Travel 2013: First impressions of Thailand

Stone soldier, Wat Po, Bangkok (click for more)

6.11, Bangkok

Coming from Delhi, Bangkok has been great so far.  Clean, polite, easy to navigate.  People smile back at you and men do not stare.  There are far more tourists in the area we’re staying than I’d seen in India.  Also, people are voluntarily helpful.  We ducked into a café this morning (which are everywhere!) and took out a map to see where we were planning to go and meet Licia’s friend.  A Thai man sitting next to us (reading a book about learning German) asked us where we wanted to go!  He also bid us a good trip in Thailand.  So far at least 2 people have also asked me if I’ve learned Thai yet.  At this point, I think “hello” is “sawasdee.”  I’d like to learn the basic niceties like please and thank you.  

Furthermore, we’ve walked through small marketplaces and have not been harassed.  In India, if you so much as looked at something the vendors (usually men) would ask you, “what you need?  I have it all,” “how much you pay?”  I heard a number say, “I have everything you need.”  (Which I found rather hilarious.)  It was very overwhelming.  For example, one of the last days in Delhi, we were trying to buy a few pieces of fruit, so we went to a stand in the middle of 5 or so other stands.  And he was clearly over-charging us and trying to get us to buy what I thought was a rotten mango.  He claimed the mango was good and such, and the whole time 3 other men were yelling at us to buy their fruit.  A man peeled a lychee and stuck it in my face and was naming prices so I would buy them, he eventually got to a very low price and I had only said, repeatedly, “no thank you” to him.  We eventually had to leave because I couldn’t focus on how much money it should be for the fruit (or if we should even buy that mango) and 

I no longer wanted it after being incessantly yelled at.

It’s definitely monsoon season here.  It’s pouring as I’m writing this post, and has been for quite some time.  The rain happens suddenly and quickly and downpours for at least 30 minutes multiple times a day.