Impressions of the Thai people and country

We have now been in Thailand for almost two months. We’ve taken almost every transportation mode and visited some atypical places. The clothing wholesale market in Bangkok with our friend Moshe from the fashion industry, or registering at Bumrungrad, a state of the art Thai hospital for our vaccination boosters, walking through back road hamlets on Koh Samui island, or riding through Karen hill tribe villages in Northern Thailand…

Traveling in Thailand is easy and low maintenance. Thai are welcoming while keeping to their own business. Perhaps is it that they are used to having so many “farang” from the West come and visit their country. They are generally laid back. Shop owners often barely try to attract your attention, and are not the least insistent or pushy, letting life and business unfold at a mild and peaceful pace. When someone approaches you in an airport, bus, taxi station or tourist sight, hoping to make a few baht for some service rendered, it is very easy to either ignore them or say “No thank you”, and they back off.

Thai transportation


Social impressions
Thailand benefits definitely from a collective Asian society style and Thais are extremely social and community oriented. Often one can see the vendors or shop-owners doing business with each other exchanging goods, be it in cell phone rage at the MBK shopping center in Bangkok or among the Hill tribe people selling trinkets in the markets. The free 5:00 am Tai Chi sessions in the public park across the river from our guest house in Sukhothai were a typical example of this group orientation.

Group Tai Chi at 5:00 am in Sukhothai


Their high tolerance level can be noticed in Bangkok traffic jams, with barely any sign of forcefulness or hostility and no noticeable horn blowing other than for emergency situations, despite the stressful urban pace and density. Rarely do you hear anyone raising their voice or expressing anger overtly, as there is a general demonstration of deference and respect everywhere. Thais are often joking and having fun when doing things together, perhaps a more childish and playful trait compared to our more serious Western societies. I observed guards in the Royal Palace laugh pleasantly as they indicated to western tourists taking pictures of the Emerald Buddha that there was a sign indicating it was prohibited. We have even seen the staff laugh with lightness when there was a series of power shortages in the hospital, turning all lights off. There is no visible ostracizing or making the other wrong. Perhaps is it that this society has strong Buddhist roots, pervasively influencing modern life as well. Americans we’ve talked to who have known Thais more intimately over years have said that Thai people get quite emotional about relationships and business, but this has remained invisible to our tourist eyes.


Thai Markets
There is a real, powerful Thai market culture that I must link to the culinary culture that characterizes Thailand. The Sukhothai markets attract farmers from the neighboring towns and villages to come and sell produce retail as well as wholesale. The impeccable line-ups of day-fresh fruit, vegetables and herbs inspired us to have the street food using the very same produce. We choose our food vendor based on the ingredients they exhibited, an instinctive way to assess the quality of what we will ingest. In our case we would pass on the meat vendors and favor the carts with the greenest vegetable displays. Most street vendors flash fry-to-order the produce and assemble them to create dozens of different tastes and compositions. This explains why Thai menus are so extensive in the choice. Restaurant kitchens are kind of sedentary street stalls: two woks, one sink and many pots with herbs, spices, curry, shrimp and fish pastes. Thai cooking principles are minimalist: small quantities prepared at a time, a few ingredients in small pieces, easy to flash fry in very short amount of time thus using very little energy to cook.

The notion of Night market was foreign to me until we started walking around Sukhothai to admire the freshest crops just harvested. A night market means fresh vegetables staying fresh in the evening breeze! In Chiang Mai we discovered the Night bazaar. Why suffer the mid day sun when the market awakens at dusk and goes on into the cool, soothing, evening air. Temple courtyards are transformed into food courts, monks chanting inside, families choosing their dinner from dozens of vendors and sitting together outside.
Street artists string the middle of the street –blind musicians and singers, young pop or rock bands, magicians, sketch artists or puppeteers,… Thais love to stroll the market, eat, meet friends, get a few nick-knacks and watch artists perform, eat some more…In Chiang Mai we went 3 times to the Night Bazaar, mainly catering tourists, and once to both the Saturday and the Sunday markets, more local flavor.
Market scenes


A dog loving country
Thai people have a great deal of affection for pets. Every restaurant has its dog. We have found cats and dogs in hospitals, in temples, on the much coveted benches of river boat piers in Bangkok -where no one asks them to go lay down on the ground even though there are not enough seats for humans-, as well as throughout towns and countryside. They hang around, sometimes half a dozen of them together. They are generally healthy and fed, never overnourished and rarely undernourished. With a distant though friendly demeanor, they show no signs of fear or aggressiveness including running after vehicles such as our motorbike! In fact recently we heard some barking; it was the first barks we had heard in three weeks! Last week the was a feature article in the Bangkok Times on a woman devoting herself to dogs in need. Monks request donations for dog food and medecine.

