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What's the most hospitable thing a Thai has done for you?


eldragon

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True storey.Drove my car its pitch black and in middle of the night on a deserted road somewhere in between chumpon and Pangha on my way to Phuket and got an exploded tyre.not a nice location and time to have car trouble.i kept driving just with 3 km an hour till I finally saw a tiny house with a small light on.i parked my car infront and thais popped up investigating the problem then they got flashlights tools etc and within 30 minutes they replace my wheel.they did all the work and when they finished i asked how much i pay them?their reply o no its okay Mr..Then inside my car all my valuables bags wallets are all inside?.I insisted to gave something for their hard work  or i would not leave.finally they accepted 500 bht and my sincere gratitude forever.

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On 12/20/2016 at 9:57 PM, Seligne2 said:

If I were to do a word association game with the word "Thai", hospitality would not  be anywhere on the list. Some of the things that would be are:

Plastic

Family-oriented, despise Mother Nature

Ignorant

Materialistic

Deferential to authority

Sexy (ladies-ladyboys)

Opportunistic

Honest (with strangers)

 

I could continue in this vein for some time without  hitting on the word "hospitable"

Get out of the wrong side of the bed this morning?

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On 20/12/2016 at 9:57 PM, Seligne2 said:

If I were to do a word association game with the word "Thai", hospitality would not  be anywhere on the list. Some of the things that would be are:

Plastic

Family-oriented, despise Mother Nature

Ignorant

Materialistic

Deferential to authority

Sexy (ladies-ladyboys)

Opportunistic

Honest (with strangers)

 

I could continue in this vein for some time without  hitting on the word "hospitable"

I feel sorry for you. 

 

Good luck. You sound like you need it. 

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IMGP0407.JPGOur next door neighbours are the kindest folk I know.  After our house was built we decided to extend the rear of the house so my TW could have an outdoor kitchen , Dee from next door did the floor tiling and he did it free .  He also climbed up a tree nearby about 3 years ago to rescue our cat that must of been chased there by a dog.  When our water pump stopped pumping he found the cable was broken after digging it up from the side of the soi.   All he asked about 6 years ago , would I teach his eldest daughter English.  That was too easy. Look at the pic. smashing kids.

Oh tomorrow they are all coming round for Xmas dinner .  Closest family I have got here.

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Due to the language barrier, when I asked for directions at the Korat bus station, I was instructed to get on Bus A to get to Town A in Issan. 2 hours later there was a change of bus in another (unknown) town, An hour later I had arrived in Town A. It turned out after much circling the drain that this was a different Town A. It also had no hotels or guest houses and now it is evening with no night time bus either. A Thai family put me up and fed me and the next morning. took me back 1 hour to the bus stop that would get me back to Korat where I could start over to find my way to the other Town A. They would accept nothing from me except my thank you.

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Three things spring to mind - although kind, rather than hospitable.

 

1)  The explosion of New Year fireworks terrified one of my dogs enough to squeeze through the grille across the patio doors and RUN.  Five/ten minutes later I received a 'phone call from the 24 hour Lucky 13 'restaurant' staff who had caught/found her.  Fortunately she had a name tag with my 'phone no. on it.

 

2) A tree fell across the small soi where I live, and so coming back on my scooter I tried to navigate the 'wild'/overgrown area back to my house.  Unsuprisingly, my scooter hit a hole and overturned - leaving me shocked and pinned underneath, worried about all the snakes/centipedes etc. :lol:.  As I was gradually getting myself out from under the scooter, a Thai guy on a samlor (who was navigating a better route around the fallen tree) noticed my predicament and came to help me.  He then (in bare feet!) pushed my scooter through the 'wild' area, and back to my house - and was shocked when I tried to give him money for his much appreciated/needed help.

 

3) Shortly after retiring here (before I had any transportation other than my feet), I went to a local shop to buy a 'phone card SIM/minutes or whatever (too long ago to remember the details).  The shop didn't have what I needed, but the lady insisted that she give me a lift to another shop that was able to provide what I needed.  And before the cynics chime in, she didn't come into the shop with me to receive 'commission', but waited outside and then gave me a lift back home.

