July 26th, 2006, 04:13
A very nice story from a Thai boy. (I find it on the Internet). Enjoy the view from this Thai boy !
I am a Thai boy who was born and raised in Bangkok. I have never been a bar boy, but used to be a party animal. All I wanted was just going out, tried whatever I could. I have seen and done many things, both good and bad. They happened by my intention, and coincident. I am not saying that I have had a lot of experiences more than everyone, but I am sure that I had a lot more than you could imagine.
I will also start with flies. I have never tried to catch flies with my bare hands, but I asked an American guy who can catch flies, mosquitoes and all kind of insects wherever he goes with his bare hands. He told me about the abilities for catching flies.. тАЬsmarter and fasterтАЭ. Well, for me that was clear.
A flyswatter, a can of fly killer, a rolled-up newspaper, or whatever are good for the one who has no тАЬflies catching abilitiesтАЭ. I had problems with flies every time I was eating at open air restaurants or camping. I have seen in every fresh markets, especially, butcher shops, they have a clear plastic bag, filled up with water hanging above the meat. I asked one of the butcher, he told me that plastic bag is using for protect meat from flies. After that knowledge, every time I went to the beach or camping, I used that plastic bag thing... It works. (not 100% but it was good enough for me to enjoy my meal without waving my hands all the time.)
Humble dogs lie down and go to sleep in the middle of a crowded street. It is very normal in Thailand. There are thousands of street dogs in Thailand. They live nearby the roads which are their тАЬhomeтАЭ. It is very easy for them to get hit by cars or motorcycles. I hit one once while I was riding a bicycle around my neighborhood. He was not a humble dog, but he was old, and I rode the bicycle very fast. The result, we both got hurt. Was I stupid? or the dog? or Was I very good to hit a dog by a bicycle? or It Was an Accident!!
I have been living in the USA for almost 2 years. I have never seen any dogs get hit by cars but deer, moles, raccoons and squirrels. Do you think they are stupid? My answer is NO... because they are animals... They have never been told what a car is? or How to use the freeway? The ones which got hit by cars and still alive.. I am sure that they will be more careful next time they want to use freeway. For the unfortunate ones who never have a chance to go back to tell their family and friends about the dangerous that could happen by crossing freeway. They still have no idea how to use freeway.
In the USA., dogs live in houses, and if they have a chance to go for a walk, they come with leashes around their necks. Do you think it is easy for them to get hit by cars? I am sure that there are many kangaroos that get hit by cars all over Australia, same as deer get hit by cars in the USA or street dogs in Thailand. Many times, I had seen street dogs around Siam Square, MBK, and the Victory Monument waiting for a signal at intersection or using pedestrian flyovers in Bangkok.
I have no arguments about тАЬthe careless driversтАЭ who drive a car without safety belt or riding a motorcycle without a helmet, boots and gloves. All those things could protect the drivers from serious injury, but I have seen an accident which was happened to a guy with a helmet. The worst one I have seen was his arms, legs, guts, body and head were not at the same direction. Only one thing still together was his head in the helmet. That was proved that a helmet can protect you from brain injury..
8 years ago, my friend had a car accident. Somebody cut in front of his car. Fortunately, he didnтАЩt have his safety belt on (not recommended), otherwise, he might have been killed at the scene. I was driving right behind him, so I saw everything that happened to my friend. (imagine the car in 2fast 2furious, 45 degrees inclined seat.) I found his top part was laid down at the rear console. His hip was at the seat which the head should be. I saw a pole which was used for a fence in his car. He had a serious injury at the lower part of her belly button. The pole got through the engine. He got stabbed by the pole. If he had the safety belt on.. I donтАЩt want to think about it.
I had my own accident, it was not a serious one, no head or brain injury, nothing was broken, but my belly and the skin at my right collarbone got burnt by the safety belt. Will I stop using the safety belt? - NO!! I have more confidence with the safety belt... Am I stupid?
