Culture Shock

[seonai]

Being told I have to learn to eat chilli after 12 years in Thailand. Even being told by other farangs wko have lived here for a while, "When In Rome..."

I love this country but I did not come here to learn to eat chilli !!!!

Seonai

[Neeranam]

Another classic post , don't worry Tyree , I'm still your fan.

No one else here needs reminding of your heritage.

They just don't seem to be interested.

whistling.gif

Tyree, I'm interested, please remind us.

[Simbo]

Female attendants in men's toilets.

Thais eating cold food that's meant to be eaten hot.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Gotta agree with these 2.

I almost puched out the first attendant that tried to massage me while I was standing at the urinal.

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It's worse when they either try to take it out or put it away for you ( much, much worse if they shake the drops off )

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Tell me. Where was this, doc?

[dr_Pat_Pong]

I heard it on the vine

[cobra]

... In Thailand im handsome .

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Yeap, I forget that one, we're all hansum man ...

[Belfastboy]

And that funny gold cat they have waving at people in shops....

in the UK it means waving bye bye ....and in thailand it means to come in... ???

could never get my head around the concept of the thais waving to come here...i thought they were waving bye bye....lol

[loong]

And that funny gold cat they have waving at people in shops....

in the UK it means waving  bye bye ....and in thailand it means to come in...   ???

could never get my head around the concept of the thais waving to come here...i thought they were waving bye bye....lol

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

That's actually chinese culture, symbol of good luck

[Gazza]

Another shocker at one time was........my Thai male relatives who think nothing of holding my hand.

[dr_Pat_Pong]

in bloody public too

[Gazza]

That's right Doc.

Also another one.

Thais finding a way to put goldfish and frogs to working use.

[loong]

Thais finding a way to put goldfish and frogs to working use.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Arai Na?

What do they use goldfish n frogs for?

[Totster]

Thais finding a way to put goldfish and frogs to working use.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Arai Na?

What do they use goldfish n frogs for?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Food ... in my experience..

totster

Edited September 16, 2005 by Totster

[lovethailandlongtime]

Another shocker at one time was........my Thai male relatives who think nothing of holding my hand.

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having to go somewhere with the wifes brother does my head in sometimes....Getting paranoid that everyone thinks you`ve just picked him up from boyztown..

[meemiathai]

And that funny gold cat they have waving at people in shops....

in the UK it means waving  bye bye ....and in thailand it means to come in...   ???

could never get my head around the concept of the thais waving to come here...i thought they were waving bye bye....lol

That's actually chinese culture, symbol of good luck

It's for drawing money in.

[Nordlys]

And that funny gold cat they have waving at people in shops....

in the UK it means waving  bye bye ....and in thailand it means to come in...   ???

could never get my head around the concept of the thais waving to come here...i thought they were waving bye bye....lol

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

That's actually chinese culture, symbol of good luck

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

It's for drawing money in.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Yes, for drawing luck in business and prosperity, and it's Japanese origin btw. Called "maneki neko (beckoning cat)".

[Tywais]

Don't know if this is culture shock or just a pet peeve of mine, the supermarket shuffle, applies to streets too. Why do they park their carts in the middle of the isle so you can't get by, why are they oblivious to the fact you would like to get around them while they are walking at a snails pace, etc, etc, etc...

[Totster]

Don't know if this is culture shock or just a pet peeve of mine, the supermarket shuffle, applies to streets too.  Why do they park their carts in the middle of the isle so you can't get by, why are they oblivious to the fact you would like to get around them while they are walking at a snails pace, etc, etc, etc...

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

No.. not culture shock.... in fact this happens in the UK too and I suspect all around the world as well... and it is annoying there as well..

totster

[andyfletch]

Nothing really shocks me anymore but a few things that has are;

Thais laughing and joking standing around a mangled body at the scene of an accident.

Mangey soi dogs eating their own poo.

Female attendants in men's toilets.

Passengers giving their seats to young children (a rarity today?)

Seeing some Thais petrified to step on a escalator.

People shopping at the 7-11 in their pyjamas.

Seeing tv rape scenes on afternoon soap operas.

Seeing politicians exploiting their own children to make financial gains.

Seeing pedicabs as a form of transport in Bangkok.

Thais eating cold food that's meant to be eaten hot.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

and then walking into them when they stop dead 1ft beyond the end of the escalator having got over their fear and actually used it........

[Gazza]

These may be a shock for a first time visitor but for me they're more of an observation.

A set of double glass doors at the entrance to a shopping mall. One door closed and the other open with a small crowd of shoppers struggling to squeeze through the narrow doorway. Nobody ever seems to think of pushing open the closed half.

Probably not specific to just Thailand but, mobile users that have the 'hands-free' ear/mic attachments to mobiles but hold the mic part close to their mouth while holding the mobile in their other hand. Why don't they just hold the mobile to their ear using only one hand?

[alaina]

The girls are mint, not same lady falang

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The level of rudeness openly displayed by some. Can't give a compliment without an accompaning insult. They really need to stop installing internet connections under bridges.

[donna]

Why is Toilet Paper ALWAYS on the table but NEVER in the Toilet?

[lomatopo]

The amount of litter in the streets and other public areas was shocking to me. To watch people casually throw anything, everything on the ground was an eye-opener.

Public urination was another bit of a surprise. Seeing someone nonchalantly taking a leak on the sidewalk in the middle of the day was a sort of a culture shock.

I am always surprised at the level of violence of men towards women as portrayed in the television melodramas. It seems like there is always at least one scene of a man hitting a woman, often with an object other than his hand/fist.

The pervasiveness of corruption was a total shock. I had heard about it but expected those reports were exaggerations or generalizations, and that it was limited to the odd policeman here and there.

The way alleged criminals are paraded about for the media, sometimes re-enacting their crimes, came as a bit of shock.

The government control of the press, and what appears to be an unnatural fear of the press by the government, was a shock. The ability to slap a huge libel lawsuit on anyone certainly keeps the press in check.

[gintOnic]

Why is Toilet Paper ALWAYS on the table but NEVER in the Toilet?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

ReallyyYyyY? So that is toilet paper that we use on the table? Never realize that :D

gintOnic

[girlx]

the one thing that gets me is the utter lack of attention paid to safety in comparison to the US. no lifejackets on obviously overloaded boats, no guardrails on the edges of cliffs, no posted speed limit, and to test my patience with this country, the lack of any emergency clinic open at night on my island. my boyfriend just cut his hand and needs stitches and we were told there is nowhere to go except the one hospital an hour away.

[Bob Karl]

the one thing that gets me is the utter lack of attention paid to safety in comparison to the US.  no lifejackets on obviously overloaded boats, no guardrails on the edges of cliffs, no posted speed limit, and to test my patience with this country, the lack of any emergency clinic open at night on my island. my boyfriend just cut his hand and needs stitches and we were told there is nowhere to go except the one hospital an hour away.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I guess you've never hung out in the middle of Montana. I have and I assure you that treatment is well more than an hour away. LOL