| Before going to Thailand, I was ignorant of | | | | is poorer relative to the tourists that it hosts. This |
| Indochinese in the same way that I found many | | | | is true all over the world and Thailand is no |
| Americans to be ignorant of any essential | | | | exception. |
| differences between the Japanese and Chinese. I | | | | What I suppose I loved most about the Thais |
| guess I too thought of Indochinese as some sort | | | | was there lack of formality, their honesty, happy |
| of variant of Chinese. I was in for quite a surprise | | | | laughter, and nonchalance. Mai pen rai may now be |
| when I arrived in Bangkok in 1986 and though I | | | | a cliche Thaiism, but I remember a distinct never |
| found lots of East Asian trappings I realized very | | | | mind attitude when I was there. And I remember |
| quickly that Thai culture was completely different | | | | that between strangers Thais were more than |
| from the East Asian culture I had been used to. | | | | willing to construct a relationship ad hoc. I |
| And it's not that the fact of this difference took | | | | remember the time that I walked into a drug |
| me by surprise really; it's more that I had no clue | | | | store to buy some prickly heat powder, and the |
| as to what Thai culture was and it was a whole | | | | lady pointed at my face, laughed, and said, You |
| new world to me, replete with wonders, friendly | | | | no shave (I hadn't). I remember the boarding |
| people, scammers, and mean-looking soldiers. | | | | school high school boy on the overnight bus who |
| I want to dispense with the rip-off artists right | | | | fell asleep on my chest like I was his brother or |
| off the bat. Thailand seems to have more than its | | | | something (what was I to do, push him off?). And |
| fair share of them even now, as the nation | | | | I remember the pretty lady at the boat ticket |
| grows more prosperous. But to be fair, it seemed | | | | office who looked me squarely in the face, smiled, |
| like there were less scammers when I was there | | | | and said, You're good looking man (she wasn't |
| in the mid-eighties, although Thailand was a much | | | | flirting, just observing). In a similar vein, I |
| poorer country than it is now. Maybe they were | | | | remember an attractive vegetable market girl |
| just unaware that tourists mean lots of money. In | | | | suddenly grabbing my arm, saying, You buy. No |
| any case scammers are prolific in any nation that | | | | meaning to it, just high pressure sales Thai style. |