Girlfriends First Trip To The Uk

[chiang mai]

If you are living in Thailand currently and you wish to take your current “Miss Right” back to the UK for a visit, be careful what you wish for – here’s my experiences on this subject. Nothing bad here just interesting observations.

After living together successfully in Chiang Mai for three years I’ve brought “Miss Beautiful” to the UK for a three-week holiday. Her first trip outside of Thailand has produced some interesting observations/comments and more than a few personality changes! The trip has also let me see my partner in a different light – firstly her observations:

“Why are all the women so fat”, she asked on the first day and continues to ask on every subsequent day – “don’t know dear, it must be the water”. But we did manage to find some nice clothes for her in the children’s section of Marks and Spencer's!

Waking up one morning in a small hotel in Burford Oxfordshire, a small country village, “where are all the people” (at 08:30 in the morning). “Why aren’t people going to the market, where are the shops to buy food for the day”. “This is not Sukhothai dear and by the way, we don’t really have markets anymore”.

“English people are really polite. I walk down the street and men look at me politely. They don’t stare, lear and mentally undress me the way they do in Thailand”. No comment.

“There’s no drunken farangs on the streets here, where do they go” – “maybe they’re all in Thailand dear”.

“There’s something different about the way people drive here but I don’t know what”. “Try hard dear, the differences will come to you” – I think actually this was a face saving comment that acknowledges there is indeed a difference but without saying that Thai’s are not safe drivers.

“Why have so many signs everywhere”. How true, we have signs warning or telling us about this that and the other and most of them state the obvious.

“Where do you buy your trees from and what do you put on them to make them so green.” Ur, umm, water.

Miss B. doesn’t like British food and in some cases she has my sympathies. But in general it is easy to find something reasonably good or indeed very good to eat - feeding her has however become a major issue and searching for Thai or Italian eateries has become a primary pastime.

We’ve done the usual tourist sites in London and she is generally quite impressed – a tour of Westminster Abbey produced an unusual statement, “ British people are very intelligent to build this. When the British fight a war you have the other soldiers make this for you?” I’m still trying to figure that one out.

Miss B. and I have driven the length and breadth of Thailand many times without a problem but she now balks at the idea of spending more than twenty minutes in the car and this will put a crimp on my plans to visit the Lake District – “I not feel good” she says.

Her watch is still set to Thai time and she refuses to change it and insists on an afternoon nap every day. Jet lag is never a great thing but it should have worn off by now but the need to take naps seems to be more deeply rooted in her metabolism.

She’s very impressed that we can buy a one day travel card and ride on any bus or train all day for one low price and reckons that Thailand should have the same system – no comment from me here.

“Do you feel safe here”, I asked. “No” came the reply. “Everyone in my village tells me to be careful about farang who want to sell Thai lady in England and Europe”. Sell you I replied, I can’t even give you away!

I’ll let you know the rest of this when the holiday is over – currently we’re only on Day 6. On that note, we told the UK embassy in Bangkok that we only wanted a visa for a three-week holiday but the nice Immigration lady at Heathrow stamped Miss B. in for five months – no dear, you may not stay for five months, it’s far too expensive here.

[A_Traveller]

We’ve done the usual tourist sites in London and she is generally quite impressed – a tour of Westminster Abbey produced an unusual statement, “ British people are very intelligent to build this. When the British fight a war you have the other soldiers make this for you?” I’m still trying to figure that one out.

Traditionally in wars here, the victors would capture opposing soliders and use them as slaves. Yhere's some historic records relating to major klong building projects which were manned to a large degree by captured individuals from the south kingdom when it was subdued.

Regards

PS The other observations are intriguing.

Edited May 26, 2007 by A_Traveller

[suegha]

Very interesting op. I heard another one where the comment was, "sun shining, why so cold?"

[sierra01]

My wife is constantly amazed by the number of hours of daylight, summer and winter.

I can't claim credit for this but it really tickled me, it's from a similar thread a while back.....'why is there smoke coming out of my mouth?' It was winter time.

