Why ?

[Shola]

Why do they bring the main dish out first and then you wait 10 minutes for the boiled rice to arrive?

Why are there so many differnet variations on the same dish from the same province?

Why dont they listen when, you tell them to cut the tale and head off of the prawn?

Why is pla kapong kow a different fish in different restaurants?

Who taught them that a American breakfast = 1 piece of toast, 1 piece of ham, 1 egg, 1 coffe and 1 small OJ?

Answer these for me PLEASE!   

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

They want you to admire there presentation for at least 10 minutes.

They pass the recipe down in Chinese whispers.

They listen but selective amnesia hits as they approach the kitchen. (Very common in food industry, can lead to total loss of order)

Genetic engineering.

An rare anorexic American.

[jayenram]

In all but the most up-market Thai places this is unavoidable unless you want to try the following which works fairly well because usually what ever you order comes pity quickly.

The trick is that you order what you would like to come first - some times this is a starter - right?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Long time ago in Shanghai, I invited a client out to dinner and suggested a Thai restaurant (supposed to be excellent). He said "as long as the rice does not arrive 30 minutes after the "main course", OK". As we were going with my Thai wife, I said "no problem, she will ensure that the orders arrive in the order that we wish them to come"

You can obviously guess what happened.

BTW, the food was bloody good.

[No beleeeeve!]

What worked for me in this and other similar circumstances is the following:

If I have a nice roof over my head to live under, a decent income, have my health while there, and the ability to explore the city (BKK), and of course the Internet to stayed tuned to the world....all the rest I receive from life while there is a bonus.

Frustration occurs when reality falls short of expectation. In Thailand, just adjust your expectation of where you came from to the expectation of where you are. The "new" expectation will more likely be a closer match for the "new" reality.

This of course does not mean life will be perfect, but this cognitive shift will lower your frustration levels while living in a third world country. It took me a while to do this but it helped. It certainly doesn't mean if you don't like it leave, I hate that mentality.

Peace....

[Peewee]

What worked for me in this and other similar circumstances is the following:

If I have a nice roof over my head to live under, a decent income, have my health while there, and the ability to explore the city (BKK), and of course the Internet to stayed tuned to the world....all the rest I receive from life while there is a bonus.

Frustration occurs when reality falls short of expectation.  In Thailand, just adjust your expectation of where you came from to the expectation of where you are.  The "new" expectation will more likely be a closer match for the "new" reality.

This of course does not mean life will be perfect, but this cognitive shift will lower your frustration levels while living in a third world country.  It took me a while to do this but it helped.  It certainly doesn't mean if you don't like it leave, I hate that mentality.

Peace....

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Peace .. yes thanks, relatively speaking

I like the adjustment to the mind frame - important when a visitor in any other country

Not sure I like the reference to the 3rd world country though - most Thais would hope that they have moved on and have now deserved a better reference than this one by now and I don't blame them

[Lars]

Third world country or not; doesn't really matter here.

We've chosen to be here, better just adjust to the way things are.

"Ordinary thais(generalisation)"don't order one person/one meal,"they"share,it's their way,then it doesn't matter much whether all things ordered come the same time or not.

I find it frustrating too but I'm the foreigner here,they're "native".

"Integration" is a common word used very often by(among others)the government where I come from when talking about immigrants/foreigners/aliens(pick your choice),maybe it applies to us now.

[Peewee]

Treat other people the way you want them to treat you..

Hi Lars noticed your sign off there ...

You probably heard but there was a program on the TV recenltly here in the UK which set out to find out from the masses what an updated version of the ten comandments would look like.

The first and most important one was voted as being;

Treat other people the way you want them to treat you..

[RDN]

Treat other people the way you want them to treat you..

Hi Lars noticed your sign off there ...

You probably heard but there was a program on the TV recenltly here in the UK which set out to find out from the masses what an updated version of the ten comandments would look like.

The first and most important one was voted as being;

Treat other people the way you want them to treat you..

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

The Golden Rule: Do as you would be done by. Wasn't there a book with a Mrs. "Doasyouwouldbedoneby" in it? Seems a long time since I last heard this.

[Lars]

Still seems like a good thought.

[Peewee]

I have had a lot of Thais explain to me that they think its really funny when Farang living in their kingdom expect to be given the same privileges on price as Thai residents.

