Thailand
Area: 513,120 km2 ( 5% of Canada, 1.43 x Germany, 198 x Luxembourg)
Population: 66,720,153 ( 2x Canada, 82% of Germany, 130x Luxembourg)
Capital: Bangkok
Currency: Thai baht (THB)
Time travelled: 23 days
Distance travelled: 1,918 km (overland by bus, 0 km by train and plane)
Highlights in chronological order:
- Our CS hosts Taylor and Oh in Chiang Rai – just wonderful & funny
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The food (Tom Ka Gai, Curry, Mango Sticky Rice)
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Discovering Chiang Mai’s little alleys (sois)
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The cooking course
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Making wonderful friends on the trek
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Elephant Mahout Training
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Visiting the temples in Sukhothai by bike
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Getting massages
We stayed 23 days in Thailand, but only in the North. Therefore, our impressions only pertain to this area. We think Bangkok and the South is a lot different, but we don’t know. We’ll have to go another time to discover it.
The People: At first we were pleasantly impressed with the Thai in Chiang Rai. Our CS host as well as other people were extremely friendly. As time went on though, we didn’t feel that so much anymore. In Chiang Mai we met nice people, but mostly foreigners and only very few Thai. It seemed that some Thais in and around Chiang Mai and Sukhothai are fed up of tourists and are becoming more Vietnamese in trying to rip you off every time they can. We also got scammed several times which had never happened in the countries before, even though they were trying hard in Vietnam. More people speak English than in Laos, but still not as many and as much as we had expected. There are lots of tourists and expats in Thailand, so we thought their English would be better. It’s still good enough for them to do business with you, but unfortunately it limited our conversations with them. The only times we interacted more with Thais was at the Hut Cafe and at the massage place. There the ladies were super nice and since we went back a few times, we got to be “friends”. They told us about their kids, their boyfriends, their salaries, their parties, etc and also asked many questions in return.
Through Southeast Asia so far, we heard one sentence very very often. Whenever we would ask what something is or what the difference between 2 things is, we got the answer: “Same Same, But Different”. It might not sound funny to others, but for those who have travelled in this part of the world had heard it often, it becomes a motto. In the end Christoph bought a shirt to immortalize this saying.
The Culture: The Thai culture is dominated by Buddhism, the King and food. They are in the year 2555 (counting since Buddha’s birth) and they use this date on calendars everywhere, not just in theory. Their New Year starts with the celebration of Songkran in April, just like the Cambodians and Lao. While we were in Chiang Mai, it was the Chinese New Year on January 23rd. This was celebrated only by the Chinese community and we heard some firecrackers on the streets. Theravada Buddhism is the state religion and every man is expected to become a monk during his lifetime. It is usually 3 months and the family receives good karma if their son “takes robe and bowl”. The Thai King also has to be a Buddhist. The King and the Royal Family are thought of very highly and you can see pictures of the King everywhere. Every guesthouse, restaurant and shop has one. There are larger pictures of him on the streets, in front of schools, offices and everywhere else. You cannot speak badly of the Royal Family and stepping on money can lead to imprisonment (the King is on each bill). The Thais also love to eat, so it takes up a big part of their day.
The Food: Just amazing! Thais like to eat and we can understand why, with such a great variety and delicious taste. Thais like it when each dish has a balance of the 4 flavours: sweet (palm sugar), salty (fish or soy sauce), sour (tamarind or lime juice) and spicy. Everything has to be spicy, so they add lots and lots of chillies to everything. The minimum amount is 3 chillies per plate, otherwise it’s considered to be “baby food”. This takes some getting used to and often our mouths were a bit on fire, but our taste buds adapted pretty quickly. The cooking course was fun and we really look forward to preparing some of the delicious dishes at home. Hopefully we can find all the exotic ingredients. The variety is endless so we had lots of fun discovering new dishes every day.
Among our favourites are: the curries (red, yellow or green), Kao Soi (a typical Chiang Mai noodle curry dish), Massaman curry (like red curry but with a few added spices, such as cinnamon), Penang curry, Pad Thai, Pad Sew, Spicy green papaya salad (grated green papaya served with grated carrots, lime juice, chillies and peanuts) and Tom Kha Gai (spicy coconut milk soup with chicken).
There is a dessert called Mango Sticky Rice. Basically it’s sticky rice (a variety of rice) cooked with coconut milk, sugar and salt. When the rice is ready, it’s served with a fresh ripe sliced mango and more sweet coconut milk is poured on top. It’s similar to rice pudding, just a lot better. Cecilia had it almost every day, either for breakfast or dessert (or both?).
The Economy: The economy is a lot more developed than Cambodia and Laos. There is a lot of agriculture, mainly rice, fruits and vegetables. Tourism also plays a major role, much more than in the neighbouring countries. The King introduced many programs to promote wealth in the country and it seems to have worked.
Transportation: Thailand’s roads are really good. Connecting the cities there are highways and buses can drive at almost 100km/h, so it’s a lot faster getting to places. There is a railway system, but since we didn’t go further South than Sukhothai, we didn’t get to try it. It is easy getting around since there is public transportation between cities. Within the city it can become more difficult, but there is always a shared sangtau waiting to bring you to your destination.