Random Notions About Thailand
You know I was in Hua Hin, Thailand for two weeks, which was my first time in Asia all together. Being a born and raised Finn, there were a lot of random things that caught my eye, or had me in a bit of a culture shock.
Disclaimer: generalization and humour added for some extra extra.
Everything comes in a plastic bag. Buy a pen, they put it in a plastic bag. Buy take out, they put the rice and the sauce in separate bags, and then another plastic bag. Buy soda, they chuck ice in a plastic bag, put soda in it, stuck a straw in and hand you the bad. Buy a take away slushy, it comes in a plastic cup, and they have a special kind of plastic sleeve with handles for it. I'm so sad I didn't take pictures of these things, it is too funny and totally unnecessary.
You can fit the whole family on one scooter. Babies can sleep between two siblings and why not add a dog balancing in the back too, no biggie.
No one has shitty cars. Everyone drives a brand new pick-up or a sleek as fuck BMW. My dream car is now a monstrous Ford pick-up. I'm not kidding.
Thailand has a left sided traffic, thank to the Englishmen, weirdos.
Thai natives don't know how to say the letter R.
Everyone is very very curious and stare blatantly.
Alcohol is wasted by pouring to the ground for buddha. I'm sure he would much rather consume it through the mouth...
Crossbreed street doges are everywhere and they all have short legs and long backs.
Food is basically free for a Westerner. Basic restaurant meal in Finland is 17 euros, in Thailand it's less than 3 euros. I'll have three dishes per meal, thanks!
Water is so dirty that I was filthy for two weeks straight, even with taking two showers per day.
Sugar and chili can be added to anything. Why not dip that amazingly fresh and sweet fruit you just bought from the night market to a mix of sugar and dried chili (which comes in a little plastic pouch, obviously), makes total sense.
There are no black people in Thailand, zero, nada, null.
Everyone likes to stand really close to you when having a conversation. As a Finn, everything closer than a metre is too close.
I've never seen anything with so much authority than a Thai cop. He was just standing in front of me in his uniform, gun holstered in his belt and sporting a pair of Ray-Ban aviators, calm. I became a law abiding citizen instantly, wouldn't even jaywalk with him looking.
Thai natives avoid the sun like the plague. Maybe they are actually vampires and have found the place where no one would ever suspect them, like what kind of vampire would live in a place where it's almost always sunny. Those clever bastards!
There is a 7/11 in every block, no, two per block.
Pictures taken with the Nikon D7200 and Nikkor 55-200mm f/4-5.6.
PS. I loved Thailand.
Hahh, loved your way of writing.
I feel like now I have met Thai people in person reading your post. As I know what kind of things/people you can find in Thailan, I can say and even prove to someone that I went to Thailand :p
About a Thai cop. You got me there. I haven't been to Thailand but your first-hand experience reminded me of a Thailand film i watched and i thought the actor acted as though he was paid a million dollars for the role. Of course i do not expect the budget of the film to be up to even a hundred grand. He shouted so much and was so theatrical. Thai cops are overboard with authourity.
Beautiful and interesting .. You are lucky
The trip looks great
Thanks for sharing this with us
Great post and glad you enjoyed your stay in my country. Yes there is work to do with the plastic bags it is crazy and too many people on scooters too often. How did you like the food?
I obviously LOVED the food, there was nothing bad, everything was amazing and I'm crying myself to sleep every day I can't have Thai food.
Very pretty photos! It sounds like you very much enjoyed your trip, do you have plans to go back sometime soon? I have it on my bucket list but have never been. My friend is there now and has said a lot of the same things that you have, especially the part about things being so cheap compared to other parts of the world. Thanks for sharing!
Ivy
amazing photography , beautiful writig , nice post, thanks for sharing
I share your love and appreciation for Thailand.
Beautiful, curious, and perplexing place to visit.
Keep it up. Love to see these posts...makes my wanderlust grow !
haha love the humor :) Best wishes, -@splendorhub
It's a shame that they release alcohol for Buddha hehe, it's an interesting city, thank you for your opinions.
Great observations! Unless we get out now and then culture shock is the side effect. In 1969 Vietnam I experienced three culture shocks for this Michigan USA boy that I will never forget. The first was when I saw a bus full of people pull over to side of the road in a rural area and many people got off, men and women, and relieved themselves in the field. The second was when I was security for a haul of refuse from our landing zone to a local dump or landfill. There were a couple ladies of the evening there and one of the grabbed me in the privates and asked "want buy fuck G.I?". The third was riding security again in a truck and there was an open mini-bus ahead of us while going down the road. We came up to a residential area and stopped at a stop sign pulling up close behind the bus. There were two young girls in the back waving at the driver of the truck and I so we waved back. They proceeded to pull up their blouses and flash us. The interesting thing was is that they were surrounded by men who never reacted. They were looking at newspapers or at the surrounding area saw what happened and never reacted in any way that I could see.
Hah pretty interesting, did you get any infections there ? :D I have heard there are whole menu of them available for you in the water you can drink.
Everyone drinks bottled water in Thailand, so no infections or anything like that. And my immune system is super strong so I don't think I can catch food poisoning very easily. knocks on wood