Last Month in Thailand

I was looking back at some of the posts I made before I actually left from Thailand. I was hoping to find out what kinds of posts I made before to contrast with posts I will be making now. Well I did. However, I also found a lot of embarrassing posts I made before I had the knowledge of the country that I do now. So for this, I would like to apologize to all Thai people who may be reading this for misinterpreting what your country is like before going over here, haha.

For those wondering where I could have gone wrong, well honestly it wasn't that I said anything bad. You can go back to see for yourself. It was just my inexperience and now that I've "improved" here I sort of feel like a grown woman looking back at moments when she was a kid thinking, "Why did I do that?"

Anyway, the real point of this post is not for me to whine about my past mistakes. This post will the contrast between the other post "Last Month in America". If you haven't read this one yet, I recommend you check it out before reading this one as the point is to kind of see a transition over a period of time. It should be located in the March section of the blog navigation widget I put at the bottom of this site.

So if you've now read the "Last Month in America" post, then I shall begin!

Best of Thailand

Best Thing I Enjoy About Thai Shopping -

EVERYTHING IS SO CHEAP!! This isn't the case if you go to a shopping center or mall, but if you actually go inside the large markets to where they stop selling food and start selling products, then you get some amazing deals. I'm talking about a pair of shoes for 100 baht (3 dollars), a video game for about 200 baht (7 dollars), and small car parts for maybe 50 baht (1.5 dollars).

Best Thing I Enjoy in my Thai Family -

They love to travel. And they don't just go to the famous places for tourists, they actually go out and have a blast. One time we went to a river for vacation. Instead of just riding in the boats, we actually swam in the water and had to swim to various games they had along the shore. In Chiangmai, a famous province in the North of Thailand, we went up the tallest mountain in Thailand. It was so tall it was freezing like winter, even though at sea level it was as hot as, well, Thailand.

Best Thing I Like About Thai Attitude -

They don't ever want to offend anyone. Some Americans will tell you quite directly how they feel about you, but I've never seen a Thai person do that. They are also very helpful to me when I'm out traveling. And they always love to see when a Westerner speaks Thai.

Best Place I Have Been to in Thailand -

Oh great...um, this one is a toughie. I'm going to have to say Suan Peung, which a district in the Ratchaburi province. It has a lot of nature and wonderful landscapes. You really don't need to go do anything there because there are so many great natural mountains and forests that are lovely to look at or take pictures of.

Best Thai Food -

Since I couldn't come up with just one of these, I'm just going to say all Thai spicy food. It really isn't that I like spicy food, it's more that all the good foods I like happen to be spicy.

Best Thing I Like About Thai Language, Thai -

It looks impossible to those who don't know it. I showed a few of my American friends what Thai looks like and how small the letters are, and they always say it looks like a bunch of scribble lines, hah. But really, if you actually learn it, it's quite easy to read. Definitely something I show off though. XP

Best Free Time in Thailand -

Sitting on my living floor floor, reading a book. And also Internet! XD

Worst of America

Worst Thing About Thai Shopping -

I put that American store clerks annoy you for this one, but in Thailand I find it to be about 1000 times worse. You practically have to be rude to the person in order just to get them to get off your back. And then they always think you can't speak Thai, so they're talking to you in this incomprehensible English.

Worst Thing in my Thai Family -

Don't quite have any actually. Granted, we don't get along perfectly, but by now I think that we behave much like a real family. We don't share some of the same likes, but we help each other out and have fun when we can.

Worst Thing About Thai Attitude -

The bad side of not directly telling you how they feel about you is that they never let out their feelings. This means they give you all the dirty looks and do everything to make your life miserable, but they'll never tell you why.

Worst Place I Have Been to in Thailand -

Stuck in Petchaburi (a province an hour from Ratchaburi) after my friends and I found out there weren't any buses to take us home. We did all survive though and thankfully our host families understood the situation. But Lord it was horrible...

Worst Thai Food -

Sticky rice. Now I think I'm being a little unfair because it's not that I don't like it, it's that I am physically unable to eat it. It does funky things to my digestive tract. The reason I don't like it is because everyone other person in Thailand and their brother LOVES it. So in a sense, sticky rice makes me evil, wah...

Worst Thing About Thai Language, Thai -

It. Has. Tones. I mentioned in an earlier post about Thai language that these bloody tones will be the bane of any Thai learner's existence. I got to the point where I can hear the tones, but when I try to make them myself, I end up sounding like a hyper idiot of some sort.

Worst Free Time in Thai -

Sleeping. And everyone suggests this to me all the time. I'm a fairly productive person though so to me sleeping seems lazy and something to do if you're dying of boredom.


