Thailand - Last Thoughts

Last Day

My travel day home was on Monday (albeit 5:50AM). I got up bright and early and headed out on my own to get some more shopping done (bartering at its best ), grab some lunch, then pack and just spend time with my friends.

I had learned the currency fairly fast and could haggle/barter in stores, cabs and street vendors. Speaking of Money the equivalent fare for a 45 minute ride to the airport is $7 US plus tolls- sheesh.

Travel in Thailand brought my modes of transportation to a new high -- ready? Plane, taxi, car driven by foreigner, sky-train, subway, motorcycle, tuk-tuk (sort of a motorized bike with with a golf cart on the back), feet, bamboo raft, longboat and let's n ot forget -- elephant.

I ate 'beef' only once and treated myself to Thai dishes only. The prawns were HUGE so I ate a lot of 'sea' food My first Thai phrase was Mai Pet -- which meant Not Spicy -- it was all uphill from there. They eat healthy and don't overeat. There is no such thing as soup, salad, appetizer, main dish, dessert. Their soup has veggies in it and some protein, plus noodles or rice and is all you need. If 2 appys are ordered and main dishes -- everyone shares everything -- all you keep in front of you is a dish with rice to which you add samples of the other food. They have us beat here!!.

The Thai people are family oriented. Children stay up as late as parents and are taken everywhere, which is why they are so well behaved. Money is always sent to parents by their children and many live with their children. What I saw was mothers and daughters, cousins ,etc all as friends as much as family. They love spending time together and actually prefer to have 10 hang out in a bedroom, laughing, eating and drinking, than in a spacious living room. THEN they all go to sleep together on the floor and bed. Oh yes, children do NOT have their own room - if there is a grandmother, they stay with them in their room. It is just how it is!

Did I mention how CLEAN Thailand is? Whether on the streets of Bangkok, in the subway, on the sky train or in the country -- Thai's are proud of their country and take care of it. The new airport is absolutely amazing -- spacious, easy to navigate, bright and clean!! They do not charge for use of luggage carts -- they are waiting on the curb when you drive up in your taxi so you can maneuver luggage without a problem (JFK charges $5 )

Thank you again to my Thai family -- Erik, Pim, Zen Alex, Yay, May, Som Tam (white pup - name means salad( and Kai Dao (pekanese - name means friend egs). I cannot imagine having done this with anyone one else but them.