Sawasdee

“Sawasdee” means “good morning” or “good evening,” and it’s how all the Thai hotel staff greet us. With big, welcoming smiles, they mutter “sawasdee” as they bring their hands into what we’d consider a prayer-like position under their chins. (There are 13 different Thai words for “smile,” and after being here for a day, I understand why. They’re quite a smiley bunch of people!)

This morning, Dad and I set out early after a complimentary breakfast and lots of help from the Thai woman who greeted us yesterday—and who, according to Dad, is the friendliest, most helpful person we’ve encountered so far. She wrote our destinations in Thai and advised us on the best ways to get around the city. We wanted to avoid traffic after our experiences yesterday on the streets. Soon, we set out, hoping to see Wat Arun (the tallest Buddhist shrine in the city), the Grand Palace, and lots of other sites in the city centre. The Marriott boat ferried us to the main terminal, where we bought tickets for the tourist ferry. That ferry took us upstream to another pier; from there, we were able to buy a ticket across the river for 3 Baht (the currency—there are 38B to the American dollar). We toured the Wat, climbed up its steep stairs, and then retreated to the nearby market (with toilets costing 3B that had hoses) for some shade. By that point, we were both dripping wet in sweat. I’ve never been so uncomfortably hot in my life—Thailand has to be one of the hottest places on the planet! (Today, the high was 36 celsius with humidity at approximately 200%.)

After that adventure, we took the tourist ferry to another stop and planned to see the Grand Palace and the National Museum. We shuffled through heaps of street vendors and people selling Buddhist trinkets on the ground, trying to keep on walking without stepping on anything or anyone. The pollution was overbearing—it’s no wonder we saw so many motorcyclists and construction workers wearing face masks. I found it extremely frustrating walking along the streets as people stopped suddenly to examine jewelry, bracelets, and charms. I couldn’t understand what was going on—everything looked the same to me! The chaos of the streets, coupled with the heat and the pollution, were just too unbearable, so we turned around. (Later, back at the hotel, we found out about the current amulet fad. Apparently, people buy them thinking that the charms with pictures of the Buddha will give them wealth and luck. A newspaper article from an English paper here criticized people for wearing the amulets without actually trying to live a good life. Despite the amulet fad, Buddhism is huge here; 95% of the population is Theravada Buddhist—a big change after secular New Zealand.)

Back inside the Marriott’s walls, we’re enjoying the air-conditioning, complimentary food, and kind service. It’s such a relief to be out of the dirtiness and chaos of the river and the streets. Eight million people live in this city, and I have no idea how they manage it—the transportation, the weather, the crowding all make life a huge challenge. Despite globalization and modernization, it’s still really difficult to understand how the Thais people operate. And although we didn’t see that much, we certainly got the feel of the city. But I really wish I could understand this place and its people as more than merely foreign or other.


Some interesting info about Thailand from Wikipedia:

Books and other documents are the most revered of secular objects - therefore one should not slide a book across a table or place it on the floor.

The staple food in Thailand is rice, particularly jasmine variety rice (also known as Hom Mali rice) which is included in almost every meal. Thailand is the world's largest exporter of rice, and Thais domestically consume over 100 kg of milled rice per person per year. Over 5000 varieties of rice from Thailand are preserved in the rice gene bank of the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), based in the Philippines. The King of Thailand is the official patron of IRRI.

The Thai alphabet is used to write the Thai language and other minority languages in Thailand. It has forty-four consonants, fifteen vowel symbols that combine into at least twenty-eight vowel forms, and four tone marks.