Wow, that was interesting. I certainly didn't expect the results for Thailand to look like this before leaving America. Well I hope this gave you a bit of an insight on how my life has been here. I only have a week left in this country, so I'm going to make the best of it before I depart.

Thai Money

This isn't really part of the Thai culture series, but I was thinking today I should include it. This kind of starts back to before I went to Thailand. Of course, when I found out I would be able to go, I quickly rushed in my personal studies to prepare myself for the experience. One of those, was figuring out how much money I would need while here. However, the sights for tourists turned out to be incredibly inaccurate when offering the prices for how much things cost here. So after learning how much everything generally costs NOW, I decided to give back.

To begin, I'll first explain food, since everybody has to eat everyday. Of course, different meals have different prices. But generally, food here is a lot cheaper than in the United States, so don't be too shocked when you see complete meals sell for less than 30 baht (1 dollar). Most of the food the locals eat though comes from markets, which are just about everywhere. Customers often buy in bulk because the prices are extremely cheap. Here are some common food prices:

Pad Thai Noodles - 30 baht
Coconut Ice-Cream - 10 baht for a cone
Shaved Ice Smoothie - 10-20 baht
Fried Egg - 10 baht
Dish of Rice - Often free with a meal, but about 20 baht if you just want it alone
Family Eats At Expensive Restaurant - 800 baht
Family Eats At Cheap Restaurant - 200 baht

Next there's the cost of living. For this, I am not quite sure since Thai families don't have the habit of discussing finances with their children. The one thing I'm sure on is the gas prices though. (Fun Fact: In Thailand, there are people hired by gas stations to actually pump the gas for you. You don't even have to get out of your car! X3) Here it's about 100 baht per gallon of gasoline. Here they use liters though, which means it's about 30 baht per liter. So much conversion... Anyway, here are some common living expenses:

Cheap Hotel - 300 baht per night
Expensive Hotel - 1000 baht per night
My Cell Phone Bill - 100 baht a month (I don't use it that much...)
Water Bill - Not sure specifically, but apparently it's very cheap
Electricity Bill -Again, not sure specifically, but people tell me it's extremely expensive

Finally, the last thing you'll probably want to know is about traveling. Kind of ironic since when I typed this up I was actually about to leave for a trip to Kon Khaen, a province in the Northeast. I mentioned in an earlier post that you can pretty much get around without a car here since the buses are quite cheap. Of course it all depends on where you go and what kind of bus you're taking:

Short Trip to Nearby City with Cheap Bus - 10-20 baht
Short Trip to Nearby City with Expensive Bus - 30 baht
Long Trip 6-12 Hours - 300-1000 baht
City an Hour Away - 100 baht
Me to Go to Bangkok from Ratchaburi - 120 baht

So that's my overview of the prices in Thailand. Obviously Thailand sells more than food, hotels, and buses, but you can probably get a good idea of how much other things cost based on this list. ^-^

Last Month

It's finally February everyone! At the start of this month, I am in Thailand, but at the end, I'll  be back in the United States. I must say, this year went by fast. I can still remember moments that happened before I left like they just happened a month ago. I can't exactly type much about it because the feeling is certainly hard to describe. Let's go with a half-happy-half-sad kind of emotion, hehe.

Anyway, this month I'll be wrapping up the Thailand part of my blog. I'll be going back to when I first started my American posts and take some of what I made there and pe-post it for Thailand. I think I have like one or two, but if I want to make more, I'll be sure to make them.

I'm not quite finished with adding all the Thai culture posts. I'm hoping to squeeze another two, but if I have no time, then one. I promise, haha.

And lastly, as I mentioned a few updates ago, I will be continuing this blog until around April or so. Which means you all will get to see my American life in comparison with my Thai! ^-^

Thai Cultural Differences - Food

So I just came back from a week exchange at a Thai boarding school, so sorry for the delay. But I got to it eventually as you can see. I think this post is probably my most favorite of the series thus far. Mainly because it's interesting and I have pictures! Anyway, as the title suggests, I'll be talking about food and how different it is from American tastes. Since this is a really broad topic however, I'll simply give you a basic outline of how Thais like to eat.

In general, Thai people love extreme flavors. If the dish is going to be sweet, it'll be loaded with plenty of sugar. If it's spicy, expect there to be a lot of chilies. If it's sour, your lips will be puckered to their limit. In fact, Thai people are so used to the extreme tastes, they find some American foods, like potato chips and pasta to be too bland.

That pretty much outlines the general concept. However, something I also notice about Thai food is that they're not too afraid of cooking and eating just about anything. Therefore, I have complied a list of strange foods I have actually eaten here in Thailand. Enjoy!~

Papaya Salad

This dish is made with shredded, non-ripe papaya, lots of chilies, nuts, lemon, tomato, garlic, and whatever protein topping the customer wants. In the picture, the topping is crab. This is known as the spiciest Thai dish in the whole country. I even tried ordering it with the least amount of spicy possible, and it was still burning my mouth. But despite the pain, I absolutely love it. I can't explain why. Perhaps it's because the spicy amazes my mouth. But either way, it's definitely worth a taste.

