Thailand

Visits to Phuket and Bangkok

• Out of all the international countries I’ve been to, Thailand was the one which was most confusing and where i truly felt a culture shock. Of all the regions in the world, there’s surprisingly little I know of South East Asia.
• They laugh a lot. Some of it comes across as crazy to me. There’s a bit weirdness to it. They smile and laugh a lot but aren’t necessarily nice or kind. In the toursit areas at least. The locals away from the city are nicer and kind. The old lady and son I stayed with were very nice and she shared with me her plan of a post retirement life. She laughed and smiled a lot but it didn’t come across as crazy.
• Then there’s all kinds of meat to have, from beef and pork to scorpions and worms. I did not adventure out too much but I did have octopus and crab. I find this hard to reconcile with the amount of temples and monks and that 90% of the population is buddhist. The Buddhist religion does not advocate for eating meat. Even sex work that is very prominent. How is meat eating and sex work compatible with buddhism?
• While there are 90% Buddhists, I feel like I saw a lot more Muslims. Especially in seven elevens and other low skilled jobs. There were a lot of Muslim women working. So many at the domestic airport. Muslim girl guards doing airport security check. I was surprised by that.
• Then there’s healthcare, they are number 1 in Asia in health, 6th worldwide. Medical tourism is apparently quite prominent. How does that fit into the whole? I’m not quite sure. They did not seem very nerdy or bookish and I was surprised they are known for medical tourism. There is however a civil sense. They won’t spit on the roads, drive crazy, keep things dirty or have too much noise.
• What I found the most impressive was that Thailand was never ruled by a colonial power. Perhaps that’s why I didn’t find them having that inferiority complex we Indians have. They were mostly confident, not very shy. Not a lot of shame either. They weren’t overly nice to Tourists to get better reviews which I thought they might.
• Then there’s the king. There are a lot of pictures of him. He’s on the bank notes and you’ll see his face often. For a country having a king who has lots of pictures of himself, it’s quite liberal with sex work and a nightlife and weed. Their political history is filled with coups and kings. For such a history, why isn’t the king more authoritarian and restrictive? I was heading towards my scuba diving tour and just outside the pier in the middle of the parking lot at 8 in the morning the National anthem started playing. The King gives graduation degrees and until the king does so, one is not a graduate. On one hand there’s all this but on another there is this liberal atmosphere with the weed, trans crowd, parties.
• In some ways, the culture shock is a refreshing one, where you really don’t know what is good or what is bad. You’re not sure of the status games, the body language, the language itself. I was trying to figure out the cultural codes but seemed lost.
• If I think as to what is a driver, like much of the rest of the world, a close connection with US and self-interest of trying to obtain wealth seems like one but there’s probably so much more in their local codes that I am not sure of. 
• Surprising they don’t speak more English. I thought given the number of tourists that go there, the western rock and western tastes in upper class thais, maybe they would speak more English? But no, they don’t. This was the first international country out of 8 I’ve been so far where I had to use Google Translate.
• It has a bit of a Sri Lankan vibe with Toyotas, Buddhist temples, the weather but is richer and more western.
• Music is like western rock and the top 50 spotify playlist have worldwide music with a very few Thai songs.
• I generally take a Food tour wherever i go and the one in Thailand was intense. I had to go to the bathroom about 30 mins after it was over. With over 10 dishes, the food was a mix of multiple countries from different places. It was spicy and sweet and lots going on, but the complexity of flavour that I find in Indian food was missing. There’s a burst of flavour in Indian food which isn’t present in Thai Food. Regardless, I liked Thai Food.
• It was lively. So many night markets and fests with people roaming around. Lots of activities and events during the peak tourist season. Fireworks near the beach. There was a concert at the beach. It seemed very safe. There weren’t a lot of police either. Hardly few traffic police or police to help tourists at popular hotspots. No rowdy crowd or wild bachelors ruining things.
• Some places had switches that were upside down. How and why?
• A lot of British guys with their thai mistress’s. They really go after the old and white. There are bars with girls (or maybe guys that look like girls) where you can go and hang out. Many of them have a beautiful girl in the front inciting customers to go in.
• There is mild racism in Bangkok. On places I was walking through you could see people trying to get others tourists but fewer such solicitation requests for Indians. I was asked to verify my airport lounge visit twice. I think its because Indian’s are considered cheap and low status. Well, most people who approached me selling rolexes on the street were Indian and plus there are a lot of cheap Indian tourists who come there. But if you have money, then it does by respect and service. I was impressed by the service at Red Sky Bar. The local people were more civil and friendly however and I did not feel the colour of my skin. I get why more foreign born Indians and Indians in general feel so nationalistic while staying abroad. After feeling discrimination you can find the rage that stems to get back, to prove that we are better. But as the Buddha said there is a third way. Or is there given our human nature? Of course not all of them are like that, the barber who coloured my hair was really sweet and praised Indians a lot. The old lady and son I stayed with were even more nice. So there are many exceptions.
• Thai iced milk tea is yum. My favourite drink in Thailand. I really liked the Tom Yum Soup and the pork dumplings at this place . The gronche truffle at Embers was very tasty but expensive. Pad Thai and Red Curry at this cooking class was excellent. There is a lot of sugar in their diet. Many items are sweet and a good part of the population is obese probably due to this.
• The AC is too strong and its very chilly inside the airports.
• I stayed at hostels, hotels and AirBnBs. The AirBnB was the best considering the price being paid.
• Indians judge. They look at you up and down try to assess your status which i didn’t find much in Thailand. Or perhaps I missed their status games.
• India is so much nosier and chaotic. Especially the noise, the honking, the chatter and then there’s this hidden judgement. We constantly feel judged and are judging others. Then the women over there, you can feel the women are more freer. They don’t feel the gaze that many Indian women feel. The freedom they have is so refreshing and nice to see. That lack of fear, judgement and no eyes on them makes them more comfortable and bold.
• Maya Beach near Phi Phi Islands is beautiful. It’s the cleanest and bluest beach I have ever been to. The water is some of these places at Phuket is blue and clean. I surprised they managed to keep it so clean. I suspect its just low population and some direction to clean that enabled this. The tide at the beaches in Phuket is strong.
• The Malls in Bangkok are grand and large with so much to offer. The streets are bustling, the lights sparkling and its so much vibrant near these areas. You can buy a Maserati or an Aston Martin or a Porsche at these malls if you’d like.
• Everyone keeps saying its cheap but its similarly or slightly more pricey than India. It’s not cheaper than India.
• Grab is very convenient to get around.
• Overall, it was a good Trip and I may come back in the future.

Some pictures & videos -