What Surprised you most when you first came to Thailand?

[NoshowJones]

Not bad looking farangs with unattractive girls. Seems to be no shortage of them.

Back in Scotland. I always said you will find plenty of attractive girls with unattractive men, but you will hardly ever find a handsome guy with an unattractive girl.

[bentarm44]

2001,

1) how cheap everything was

2) the women seemed content to be women

3) seeing an elephant on the street in downtown Bangkok

[carter1882]

How incredibly easy it was to learn to speak, read and write the Thai language. And how everyone else continued to remark how hard it was. Maybe I wanted it more....

[Naam]

I am afraid 1975 is a bit of a blur at this point. What would surprise me, is being able to remember anything that far back.

i remember a wealth of details i experienced during the few days i spent in Thailand exactly 41 years ago.

note: long term memory comes back improved with age, short term memory deteriorates.

[Pacificperson]

Snorkeling off the beach at Phuket and looking over to see a baby elephant swimming with me.

[Naam]

i remember:

six grilled rock lobsters for 60 Baht in the icecold airconditioned coffee shop of the hotel, 32 US-Dollars for a suite in a 4-star hotel, 10 Baht for a haircut, shave and shoulder massage, taxi fare BKK > Pattaya (3½ hours) 200 Baht.

[kinmaew]

How stupid Thai's really are.

[khrab]

How stupid Thai's really are.

Look at yourself first!

[balo]

That bugs, worms, scorpions and snakes can be eaten as snacks.

[carter1882]

How stupid Thai's really are.

Well, kinmaew, at least you have almost mastered apostrophes. Almost......

[pchansmorn]

Driving in Thailand where no one follows the law, everyone just does as they please, few have insurance and fewer have licenses. Total Video Game.

[steven100]

nothing....

[vaca azul]

First surprise at arrival....

a waiting time of nearly 2 hours in front of the desks of the airport immigration.....

and a 2 hour journey in a 15ºC cold bus ??? ....outside 32ºC !!!

After that this land & people "gave me a hug"...so friendly and helpfull !!!

I was surprised how friendly the people are, the good thai food, the good service, the always warm nights

and the beauty of the majority of the Thai women.

After living in Germany, Australia and Spain I know (young pensioner, no beer belly, no intrest in ladybars)

I will spend the rest of my live in this country with my well educated and lovely Thai woman...that I met a woman like her

was the biggest surprise

[robhufton]

Walking down Soi Cowboy not looking where I was going (due to many distractions) and bumping into an elephant

[WhamBam]

First was the humidity as I melted as soon as I exited the airport.

The second was the deviousness of the woman I'd come to meet in BKK. Don't get me wrong, I liked her a lot and she me. We got on great for a long weekend. Then it was back to work for her. I was staying on in BKK for a few more days before going to her home town up north. Before she left, her sister came to visit.

She asked if her sister could stay with me in the hotel room. Sister had a few days off and if it was no trouble, would I let her sleep in the other bed.

Odd, but I saw no reason not to and she was quite helpful to me.

I left to go north with the sister in tow both of us headed up to see the new woman in my life.

The crux of it being she had left the sister with me to see if I would try it on. Good lad that I am, I didn't.

We all got on great after that.

[Guitar God]

The amount of scooters driving around at night with no tail light and sometimes, no headlight either. Damn near invisible until you're almost on top of them. They risk their lives to save the 50฿ A new bulb costs. The indifference of the police towards drivers of cars and scooters with burnt out head, tail and turn signal lights.

The lack of food hygiene, people cook chicken, eat some and leave the rest at room temperature for hours while bacteria blooms and flys walk over it, then they eat some more.

The friendliness of most Thai people and their willingness to help strangers, but that's after living in Amsterdam for 18 years so my perspective was probably skewed.

The way motorists stop at a side street, look and see if road they're turning into is clear, seeing it isn't and then turning out anyway, expecting drivers with the right of way to slam on their brakes to avoid rear ending them.

The cost of tropical fruit, not totally unexpectedly but mangosteen (mankhut) costs 30-40 times more in Europe and the U.S.

The realization that western women underappreaciated just how handsome I am.

[NoshowJones]

How stupid Thai's really are.

The vast majority of Thai people are decent and honest, but when I see their behavior on the roads, underage kids riding motorbikes on busy roads, Nutters fleeing along the sidewalk on motorbikes etc etc, I find it hard to disagree with you.

[NoshowJones]

Driving in Thailand where no one follows the law, everyone just does as they please, few have insurance and fewer have licenses. Total Video Game.

I would not say no one, but it does seem to apply to most of them.

[apetley]

Renting a car on my first trip it surprised me.......alot......that flashing the headlights didn't mean 'after you good chap' but 'I've identified a potentially life threatening situation and am not slowing down'.

[Benmart]

..."Sitting in the skytrain with a date the second day I arrived in Thailand ( I had met her the first day I arrived) when I saw a big fat ugly Farang with a beautiful young Thai girl holding hands together, the first thing that entered my mind was he must be very rich. I knew nothing about the barscene back then in 2001, how it worked, and how any fat ugly Farang could just walk into a bar and barfine almost any young girl for almost any length of time".

