The Other Stuff...

Culture, scenery, adventures, weather, food, hotels. I could prattle on about all of these things from the time I spent in Thailand as they amounted to an incredible experience. But instead I want to share some of the more unexpected sights and sounds that have stuck with me.

First, the serious.

There was a young elephant in Phuket, named "Mr Phuket", who could dance and play the harmonica at the same time. It was cute but somewhat disconcerting as well; not that an 

elephant was showing me up, but in terms of my presence contributing to his way of life and familiarity with being chained to a post. Never really been an animal welfare advocate, but I don't know. Guess I was kind of marvelling at the freedom I had in my life (to be able to go to an exotic place like Thailand), and it made me wonder if Mr Phuket would have been happier journeying through life in a herd of elephants, and without a name.

Thailand's population is something like 90% Buddhist. (As far as religion goes, Buddhism seems like a very noble one. At the Grand Palace in Bangkok, which is also the home of the Emerald Buddha, we learned that Buddhists follow six principles that preach things like acceptance, honesty, and offering. So it's not surprising that it is one of the most peaceful and responsible religions humanity has seen.) Anyway, I saw a boy wearing a santa hat. He was playing in the street with other children in one of the poorer areas that we were driving past. It was just unexpected. I guess he might have known about Santa Claus, the people in Phuket have become quite wise to Western culture - necessarily so, I guess, as tourism drives their economy and there's so much competition amongst themselves to sell similar goods that anything that gives one merchant an edge could make all the difference. The image of this young Thai child in the santa hat who seemed to be living in near-poverty just shook me. Another experience that made me appreciate my circumstances more.

And now, the not so serious.

I noted several amusing translations from Thai to English that didn't quite work. One that was on the funnier side was the name and description of a fairly nice beachfront group of apartments. 

"SLEEPWITHME"

Flashy Serviced Apartments

It was definitely eye-catching. I think there might have even been a smiley face after the 'ME'. I guess the fact that an apartment complex could have such carnal desires amused me most, followed by the word 'Flashy'. It seemed like an unusual choice of adjective, and perpetuated that the apartments were all show. :)

While wandering the streets of Patong you become accustomed to hearing incomprehensible Thai and lots of broken English (adopting which I found to be a really fun way to aggravate my fellow-holidayers). You don't expect to hear a full on British accent. Let alone one that was addressing you. Let alone from an older man with grey hair. Let alone one that is asking you:

"'av you 'eard about the part-ee at Rock Cit-ee t'night?"

I think I just looked at him, "huh?" written on my face. I didn't stop walking though. Later I wondered if he really was English or the accent was just a gimmick. Then I wondered why he'd be spruiking like that. Then I realised I was thinking about it too much - which I'm still doing apparently. Who would respond to an old Englishman's request to come party with him? Sure a few people might but... come on! I've decided that it would be cool if he'd actually been a once-very-famous rock star in his youth who was now trying to recapture his glory days.

Well, that's "The Other Stuff" from my trip to Thailand. 

Thank you for listen to me. You my friend. See later ok! 

T-shirt for you sir?

Dale. :)