Why Most Thai People Not Like Travel?

[overherebc]

I know a few Thais who love to travel.and experience other countries.

Saying that I knew one couple, both Thai, who went on honeymoon to Europe for 6 days.

The six days covered a five country trip by coach. I'm still trying to get my head around that one.

Maybe when you're younger you could fit all the essentials in between on the bus off the bus.

Sure as hell don't sound romantic to me.

lol, do not knock the Euro bus till you try it

I did 28 days Euro trip on the bus full of 22 year olds. Bus was a bed, kitchen, disco, toilet, vomit basin just to name a few uses it had.

Most certainly not romantic or even enjoyable if you stay sober, though when intoxicated for 23 hours a day, its the best

If I was twenty something and single 'YES' with a little brown skinned local for company

You have to admit that it's not exactly a 'Honeymoon Dream'

[lemoncake]

I know a few Thais who love to travel.and experience other countries.

Saying that I knew one couple, both Thai, who went on honeymoon to Europe for 6 days.

The six days covered a five country trip by coach. I'm still trying to get my head around that one.

Maybe when you're younger you could fit all the essentials in between on the bus off the bus.

Sure as hell don't sound romantic to me.

lol, do not knock the Euro bus till you try it

I did 28 days Euro trip on the bus full of 22 year olds. Bus was a bed, kitchen, disco, toilet, vomit basin just to name a few uses it had.

Most certainly not romantic or even enjoyable if you stay sober, though when intoxicated for 23 hours a day, its the best

If I was twenty something and single 'YES' with a little brown skinned local for company

You have to admit that it's not exactly a 'Honeymoon Dream'

that depends if you want to remember the honeymoon at all

[rgs2001uk]

The good thing, all the people in our village ask, where you go before you leave!

And when we come back, how much you pay for travel!

Sent from my iPhone using ThaiVisa app

all the people in our village ask,

In the village, love it, not from a certain area of lower Issan is she?

I dont know any girl in Bkk who wouldnt jump at the chance of a free one week holiday, it sure beats the shit out of, getting out of bed at six in the morning, to get on a bus to a factory in Ayyuttaya at seven in the morning, work her ass off from 9 in the morning til six in the evening, then get back to Bkk about eight in the evening, exhausted, shower, eat , watch some crap on the telly then sleep, next day repeat.

Face it kills them everytime, next time they ask you "how mutt", tell them "mai loo"

[55Jay]

Asinine questions from a person who has been here for "many" years.

Anyway, my wife loves to travel, frankly doesn't like living in Thailand now, this current full time residency was my idea.

When I first met her, she had not traveled that much and said "Thailand, good for me", which is what most people from an insulated country with a non-exportable language and system would say - comfortable shoe and fear.

Until she got a taste of the away life, now it's 180 degrees. In many ways, I completely agree with her.

[jonnyscot]

I've just booked a short 3 night stay to HK disneyland with the wife and kids, the wife's more excited than the kids (although they don't know about it yet), went to Penang for a holiday a couple years back, she loved it there too, she also accompanies me on the annual KL visa trips and each time it's like an adventure for her.

[samran]

If I was forced to do a cambodian visa run I'd be whinging too.

[maprao]

It is not an Asean thing. get a Filipino GF. They can't wait to leave their country

[lemoncake]

It is not an Asean thing. get a Filipino GF. They can't wait to leave their country

Is mail order available?

[breadbin]

Haven't experienced what the op has.

Maybe his 'gf' want to get back to their 'work' and friends and get away from op?

Mmmm......

[breadbin]

Maybe he men mak mak!!!!!

[JDGRUEN]

The Thai women that I have come to know as friends are both educated and sophisticated. All (numbering about 8) have traveled to places like Korea, China, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Canada, The USA, Italy, Spain, The U.K., etc. Everyone of them wanted to visit me in the U.S.

[mca]

The first comment about the famous temples was, for what we come here only old stone!

I love this line

Don't ever suggest going to visit Stonehenge, might be good advice !

We once took my m.i.l., it was strictly a 5-minute road-side photo-stop !

I only need the slightest excuse.....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Zdyo4vJuCU

[mca]

Saying that I knew one couple, both Thai, who went on honeymoon to Europe for 6 days.

The six days covered a five country trip by coach. I'm still trying to get my head around that one.

When I lived in Khon Kaen the local shopkeeper and his family took 2 days to drive to Phuket, stayed a day to look around and then took 2 days to drive home. 5 fully grown adults in a Honda Jazz.

[TommoPhysicist]

I know a few Thais who love to travel.and experience other countries.

Saying that I knew one couple, both Thai, who went on honeymoon to Europe for 6 days.

The six days covered a five country trip by coach. I'm still trying to get my head around that one.

Maybe when you're younger you could fit all the essentials in between on the bus off the bus.

Sure as hell don't sound romantic to me.

But they got photos of themselves in six different countries, which was the important thing.