.."big fat ugly Farang"...

I see all sorts of people here in Thailand. Some of the nicest were perhaps not what is usually refered to as beautiful. Some of the most narrow minded, self-absorbed, uncivil and crude people were "body beautiful".

Rich in thought and deed, far surpasses material wealth in my opinion. Not to detract from the query, from my experience, not any one can walk into a bar and barfine any young girl.

I've witnessed plenty of passes because the male creature was loutish, top deficient, obnoxious, unwashed and drunk. The abundance of muscular development made no difference on those occassions.

Money does seem to reign supreme, but is not always a quarantee of acquiring one's nocturnal desires.

[AnotherOneAmerican]

The number of prostitutes encountered in normal day to day life.

Not to mention the excess of same floating around the tourist centers.

Unbelievable really!

[Benmart]

The amount of scooters driving around at night with no tail light and sometimes, no headlight either. Damn near invisible until you're almost on top of them. They risk their lives to save the 50฿ A new bulb costs. The indifference of the police towards drivers of cars and scooters with burnt out head, tail and turn signal lights.

The lack of food hygiene, people cook chicken, eat some and leave the rest at room temperature for hours while bacteria blooms and flys walk over it, then they eat some more.

The friendliness of most Thai people and their willingness to help strangers, but that's after living in Amsterdam for 18 years so my perspective was probably skewed.

The way motorists stop at a side street, look and see if road they're turning into is clear, seeing it isn't and then turning out anyway, expecting drivers with the right of way to slam on their brakes to avoid rear ending them.

The cost of tropical fruit, not totally unexpectedly but mangosteen (mankhut) costs 30-40 times more in Europe and the U.S.

The realization that western women underappreaciated just how handsome I am.

Loved your post. Good observations, well written and current. Keep em' coming!

[Benmart]

What Surprised you most

The number of people who deliberately chose to live in Thailand but seem to spend most of their time finding excuses to complain about everything.

I loved Thailand my first day here and still do. Not blind to the problems here, but also do not have some romantic fairy tale notion about how wonderful things are back in Farang Land.

I agree. It's paradise to me, but then I accept the things I cannot change, nor do I look for and criticize every behavior or situation that does not meet "my narrow minded standards".

Live and Let Live.

[DP25]

The number of ladyboys is truly mindboggling. I mean Thailand is famous for them so I was expecting them, but I kinda just expected them in tourist areas and the rest of the country would be more like home. But no, they are present in huge numbers everywhere throughout the country.

[gopis108]

What definitely surprised me the most when coming here was to learn that THai monks actually eat flesh(meat)and their excuse is that they cannnot refuse what people give them-what a cop out.No way should any Buddhist eat flesh-AHIMSA-non-violence.buddhas whole mission was to steer people away from eating flesh when there is so much non-vioplent food available.

Besides that what I was also surprised with was how clean the Thai people are.

[Naam]

First was the humidity as I melted as soon as I exited the airport.

The second was the deviousness of the woman I'd come to meet in BKK. Don't get me wrong, I liked her a lot and she me. We got on great for a long weekend. Then it was back to work for her. I was staying on in BKK for a few more days before going to her home town up north. Before she left, her sister came to visit.

She asked if her sister could stay with me in the hotel room. Sister had a few days off and if it was no trouble, would I let her sleep in the other bed.

Odd, but I saw no reason not to and she was quite helpful to me.

I left to go north with the sister in tow both of us headed up to see the new woman in my life.

The crux of it being she had left the sister with me to see if I would try it on. Good lad that I am, I didn't.

We all got on great after that.

was the sister ugly?

[benalibina]

What definitely surprised me the most when coming here was to learn that THai monks actually eat flesh(meat)and their excuse is that they cannnot refuse what people give them-what a cop out.No way should any Buddhist eat flesh-AHIMSA-non-violence.buddhas whole mission was to steer people away from eating flesh when there is so much non-vioplent food available.

Besides that what I was also surprised with was how clean the Thai people are.

How clean ?

[AnotherOneAmerican]

Besides that what I was also surprised with was how clean the Thai people are.

That's not really true, they shower often but in other areas their hygiene is severely lacking.

Food vendors not washing hands, washing dishes in a dirty bucket, kitchens are generally filthy, bedding never washed, litter around their homes and gardens, etc.

Not to mention the roads and countryside, empty bags, food containers and beer bottles everywhere.

[NanLaew]

...

The crux of it being she had left the sister with me to see if I would try it on. Good lad that I am, I didn't.

We all got on great after that.

Let me see... this must have been way, way back in a time before short-time rooms had been invented right?

[benalibina]

Besides that what I was also surprised with was how clean the Thai people are.

That's not really true, they shower often but in other areas their hygiene is severely lacking.

Food vendors not washing hands, washing dishes in a dirty bucket, kitchens are generally filthy, bedding never washed, litter around their homes and gardens, etc.

Not to mention the roads and countryside, empty bags, food containers and beer bottles everywhere.

Thanks, i was too lazy to give examples. You forgot....cleaning above eyeheight.