12 Things That Make Foreigners Different to Thais(Explained)

I have a chance to read the contents in “Pattaya Fabulous” free newspaper in the header of “12 things that make foreigners different to Thai “.

And I think, it is the interesting topic, especially for the place that have a lot of foreigners travel around like “Pattaya” .

So, Let’s start one by one 

1.They eat all the time – food is not enemy to avoid but a good excuse to spend time with friends, family and co-workers.  

– Thai people like the food because they have a variety of choices and tastes .You can find the food every where and it is so cheap and easy so you can just grab and go. And we have to admit, that strong taste of Thai food is something that hard to refuse .

2.They don’t use knife – when it comes to table etiquette, Thais use the spoon that goes in the right hand and the fork in the left one. This is not a big issue since the local food is finely cut.

– Most of the Thai food will serve with rice and Thai also produce the rice to the world as well.They have a famous specie of rice call “Jasmine rice”  and Thai people love it.That culture of eating rice later bring the spoon and folk to the table. 

3.They expect you to order as soon as you sit at the table. – Don’t be surprised when you arrive at a restaurant to be given the menu and simultaneously asked for your order. I have no idea why! but it often seems to be the case!

– If you are sitting in the local restaurant that will cook base on the order, then that is because the restaurant like this in Thailand they mostly have the same menu and people need the fast service before their short break are gone.

4.Launch break with the purse  – Thai women leave their bags in the office and head for the launch break taking with them only the purse, mobile and company badge(which is also used to reserve the table while choosing the food).

– Why you have to bring everything to have a launch break while you can just carry a fewer load, right? However, to leave the purse to reserve the table with no fear is something that they keep taking a risk by think that a lot of people here, nobody will dare to take it (too many witness). 

5.They add ka at the end of every sentence (or krub for men) – adding this word makes the sentence sound more polite. It is similar to English please, even though the use of ka/krub is more extensive. 

– And because Thailand culture is serious about age and seniority, they have to respect them and talk politely. When you speak to the one that have a higher position in all case, don’t forget to add “Ka”if you are women or  “Krub ” if you are men at the end of the sentence. That’s the cute way of talking in Thailand.

6.They show respect to the Royal family – Thais love the King and the Royal family. In honor of the King’s birthday millions of locals wear yellow shirts, t-shirts and polos.

– We all work hard for our family, but only one family work hard for every family.

7.They love their country – some Thais have traveled/lived abroad for a while, others would like to, but both categories are firm that they wouldn’t change their homeland to anything in the world. 

– When you go so far away from home, you will start to realize so many things. Our land is already great for living. We got natural resources in every corner of the country, we have the incredible food. And everything is not so expensive. People are nice and easy going. It is hard for us to let go all those beautiful things.

8.They are selfie obsessed – I take a selfies, therefore I am the philosophy Thais live by. Any place and time is suitable to take the picture. Even during a religious service in the temple.

– It’s true! and I think it’s about the addiction in social network as well. We have around 68.86 million in population and 46 million are already in the Facebook. That is almost 67% of the population.Think at it as the opportunity to do online marketing. 

9.They are obsessed with white skin – everyone knows that Asian people in general appreciate white skin. There is a whole industry be hide this phenomenon.What I didn’t know was the real time whitening camera app exist.

– Fun fact: Base on what I have studied, The perception about beauty sometime start from the history.

For Thai people back then, if you have a white skin, that’s mean you are in a rich and good family and you have a house to cover your head. And the slave will have a darker skin because they have to work hard in the sunlight .

For Foreigners, Being tan is mean you have a great life with your traveling. You got in the sunlight,you got to the beach. That’s cool.

10.They are happy – and it’s contagious. Happiness is an attitude and it comes from within. And Thai people know something about it.

– We have a secret word “Mai pen rai”. It’s mean “It’s okay, never mind”. And we keep going.

11.They are relaxed – imagine what will happen in the Western world if the traffic light stays red for more than 10 minutes. Do you know what happens in Pattaya? Nothing! Everyone waits patiently and what is most important…silently

– Look again but inside the of car,lol. We wait but not patiently. We wait because we have to. We wish this problem could be fix too one day.

12. A whole family can fit on a motorbike – and not just motobikes either, it is amazing some of the overloaded vehicles you see around Thailand.

–  If you want to see the maximum of this wonderful skill, You need to see the Took-Took around the local school. 

Now you can go enjoy you day, good day.