Spotlight on Thailand

..We're going to have a series of posts called "Spotlight on..." to give a little information about each of the countries we visit. Here is the first, on Thailand..

Kirstie and Isaac in Chiangrai Province.
(C) Isaac and Kirstie Bickford

The culture and history of Thailand are rich and deep. For us, it's been an interesting mix of new and old things. For example, it's normal to find Buddhist shrines right in the midst of Bangkok's shopping malls and street vendors. While Thai people love shopping and television just as much as any "farang" (foreigner), they also have old-school values such as a strong love of their country and a desire to be truly "Thai" in a way that surpasses the deepest American patriotism.

A wat (temple) in Bangkok, with Imax nearby.
(C) Isaac and Kirstie Bickford

Although we haven't learned to speak very much Thai in our time here, we have learned some interesting details about the language. There are actually three languages called Thai: Central Thai ("standard" Thai, from the perspective of the national government and the one we've been learning), Northern Thai, and Southern Thai. Thai is a tonal language, meaning the relative pitch of the vowels in a word carries meaning. Two words with the same consonants and vowels in the same order can mean two different things if they have different tone. Thai has five tones: high, mid, low, rising, and falling.

We've discovered two words that are used in almost every sentence because they function kind of like polite punctuation. Isaac has only used one of these words in conversation, and Kirstie has only used the other. Why is this? Because the word used depends on the gender of the speaker. Males say khrap, females say kha. If you want to thank your waiter, you can say "khaawp khoon," but it's much more polite to say "khaawp khoon khrap" or "khaawp khoon kha." Some people end every sentence with the one of these words, or even add "na" before the tag word if they want to be super-extra polite.

Phu Chi Fa in the fog.
(C) Isaac and Kirstie Bickford

Most people have to think a lot about toilet paper when they go to new countries. Flush it or throw it? Wipe, spray, or splash? One thing we hadn't expected was to find toilet paper at the dinner table, from elementary schools to classy restaurants. Why is the toilet paper on the dinner table? Napkins! They pull the cardboard roll out and then pull the paper from the middle.

Toilet-paper napkins in a hotel in Thoeng.
(C) Isaac and Kirstie Bickford

It's impossible to talk about toilet paper without talking about toilets (even when the toilet paper being talked about is actually napkins). In bigger cities you'll mostly find western toilets in public places, and they're sometimes found even in smaller towns and villages. Otherwise, welcome to the world of the squatty potty.

A squatty potty with its water bucket at a school in Chiangrai province.
(C) Isaac and Kirstie Bickford

You stand on the sides and squat down. Then you take a dipper from the water barrel and slosh it onto your nethers. Or you can bring your own TP if you prefer. In most places, don't flush your TP; you should throw it away. You may need to carry it out with you since there often isn't a trash can in the bathroom. You also use the water dipper to flush the squatty - Kirstie saw a boy at a school dousing the entire bathroom with water, but if you're not a five-year-old boy, it's usually sufficient to just pour the water into the potty.

We've already spoken a little about transportation when we mentioned the BTS. Another major form of transportation in almost all places is the motorbike. These motorcycles are not the hogs we see in the US. The largest motorcycle we saw (other than a police bike) was 125cc. For those who don't speak motorcycle 250cc is considered a "tiny beginner's bike" in the US.

Motorcycle parking area near a bus terminal in Chiangmai.
(C) Isaac and Kirstie Bickford

And now it's Quiz Time! Answer these questions in the comments section (you can comment anonymously) to you win the satisfaction of knowing that Isaac and Kirstie think you're awesome!

1. What in the world is a tuktuk?
a. Candy!
b. A form of cheap transportation
c. A traditional dress worn by Lahu women
d. Thai nickname for a computer

2. What is the official Thai currency AND the current exchange rate?

3. In regard to sports, Thailand is known as the ____________ Capital of Asia.

TTFN!
..Isaac & Kirstie..