People, Bangkok

I guess i had not been doing my homework well because when the thai national anthem began playing at the BTS station at 6pm, everyone would stop whatever they are doing and stood really still. It was a big surprise for me and is not something that i had seen or experienced before. It sure took me awhile to register and realise what was going on.

. Thais place great emphasis and value on outward forms of courtesy such as politeness, respect, genial demeanour and self-control in order to maintain harmonious relations.
. Many of their rules of etiquette are by-products of the Buddhist religion.
. It is a non-confrontational society, in which public dispute or criticism is to be avoided at all costs.
. To be openly angry with someone might attract the wrath of the spirits, which in turn could cause violence and tragedy.
. Openly criticizing a person is a form of violence as it hurts the person and is viewed as a conscious attempt to offend the person being rebuked
. Loss of face is a disgrace to a Thai so they try to avoid confrontations and look for compromises in difficult situations.
. If two parties disagree, one will need to have an outlet to retreat without losing face. (losing face is a big thing around asia! )

Thais respect hierarchical relationships.
. Social relationships are defined as one person being superior to the other.
. Parents are superior to their children, teachers to their students, and bosses to their subordinates.
. When Thais meet a stranger, they will immediately try to place you within a hierarchy so they know how you should be treated.
. This is often done by asking what might be seen as very personal questions in other cultures.
. Status can be determined by clothing and general appearance, age, job, education, family name, and social connections

Everytime you see a local pass by a temple or shrine, they will put their hands together (similar to the way when they say Sawasdeekap/ka) and bow their heads. This shows that the locals really shows respects their belief. Something to note when you see a local passing through a temple or shrine...

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There is a mountainous region in the North where due to time and natural occurrences salt crystals have been trapped and aged for hundreds of years. In the village of Nan farmers make salt the old fashion way leaving a raw but finely aged and naturally cured salt. Combined with other raw materials local to Thailand, and the a clay stoneware body dug in Chang Rai the Clay Temple takes the utmost care in bring live from the surrounding area and packaging it in ceramic wares that can be enjoyed at home. In the old capital city of Ayuthaya a kiln site has give rise to ceramic ware made from Thai local materials with a cosmopolitan perspective.

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No matter how dirty Bangkok may be, one thing that has impressed me from my very first visit is the cleanliness. The stallholders always clean up and leave a nice tidy pile, which is then collected by a cleaner. There is a small army of mostly women who clean the gutters around populated areas, like Chinatown, and I haven't seen people wilfully litter at I do at home, and there is almost no graffiti to be seen! The people themselves are very clean - despite often the most basic accommodation and facilities available to them. As a frequent tuktuk passenger, I have to say I always notice how clean and tidy the drivers are at all times, as are the people in the streets, stallholders etc. Stallholders are seen fussing and dusting all day long - and, once you have moved on from their store, they will tidy any mess you have left behind! It is therefore respsectful for us as tourists to attend to our grooming, and cleanliness, and rituals such as removing shoes in some shops and houses, rather than assuming anything goes.

The little girls in my main photo are the children of a concierge staffmember from our hotel - what you can almost see is the dirty khlong beside them - you can't see their home, which consists of 3 of the tiniest rooms you have ever seen, where you have to move from room to room via a public outside alley....and the general basic nature of this family lodging. They were all dressed up for a day at Chatuchak with my husband and I.

When you walk along street and you see these insect fried such as grasshopper, bamboo worm, and hard wing insects or baby birds. Could you please understand that it's just local food for some region of Thailand? As you know that Bangkok is like the most civilize city in this country. There’re many people from every part of Thailand move and find a job to work here. Some people are still get use to with eating this kind of food which they get use to. That’s why there is a lot of this kind of food sells along street.

Insect fried could look disgusting for some of you but for me. It’s just a type of food that somebody can eat and some can’t. I can’t eat as well because the region where I came from has no kind of this food at all. So, please note that it’s not typical Thai food but just special type of food for some of people here.

By the way, I’ve tired grasshopper and bamboo worm fried though. I still confirm that it’s not bad but I’d rather eat chicken. Ha….

one thing i noticed about thai's, they'd rather eat outside than have their meals at home.. i asked one of my colleagues if this holds true for him also.. he said its cheaper to buy the cooked food from the streets or eat outside... hmm kinda opposite w/ us filipinos..