Edited by dick dasterdly
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Wow great post. Sadly I am really struggling to think of an occurance. Will reflect on this tonight. Had a very friendly girl jump on my bike once when I was was buying some fruit and she was very hospitable later but short of that I can't find many other occurances. 

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UNFORGETTABLE THAI FRIENDS

3 close Thai friends contributed a  combined 70,000 Bht towards my COURT BAIL at very short notice,  when my Farang friends just laughed.  This got me out of a very dangerous situation.

It takes a while to find out who your friends are, but true Thai friends are very loyal, and very generous! 

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During my second trip to Thailand, in 2001, I visited Khon Kaen.  My home town is New York City, where I used public transportation almost all the time.  So when I was leaving a shopping center in Khon Kaen, and the tuk-tuk drivers quoted me ridiculous prices to return to my hotel, I decided to ride a public songtaew. How hard could it be, I’m a New Yorker, I’m city-savvy, right? ...heh...

 

This was of course before the days of mobile phones and data networks, so I pulled out my map and tried to read the street signs, to know where I was and when to get off.  I soon realized I had no idea where I was or if I was even on the right songtaew.

 

The other passengers sensed my distress, and a young couple who were disembarking motioned for me to go with them. Although I was a little apprehensive, I decided that I was better off accepting their offer than not. We got off, and the woman motioned for me to stay by the street with her husband while she went into her house for something.

 

She emerged with two motorcycle helmets, and I figured out that the husband was going to bring me to my hotel. It was about a ten minute ride. I pulled out my wallet to give him my card so we could stay in touch. He thought I was going to give him money and motioned his refusal.

 

This hospitality deeply moved me, and I have tried to model that ever since. About a year later I was in a Korean supermarket in Silver Spring, Maryland (in the USA), and an elderly woman was speaking with distress to a store employee. With my minimal Korean language skills I figured out that she had no ride home. Remembering the Khon Kaen event, I realized that it was time to give back. I drove her home, a 20 minute drive each way. She tried to give me money but of course I refused.

 

To this day I am moved by acts of kindness given me by Thai people. Of course, there are bad people too, as there are everywhere, but it’s important to realize that we naturally tend to magnify in our minds the negative experiences. We need to compensate for that negative bias by reminding ourselves that it is a bias and that the statistical reality is not nearly as bad. For every reckless driver, for example, there are a hundred who carefully and gingerly proceed from a traffic light allowing motorbikers like me to pass safely.

 

A single act of kindness is multiplied in this way.  Negative actions are multiplied as well. May we all remember this when we deal with strangers, friends, and loved ones – and when we post on ThaiVisa.
 

Edited by Keith Bennett
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car got stuck in the mud in the country side, got lost and tried to u-turn by going into a unpaved road, wasn't aware of how wet the ground was, car was able to go forward, but when I tried to do  a u-turn at the end of the road, car got stuck. 5-6 guys from the village came to help, took 5 hours to get my car out of the mud. They told me to stay in the car so I won't get muddy :-) They were all covered in mud, I offered to give them 500 baht each for their effort. They all decline the money, but I insisted anyways.

 

Merry Christmas everyone

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13 minutes ago, diehard71 said:

THAI HOSPITALITY UNKNOWN TO ME ,lived here for 42 years and have never been invited for a drink or a dinner to a thai persons home ,THAI HOSPITALITY UNKNOWN TO THAI PEOPLE FOR SURE.

Do you have a GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR attitude....?

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I AM THE ONE THAT HAS HOSPITALITY AND I AM NOT THAI,I HAVE THAI FRIENDS AND NEIGHBOURS AT MY PLACE EVERY NIGHT EATING AND DRINKING FREE OF CHARGE,NOT DRINKING WATER BUT BEER AND WHISKY .BEEN GOING ON FOR OVER 40 YEARS ,AND NO I DO NOT HAVE A GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR ATTITUDE.BY THE WAY NONE OF THEM EVER INVITED ME OVER TO THEIR PLACE.

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There are always small incidents of kindness... This one stands out from a few months ago. 

