's the way traveling goes some times, or should I say most of the time. I believe I've been here for almost 3 weeks and one day seems to roll into the next for one reason or another. I was planning to have Vietnam be my next stop; those plans have changed in the last 24hrs. The main reason for this change of plans is the Thai New Year's celebration known as the 'Socran' or 'The
water festival'. This takes place mid April and is Thailand's biggest celebration, especially in Chang Mai where the Socran originated. They
call it the water festival because for an entire week you cannot go anywhere without getting 'splooshed'. They go all out for this one! The whole city basically shuts down and complete pandemonium, mayhem and celebration combined with freezing cold water flying everywhere makes this a festival not to be missed, especially now that I'm so close to it. Pickup trucks loaded with huge barrels and drums filled with ice water which are fitted inventive mechanisms, drive around soaking everybody, especially us 'farangs' (tourists). There is absolutely no way not to get soaked! I'll fill you in after I've actually witnessed this craziness. The Socran doesn’t take place until 3 weeks from now and after a week delay in waiting for my visa for Nam, I won’t have enough time to make it back in time for the festival, so I've decided to stay in the north of Thailand until then.

While waiting I figured I might as well travel so lets begin. I will start by taking a bus from here to Tha Ton, where I will take a boat ride down the Mai Kok river witnessing the tribal villages and scenery towards Chang Rai. From there I will drive up to Mae Sai and the Golden Triangle, where the 3 countries: Thailand, Laos and Myamar(ex Burma) meet. It is called the Golden triangle from the opium heydays. After a few days there, and a short visit into Myamar to check out the local market and renew my Thai visa, I will bus it to Pai. Pai is a smaller town with a lot of 'cool' bars with amazing cover bands and a 'hang' and 'chill out' town for us backpackers. Some travelers having only intended to visit for a week end up finding themselves still there months later(and the way I've been going, that could be my scenario!). I intend to stay there for a week or so. Apparently from Pai, there are some great excursions to amazing caves which I inevitably will do on motor bike. From Pai I will head over to Mae Hong Son, where I will be able to visit the Karen (long neck) tribes (although sadly touristy). I fly back into Chang Mai on the 13th of April for Socran and out to Bangkok on the 17th. I may end up not actually making it to Vietnam.

In Chang Mai I drive around on a brand new motorbike for about $5.00 a day. Driving here can be described as merging pandemonium; the lane system is not that important here and signals are sometimes used. They drive very fast here, but are extremely good defensive drivers. I actually love this style of driving, compared to the overly cautious drivers back home. Now, the Thai style of driving is not to be compared with the interesting driving style in Indian that I’ve talked about earlier. The best way I found to drive here is to focus on what's ahead and around you, but not behind you. The idea is that the traffic behind you adjusts and compensates as necessary.

There are generally more motorbikes than cars roaming around. Motorbikes are predominately used as the they're the main source of transportation. You will rarely see them 'racing' about although it is not uncommon to see them unimaginably piled high with all sorts of cargo that defies all laws of physics! I've also witnessed families of 5 riding about, but the best sight is the cute Thai women passengers in skirts sitting side saddled on the back of the bike; they do have nice legs I must admit!
To add to the confusion, they drive on the opposite side of the road. I usually forget this important little detail late at night when there is no traffic on the road and I'm casually heading home on my merry way until I realize that an unsuspecting car is heading right for me! This driving on the opposite side seems to affect the way crowds move about in public as well which is also on the opposite side; this too can be pretty confusing at times! Now despite this frenzy I've never seen anybody get angry or upset and rarely do they use their horns!

The Buddhist attitude affects their whole way of being; frankly I feel more safe here in Thailand than I do in some areas in T.O.! I have not heard many cases of theft, if any, and I've left stuff on my motorbike for days on end without any problem. This attitude is very prevalent in Thai families, especially around children. Children are pampered until the age of 5 years old, then they are taught to work for the family. Family and work are one and the same. Generally the family works out of the home or better yet they usually live above or in the same space as their work, sleeping on mats placed on the floor. Kids are always involved with the parents in their work, as opposed to work being away from the kids. Even though the kids seem to be 'interrupting', I've never seen the parents scold or yell at them. Parents just let the kids do their thing. They don’t ignore the kids however they seem to allow them their self expression.

One day I went to get a traditional Thai massage performed by adults working at the blind institute. I walked in on a small community's living room and work space where there were 5 mats laid out on the floor. The TV was blaring away, and blind adults were performing massages and living in this communal space. There was one non-blind person however, a 5yr old boy who seemed to be the household's pride and joy. Probably one of their offspring, this boy could do no wrong. I mean he was jumping all over them while they were working, leaving his toys all over the place as a perfect obstacle course ,and gently conversing with the customers. This put huge smiles on their faces! If he actually went overboard with his behavior they would gently talk to the boy as if he were an adult and he would obey them without 'loosing face'.

