Most people assume that culture shock is something you experience when you come from one cultural environment into a totally different one. Mostly this is happening when visitors from first world developed nations visit a developing nation or a third world country where everything is more chaotic, unorganized and unpredictable.
I have been living in Thailand for many years, and nothing seems unusual or strange to me. Thailand is a developing nation, but is surrounded on three sides by third world countries, namely Myanmar (formerly Burma), Laos and Cambodia. In the USA, a lot of the labor force comes from the poorer countries of Central and South America. They do the jobs that Americans don’t like to do, like agricultural, construction and cleaning work. Read the rest of this entry
Every year the city of Chiang Mai, Thailand, hosts several huge festivals. Visitors come by the tens of thousands from Thailand and abroad. The performances are truly spectacular. While wandering around the festival site I came across a group of students who were showcasing martial arts, dancing and drumming.
Thailand is known as the land of smiles, but it is also the land of beautiful faces. Here is a stunning visual presentation of one the most endearing aspects of Thai culture, the naturally beautiful faces of the Thai people.
Recently I went to my local fruit and veggie market here in Chiang Mai, Thailand, and to my surprise there was a stage set up and there was a whole big show going on. It was put on by a phone company to promote their products, but the unusual thing was that they had some “ladyboys”, transsexuals, do the show. Luckily I had a camera with me and I caught the action. There are some pretty amazing things going on in Thailand, and that was definitely one of them!
So what is the secret? Unlike western countries where you really need to know the traffic rules if you don’t want to get into trouble quickly, in Thailand you might be better off not knowing too much about the traffic rules. This might be a little tongue-in-cheek, but there is definitely some truth to it.
It happened to me in a bus station in Thailand. It was one of those magical moments where a total stranger showed me truly unconditional kindness and reserved a place in my heart for the rest of my life.
Most people assume that culture shock is something you experience when you come from one cultural environment into a totally different one. Mostly this is happening when visitors from first world developed nations visit a developing nation or a third world country where everything is more chaotic, unorganized and unpredictable.
So what is the secret? Unlike western countries where you really need to know the traffic rules if you don’t want to get into trouble quickly, in Thailand you might be better off not knowing too much about the traffic rules. This might be a little tongue-in-cheek, but there is definitely some truth to it.