 

I was buying fruit at a roadside vendor and a samlor pulled up with a very dusty older lady inside. She asked about the cantaloupe and for 20 baht, it was too expensive for her and she declined. So, I bought the cantaloupe for her. 

 

The samlor driver, who was surely quite poor as well, looked at me with so much gratitude. He told me that if he ever saw me walking anywhere in town, he would take me wherever I wanted to go for free. 

 

I think in Thailand, as maybe near everyplace, if you act kindly, kindness comes back to you. 

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I installed a new brake lever on my Kawasaki. Unbeknownst to me it was activating itself randomly. I came off doing a U turn and the bike damaged my leg. I parked outside a hotel in Phuket and was sitting on the ground trying to deal with my leg. A lady came out of the hotel and told me to come inside. While I sat inside and drank the water they gave me, somebody appeared with a First Aid Kit and proceeded to clean my leg and bandage it for me. I was immensely grateful and offered money, but they would take nothing. I have had other experiences here. In my book Thai's are an extremely kind caring people. Your experience may vary.

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53 minutes ago, Keith Bennett said:

During my second trip to Thailand, in 2001, I visited Khon Kaen.  My home town is New York City, where I used public transportation almost all the time.  So when I was leaving a shopping center in Khon Kaen, and the tuk-tuk drivers quoted me ridiculous prices to return to my hotel, I decided to ride a public songtaew. How hard could it be, I’m a New Yorker, I’m city-savvy, right? ...heh...

 

This was of course before the days of mobile phones and data networks, so I pulled out my map and tried to read the street signs, to know where I was and when to get off.  I soon realized I had no idea where I was or if I was even on the right songtaew.

 

The other passengers sensed my distress, and a young couple who were disembarking motioned for me to go with them. Although I was a little apprehensive, I decided that I was better off accepting their offer than not. We got off, and the woman motioned for me to stay by the street with her husband while she went into her house for something.

 

She emerged with two motorcycle helmets, and I figured out that the husband was going to bring me to my hotel. It was about a ten minute ride. I pulled out my wallet to give him my card so we could stay in touch. He thought I was going to give him money and motioned his refusal.

 

This hospitality deeply moved me, and I have tried to model that ever since. About a year later I was in a Korean supermarket in Silver Spring, Maryland (in the USA), and an elderly woman was speaking with distress to a store employee. With my minimal Korean language skills I figured out that she had no ride home. Remembering the Khon Kaen event, I realized that it was time to give back. I drove her home, a 20 minute drive each way. She tried to give me money but of course I refused.

 

To this day I am moved by acts of kindness given me by Thai people. Of course, there are bad people too, as there are everywhere, but it’s important to realize that we naturally tend to magnify in our minds the negative experiences. We need to compensate for that negative bias by reminding ourselves that it is a bias and that the statistical reality is not nearly as bad. For every reckless driver, for example, there are a hundred who carefully and gingerly proceed from a traffic light allowing motorbikers like me to pass safely.

 

A single act of kindness is multiplied in this way.  Negative actions are multiplied as well. May we all remember this when we deal with strangers, friends, and loved ones – and when we post on ThaiVisa.
 

Great post. Nice to read at Christmas, especially about the children.

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11 minutes ago, diehard71 said:

I AM THE ONE THAT HAS HOSPITALITY AND I AM NOT THAI,I HAVE THAI FRIENDS AND NEIGHBOURS AT MY PLACE EVERY NIGHT EATING AND DRINKING FREE OF CHARGE,NOT DRINKING WATER BUT BEER AND WHISKY .BEEN GOING ON FOR OVER 40 YEARS ,AND NO I DO NOT HAVE A GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR ATTITUDE.BY THE WAY NONE OF THEM EVER INVITED ME OVER TO THEIR PLACE.

OK MATE. SOUNDS LIKE YOU ENJOY GETTING TAKEN FOR A RIDE BUT NO NEED TO SHOUT AT US, EH?

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16 minutes ago, transam said:

If Thai folk "read" you are OK you will not have a problem and they will do stuff....Many years here have shown me that...

I think this sums it up perfectly. I've always thought they had good intuitions even without speaking the same language. You show respect here and its generally paid back in spades. 

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