'Loosing face' is a big deal here in Thailand; smiling seems to be the best remedy around all sensitive subjects. For example, we met a Canadian shipping connection that was explaining how deals and payoffs work here. The
discussions and negotiations are done through a mediator who is generally a key
employee of the company. The employee handles the situation so that neither party can directly loose face. Both parties are generally in the same building but never within visual distance of each other. Generally, almost everybody can be paid off for one reason or another.

Now let me talk a little about food and it's culture in Thailand. First of all let me start by saying I'm in food heaven here. The food is really delicious, always just prepared using fresh ingredients at inexpensive prices! As an example a big bowl of noodle soup with tons of delicious meats and vegetables costs 30baht (1.00can) and that’s all you need for lunch! A big plate of fried prawns with garlic and chilies cost $3.00,and generally any seafood or fish dish won't exceed that
price, gotta love it! I won't go on with every Thai dish because then I'll never finish! Only plastic dishes are used, and sometimes metal glasses to drink water out of, although in the big hotels, this is not the case! Food doesn’t arrive in any particular order. It just ends up on your table in a pretty quick manner. These dishes are always shared with others at the table 'Chinese style' and eaten always with larger groups of friends and family. They generally eat slower than we do, or at least slower than me, but then who doesn’t! Eating while they work is very common, in fact it seems they're always eating and that's probably because they are! They eat about 5 times a day and always when they're drinking. They eat smaller dishes and it always looks healthy. Thai people are not fat, and I keep being reminded that I am, especially compared to them; and they have no qualms about expressing this(which is terrible if one is conscious about their weight!)
Now we eat in our homes whereas Thai people eat outdoors. Food is prepared
outdoors and eaten there. Most people eat out, since it is ALWAYS available, and usually cheaper to eat out, except with larger families. I've done 5 cooking courses to date and will be doing another one tomorrow. I've learned so much and again I won't get into every dish but generally I've learned 5 different Thai curry dishes where they prepare the pastes by hand using a pestle and mortar. I have also learned several seafood dishes, salads, soups and dipping sauces; many that will show up at my restaurants...stay tuned.
The bars, clubs, discos and karaoke’s are another story. Let me start by saying that you can take in your own bottle of booze and the waiter will gladly take it for you to set up a side table with the appropriate mixes and a pail of ice. He/she, will continuously serve and mix your drinks to your liking, before you finish! Now that's service! Speaking of service get this, I end up in an after hours club with a DJ. and all. I go to use the 'can' and the door gets opened for me by an attendant, and as I'm 'hangin a lizard (taking a piss) some guy working there places a hot towel on the back of my neck and starts massaging me! Ha, go figure! He started with the neck and arms and by my third visit (which by now I was looking forward to) I was sitting on the counter and he was doing my legs, cracking my fingers etc. These guys were really good, the massage was Thai style and by the end they were giving me their address in case I chose to hire them in Canada. I think that's a great idea, don't you agree? They worked for tips only and since I was the only tourist in the place this was obviously not a touristy thing.

Unless it's a disco, most clubs don't actually have a dance floor. People just stand around their table and move or dance to the music and they always
go out in groups. In fact when I tell them I went out on my own they are always in shock. A lot of these clubs have big bands that play Thai and American cover songs; they're usually amazing! If I'm not paying attention I won't realize whether the band or recorded music is playing! My brother and I went several times to a blues club where the owner and his band played cover tunes by Hendricks, Bob Marley, Grateful Dead, Eric Clapton, Dire Straights and so on. They were amazing! I actually got up and jammed on the bongos with them a few times(I couldn’t resist, especially with a good dose of Thai whiskey in me!) I’ve now moved onto the bottles of Chivas Regal which you can buy in the bars as
well. Now if you don’t finish your bottle and you don't want to lug it home, you can check it in with the bar and get a stub for it (as you would if you were checking your coat). Nifty.
Karaoke bars are places where the Thai women show themselves off on stage by dressing beautifully and singing a song for the interested audience who are generally men interested in an escort or just some company for the evening. The man will nod to his women of choice and she will sit with him and have a discussion while he buys her drinks. Although very popular in Thailand I have yet to frequent one. Karaoke in itself is a huge pastime in Thailand especially with the older generation who entertain at home with elaborate computerized systems! This seems to have affected all the generations as a whole, since Thai people love to sing and are always singing (in fact the owner and staff are singing in this computer store as we speak!).The crowd at clubs are always singing along with the music!
Another weird thing at these clubs is that one can generally arrange to meet any girl one fancies simply by speaking to the management. For a small fee he can usually set up a meeting with her. It is also customary that if you are asked to join the table it is assumed that you will pay the entire bill even if you just arrived. I found this out the hard way one evening. By the time the bill got to our table there had been 4 girls that I had been sitting with but they had all scooted away. I was expected to pay the whole tab but luckily I didn’t have enough $ with me and the manager was nice enough to claim it from them later. All this is the traveling learning curve!
Anyway, this is the longest journal entry of my life, and I hope I didn’t bore you. I decided to do this now while I'm here as the details are still fresh in my mind because I know there is not a chance in hell that I will remember all this when I get back.

Ciao for now. Dino.