chapter 9 - Thai people and Thai life


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Thai people are very friendly, polite and their hospitality is renown all over the world. They appreciate it when you try to speak some Thai with them because Thai words have five different meanings, depending on the five different tone. And this makes it so difficult for us foreigners and on the other hand provides endless fun- sanuk - to the Thais, because often one of the meanings has something "slippery" to it, and low and behold a foreigner will by accident always use the tone for this meaning. The word "jim" for example can mean "to dip" differently pronounced it is a cute description for a girl's genitals. Another interesting word is "mai" which can mean, new, wood, to burn, not, or at the end of a sentence denotes a question. But don't be scared to speak the language, it is actually fun and without some words of Thai you won't get far.

"Sanuk", having fun is very important to the Thais and so they try to have it all the time, even at the office, which makes working in Thailand quite a fun thing, but can equally annoy, depending on the situation. Because sanuk can only be achieved by not having to worry about something, worries are swept away with the sentence "mai pen rai" which means "no problem" or "don't worry". I don't know how often I had appointments with locals where I was punctual because I left the office early enough to beat the traffic woes and then had to wait one or two hours because the other person was "totally surprised" by the heavy traffic and when he or she finally arrived said "mai pen rai". It would however, have been considered very rude, when I would just have left the place after one or two hours waiting.

Another important ingredient to a happy Thai life is food. Everyone who has been in Thailand knows that Thai cuisine is the best in the world. It is healthy, light and versatile. Whether you are vegetarian or like to have meat, there are many different dishes for everyone. I love the hot Thai curries which need some getting used to, because the western palate isn't made for chillies. Still you should try to eat as hot as possible, not only does it impress your Thai hosts, but the substances in chillies help digestion and strengthen the immune system. There are also some strange dishes like barbecued locusts or big fried beetles and I have to admit that I never tried those, even though they are supposed to taste like chicken - hmm I have heard that before...

People at our office brought their food from outside, starting with breakfast which has nothing to do with the breakfast a westerner might expect. Thai breakfast is exactly the same food Thais would eat for lunch or dinner, and they always looked suspiciously at my boss and me eating Weetabix with milk or eating toast with peanut butter and honey. However for lunch we also took Thai dishes, which were ordered from our office maid who then went to buy it at a food court nearby. Those food courts are amazing places, packed with people all the time. To eat at food courts is a must when you are in Thailand, everything a prepared freshly, I can especially recommend all sorts of noodle soups, but also the fried beef, pork or chicken with or without chilly. All the dishes, apart from the soups, have something in common and that is, they all come with rice. This is rice is very much different from the parboiled rice we are used to in the west. It is sticky, nourishing and it has a nice scent to it. And one more thing, don't worry about eating with chop sticks, Thais use fork and spoon to eat, only for the noodle soups they use chop sticks.

Whatever happens, when dealing with Thais in private or in business, try not to loose your temper, because this makes you loose your face.


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