Thankful for Hospitality in The Land of Smiles

            My sister, Charlotte, recently returned from a trip to Germany.  Although she had a great time on the trip, she did notice that people were markedly less friendly with her when they realized that she did not speak German. Discussing this, she asked me if I had encountered the same problem while living and traveling in Thailand. 

            This question made me once again realize how fortunate we are to live in a place like Thailand, and how different this country is from many others.  Although this is speaking from our limited experience, we have found Thai people to be extremely kind and helpful to foreigners who do not speak their language.  In fact, not only are they willing to help foreigners, at times they will actually go out of their way to provide help, even if they have not been asked!

            The best example of this is when we first arrived in Chiang Saen.  Due to some delays in transportation, we were arriving much later than we had anticipated.  We knew we were on the correct bus from Chiang Rai, but as we drove through the pitch black countryside on a road that alternated between pavement and dirt, we realized we had no idea what to do once we arrived in Chiang Saen.  How far would the school be from the bus station? How would we get a hold of the school once we arrived?  What the heck were we doing up here in the middle of nowhere Thailand? Apparently able to discern our discomfort, some of the women on the bus began asking us where we were going, and once they found out we were going to the school, they began to discuss among themselves how to best help us.  Long story short, we ended up sitting at the bus stop with two of the women from the bus, both of whom spoke next-to-no English, waiting for their friend to arrive to pick them up on a motorbike.  Their friend arrived (wearing a WhoDey! shirt, which I took as a sign he could be trusted) and he ended up taking Jon on his motorbike to the school.  Jon used a phone from the security guard at the school to call Peter, Peter came and picked us up, and everything was resolved.  This story has a happy ending, but life would have been a LOT more difficult if these women hadn’t decided to take us under their wing.  Even though we couldn’t communicate with them, even though we were not their responsibility in the slightest, they took time out of their day to help us get where we needed to go.  Every once in awhile, we see these people (we call them “our angels”) around town, and we always make sure to thank them once again and tell them how much they are appreciated.

Although this kindness and hospitality is probably more common in a small town like Chaing Saen, in our experience, this sentiment can also be found in more touristy areas.  During our travels in October, for example, we booked a combined ferry and bus ticket from Koh Samui back to Bangkok.  We got on the bus on Koh Samui, went to the ferry station, got off the bus, took the ferry, and then got back on the bus for the trip to Bangkok.  With all of the getting on and off buses and ferries, this whole process was slightly confusing, especially as all of the directions were given in Thai.  Once again, without a word being said on our part, some of our fellow passengers recognized our confusion and figured out a way – despite their ability to speak very little English, and our ability to speak very little Thai – to help us understand when the ferry would depart and where we needed to be.

Thailand is known as the Land of Smiles, and we have found this country to live up to its reputation.  Although there are exceptions to every rule, people here are laidback, friendly, and giving -- if they see a way they can help you, they will provide that help.  It’s almost an instinctual thing, whereas Americans might conduct a cost/benefit analysis, Thai people just do it.  They offer whatever they can provide and seriously expect nothing in return except for you to do the same -- not even specifically for them, but for others in general.   Living in Thailand and being exposed to all this kindness and hospitality has really pushed both of us to consider the ways that we treat others, and the lessons we can learn from this culture and these people.