Safety belt might protect you from some serious impact but the best way is be very careful while driving or using the road. Careless drivers or drunk drivers are all over the place both domestic and international. Be very careful, an accident is an unexpected and undesirable event that might happened to anyone, anywhere and anytime. I have seen shows name тАЬStupid driversтАЭ and тАЬStupid crimesтАЭ. They were all westerners. Have you ever seen those shows. I wish you had.
AIDS.. what should I say?? In 1980, HIV had spread to at least 5 continents (North America, South America, Europe, Africa and Australia) I agree that Thais are stupid.. we were not smart enough to develop AIDS by that time, but westerners. They did it well though. Nowadays, every 6 seconds someone new is infected with HIV. I am not making this up. I read from www.aids.org (http://www.aids.org) Do you think they are all Thais?
A friend of mine, who owns a bathing, steaming, and massaging business (Arb Ob Nuad) in Bangkok. He told me that the boys at his place and mostly in this business must have blood testing every 2 months. It doesnтАЩt mean that they could protect themselves from AIDS 100%. Sometimes, they were asked to work without any kind of protection. I donтАЩt think they have too many choices for refusing those kind of customers. Good news, they will get an extra money.. Bad news, they might get an extra virus.
About restaurants.. I have had the same problem, but not only in Thailand. I was a waiter in the USA. 4 months at a Thai restaurant and another 8 months at an Italian restaurant. At the Italian restaurant, I worked with an American manager. At lunch time, they use only 1 waiter, that was me. There was no problem, if I worked all by myself. Anytime, it was busy and the managers wanted to help me or at dinner time, there were 2-4 waiters working altogether.... the magic (mistakes) happened. From my experience the mistakes happened by the chef misreading or he forgot to follow the тАЬspecialтАЭ orders and / or the other wait staffs want to please their customers by stealing the same order from my customerтАЩs order to be hims.. but it happened to be тАЬthe specialтАЭ no onion, no tomatoes or whatever. Well... working as a waiter was not that bad, but many situations made me realized that being a waiter sucks, especially, whenever I got a**hole customers and co-workers. I think I wonтАЩt go back to work as a waiter again.. sucks, sucks and sucks...
Back in Thailand, the way you get treated by waiter are totally different. I have never heard one of them introduce themselves, no smiling. Mostly, they come to the table, take order, and leave. They come back again with the food and then hiding themselves in the dark corner, waiting for the next order. When I was in Bangkok, I never cooked. I didnтАЩt know how to cook. I ate outside or delivery everyday.
A building, I bought my own room at somewhere on Ratchada Road. There are 2 handy men who can fix everything. It was a service that the condominium gives to the owners. They will do everything you want for free, but you have to pay for the equipments... no service charge.. The first time I got their service.. It was not so good. (I was a new resident.) After a few months, I wanted to add more phone line, so I needed their service.. This time I got a better job. The house keeper told me that they liked me because every time I ordered a delivery food, I also bought food for them. Not only pizzas and fried chickens that they want, the job even better.. I mean тАЬperfectтАЭ if I gave them an extra money. After I knew what they wanted, I got what I want.
About the government, I should not say anything much because I like the present prime minister, plus I donтАЩt have any information of the news. In my opinion, he is the one of a few good prime ministers. He could make Thailand paid off its IMF debt before schedule. That was proved a lot for me. Compare to the ex-ex-ex prime minister who did nothing, but corruption.
I really donтАЩt care about he appointed his relatives or whoever as long as they can develop the country.
About supporting the American troops. I believe that he had enough good reasons to do that and his relationship between him and the president of the USA. People like us never know.