Doggies everywhere


His majesty Bhumibol Adulyadej Rama IX
The presence of the King is everywhere in Thailand. Thais wear yellow T shirts, some with the inscription with “I love the king” traditionally on Monday; his image is in every business and at most intersections. The veneration Thai people have is deep from the heart and the King has represented the Thai people very effectively over time; he has been in rule since 1950, so we’re talking about 58 years of continuity spanning the second half of the 20th century and all the relative changes the world and Thailand have gone through. He is often depicted as an educator, talking or listening to groups of people with his camera around his neck. We find him dressed in different ways, often with a pink suit and a pink shirt! He is a highly educated and cultivated person who probably had a lot to do with bringing Thailand into the 21st century. Saxophone jazzman, with some 100 original tunes to his name, he played informally with Benny Carter, Glen Miller, Count Basie and Louis Armstrong, among others.

Rama IX


I reflect on the symbol of a strong, people-oriented King and the lost benefits in our more “developed” countries, from the lack of strong, value-based rulers or leaders, who are looked upon to role-model principles and shape mindsets for generations, ensuring continuity and community cohesion. From an archetypal perspective, the King figure is a symbol of structure, strength and unity, one of direction and stability. Thailand seems to have a unique strength, visible if you are receptive to the potential cultural and societal illustrations of this Fatherly figure.

Historically it helps to understand that Thailand is one of the few countries that was not colonized by any external power, so there is no visible resentment regarding other cultures, as I have found in previously colonized countries. Evidently Western commercialization is taking over with the young generations, just as everywhere in the world, through music, fashion, food, drinks and the other products of the consumption society.

Thailand is no macho-land. More sensitive values are expressed through behaviors – would I go as far as to say” feminine” values? –, art forms, dressing styles or in the mildness of people’s demeanor. Kind of like having a King dressed in pink…who plays jazz.
Competitiveness does not visibly appear as a value in this collective society. When making a day trip to the Myanmar (Burma) border for visa extensions, I observed our driver, who caught up with another mini-van, and never passed him for 2 ½ hours, though he had been driving faster earlier.

Religion and beliefs
Thais mix freely Buddhism and Superstitious beliefs. Every house and business has a “Sprits House”, dedicated to the old-ones and to the land-gods, to which they make daily offerings for prosperity, health, peace in the family etc. They believe in supra natural aspects of life, beyond the realm of rational understanding. It is common to find someone at daybreak, bowing to the Spirit house, with lit incense in their hands, praying before setting it on the offering table. They also make offerings for special requests concerning family, health, business etc...

Thai Spirit houses


Monks are as omnipresent as temples throughout Thailand, with their saffron robes and shaved heads. The first one I encountered was withdrawing cash from an ATM, the second one was on his cell phone. Thailand also lives in the 21st century… We found fewer nuns, easy to spot with their white robes and shaved heads. Thais demonstrate great deference to monks and nuns, ensuring they have a good seat on a bus, helping an older one go up a staircase or cross the street, or paying their bill for food or drink. They embody the entire nation’s faith, and role model the people’s sense of sacredness of day to day life. One evening we heard some noise in a neighborhood around our guesthouse. We ended up attending a temple fund-raising event that brought the entire local community together: monks, civilians, police, military,... everyone was helping, having the best time selecting auctionable objects and filling pick-ups with food given for the monastary, demonstrating a passionate sense of service and cooperation.

Monks and Temples around Thailand


Sukhothai
We spent several days visiting the ancient ruins of Sukhothai and Si Sachanalai, the two capitals of Siam 800 years ago. This was a highlight of our trip, an immersion into the devotion of the past and the present, a serene stroll into spirituality and art. The new town of Sukhothai is a charming agricultural center where we discovered the markets and the pace of life beyond the Southern Islands and the Capital.



Bankok
By the time we leave next Thursday we will have gone to Bangkok 3 times for a total of a week.
Vibrant, insomniac city that mixes the ancient and the trendy side by side. We have liked its diversity, its old monuments and neighborhoods and its hyper moden malls. We have also dreaded the polution, the fumes, the noise and its hectic pace.



On departing from this warm and gentle land…
Pai in the far North, close to the Myanmar (Burma) border, is a small quaint tourist haven with tourists staying for a few days like us or for a few months,some even marying locals and making Pai their home. Surrounded by a fertile valley and mountains leading along the Mae Hong Song loop, its agriculture and tourism have enabled it to prosper over the past ten years. Small 10 bungalow resorts pop up here and there and the fields continue to be sown and the crops harvested. We have made it our base for our final India planning.

Pai: a back country town up North


We are now on our way towards our one and only destination, India. Thailand has been a mild, welcoming land and a great entry point for us into Asia and onto our journey. We’ve also found Thailand to host a somewhat mainstream tourist scene, where we have witnessed a lot of drinking, partying and of course the sex tourism industry big Thai cities are known for… We are leaving a country easy to visit due to the budget tourist infrastructure, with charming people and many cultural discoveries. A land that will stay dear to us.

Our Quest is now to immerse ourselves in the land of our spiritual aspirations.
In just a few days we're heading to India... and will let you know more from there.