[Eastender]

My wife came for her first, then second holiday, and has now now lived in the UK for nearly two years. On her first visit she was impressed by some tree with red berries and had her photo taken next to it several times. She was also bemused by smoking in the cold air and being bitterly cold when the sun was out. But I must admit, it was a bit of a let down for me as she was more interested in whether the mangos in Sainsburys were ripe or whether she could sleep in the car when we drove to London. I guess though she took to it surprisingly well and now has a larger circle of Thai friends in our home town than I'm sure she had in Thailand. (We host the weekly card game parties).

Now she's working here, paying tax and mothering our child, yet she has to pass an exam on British history and culture to get her indefinate leave to remain!!!

[0Mix1up]

Very interesting and nice post

On the food, maybe carry a bottle of hot chilli sauce, bit like some of us Auuzzies need tomato sauce on everything

[johna]

My wife has been to the UK several times but even though she knows she can buy the ingredients for making Thai food in the UK, she still packs the suitcase with chilli's, fish sauce etc, even taking instant noodles.

[Thaddeus]

I knew a Thai girl in the UK that was 100% convinced that the Sun was a different one to the one in Thailand. I tried the 'shining a torch on to a football' explanation to no avail ...... nope, different Sun.

[dave111223]

My wife loved the UK.

It did a number on her stomach though, as we went around Xmas time and every friend we visited served up a turkey.

Not so keen on the US or Germany though

She said US was too empty (atleast the parts she went to) and Germany was too scary (went to Berlin on New Year)

[lazeeboy]

My wife loved the UK.

It did a number on her stomach though, as we went around Xmas time and every friend we visited served up a turkey.

Not so keen on the US or Germany though

She said US was too empty (atleast the parts she went to) and Germany was too scary (went to Berlin on New Year)

i eat thai food 99% of the time ,when my wife went to the uk she ate only english roast beef ,beans on toast ,steak pie .doughnuts etc.after 4-5 days she said she had a problem ,her stool was hard for the first time in her life and wanted to go to the doctors ,.. thai's

[geronimo]

My wife is constantly amazed by the number of hours of daylight, summer and winter.

I can't claim credit for this but it really tickled me, it's from a similar thread a while back.....'why is there smoke coming out of my mouth?' It was winter time.

My wife thought that the people were quite pretentious and she remarked how silly it is when people say goodbye at the doorstep, then they come out to the car and then they follow you down the road waving!!!! I liked that one!!

[sukanyacondo]

Same same as they say I got the "not believe sun out and cold" malarky also she could hardly breath when she came in winter as her nostrils had too much pain!! Too quiet for buying food ie no markets also very quiet (live in Birmingham) and she said very clean which i suppose compared to BKk is true!!! Oh and expensive butshe did love Sainsburys pick and mix section and "chip and fish" as she put it.

[torito]

Great post..

[Maigo6]

“There’s no drunken farangs on the streets here,

She obviously never went out much in the evening....

[chinadarling]

sweet story thanks for sharing

English food is a cruel invention.

This is a sweet story and timely as my wife and I will go to Ireland in 3 week and she is eating as much local food as she can because 'outside' you can only eat these big pieces of meet with no bones... and do they have rice in Ireland?

If you are living in Thailand currently and you wish to take your current “Miss Right” back to the UK for a visit, be careful what you wish for – here’s my experiences on this subject. Nothing bad here just interesting observations.

After living together successfully in Chiang Mai for three years I’ve brought “Miss Beautiful” to the UK for a three-week holiday. Her first trip outside of Thailand has produced some interesting observations/comments and more than a few personality changes! The trip has also let me see my partner in a different light – firstly her observations:

“Why are all the women so fat”, she asked on the first day and continues to ask on every subsequent day – “don’t know dear, it must be the water”. But we did manage to find some nice clothes for her in the children’s section of Marks and Spencer's!

Waking up one morning in a small hotel in Burford Oxfordshire, a small country village, “where are all the people” (at 08:30 in the morning). “Why aren’t people going to the market, where are the shops to buy food for the day”. “This is not Sukhothai dear and by the way, we don’t really have markets anymore”.

“English people are really polite. I walk down the street and men look at me politely. They don’t stare, lear and mentally undress me the way they do in Thailand”. No comment.

“There’s no drunken farangs on the streets here, where do they go” – “maybe they’re all in Thailand dear”.

