Two very strange habits of Thai people

Today I will talk about people of Thailand. Yes, even the friendliest amongst nations have something that might irritate anyone. And even me being amongst the most patient people on earth you could meet have to learn how to accept 2 very irritating habits of Thai people.

Now the first one is very strange to me, and I think it will stay that way forever.  I don’t know why, but then ever Thai people find themselves in a very stressful or unpleasant situation they smile/laugh. Here is an example:  a Thai person on a motorcycle almost runs you over on a sidewalk and then you look at him with frightened with anger or actually scream shortly from an unpleasant surprise all you see is a smiling face of that person. There is something not honest about that smile. No apology no nothing, in fact it seems like he is holding himself not to start laughing out loud! Now the first reaction of the foreigner in this situation is astonishment: “What are you laughing about fool? You nearly killed me!” The angrier you get – the bigger the smile on the face of a Thai person. As I am thinking it’s not because they find it funny in any way. It’s just their way of avoiding confrontation and actually who knows what else is on their minds. But one thing I know it’s very annoying. Because it does make you feel like you are an entertainment.

Second and I must say none the less bad habit of Thai people is to not to say any bad news. They will not call you then they are late to come, they will not let you know if they did something wrong. They will avoid saying to you anything bad at all. And I understand that it is possibly a part of their Buddhist attitude, but it does get frustrating to go looking for a person trying to find out what had happened to your arrangement.  For example, I shopped one morning at the local supermarket in Bangkok, and I left my goods to be delivered to my home, like I always do. It had to be delivered in 3 hours. I am patient person, even after 4 hours I did not try to reach them, because I know, that traffic could be harsh in here. But as I noticed the day going into evening and it suddenly strike me that my goods still did not arrived I had to do something. I found their phone on internet, and had to call to supermarket only to find out that the delivery Tuk-Tuk had an accident that morning and they did not let me know although they always ask for a phone number for emergency. Apparently my family went out that evening for a dinner outside. But it wasted all my day, as I had to stay home waiting for something that arrived at 8 in the evening after 2 calls and irritated family members, who had no food for dinner. Another example: I bought big plants that had to be delivered in 4 days; it took twice the time and many unanswered calls to a flower lady in order to finish this task. Apparently she did not find on time flower pots, but was still promising to come on time even she already knew that no way will she arrange everything on time. So that was my lesson number two. Do not wait for a Thai person longer than 15 minutes without calling and confirming that he is around a corner already.

Save your time and nerves.

Happy traveling!