Looking for answers to some tricky questions about Thai culture? Want to challenge yourself?

[catweazle08]

im currently writing an ebook about thailand and found a few tricky topics. i ask already a few thai-people, but they don´t know.

if you are looking for a challenge, let´s go:

1. many thai-girls (and asian women in general) pose on pictures with these "finger-signs" close to their face. victory or an "L". why? where did it start?

2. why do they use straws so often? hygienic reasons?

3. the nightbus from bkk to mukdahan took 2 hours longer then from mukdahan to bkk, why?

4. some places in thai-cafes, receptions or general rooms (i see this often on the way to the toilet) are stacked up with stuff, that doesn´t look valuable. to be honest to me it´s sometimes completely messed up in the backrooms. are they just to lazy to through away the stuff in their own rooms? or is there a good reason to not through it away? (i can show you a pic of the reception at my cheap hotel, it looks crazy.)

5. On Mo Chit bus terminal, nobody is selling beer. why?

6. the minimum wage is 300 baht. which jobs are in this category?

7. a normal coffee is often called "americano", why?

8. i think there are two different lao beer brands. one with a white batch available in most places and one with the yellow batch. drank the one with the yellow batch in savannakhet, tasted great but never saw it in thaiuland. is this one available somewhere around bkk?

maybe its not that difficult? i don´t know.

thanks for replies, have fun with this one

[arthurwait]

1, See the many threads on it.

2. Yes. Ever seen a Thai stockroom with rat and cockroach fesis on all the bottle tops you drink from. Look in any you will see it. The rat urine on the bottle you put in your mouth is less visible.

3. No whisky money.

4. Marry A thai woman and you will experience this with an old MIL. Same the world over with people who grew up with nothing.

5. No ones paid the tea money ? Most likely you didn't look hard enough. Move the soft drinks and you could well find.

6. Most. Or most that are filled with immigrant labour due to lack of willing Thais.

7. Coffees horrible. Who cares.

8. Not quite sure if you are correct in two different brands, but beer laos do a dark and light version. Only ever found dark in Makro on a few occasions.

[Jingthing]

Standard American style coffee is weak and mostly water. As opposed to espresso. So at an espresso bar you get an Americano by adding hot water to espresso. In the U.S., regular coffee is regular coffee, sometimes called brewed coffee. So if in Thailand they call regular brewed coffee Americano even without the adding water to espresso method, it makes sense.

Americano for adding hot water to espresso is an international term, including in the U.S.

Edited October 1, 2013 by Jingthing

[cdnvic]

If you are writing a book you really need to work on your writing skills. The title itself took some sizable editing to make readable.

[scobie redux]

What an absolutely bizarre set of questions, none of which have ANYTHNG to do with this mystical thing called 'thai culture'.

1). Nothing to do with thai culture at all. It's common all over Asia, and is spreading to the west.

2) Seriously, what?

3) Consult that well known book, "The Impact of Bus Timetables on Thai Cultural Attitudes"

4) Your cheap hotel is tatty because it is, well, cheap. The same principle applies all over the world.

5) Seriously, what? Again.

6) low paid jobs qualifying for the . . ummm . minimum wage

7) No it isn't. An Americano is called an Americano is pretty much every coffee shop Ive been in in the world. It is a shot of expresso diluted by hot water.

8) Seriously, what does this have to do with thai culture.

I look forward to reading what sounds like a fantastically insightful volume.

[David48]

Standard American style coffee is weak and mostly water. As opposed to espresso. So at an espresso bar you get an Americano by adding hot water to espresso. In the U.S., regular coffee is regular coffee, sometimes called brewed coffee. So if in Thailand they call regular brewed coffee Americano even without the adding water to espresso method, it makes sense.

Americano for adding hot water to espresso is an international term, including in the U.S.

I found that in Europe an 'American Coffee' was as JT described it above but also it meant that it had milk ... and many coffees don't have this.

[Jingthing]

I might pay a baht or two for the definitive definition of THAINESS.

[scobie redux]

I love the idea of the OP asking this rather bizarre set of questions to Thai people. I can picture their faces: a mixture of puzzlement, embarrassment both for themselves and him, all liberally laced with a good dose of <deleted>

[bunta71]

American coffee where I come from...Seattle area comes in 50-100 varieties from all over the world and is prepared many ways...many. Many things get lost in the translation here i.e. American Fried rice. American fried rice has ham in it not a thin, thin slice of sandwich ham, it has eggs scrambled and cooked in the rice,not a burned fried egg on top. Chicken also is cooked in the rice and not a drumstick on the side. The hotdog? God only knows how they came up with that.