The clampdown on the capitalтАЩs nightlife. In my opinion, it is not stupid. As I told you, I was a party boy, never come back home before 5am. (but not later than 6am. because of the traffic.) First time I heard that news, I didnтАЩt like it, but when I had my second thoughts, IтАЩve no problem with that. If they want to close at midnight, I will start my party before 10pm. A few hours at public place, after that тАЬprivate party!!тАЭ. Anyhow, Thailand is the Buddhism country. We have our good culture. It is not stupid if we want to protect that. We donтАЩt have only famous nightlife for foreigners to visit. For the visitors who want to have fun with Thai bar boys, you should visit the Grand Palace and the Royal temple of the Emerald Buddha first, before you step in the bars.
The last opinion, nobody canтАЩt be the same. They might copy the one they want to be, but there must be something that can tell the difference, even an identical twin. My brother and I are look alike, but inside are totally differences. I donтАЩt like comparison, personally. Thailand is Thailand. The USA is the USA. The UK is the UK. All different people, cultures, and so on.
You might not know something, it doesnтАЩt mean you are stupid. My uncle, an architect who has been living and working in New Jersey for over 30 years. 3 years ago he drove to see my mom in Maryland, on the way, he needed some more gas. He stopped by at a gas station somewhere out of NJ. He didnтАЩt know how to get gas by himself because gas stations in NJ are not self-service, so did I. The first time I had to get gas by myself in the USA, I really didnтАЩt know how. (I had my mom took me a photos, though, I wanted to show my friends in Bangkok) In Thailand, we donтАЩt have to get gas by ourselves, so I was very excited for my first time here.. I will not blame you if you want to call me or my uncle stupid Thai people. IтАЩve no problem with that.
When I was working at a Thai restaurant, I saw many foreigners had a funny behavior eating Thai foods. To be honest, I thought it was funny, but I never laughed at them. I only thought it was my responsible telling them how to eat those foods in the right way and avoiding fresh peppers if they could not handle spicy stuffs.
What do you expect, when you are not in your тАЬhomeтАЭ? - There is no place like home.. All the above are my experiences and opinions. I always respect everyoneтАЩs opinion. I didnтАЩt mean and I didnтАЩt want to have any argument. . Watch and learn from your mistakes.
Have a great day!!
I am a Thai boy who was born and raised in Bangkok. I have never been a bar boy, but used to be a party animal. All I wanted was just going out, tried whatever I could. I have seen and done many things, both good and bad. They happened by my intention, and coincident. I am not saying that I have had a lot of experiences more than everyone, but I am sure that I had a lot more than you could imagine.
I will also start with flies. I have never tried to catch flies with my bare hands, but I asked an American guy who can catch flies, mosquitoes and all kind of insects wherever he goes with his bare hands. He told me about the abilities for catching flies.. тАЬsmarter and fasterтАЭ. Well, for me that was clear.
A flyswatter, a can of fly killer, a rolled-up newspaper, or whatever are good for the one who has no тАЬflies catching abilitiesтАЭ. I had problems with flies every time I was eating at open air restaurants or camping. I have seen in every fresh markets, especially, butcher shops, they have a clear plastic bag, filled up with water hanging above the meat. I asked one of the butcher, he told me that plastic bag is using for protect meat from flies. After that knowledge, every time I went to the beach or camping, I used that plastic bag thing... It works. (not 100% but it was good enough for me to enjoy my meal without waving my hands all the time.)
Humble dogs lie down and go to sleep in the middle of a crowded street. It is very normal in Thailand. There are thousands of street dogs in Thailand. They live nearby the roads which are their тАЬhomeтАЭ. It is very easy for them to get hit by cars or motorcycles. I hit one once while I was riding a bicycle around my neighborhood. He was not a humble dog, but he was old, and I rode the bicycle very fast. The result, we both got hurt. Was I stupid? or the dog? or Was I very good to hit a dog by a bicycle? or It Was an Accident!!