“There’s something different about the way people drive here but I don’t know what”. “Try hard dear, the differences will come to you” – I think actually this was a face saving comment that acknowledges there is indeed a difference but without saying that Thai’s are not safe drivers.

“Why have so many signs everywhere”. How true, we have signs warning or telling us about this that and the other and most of them state the obvious.

“Where do you buy your trees from and what do you put on them to make them so green.” Ur, umm, water.

Miss B. doesn’t like British food and in some cases she has my sympathies. But in general it is easy to find something reasonably good or indeed very good to eat - feeding her has however become a major issue and searching for Thai or Italian eateries has become a primary pastime.

We’ve done the usual tourist sites in London and she is generally quite impressed – a tour of Westminster Abbey produced an unusual statement, “ British people are very intelligent to build this. When the British fight a war you have the other soldiers make this for you?” I’m still trying to figure that one out.

Miss B. and I have driven the length and breadth of Thailand many times without a problem but she now balks at the idea of spending more than twenty minutes in the car and this will put a crimp on my plans to visit the Lake District – “I not feel good” she says.

Her watch is still set to Thai time and she refuses to change it and insists on an afternoon nap every day. Jet lag is never a great thing but it should have worn off by now but the need to take naps seems to be more deeply rooted in her metabolism.

She’s very impressed that we can buy a one day travel card and ride on any bus or train all day for one low price and reckons that Thailand should have the same system – no comment from me here.

“Do you feel safe here”, I asked. “No” came the reply. “Everyone in my village tells me to be careful about farang who want to sell Thai lady in England and Europe”. Sell you I replied, I can’t even give you away!

I’ll let you know the rest of this when the holiday is over – currently we’re only on Day 6. On that note, we told the UK embassy in Bangkok that we only wanted a visa for a three-week holiday but the nice Immigration lady at Heathrow stamped Miss B. in for five months – no dear, you may not stay for five months, it’s far too expensive here.

[jaiyenyen]

When i lived in the UK, i lived by the river.

I remember the first morning my Thai girlfriend woke up in the UK, we lay in bed, looking at each other, touching, kissing etc, as you do!!!!!!!! Then she heard the ducks !! that was it, jumped out of bed and ran to the window shouting DUCK DUCK LAAB LAAB can eat !!! I just managed to stop her getting the big meat cleaver out of the drawer to commit duck carnage, by explaining that in England we generally leave the ducks alone, and that we could visit the supermarket later if she still felt hungry.

Regards

Jaiyenyen

[keebone]

I read somewhere about a Thai girl on her 1st visit being on the train from the airport and when going past an allotment with the typicle sheds on it asked her guy "is that where poor Farang live ?"

I think my house was built by German POW's to replace those they destroyed in the East End. Either that or Czech servicemen who didn't want to go home after the end of hostilities.

[RJJ]

Very interesting and nice post

On the food, maybe carry a bottle of hot chilli sauce, bit like some of us Auuzzies need tomato sauce on everything

Everyone has tomato sauce (ketchup for USA readers) but it's Vegemite that distinguishes us Aussies.

My wife has been living in Australia for 3 years and cooks plenty of Thai food.

Her western choices are similar to yours: (not in any particular sequence)

Meat Pie

Roast Chicken (especially Nando's or Red Rooster)

Italian Food - Pizza, Rissoto, Pasta witth Meat sauce

Fish and Chips

Leg of Lamb stew

Ham and Cheese sandwich (8+ per day while pregnant)

Hot Cross Buns at Easter and Raison Toast the rest of the year.

Home-made Jam sandwich/toast

[Ricardo]

Delightful thread - thanks for posting !

My wife, on her first visit, was very impressed that even minor side-roads, in our sea-side town, were tarmacced and had pavements on both sides. It must be a rich country !

[bendix]

Why is this considered a lovely thread?

Frankly, I find it a bit disturbing to hear so many people glorifying other people's - well, let's call a spade a spade - complete ignorance.

[steveromagnino]

Why is this considered a lovely thread?

Frankly, I find it a bit disturbing to hear so many people glorifying other people's - well, let's call a spade a spade - complete ignorance.

oh come on, it is lovely to hear the story. Especially when you guys always write the women's pidgeon english so we can accurately picture the scene :-).