[elektrified]

If you are writing a book you really need to work on your writing skills. The title itself took some sizable editing to make readable.

Also if we are going to answer your questions, do we get any share in any of the proceeds as we are adding to the content and it is IP.

Edited October 1, 2013 by elektrified

[elektrified]

What a bizarre set of questions, but I'll answer 7). "Normal coffee" is cafe boran. "Americano" is the newest chic term for regular coffee. But by giving it this designer name, people think they are getting something special which justifies the price of 50 THB vs. 15 THB for cafe boran.

[Beetlejuice]

This has nothing whatsoever to do with Thai culture or any other cultures.

This is more about modern fads, actions installed into the brains of mostly the younger generations by means of big company marketing ploys, such as names of certain types of coffee and short cut visual messages used by those of lower intellects on social networking sites.

And as for the rest of your questions, who knows or really wants to know?

[catweazle08]

i think the term "book about thai culture" was a big mistake. and i can understand, why some (or especially one) of you are a bit confused.

at the moment it´s just a mixed bag of chunks of information, most of them useful for tourists, who come here for the first time.

yes, some questions are not about thai-culture directly (like the finger signs) and i didn´t do any research for the term americano on my own, sorry, my fault, will not happen again. (need faster wifi)

yes, the editing was sloppy, i have no desk or table in my room, so trying do write on my bed, but that´s no excuse, i know.

english is not my mothertongue, i will hire freelancers, who are native speaker and a few people from thailand about their opinion, then some cover-designers and so on...

@elektrified: well, the books probaply not gonna sell much at all for many reasons. so, no theres no share and i completely understand your argument. on the other hand, i have no idea, if i use this stuff in the book. there will be a tricky phase at the end of the whole process, where structure, table of contents and more will be done, and i guess deleting complete chapters will be a part of it.

if anyone of you don´t want to contribute, that´s completely ok. if i left the impression to "use you" for my personal benefit, i seriously apologize!!! that´s definately not my intension.

i enjoy the creative process of writing this book very much. i have no idea, if the book is going to be good or bad. some days i think it will be good, somedays i think its a bad idea (especially today).

there are many ebooks about thailand out there, a lot of competition, but i really enjoy the process. and there are many more reasons why i do it, but that´s just too much for the moment.

thanks for all the help so far to every single one!

if anybody is interested i can post a few of the topics i got. maybe that´s a good idea to clearify, maybe the post was a bad idea...

next time, i put much more thought to what i post here...really.

@ beetlejuice: absolutely great explanation to the point! big compliment!

[Tim207]

I think maybe you should hold off on writing a book until you have some actual knowledge and insight rather than add to the clutter of the many e-books out there written by people who have no clue.

Sure you can pass on pearls of important knowledge such as beer is not sold at the Morchit terminal and Lao beer has different labels for exported beer but do you really think your depth of knowledge is worth a book?

[Somtamnication]

No thanks. I experience Thai culture every time I drive.

[amykat]

Hey Tim2007,

Everyone needs a purpose in life ...who are we to judge??

To the OP, why don't you just go through TV and look up all the "Why do Thais do ...XYZ? And then get all the answers and write your book?

If you can answer the eternal WHY, you might have a hit on your hands!

[Beetlejuice]

i think the term "book about thai culture" was a big mistake. and i can understand, why some (or especially one) of you are a bit confused.

at the moment it´s just a mixed bag of chunks of information, most of them useful for tourists, who come here for the first time.

yes, some questions are not about thai-culture directly (like the finger signs) and i didn´t do any research for the term americano on my own, sorry, my fault, will not happen again. (need faster wifi)

yes, the editing was sloppy, i have no desk or table in my room, so trying do write on my bed, but that´s no excuse, i know.

english is not my mothertongue, i will hire freelancers, who are native speaker and a few people from thailand about their opinion, then some cover-designers and so on...

@elektrified: well, the books probaply not gonna sell much at all for many reasons. so, no theres no share and i completely understand your argument. on the other hand, i have no idea, if i use this stuff in the book. there will be a tricky phase at the end of the whole process, where structure, table of contents and more will be done, and i guess deleting complete chapters will be a part of it.

if anyone of you don´t want to contribute, that´s completely ok. if i left the impression to "use you" for my personal benefit, i seriously apologize!!! that´s definately not my intension.

i enjoy the creative process of writing this book very much. i have no idea, if the book is going to be good or bad. some days i think it will be good, somedays i think its a bad idea (especially today).

there are many ebooks about thailand out there, a lot of competition, but i really enjoy the process. and there are many more reasons why i do it, but that´s just too much for the moment.

thanks for all the help so far to every single one!

if anybody is interested i can post a few of the topics i got. maybe that´s a good idea to clearify, maybe the post was a bad idea...

next time, i put much more thought to what i post here...really.