Farang living in Thailand usually get better prices than the tourists not always because they are looked upon differently but because they are more likely to know the difference between the different rates.

My pal is building a house presently and it drives him mad because he occasionally works out that after loads of time spent negotiating on materials his Thai wife will let him know that she could have got this or that cheaper if he had left things to her. The times I've heard him say 'but I live here – I’m no tourist’ tee hee the Thais smile – generally they are out to get you to pay what you can afford rather than what its actually worth.

[RDN]

Some restaurants have both a Thai menu and an English menu. If you're with a Thai girl, make sure she orders from the Thai menu. Perhaps the extra you pay when ordering from the English menu is their amortised cost of getting the menu translated? Possibly?

[bartender100]

I can never understand why MK have 2 full pages in their huge sized menu of dim sum,but never have any.(at least when I go)

[Wekhin]

  Why, when one goes to a Thai restaurant, possibly with a new g/f, do they invariably serve the meals 15 minutes apart? it's so stupid to leave one or the other sitting watching the other eat. This would never happen in a european retaurant. I just don't understand the mentality of it. Is it just me or does anyone else experience this? 

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Sorry, I don't get it.

Was it 15 minutes apart from when order taken or from plate to plate that you ordered?

[chonabot]

  Why, when one goes to a Thai restaurant, possibly with a new g/f, do they invariably serve the meals 15 minutes apart? it's so stupid to leave one or the other sitting watching the other eat. This would never happen in a european retaurant. I just don't understand the mentality of it. Is it just me or does anyone else experience this? 

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Sorry, I don't get it.

Was it 15 minutes apart from when order taken or from plate to plate that you ordered?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Unless the order counts as a meal I would imagine it means between plates....

[No beleeeeve!]

Hi folks,

My reference to Thailand as third world country was not a slam. Most information I have read have written about Thailand as such. I don't think the label all that matters. The key is that we have to adjust our expectations when we are in a country that is significantly different than our own so that we are not only good visitors but also so we enjoy life much more.

I think part of it is that Thailand has just enough of a Western influence to make us believe we are in a Western country and we expect similiar conveniences and behaviors.

For example, if we were in the deep jungles of (insert country here) we would not expect sit down toilets and therefore would not be frustrated about a lack of 'proper' plumbing when we do not expect it.

So, when you walk past a KFC, McDonalds, Pizza Hut, and then come across a squat toilet, BOOM, it is the West no longer and we are shocked.

[Boon Mee]

I think part of it is that Thailand has just enough of a Western influence to make us believe we are in a Western country and we expect similiar conveniences and behaviors.

Suppose if you never got out of the "western-influenced" areas of LOS you'd have that opinion...

[joe beets]

I can never understand why MK have 2 full pages in their huge sized menu of dim sum,but never have any.(at least when I go)

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

What time of day do you usually go?

By early afternoon it should be gone.

jb

[350torana]

I don't understand what the big deal is . You, or your other half order away to the hovering waitress . The magic words are," Beer singh, nam kahng" . Can bet your bottom dollar the beer will arrive first . Have a nice cold beer or two and then wait. One dish will come out, have a little nibble, then another comes , then another, then they bring out the fish or bubbling fish soup. My point is, that it is a great way to enjoy a meal, not just ordering two hamburgers with the lot to polish off in 20 minutes . I think the Thai way of serving meals beats the crap outta back home

[bartender100]

I can never understand why MK have 2 full pages in their huge sized menu of dim sum,but never have any.(at least when I go)

What time of day do you usually go?

By early afternoon it should be gone.

jb

Sorry,this is not a reataurant in China town,25% of there menu is Dim Sum,if you go after 3 pm they don't' have,whats the point?

[cobra]

The magic words are," Beer singh, nam kahng" . Can bet your bottom dollar the beer will arrive first  . Have a nice cold beer or two  and then wait. One dish will come out, have a little nibble, then another comes , then another,

Exactly right, that's the way to do it.

(.. all this talk of food, now I'm hungry ...)

[sriracha john]

I think the Thai way of serving meals beats the crap outta back home 

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I wholeheartedly agree........

[chanchao]

> I guess there wasn't time to take the bog roll out of camera shot

" You haven't been in Thailand long enough if you even notice that... "