Thailand Wrap Up - Final Thoughts

It is hard to believe how fast 3 1/2 weeks go by, especially when you are having a great time. It is also hard to believe I have been home for a month now.  I learned so many things and experienced so many new things, I am still trying to process them all. I will try to put into words some of what I learned and hope I can paint word pictures that you can understand and provide actual photos to help you see and experience a bit of what I was able to experience while in Thailand.  There will be some pointers here that will be invaluable if you ever decide to visit, and probably some things that will make you go "HUH??"

First of all, never leave home without toilet tissue and always go before you leave home.  Eating establishments are not required to have public restrooms in Thailand and public restrooms in general are often hard to find.  When you do find one, they will not have toilet paper or paper towels to dry your hands.   So, you always make sure you bring your own.  If you are lucky enough to find a restroom, it may be a squatty, so be prepared for that.  What in the world is a squatty, you ask?  It is a ceramic toilet seat of sorts covering a hole in the ground much like an outhouse you would find in the country in the U.S.  The only difference in that is it not on a raised platform and you don't sit on it.  I believe you are to stand on it or over it and squat.  Hence the name, squatty.

Also, you will find a trough or trash can full of water in these restrooms with a dipper of sorts.  You fill the large dipper and pour the water in the squatty in order to flush it.  I also realized that many regular toilets have to be flushed in this same manner. You just pour the water into the toilet bowl until all is flushed down.  Now most of the modern malls have regular operating toilets, and some even place signs warning people not to stand on the toilet as they would a squatty.  Apparently, some people were attempting this, fell and hurt themselves.

Another thing you will find in many public bathrooms as well as those in private homes is a hose with a spray nozzle next to the toilet.  I finally asked what the purpose was and was told it is a bidet of sorts, to wash your bottom.  Now I am willing to try most anything once, but this was not something I tried.  I would have ended up spraying myself in the face or getting myself soaked, so I opted out of that experience.

A couple of the bathrooms had rubber flip flops for you to put on to go into the bathroom. I know that it is customary to remove your shoes when entering a home and I am OK with that.  But putting on shoes that have been worn by who knows who into a public bathroom and what germs might be lingering there?  I did that one time and got the heebie geebies. I must admit I played the dumb foreigner from that point forward and ignored those shoes.

It is also customary to bow when interacting with people. You put your hands together as if praying and bow.  Females  say "Sawadie Ka" and males say "Sawadie Kop". This is hello, goodbye, thank you and everything in between, I think.   Even Ronald McDonald participates.

 It is very hard to do this when your hands are occupied  with a camera, bags, kids hands, etc.,  and many times I would just give a head nod and keep going.   For the most part, the Thai people are very polite and easy going, but if you encounter a group of Chinese, watch out. They are very pushy and can even be downright rude.  Apparently they didn't get the memo that Thailand is the "Land of Smiles."

Many places have different entry prices for Thai citizens, residents and foreigners.  Foreigners pay the highest price and citizens the lowest.  I guess they believe foreigners must be able to pay the higher price if they are able to travel.  I cannot even begin to imagine that system here in America.  It is quite humorous to be with Joseph and people are talking about him because they don't think he understands them.  Then he shows his Thai drivers license and starts conversing with them, and they are shocked. He has learned not to allow them to take advantage of him because he is foreign.  Just ask the  lady at the ticket window at the Illusion Museum in Pattaya.  She refused to give His Grandma York a senior discount because she didn't have her ID with her.  Imagine that big American arguing with this Thai lady in a mixture of Thai and English while a busload of Chinese people are standing in line behind him waiting to purchase tickets.  He didn't get the discount, but was told if he would come back later with her and her ID, they would give him the $10.00 difference in the ticket price.  Lesson learned, always have proof of your age with you.

I have written about the crazy driving, but let me make mention of an absolutely mind boggling form of double parking.  I experienced this twice during my trip and if a parking attendant hadn't been there instructing Joseph how to park, I would have thought he was making it up.  But, let me see if I can adequately explain it.  The first instance was at the shopping mall right before Christmas.  You think our parking mall parking lots are crazy?   Imagine a 6 story mall parking garage that is totally packed.  You keep going up and up and about floor five you see all the spaces are full but cars are parking in the driving lanes behind the parked cars.  Joseph pulls up to park at the behest of the attendant and tells everyone to get out.  I asked him what in the world we were doing.  He said "Parking".  I asked what happens if one of the cars he is blocking in needs to move.  He said, "You put your car in neutral, make sure the wheels are straight, lock the doors and leave.  If someone needs to get out, they just push your car back or forward to make enough room."  WHAT???????  My mind cannot grasp that.  What if there isn't enough room to push your car.  Evidently, you start at the front of the line far enough away so you push each car forward enough to make room to back out.  If I hadn't seen it myself, I never would have believed it.  I said, "I have to take a picture because no one will believe me."  We also had to park this way the night Joseph took me to the airport.  I am still amazed at the practice every time I think about it.

The cars on the left are driving, the cars on the right are parking.