Out of interest, does the ngoo ngoo blah blah english not drive people bonkers? I simply cannot stand listening to the 'my fren you, him go good good him not late anytime' type dialog, yet it seems like the oddest phrasing is celebrated and held up as cute by some?!

I guess one man's poisson is another man's fish or however that saying goes.

[ColPyat]

Out of interest, does the ngoo ngoo blah blah english not drive people bonkers?

What really gets me is when a native English speaker suddenly uses that sort of pidgin with me, especially with intonations that are intended to sound Thai...

[CarlBkk]

A few classics from my (now) wife on her first visit to the UK:

We stayed in Somerset and she was petrified of me driving around the country lanes with their blind corners, refusing to believe that they weren't one-way.

She saw a giant mosquito (big yeung) in our bedroom and moved well away. It was actually a "daddy long legs" (cranefly).

At night I saw a badger in our garden and I called her over. She was fascinated and called it beautiful...but asked where the owner was.

[Jockstar]

Very funny posts here. I started a thread similar last year before i took the wife to the Uk. The link is here if you fancy a look.

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/index.php?sh...c=60814&hl=

[Rtwo]

Why is this considered a lovely thread?

Frankly, I find it a bit disturbing to hear so many people glorifying other people's - well, let's call a spade a spade - complete ignorance.

Agreed. All a bit Ting-Tongish.

[dumspero]

Good thread.

I love those kinds of anecdotes, both for Thais learning about the West and for farangs learning about all things Thai. Sure, they arise out of a kind of ignorance, but we're all ignorant of most of the world's cultures and no surprise that someone who hasn't been fortunate enough to get a lot of formal schooling and travel may also be naive about other aspects of the worldbesides other cultures.

One of the many ways I'm better off for my years with Thais is that I now enjoy such experiences whether it's me in the 'ignorant' role or someone else, when before I would have failed to find the humor, the joy, that is there in life's little moments if only we can see it. It's a kind of celebration of our common humanity.

[chiang mai]

Why is this considered a lovely thread?

Frankly, I find it a bit disturbing to hear so many people glorifying other people's - well, let's call a spade a spade - complete ignorance.

Some people Bendix were born not knowing everything and not having experienced every wonder of something new! For me personally I liken the current process to watching a child learn something new and that in itself can be rewarding or as others have put it, lovely.

[kayo]

Very nice read Chiang Mai. I look forward to reading the sequel when you get a chance.

[Rtwo]

Why is this considered a lovely thread?

Frankly, I find it a bit disturbing to hear so many people glorifying other people's - well, let's call a spade a spade - complete ignorance.

Some people Bendix were born not knowing everything and not having experienced every wonder of something new! For me personally I liken the current process to watching a child learn something new and that in itself can be rewarding or as others have put it, lovely.

So you liken watching the behaviour of a Thai adult to that of a child? How long have you been together?

[steveromagnino]

Out of interest, does the ngoo ngoo blah blah english not drive people bonkers?

What really gets me is when a native English speaker suddenly uses that sort of pidgin with me, especially with intonations that are intended to sound Thai...

I know what you mean Colpyat.

Sorry.

I am know you is mean K Colpyat. Sometime I am forget poot ungrit becaut I am farang here time long long you know? But funny funny haha I am not remember to learn sa-peek Thai I same same frog with bad legs. I am forget swim, but still not learn how, how you am say, jump jump.

If you get morons talking to you like that, well u have no idea how much I get that, whenever I go somewhere to watch the rugby, someone will start the 'hey you, chair, you sit you sit?' type stuff with me. Often even after discussing the finer points to (usually) a Yank, they will still start talking about 'you, you english good good na' - surely my ungrit is good enough for them to realise that I am 'pood ungrit gaeng mahk mahk'

My favourite is when I am in NZ and some guy with a Thai wife/girlfriend will start talking to me in THai, and as soon as it goes back to english the guy will be like 'you am study here english long time?' and other grammatical masterpieces.

Amazing that the GF is able to learn any english at all under these circumstances.

Any subject, if left long enough, can be turned into a subject about myself.