@ beetlejuice: absolutely great explanation to the point! big compliment!

How long have you lived in Thailand and what are your experiences regarding the Thai ways of life and culture? This is all very important if you are considering creating a book on the subjects.

If you are seriously seeking out topics for your e-books regarding Thailand that will really captivate your listeners, here are a few suggestions I can throw your way:

1. Living in Thailand and how to deal with and adapt to lifestyles agreeable with Thai attitudes and culture.

2. An unofficial survival guide to living or working in Thailand. Such as: abiding by the laws, not what or who to become involved with, the pitfalls of buying real estate and land, running businesses, relationships and so on. There is huge scope for an e-book project here.

3. How to compromise with your Western values and Thai attitudes safely. Such as temperaments, aggression, the smiles and how to deal with it.

Also must take in consideration regarding Thailand’s strict defamation, anti establishment and prohibited publications laws when publishing any Thailand related themes.

Just a few topics worth taking on board and considering.

so there you are, I have started the ball rolling.

[jbrain]

3. the nightbus from bkk to mukdahan took 2 hours longer then from mukdahan to bkk, why?

The flight time from your homecountry to Thailand is also different from the flight time from Thailand to your homecountry

Edited October 1, 2013 by jbrain

[Tim207]

Hey Tim2007,

Everyone needs a purpose in life ...who are we to judge??

The world has enough sources of "insightful information" about Thai culture spewed by bar-stool experts.

If this guy really wants to write an interesting book he should be writing what he knows instead of trying to pass off his limited experience and understanding of Thailand as some kind of guide or serious information by someone knowledgeable.

A book about his experiences coming to Thailand, changing viewpoints as he adjusts to life in Thailand and how he copes with the difficulties of adjusting to Thailand would be a much more honest endeavor.

His current direction is just a silly attempt to show people who have almost no knowledge of Thailand how much he knows. Most of the questions he asked are ridiculous and any answers to them would not be helpful in a book in any way other than to make the author seem more credible than he is.

[catweazle08]

it´s a very interesting phenomenon to see people in this thread talking about me and judging me instead of talking to me, which is a little bit disrespectful in my personal opinion. well, it´s the internet, people don´t have to be nice. but i try...

and again: IT IS NOT ABOUT THAI CULTURE,

its for people coming to thailand for the first time and giving them the chance, not only to see all those things, but to understand a little bit more about it (and make their trip much easier).

of course these 8 questions (i regret now posting it) are everything you have to judge my project/book (or even me as a person), so i guess i understand your posts in some way. i talked to a thai i know two hours ago and did some research and of course some of them are stupid.

but to be honest, no one here has any clear picture, what´s already written down in the book. you can only judge/see those 8 questions, which is a extremely limited point of view.

should i defend or explain myself? hmm... no.

but i take this whole thread as a motivation.

"if u do it, you gotta do it right".

the few chapters i have about thai-culture or some typical behaviour of thai-people are definately the most difficult part (and by far not the biggest) and there is a general risk of "generalizing", but i will ask thai people about there opinion about it (got three people so far) and of course i will be very careful about criticism!

the irony for me is: some of the questions are stil not answered, but that´s ok, because some are really stupid (now i know) and the others... i figured it out today by myself.

@beetlejuice: visited thailand 7 times. some of the topics you mentioned excist already as ebooks (i don´t know if these books are of good quality) and target more to people, who want or already live here. im not doing that because i can´t.i write for the typical traveller not expat. so my experiences are more about travelling thailand then thai-culture. thanks again for your ideas and the effort! i appreciate it. if you want we can meet for a few beer on my bill! will be around bkk a while.

@tim: i don´t know if its worth a book! honest answer! and one of the real interesting parts will be finding a good price. some ebooks cost 99 cent some 40 dollar and more. but the conversations i had with travellers i meet here in thailand for many years are valuable for them. i get good "reviews" of course it´s a different story for expats. ...learned that one today.

@amykat: you get my version of the answer to the eternal "why" for free if you want.

@jbrain: i disagree. but no worries.

[Tim207]

@tim: i don´t know if its worth a book! honest answer! and one of the real interesting parts will be finding a good price. some ebooks cost 99 cent some 40 dollar and more. but the conversations i had with travellers i meet here in thailand for many years are valuable for them. i get good "reviews" of course it´s a different story for expats. ...learned that one today.

