Final Observations of Thailand

Needless to say Thailand is very different from the UK, but here are some of the things I have noticed after being here for a month:

Price Differences

People say that Thailand is cheap, in some ways it is (food and accomdation are pretty cheap and you can get cheap clothes) but many things (like cameras, phones etc) are the same price or even more expensive over here. The main thing that I have found is that there is no consistency in prices at all. I caught a bus the other day all the way from Hua Hin to Bangkok for 180 baht but today I bought some shaving foam and it cost me 170 baht. Just seems weird what you can get for the same money and the prices change so much wherever you go.

Transport

Transport in Thailand is mad. Any type of transport here is pretty crazy and after a while you just get used to it and start not to notice it so much. So far in Thailand I have travelled in a plane, bus, minibus, taxi, tuk tuk, moped, ferry, katamaran, long boat, speed boat, pick up truck (both in the passenger seat and in the back) and a 4x4 (in the back) - and all of these in their own way have been crazy!

Oh today I also had got a new mode of transport in too I caught a moped as a taxi! That is the way forward in Bangkok with all the traffic! You just sit on the back of a moped and the guy give you like a cycle helmet kind of thing to wear and you are off! Its ace! Gets you there pretty quick, I'm gonna catch on of them on the way back to my hotel today.

Overwhelming Choice

There is sooooooooo much choice when you go shopping in Thailand! All the shopping malls are massive, in fact I would say they are too big because the options you could choose from are overwhelming. I was in the Siam Centre in Bangkok and wanted some food so went to the food hall. There were about 60 different places I could have eaten! Everything from Thai, Japanese, Italian all the way through to full on Western food with Dunkin Donuts etc! I took me about 20 mins to walk around it all and even then I dont think I saw everywhere I could eat. Plus I couldn't rememeber any of the places that I thought looked good by then because there were so many. I guess you would get used to it after a while but at first it is a bit much to take in...

Football

Thai people love football - I do too so its quality! Loads of times they would just come up to me in the street and once they found out I was from England they just wanted to talk about football! They would always ask which team I supported - I didn't think many of them would have heard of Barnsley but most of them had! One guy even told me that they drew 0-0 with Southend the other night (I didn't even know that!!!). Then I'd tell them I was from Norwich and they knew all about them too. One guys called them the Parrots which I thought was pretty funny! He did too once I told him it was the Canaries!!! They would always talk about Liverpool and Man U too. A conversation about Liverpool would always go like this:

Thai Fella: Liverpool!
Me: Yeah Liverpool - they are a good team
Thai Fella: Gerrard!
Me: Yeah Stevie Gerrard is De Mac Mac (means very very good in Thai)
Thai Fella: Peter Crouch!
Me: Yep Crouch

Then the Thai Fella would always make some 'Whoooo' type noise and motion with his hand about Crouch being so tall!

This must have happened about 5 times! Always made me smile!

Friendly people

However, my lasting memory of Thailand and the thing that has made the trip so good is the people.

Thai people are so friendly and are really welcoming. They also like to have a laugh so its cool! The best thing i did coming here was to learn a little bit of Thai - it takes you a long way. Just haggling with a lady on Khosan Road tunred into a Thai lesson! She started teaching me the colours by pointing at the t-shirts. hats wouldn't have happened if I hadn't spoken a little bit of Thai (the only bits I know!) to her first!

I took my washing in to a laundrette this morning and by the end of sorting out the arrangements with the lady and speaking a bit of Thai she had the other 3 women in the shop over talking to me and we were all laughing loads! And all I can really say is stuff like 'Very Good', 'I Like' and 'I haven't got any money!'...

Speaking a tiny bit of the language has been a real eye opener for me and I have vowed to myself that whenever I go to a non english speaking country in the future I will try and learn a few phrases of the local language.

However, it real is the people in Thailand that make the place as they are so friendly and good fun (I cant imagine the French being so welcoming if all I could really say was Tres Bien!)

So if anyone is planning to go to Thailand in the near future learn some Thai! I'll help you - its pretty easy! It wil make you time here so much better and the people will love you for it...