How big a boast could they have with them?

[NeverSure]

I know a few Thais who love to travel.and experience other countries.

Saying that I knew one couple, both Thai, who went on honeymoon to Europe for 6 days.

The six days covered a five country trip by coach. I'm still trying to get my head around that one.

Maybe when you're younger you could fit all the essentials in between on the bus off the bus.

Sure as hell don't sound romantic to me.

If it is a good tour company it can be the best way to see a new place. I booked such a tour from the US. We landed in Paris where the bus picked us up and took us to our hotel. The next two days were a tour of Paris including time in the Louvre, The Gare d'Orsay, and Notre Dame. There was a general ride around Paris including stops at places like Montmartre. Then the third day was a trip through the Loire Valley to see castles and even have lunch in one and walk around inside several. Then there was a couple of free days with good maps and instructions on how to navigate the "subway." (Metro.)

Each night we had our own private hotel room with a continental breakfast or room service.

The buses were very modern and clean and not crowded, and had restrooms. The bus seats were like big recliners. When we approached something interesting the guide would tell us about it via the PA system.

On about the sixth day we took off for the Mediterranean in Spain, and then worked our way back up to Madrid for a couple of days and then flew home.

No way could I have found all of that or relaxed as much with a rented car.

[LawrenceChee]

All the girls I have dated are immensely interested to travel so I am sure it's just a mismatch with this one ?

They want to try new cultures and food and see new sights the main problem is more shopping ;-)

Nothing wrong with hankering over som tam same reason why I look for KFC hahahahaha

[villagefarang]

My wife has hiked with me in most of the Nation Parks in the western US. Grand Canyon, Arches, Mt. Rainier just to name a few. Also went skydiving in Hawaii on the North Shore and hiked a couple of ridge trails where you can see both sides of the island.

If travel or outdoor activity is important to you, then it is up to you to find a partner who has some latent interest that can be developed.

[uptheos]

I feel for you OP......but go by yourself next time. If she throws a wobbly, the you have found out something invaluable for your life.

[heatherm]

I can agree that people from any country that haven't tried a variety of strange (to them) foods don't want to eat anything except what they are used to. The first several trips I took with my husband, he ate nothing but Thai food. When I booked a trip to Penang my main interest was to try as many different foods as I could and I loathed the search for Thai food every meal. I solved this by showing him a TV show called "No Reservations with Anthony Bourdain". I explained that he is a famous chef and he travels around the world trying local food. We watched a Bangkok episode first to get him interested and then we watched the Penang episode. Seeing a "super-star" rave about laksa, mee gorang, and snails opened the door to trying new things. In Penang, we went to the same places Bourdain ate at and my husband tried everything (and yes, he took pictures at the different food stalls). Now before we go someplace new we watch some TV shows about it and he gets excited to go.

[WhizBang]

You definately need to find better girlfriends.

My girlfriend and I have traveled throughout Thailand, Laos and Cambodia. Not a single problem. We have also been to Singapore and Hong Kong, both of which she loved. In fact, we will be heading back to Singapore in April.

[FalangBaa]

Perhaps if you started looking for Thai girlfriends in the teaching faculties of the best Thai universities, or in the boardrooms of the top 100 Thai corporations, or perhaps at your local art gallery, opera house or Bentley dealership, your experiences might be somewhat different; not that I'm insinuating anything at all about the kind of places you might be meeting them at now. Perhaps it's just time to change the type of woman you're dating if you find the overall experience dissatisfactory.

[draggons]

My wife has traveled all over SE Asia, China and South Africa with me, is willing to try any food that's going, and loves it,. Lived in Singapore for a few years too. Heading back to Scotland for a few years next month and she can't wait.

Lots of Thais love to travel.

[Fookhaht]

All the Thais I have contact with are nuts about travel. All would like a job related to travel, whether domestically or internationally. We must circulate in vastly different Thai crowds!

[Sandman77]

Food also a big problem !

During travel in Europe the answer was I don't like Falang food so much but I can eat, if I would taking same about thai food I would loosing my face for a while!

After I ordered her online original thai Mali rice for 5€ one kg the world was little bit better!

Sent from my iPhone using ThaiVisa app

[lemoncake]

Food also a big problem !

During travel in Europe the answer was I don't like Falang food so much but I can eat, if I would taking same about thai food I would loosing my face for a while!

After I ordered her online original thai Mali rice for 5€ one kg the world was little bit better!

Sent from my iPhone using ThaiVisa app

Best you stick to euro girls, since Asian girls are nothing but a problem for you

[Tomtomtom69]

Haha there is some truth to your post OP, but it depends on the person. My Thai spouse loves travel both domestic and international travel, but this shouldn't come as a surprise given that she lived, worked and studied in the USA for 5 years until last year. During those 5 years, she only travelled back to Thailand 3 times not 10 times or so like many other international students would. And in addition, we spent quite a bit of time travelling throughout the States and even Canada. She also travelled to quite a few places without me, with friends and on various field trips etc. and was quite happy with what she saw.