I have been living in the USA for almost 2 years. I have never seen any dogs get hit by cars but deer, moles, raccoons and squirrels. Do you think they are stupid? My answer is NO... because they are animals... They have never been told what a car is? or How to use the freeway? The ones which got hit by cars and still alive.. I am sure that they will be more careful next time they want to use freeway. For the unfortunate ones who never have a chance to go back to tell their family and friends about the dangerous that could happen by crossing freeway. They still have no idea how to use freeway.
In the USA., dogs live in houses, and if they have a chance to go for a walk, they come with leashes around their necks. Do you think it is easy for them to get hit by cars? I am sure that there are many kangaroos that get hit by cars all over Australia, same as deer get hit by cars in the USA or street dogs in Thailand. Many times, I had seen street dogs around Siam Square, MBK, and the Victory Monument waiting for a signal at intersection or using pedestrian flyovers in Bangkok.
I have no arguments about тАЬthe careless driversтАЭ who drive a car without safety belt or riding a motorcycle without a helmet, boots and gloves. All those things could protect the drivers from serious injury, but I have seen an accident which was happened to a guy with a helmet. The worst one I have seen was his arms, legs, guts, body and head were not at the same direction. Only one thing still together was his head in the helmet. That was proved that a helmet can protect you from brain injury..
8 years ago, my friend had a car accident. Somebody cut in front of his car. Fortunately, he didnтАЩt have his safety belt on (not recommended), otherwise, he might have been killed at the scene. I was driving right behind him, so I saw everything that happened to my friend. (imagine the car in 2fast 2furious, 45 degrees inclined seat.) I found his top part was laid down at the rear console. His hip was at the seat which the head should be. I saw a pole which was used for a fence in his car. He had a serious injury at the lower part of her belly button. The pole got through the engine. He got stabbed by the pole. If he had the safety belt on.. I donтАЩt want to think about it.
I had my own accident, it was not a serious one, no head or brain injury, nothing was broken, but my belly and the skin at my right collarbone got burnt by the safety belt. Will I stop using the safety belt? - NO!! I have more confidence with the safety belt... Am I stupid?
Safety belt might protect you from some serious impact but the best way is be very careful while driving or using the road. Careless drivers or drunk drivers are all over the place both domestic and international. Be very careful, an accident is an unexpected and undesirable event that might happened to anyone, anywhere and anytime. I have seen shows name тАЬStupid driversтАЭ and тАЬStupid crimesтАЭ. They were all westerners. Have you ever seen those shows. I wish you had.
AIDS.. what should I say?? In 1980, HIV had spread to at least 5 continents (North America, South America, Europe, Africa and Australia) I agree that Thais are stupid.. we were not smart enough to develop AIDS by that time, but westerners. They did it well though. Nowadays, every 6 seconds someone new is infected with HIV. I am not making this up. I read from www.aids.org (http://www.aids.org) Do you think they are all Thais?
A friend of mine, who owns a bathing, steaming, and massaging business (Arb Ob Nuad) in Bangkok. He told me that the boys at his place and mostly in this business must have blood testing every 2 months. It doesnтАЩt mean that they could protect themselves from AIDS 100%. Sometimes, they were asked to work without any kind of protection. I donтАЩt think they have too many choices for refusing those kind of customers. Good news, they will get an extra money.. Bad news, they might get an extra virus.
About restaurants.. I have had the same problem, but not only in Thailand. I was a waiter in the USA. 4 months at a Thai restaurant and another 8 months at an Italian restaurant. At the Italian restaurant, I worked with an American manager. At lunch time, they use only 1 waiter, that was me. There was no problem, if I worked all by myself. Anytime, it was busy and the managers wanted to help me or at dinner time, there were 2-4 waiters working altogether.... the magic (mistakes) happened. From my experience the mistakes happened by the chef misreading or he forgot to follow the тАЬspecialтАЭ orders and / or the other wait staffs want to please their customers by stealing the same order from my customerтАЩs order to be hims.. but it happened to be тАЬthe specialтАЭ no onion, no tomatoes or whatever. Well... working as a waiter was not that bad, but many situations made me realized that being a waiter sucks, especially, whenever I got a**hole customers and co-workers. I think I wonтАЩt go back to work as a waiter again.. sucks, sucks and sucks...