When I first started coming to Thailand I really enjoyed stories about the country and people written by people first experiencing it. I particularly enjoyed a blog by a woman chronicling her experiences http://katswindow.net/. She has long since left but I still remember her stories fondly.

There is no shortage of travel guides, and one from someone with obviously limited experience traveling around Thailand is bound to be full of inaccurate perceptions and mistaken assumptions. Writing these down as fact and presenting them to even less informed people is unfair and perpetuates misconceptions. For instance, on numerous occasions I have seen travelers, as you call them, arguing over the price of a bus fare because they read that it should be 10 baht cheaper and they just had to be firm to get the correct price when in reality all the Thais had paid that same price.

I am sure you have tidbits of information that others may find useful but I doubt there is much that wouldn't be easily found with a quick google search.

[Swiss1960]

visited thailand 7 times. some of the topics you mentioned excist already as ebooks and target more to people, who want or already live here. im not doing that because i can´t.i write for the typical traveller not expat. so my experiences are more about travelling thailand then thai-culture.

So after 7 visits you feel qualified to write a book about travelling Thailand? So tell us where have you been in Thailand so far, how did you travel, where did you stay etc... feels for me like you are not qualified, specially given your questions...

You write "I can't write for the typical traveller" but you also write "my experiences ... about travelling thailand"... so which is it now? what is your target group?

[Jasun]

1. Japan, 'Piisu' sign

2. Hygiene - soda bottles are re-used

3. The night bus avoids peak traffic out of BKK

4. Poor people don't like to throw stuff out

5. There's beer at Mochit

6. Unskilled and non-professional

7. An americano is an americano everywhere - coffee with hot water

8. There's a really old Leo brandmark that was yellow, but that wouldn't be around now. Sure it wasn't Singha?

[catweazle08]

@swiss: read my post again. there´s a tiny dot changing the meaning completely.

and i´m not gonna explain myself or my travelling! sorry...

if you were a friend or somebody i met and can connect to, different story.

@ scobie: "I can picture their faces: a mixture of puzzlement, embarrassment both for themselves and him, all liberally laced with a good dose of <deleted>"

i ask all of the questions yesterday to two thais i know. they try to answer a few, but couldn´t answer all. during the process they looked very normal to me.

"traveling around Thailand is bound to be full of inaccurate perceptions and mistaken assumptions. Writing these down as fact and presenting them to even less informed people is unfair and perpetuates misconceptions."

yes, this is an argument. maybe i do this, maybe not. facts or personal opinions are a big difference. but i´m not trying to compete with travel guides. prices for baht-busses etc. i don´t like to cling to much to guides on the road and i don´t really recommend it either,

@jasun: thank you very much! and on point. liked it. Figured out a lot of it yesterday in the evening by myself. guess i need to get away from khao sarn. the place makes me sick.

beer at mochit: my thai friend yesterday told me, that there is a new law since a few month not to drink alcohol on public transportation. that´s the reason why the 7/11 directly in the terminal and the small shops, where the buses leave don´t sell beer. (maybe 1 or 2 km away different story) he also said, that if you ask around, some of them sell a can to u. they hide it.

yes, i misspelled traveller. go and joke or judge about it.

at this point i think this thread can be closed, if this is ok for u. but if you want to post some info or points of view, no problem.

again thanks for the information.

when the books done, maybe i will post the link here, but just for fun! not as an recommendation or ad.

cya

[scobie redux]

This is one of the weirdest threads I have ever seen.

Head-shakingly weird.

[rct99q]

sitting in a dorm room in bkk talking with other "world" travelers about how you should write a book about your experiences while passing around a spliff!. Wonderful can not wait for this one.

You say it is targeted at first time travelers providing them with some insight into Thailand that may or may not be found elsewhere. If you are looking to just garble up some of your wisdom into words you may be better off with a travel blog....you know along with the 4,000,000 other people who know Thailand. As for the book good luck.

[Bluetongue]

It reminds me of a line out of that (now) old American movie Apocalypse now where Martin Sheen is talking about some American kid coming to Vietnam "that Clean... Mr. Clean... was from some South Bronx shithole and the light and space of Vietnam really put the zap on his head."

Don't know why just does even thought his is Thailand not Vietnam

[stickylies]

3. the nightbus from bkk to mukdahan took 2 hours longer then from mukdahan to bkk, why?

The flight time from your homecountry to Thailand is also different from the flight time from Thailand to your homecountry

that's the wind