However, like your wife there are some places she likes and others she doesn't care for in this region for various reasons. She loved Vientiane, Laos given that not only is the culture similar to Thailand, not to mention the language etc. but also the pace of life is slower and according to her the locals are just that little bit more polite and friendlier than the average Thai, something I agree with.

However, it would be a struggle to get her to see Cambodia, a country she doesn't care for since Thailand and Cambodia have fought over the disputed land near the Khao Phra Wiharn temple. Additionally, since Cambodia has been known to harbor former Prime Minister Thaksin, someone an educated city girl just doesn't see eye to eye with, is another reason for distrusting everything about Cambodia. I on the other hand love Cambodia, it's a country I have been to many times for various reasons and would like to visit again. The only annoying things for me about Cambodia compared to other countries in the region are the number of beggars and the tactics employed by touts to try and sell you something whether it's a tuk tuk ride or something - never mind you just stepped out of your rental car and are going to the bank across the street. Although I'm able to shake them off, if I lived there it would surely become very tiring and annoying very quickly. Even Vietnam has only a fraction of this level of annoyance - if you experience it at all it's probably only going to be somewhere like Pham Ngu Lao lane in HCMC, which is the main backpacker district.

Similarly, while there is less of a reason to dislike Myanmar, my girlfriend doesn't care for visiting that country either although I would probably be more successful in convincing her to visit Myanmar than Cambodia.

She generally liked China, i.e. Kunming, but the habits of some Chinese people in regards to littering and spitting, not to mention crapping on the sidewalks (mainly young children do this but parents and grandparents encourage it) of course turned her off. In general, I think she would prefer to visit far away countries in Europe, Australia and the Maldives, Tahiti etc. than nearby countries though.

Perhaps the attitude of some Thais about travelling explains the relatively low numbers travelling internationally by air through Suvarnbhumi Airport? I mean, compared to virtually every other country I've been to, why are there so many more foreigners travelling into and out of Thailand than locals? The ratio of foreigners to locals seems to be like 10:1, which is crazy. Compare that to China, where there are far more locals travelling than foreigners in either direction, even to/from lesser known cities. How about Vietnam? Yes, there are plenty of foreigners, but the ratio isn't as out of balance as in Thailand as around half of all travellers are either local Vietnamese or ethnic Vietnamese travelling on foreign passports such as Aussie, Canadian or US passports. And Vietnam is much poorer than Thailand so you wouldn't expect many locals to have the money to travel, even to neighboring countries. To/from Australia and to/from the US, the number of citizens travelling represents about half of all travellers - this despite Americans not really being known for being world travellers.

Although we have identified some of the possible reasons for the Thais lack of travel, there is something very bizarre about having so many foreigners travelling into and out of Thailand and so few locals.

[Semper]

Food also a big problem !

During travel in Europe the answer was I don't like Falang food so much but I can eat, if I would taking same about thai food I would loosing my face for a while!

After I ordered her online original thai Mali rice for 5€ one kg the world was little bit better!

Sent from my iPhone using ThaiVisa app

Best you stick to euro girls, since Asian girls are nothing but a problem for you

I think he tried that already.

[nidieunimaitre]

Food also a big problem !

During travel in Europe the answer was I don't like Falang food so much but I can eat, if I would taking same about thai food I would loosing my face for a while!

After I ordered her online original thai Mali rice for 5€ one kg the world was little bit better!

Sent from my iPhone using ThaiVisa app

Next time she has a craving for rice, let her sample basmati rice (of course without telling her where it is from).

That worked with my wife, now she constantly complains about how tastless hom mali realy is.

Yes, we will be eating real rice during our next european tour...

[nidieunimaitre]

Perhaps if you started looking for Thai girlfriends in the teaching faculties of the best Thai universities, or in the boardrooms of the top 100 Thai corporations, or perhaps at your local art gallery, opera house or Bentley dealership, your experiences might be somewhat different; not that I'm insinuating anything at all about the kind of places you might be meeting them at now. Perhaps it's just time to change the type of woman you're dating if you find the overall experience dissatisfactory.

For a moment, I thought you were serious!

[FritsSikkink]

I think they like to travel, at least my wife does. I had the same "problem" as you a while back, specially in my home country I took my wife to visit places and seen she was not really interested so I tried something else, show her photos on Internet to where we can go so she can choose and everything changed. We do travel a lot now and the only thing still driving me crazy is the amount of photos she take when we travel somewhere she likes. I am not sure if this helps but what I try to say is simply try to let her choose where to go and what to see based of course on your budget....

OH.... So now you can only travel to places she is interested in seeing, never mind what you might be interested in?

No, you can travel anywhere. If you want to take your wife/GF it would be nice to check if she is interested.