Whole Fish



Usually it's fried, but I've also eaten it where the fish is boiled. The process to make this isn't complicated. You fill a pan with oil and drop a whole fish in until it's cooked. Then put whatever toppings you want and serve. I added this because Americans don't usually eat the fish whole. But in Thailand, they eat the cooked flesh right off the bone. Also with the smaller fish, I sometimes crack open the skull and eat the cheek, eyes, and brain. Yummy!

Chicken Feet



I'm not sure how to make this, but the result tastes pretty good. The only problem I have it that there's not much meat of the bones so it's hard to get a satisfying meal out of them.

Boiled Pork Intestines



This is probably my favorite food here in Thailand! The taste of digestive organ might make some people want to throw up, but I can't get enough of the stuff. The meat is very tender and there isn't any bones to crunch down on. Plus, you can make some great curries with it.

Pork Lung Soup



I have recently learned this is actually a Chinese dish, but a lot of Chinese families make it here, so I count it anyway. Much like the intestines, lung is absolutely delicious. I especially love it when there's a soup with both lung and intestine!~

Fried Oyster Omelet



Just thought it was a strange thing to fry in your scrambled eggs. It's really tasty though.

Field Crab



I'm trying to figure out who a long way ago thought these little crabs looked good to eat. Usually these little buggers are added to dishes like the Papaya Salad from earlier. They are a bit of a challenge to eat at first. I eventually figured out that you're supposed to rip off their legs and use your teeth to push out the meat. I think they're great because they absorb the taste of whatever food they go with, but if you eat them alone they kind of taste like dirt.

Rice Pourage



I actually thought this would taste disgusting before I tried it. Mainly because it looked like puke to me. But as it turns out, I was wrong. It's perfect stuff for breakfast as it warms you up and is easy to digest. You usually get egg in it as well.

Dried Squid



You can probably imagine Thailand has a variety of fish varieties. But I never expected to see this for sale. Dried squid tastes like of like a salted piece of leather. Hard to chew, however it's still a nice snack to eat.

Plain Sticky Rice



I hate this stuff! Just thought I should put that out there right now. Seriously, one taste of this and I started gagging. Although, I am fine with the sweet sticky rice and mango, so don't call me a criminal just yet. Anyway, it's basically rice a tad undercooked so it has a sticky consistency. Apparently they also put some other ingredient in there that tastes like vinegar, which makes me not like it. It's usually served at picnics because you can eat it with just your fingers.

Fermented Fish



Not a fan of this one either, as it smells about as bad as it tastes. Like the field crab, it's usually added to other dishes and I wonder who thought this would look good to eat.

Durian Fruit



Ever see those cartoons where the characters would talk about the horrible smell of durian? Well it exists, folks! Personally, I try to avoid the smelly fruit themselves. But I love the dried durian chips they sell here. For me, the issue with these is the smell. Let's just say if grass could pass gas, it would smell exactly like the durians do.

Rambutan



Question time! Does this fruit look edible? If you answered yes, you'd be correct! And it's actually really good too. Apparently we also have it in the U.S.A, but I've never seen it...

Frog Curry



The mention of this dish gets even the Thais going "ew". However, I love frog. It's like chicken and fish put together. Though, it has the same problem as chicken feet. There's not much meat on it. So it doesn't beat pork organs, but it's close.

Quail Eggs



I often eat these after school before my host parents pick me up. They are like mini breakfast eggs!

Fried Banana



These are probably the most unhealthy tasting things I've ever eaten, but they are so delicious. Granted there is the potassium rich banana at the center of all the fried dough and sugar, but I you can't really taste it at times unfortunately. It's a guilty pleasure of mine.

Pork Blood Noodles



Some people are grossed out by this, but you really don't taste the blood. It just tastes like a salty broth. There is usually pork liver and meat added to it as well.

Fried Pork Skin



This stuff is good! 8D Actually, I had no idea it was pork skin for a good three months after I started eating it daily. And then my host mom mentions what it is. But I still kept eating it. It's a lovely snack. Movie popcorn for Thailand.

Salted Egg



Thais only seem to like the yolk. I personally think the yolk tastes the same as the white, but I'm a Westerner, what do I know? I really have no idea how these are made, but I guess they put them in buckets of salt and let them sit for a long time.

And that's the end of the list. I probably forgot a whole bunch of strange food, but this should be enough for now. I hope I satisfied your curiosity for knowledge. Until next post, see you later~