As usual, people are complaining about negativity in my entries. Thailand is where I am living now, so I’m not writing as a wide-eyed tourist any more, to whom everything is new and good. If you don’t like that, maybe you should check out a travelblog, since this site has become something different. I am also naturally cynical and negative.

So, I’m living in Thailand for at least a year, and I am trying to learn to speak Thai. Obviously, I love Thailand, even though this doesn’t come out in my writing. I guess I assume that everyone knows how great Thailand is, but, of course, most people have never been here.

Bangkok is full of beautiful places

As I unfairly pointed out, it is sort of ugly. Thailand is still developing, so things aren’t as clean as we are used to, and function takes precedence over form. But does this bother me? No, I think it makes it more interesting. Bangkok is especially ugly. Yet, there are some real gems in Bangkok. For instance, today my taxi driver drove through what must be the “Buddha neighborhood.” Block after block of shops selling all kinds of golden Buddhas, some tiny, some bigger than me, and all wrapped in plastic. If I can find it again, I want to go back with my camera.

So, the urban aspect of Thailand may not be aesthetically pleasing, but there are many beautiful beaches and islands, as well as national parks. And Thailand’s second city, Chiang Mai, is supposed to be gorgeous. I will find out in a week, because that is where I am going for my nine day Songkran holiday.

And beautiful Thai people doing interesting things

Thailand may be developing, but it’s further along than Cambodia, and light-years ahead of Burma and Nepal. This means you can have a good standard of living, with most of the comforts of home, for cheap. As much as I love Burma, I could never live there, and I’m not sure if I could live in Cambodia (but I’ve been thinking about it lately).

What makes a country worth living in? For me, it’s the people. I wouldn’t want to live in the cleanest, most beautiful place in the world if the people were mean and ugly. But Thai people are some of the most beautiful in the world. And they are generally friendly and easy-going. I love the way you can smile at someone, and they will smile back. If you did that in America, they would think you were a weirdo. Thailand is, after all, the “land of smiles.”

Even the food is beautiful

Perhaps the most compelling thing about Thai people and culture for me is that is it so completely and utterly foreign. Virtually nothing is known about Thai culture outside of Thailand. Everything is new and fascinating for me.

The good really does outweigh the bad, but everyone who lives here loves to complain, and I am no different. I complain about the government’s xenophobic policies a lot, but that is just the government. As I already mentioned, regular people are generally very friendly.

The other thing I complain about, and will continue to because it genuinely pisses me off is the dual-pricing system. Foreigners often have to pay “special prices” for tourist attractions. Then there are the business people such as tuk tuk drivers, food vendors, souvenir vendors, touts, etc., who will try to rip you off in tourist places. You can’t hold these bad apples against all Thai people. In fact, when I tell a regular Thai person about how I was ripped off, they are just as angered as I was.

So, in summary, Thailand, being a developing country, has many problems, both in aesthetics, and attitudes. No country is perfect But the fascinating Thai people more than make up for these problems. Thailand’s a great place to visit, and a better place to live. Sometimes I wish I wouldn’t have come here yet, because it took away my desire to see other parts of the world.