I’ve been reading back on my posts so far
and feel like I haven’t really done the Thai people we’ve encountered much
justice, recounting only the meetings with sullen / rude / fierce people.
There’s the couple that run the laundry
opposite the resort who will wash your 2kg load of dirty sheets for about
£1.20. I think he’s blind, (or partially sighted) they have a little dog that
sits outside and barks when you walk up to the shop. I don’t know if the dog is
just a pet, or employed as some kind of alarm / doorbell for the blind man when
customers come along and he’s there alone.
He took my washing from me yesterday,
then who I think must have been his wife came along, weighed it and told me it
would be ready to collect at 5pm. I don’t know what washing powder they use
here, but it reminds me of one of my favourite perfumes. ‘Pure Grace’ by Philosophy.
If you haven’t smelled it, it’s hard to describe – it just smells really fresh,
clean and slightly floral / sandalwood-ish.
Every hotel receptionist we have met has
been very sweet, friendly and helpful. There was Noon, from the Sea @ Lanta,
with her excellent local knowledge and A, from the posh villas we stayed in
over Christmas – the sweetest, loveliest lady who would come and chat to us
every day at breakfast.
A
was married to an Englishman, but said he was lazy and didn’t want to come to
Thailand to work, only ‘for holiday’ and she didn’t like living in his hometown
of Southampton, which she found depressing and dreary. She had a business
buying and selling plots of land before starting her holiday villa venture – we
were the second guests to stay there.
The woman on the rice stall at the
Tuesday night Mae Rim Plaza Market that finds it really funny we just want to
buy one container of rice and scoops extra handfuls in the bag for no extra
cost.
The girl that works in Si’s bar, (where
excellent, homemade, authentic pizza is to be had) recognised us the second
time we went in there and greeted us with a cheerful, warm, ‘welcome back!’
Across the road from Si’s there is a quirky
little café (I made a note of the name of it so I could review it and then
promptly forgot what is is) that serves perfectly prepared calamari, fried in
crispy batter, melt in the mouth, not even a tiny bit chewy. It seems to be a ‘family’
meeting place – they have a TV in the indoor section, and kids sit round a tiny
round table, doing their homework, eating their tea and watching the TV.
The couple and their daughters in the
karaoke shack down the road; despite our laughable attempts to use Google
translate to try and relay that I don’t eat chicken or pork, they didn’t get pissed off or
impatient and served us excellent Khao Pad and cold beers for the princely sum
of roughly less than £5.00.
I also love the fact that if you go
through any type of barrier, anywhere – out of the resort, into the shopping
centre; the guard on the barrier always gives you a jaunty little salute.
In my last post, I talked a lot about Eat Pray Love. I felt I’d gone on long
enough in that particular post about certain Western attitudes towards funny
little brown people, but we find it here. There tends to be an idealisation of
Thai people from some Westerners, who refuse to see Thais as anything other
than innocent, non-confrontational, sweet and smiley. I think this does both
parties a great disservice, and I think it’s kind of patronising.
Imagine that you are a country that hosts
millions of tourists each year – you depend on them hugely for your income. You’re
always expected to be laid-back, placid, friendly, kind and affable. I don’t
know about you, but I’d find that pretty hard to live up to, especially when
you may encounter some people that probably irritate you, or look down on you.
Some things I’ve heard about Thai
behaviour, values and customs that might not always be strictly true:
1) They don’t shout: Yes they do! The women
in Koh Lanta National Park café were having a HIGH old time yelling across the
room at each other. OK, it wasn’t in anger, but still. Raised voices all round.
2) They always smile: also not true. This is
because, one would rationally assume, they are human beings that have bad days
just like er, everyone else in the world does. Or maybe they are annoyed that I’m
too lazy (read: actually afraid of causing offence) to use the Thai thankyou Kaa.
3) Always barter in markets: not always.
Tried to barter on some dresses in Koh Lanta Old Town and it was made pretty
clear that the woman knew the value of her stock and wasn’t going to sell it any
cheaper. You have to judge this for yourself, but I’d say if they don’t budge on
the first time you ask, don’t push it. The price they say is the price you have
to pay.
4) Feet are dirty, take off your shoes when
going into shops: this one is true, though lots of shops don’t mind if you keep
your shoes on. I take mine off if there’s a mat by the entrance. The default, I
guess, is to worry that your shoes might get stolen, but it’s not happened yet.
Probably because no-one wants a pair of filthy old Jesus sandals that smell
like Brie.
5) The ‘Shit Bins’ (as we have fondly named
them): are not actually for shitty loo roll. ALL toilets here have ‘bum guns’.
Some are just the basic cold water nozzle; some are DIGITAL bidets, like the
ones in the Maya Plaza. You’re supposed to use the bum gun, and then pat
yourself dry with the loo roll. I’ve not got my head round this yet and
emptying the bins makes me gag a bit. Best not to think about it, or maybe
start doing things the done way. When in Rome…..
To sum up: we’ve met some rude, sulky
Thai people (Kevin-The-Teenager, I mean YOU) and we’ve met some happy people. ‘Same same, but different’ as the Thai
saying goes. You can actually apply it to lots of things, once you get into the
habit of saying it. It’s become one of my most frequently used sayings, apart
from ‘OK, then’ in a Fargo-style
accent.
We’re still undecided on
where to head to next. Laos looks difficult as we can’t seem to find any
month-long let options, so we’re looking at Cambodia….watch this space.