Back in Thailand, the way you get treated by waiter are totally different. I have never heard one of them introduce themselves, no smiling. Mostly, they come to the table, take order, and leave. They come back again with the food and then hiding themselves in the dark corner, waiting for the next order. When I was in Bangkok, I never cooked. I didnтАЩt know how to cook. I ate outside or delivery everyday.
A building, I bought my own room at somewhere on Ratchada Road. There are 2 handy men who can fix everything. It was a service that the condominium gives to the owners. They will do everything you want for free, but you have to pay for the equipments... no service charge.. The first time I got their service.. It was not so good. (I was a new resident.) After a few months, I wanted to add more phone line, so I needed their service.. This time I got a better job. The house keeper told me that they liked me because every time I ordered a delivery food, I also bought food for them. Not only pizzas and fried chickens that they want, the job even better.. I mean тАЬperfectтАЭ if I gave them an extra money. After I knew what they wanted, I got what I want.
About the government, I should not say anything much because I like the present prime minister, plus I donтАЩt have any information of the news. In my opinion, he is the one of a few good prime ministers. He could make Thailand paid off its IMF debt before schedule. That was proved a lot for me. Compare to the ex-ex-ex prime minister who did nothing, but corruption.
I really donтАЩt care about he appointed his relatives or whoever as long as they can develop the country.
About supporting the American troops. I believe that he had enough good reasons to do that and his relationship between him and the president of the USA. People like us never know.
The clampdown on the capitalтАЩs nightlife. In my opinion, it is not stupid. As I told you, I was a party boy, never come back home before 5am. (but not later than 6am. because of the traffic.) First time I heard that news, I didnтАЩt like it, but when I had my second thoughts, IтАЩve no problem with that. If they want to close at midnight, I will start my party before 10pm. A few hours at public place, after that тАЬprivate party!!тАЭ. Anyhow, Thailand is the Buddhism country. We have our good culture. It is not stupid if we want to protect that. We donтАЩt have only famous nightlife for foreigners to visit. For the visitors who want to have fun with Thai bar boys, you should visit the Grand Palace and the Royal temple of the Emerald Buddha first, before you step in the bars.
The last opinion, nobody canтАЩt be the same. They might copy the one they want to be, but there must be something that can tell the difference, even an identical twin. My brother and I are look alike, but inside are totally differences. I donтАЩt like comparison, personally. Thailand is Thailand. The USA is the USA. The UK is the UK. All different people, cultures, and so on.
You might not know something, it doesnтАЩt mean you are stupid. My uncle, an architect who has been living and working in New Jersey for over 30 years. 3 years ago he drove to see my mom in Maryland, on the way, he needed some more gas. He stopped by at a gas station somewhere out of NJ. He didnтАЩt know how to get gas by himself because gas stations in NJ are not self-service, so did I. The first time I had to get gas by myself in the USA, I really didnтАЩt know how. (I had my mom took me a photos, though, I wanted to show my friends in Bangkok) In Thailand, we donтАЩt have to get gas by ourselves, so I was very excited for my first time here.. I will not blame you if you want to call me or my uncle stupid Thai people. IтАЩve no problem with that.
When I was working at a Thai restaurant, I saw many foreigners had a funny behavior eating Thai foods. To be honest, I thought it was funny, but I never laughed at them. I only thought it was my responsible telling them how to eat those foods in the right way and avoiding fresh peppers if they could not handle spicy stuffs.
What do you expect, when you are not in your тАЬhomeтАЭ? - There is no place like home.. All the above are my experiences and opinions. I always respect everyoneтАЩs opinion. I didnтАЩt mean and I didnтАЩt want to have any argument. . Watch and learn from your mistakes.
Have a great day!!