I have seen all the pictures of everyone riding elephants, looking as if they are having a delightful time.  Well, I have a very different perspective after having ridden one.  Joseph was insistent that I get to experience this, so on my last day, we went to a floating market which was a wonderful experience I truly enjoyed.  There were people sitting in their boats cooking, the normal souvenirs were for sale and of all things there were fish that drink milk from a baby bottle. 

Well, after our visit to the floating market, Joseph said we didn't have time to go to the place where he normally takes people to ride the elephants, but there was a place close by.  I told him it was quite all right if we skipped this adventure, but this was something he said "the kids" really wanted me to do.  So off we go.  The "driver" is a young fellow and he has a stick with a pointy end that he keeps using to scratch the elephant's ear.  Now this scenic ride took us right through the middle of a local slum area which is where most of the elephant handlers live apparently.  I had my Gopro out videoing the experience and the further we went, the gladder I was I had it to record what I was sure was going to be the last moments of my life here on earth. 

The elephant was not cooperating in a manner that was acceptable to our driver, so not only was he roughly scraping the animal's ear, he then started banging the elephant's head.  As we were jostling around several feet in the air, Joshua said "Look, Nai Nai, I unhooked the seatbelt."  Well, I wouldn't exactly call it a seatbelt, it was more like a piece of thread with a hook on it and I immediately hooked it back up, not sure what protection it would offer but something is better than nothing, right?.  Makaila was desperately holding onto my other arm saying "They don't have to hit the elephants as much at the other place."  Great, I am now sure we are all going to die.  About that time the elephant decides he doesn't like being hit on the head anymore and he starts raising his head and roaring.  Now it wasn't as loud as the elephant roars on Tarzan, but he was expressing his discontent nonetheless.  I politely tapped the "nice young man" on his shoulder and said, "We want to go back" and pointed behind us.  He shook his head no and pointed down the path indicating we had to continue the way we were going.  It must have been a one way path.  Well, I was never so glad to get back to civilization in all my life.  I conquered the elephant, have the video to prove it and have no need to ever do it again!

A few other incidental things to keep in mind and at hand
    1.  Don't drink the water or use it for brushing your teeth.  Only drink bottled water and use it when brushing your teeth also.  Better safe than sorry.  It is readily available and very inexpensive.
    2.  Take your shoes off when entering a home.  Most business establishments don't require this, but some may.
    3.  Always carry bug spray, sunscreen and a hat.
    4.  Motorcycles generally have the right of way.  If there is an accident between a car and a motorcycle, the car will usually be found at fault.
    5.  Just because someone looks like a female, doesn't mean it is a female.  It may be a ladyboy.
    6.  Dark skin Thai people generally signifies they are poor and light skinned Thais generally have wealth.

Finally, one of the saddest things I learned was about making merit.  Thailand is predominately Buddhist and operates on a system of making merit.  This entails giving offerings to the spirits in the hope of receiving a blessing of some sort.  Everywhere you look, there are spirit houses with varying types of offerings placed on them.  Every main thoroughfare is lined with people selling floral strands to be given as offerings to the spirits.  There is food offered, soda pop, flowers, etc.  The monks go around accepting merit or accept merit at their temples.  Monies are managed by the monks at each temple and from what I can tell are used to build bigger and shinier statues of Buddha. 

I find this sad for several different reasons. Many of these people live impoverished lives, yet are giving the best they have to try to buy blessings from a god who is dead. They go to the bars and clubs at night living it up drinking and carousing and the next day they go make their merit offering.  They don't realize they live a life of fear.  Fear that if they aren't good enough, or if they don't offer up enough, they won't be blessed and may in fact be cursed.  It is a vicious cycle of sin, offering, repent.  Sin, offering, repent. 

They don't realize the ultimate and final sacrifice that was given on the cross.  Jesus was the sacrifice for all sin, past present and future.  I don't have to pay for blessings, they are freely given by God who is living and loves to give me good gifts, not because of anything I have done to earn them, but because He loves me.  And because of this great love, I am to give him all glory and honor.  I don't have to live a life of fear that I might not be good enough or do enough.  I am secure in His love and because of this, I want to give Him the best of who I am and what I have, not expecting anything in return.

 Several people have asked if I would go back to Thailand, and the answer is YES!, in a heartbeat.  Of course I would love to see more sights, spend more time with Joseph, Sai, Makaila and Joshua.  But, I really want to spend more time passing out God's Word to people who long to own their own copy.  To people who get tears in their eyes when they realize the gift they have just been given.  To people who insist on paying me for their Bible because they are so grateful, to people who run back to hug me and ask if they can have one for their friend.  I want to go back and love on the sweet ladies at the disabled women's home and the children at the Agape Children's Home.  I want to go back to the slums and sing songs and pray with these impoverished people.  God has placed a desire in my heart to do more with what I have.  What does this look like here where I live?  I don't know, but I know my life has been forever changed by visiting "The Land of Smiles."

p.s.  You can see all my photos from Thailand at www.playbyplayphotography.zenfolio.com