Remembering Amazing Thailand

While teaching in the ESL program, I got an email invitation for an interview in the college. Previously I applied to them as a secretary. Good thing it was in the same location I was teaching temporarily.

Anyway, it was my first ever interview in Thailand and I was very nervous. I tried to appear confident but I guess my countenance was showing it. Anyway, once again I came about the issue of accent. Someone from the panel asked me, “Are you from the northern Philippines?” I said yes and he said that my accent was very evident where in the world I came from. Sounds like Mr. Higgins from “My Fair Lady”. But in this case I didn’t become the “fair lady”.

Anyway, as it turned out I wasn’t qualified for the job because I didn’t speak Thai. Why in the world did they have to interview me in the first place? If one of the qualifications was the ability to speak the vernacular then they could have filtered the applicants already. But there were a couple of us who were not Thai speakers. Hmmm!!

Well, during the interview I made the most ridiculous answers. Until it makes me giggle whenever I remember what I said. But it was a learning experience for me. I learned what not to say in an interview.

All over Thailand talat is very popular. It literally means market. Sometimes, these markets are static. They open only in the afternoon around 3 pm until about 6-7 pm. Sometimes there is also a day market which opens only once a week on a particular day.  During this time, merchants from neighboring towns or villages come to sell their products. Here in the UK it’s more like the carboot sale.

Jane, Karoline, and me sometimes went to this market outside the campus in the town center. Since we didn’t have fridge in our apartment, we only bought foods that were either consumable within a day or two. We actually didn’t need to store food anyway because we ate at the school cafeteria. But sometimes during the night or in the morning we were too lazy to walk to the cafeteria.

Anyway, in talats we had to force ourselves to learn Thai basics like numbers and asking for discount. They are the most important things foreigners should know before venturing in the talats or Thai markets where no one could practically speak English.

One day, Karoline, Jane, and I just got back from Muaklek and we were going to take the sky train. We were in such a hurry or too excited to get home and I didn’t care who was I coming to bump into. We were going up the steps to the sky train and the footbridge was rather a little crowded. I noticed a man in orange robe was on his way down the steps. I knew were going to bump into each other so one must give way–and that was not me. I tried to ignore him and minded my steps instead as I continued on my way up.  And somewhere at the corner of my eyes I saw him stopped to give way so I could go up the steps. Well, I reasoned to myself, I am the one with the heavy load so those who are in my way should step aside.

But I got reprimanded by my good friend, Karoline. She told me that whenever we meet a monk we have to stop because they are the most highly respected people in the society. Oops! Sorry about that. My selfish motives overtook me and I didn’t listen to my good side when I thought of giving way. Sometimes, I act on the wrong impulse and it’s really causing me remorse.

Well, I never forgot that one and from then on everytime I see or meet a monk I always avoid their path.

While teaching in Muaklek, Karoline and I thought it was good to buy new clothes and we went to the sidewalk vendors along Ramkhamhaeng Road. But I was not really a fan of sidewalk vendors and I thought that it was better to buy clothes from a reputable shop. Anyway, I did find a nice Thai-style top but I wanted to buy more. We walked through the crowd inching our way till we get to a shop or stand that caught our interest. Then moved on.

Sidewalk vendors are another ubiquitous sight in Thailand from Chiangmai in the north to Hatyai in the south. In Bangkok they were by the big malls and nowadays they are on the footbridges. Nearly everywhere you go in Bangkok you will find them.

Since Bangkok is a night city, most of these sidewalk vendors open at night until ten pm or up to two am in Patpong area and in Khaosan Road. I have learned to love buying from them because they sell the same thing you find in the shops at a much lower price. Well, considering it’s Bangkok, they sell nearly all imitations so it’s more practical to buy in the sidewalks and not get ripped off that much.

Huh? What does that mean? Oh well, I had the same question when I first saw it. It means like anniversary sale. But I don’t know why they don’t use the word anniversary. Well, I thought that they would soon learn the proper term but seven years later and I still saw the same posters. I thought it’s kinda amusing, though.

Well, a lot of us get attracted when we see the “Sale” sign on a shop window. Since I am a very practical buyer, I love to buy things when they are on sale as long as I need them like shoes. So into the shop I went but I was surprised the prices seemed unchanged. They were still too expensive for me. So I would end up putting them back on the shelf.

Later on I realized that they were just tricking us. Well, I actually saw it with my two eyes. One time I went to a mall and saw a beautiful pair of sandals. But they were too expensive — 499 Baht. A couple of days later I passed by the same mall and saw the “Sale” sign–50% off–on all shoes so I went to check. Guess what I saw? A new sticker with 900 Baht and the supposedly reduced price was still the same — 499 Baht. I wanted to laugh out loud by what I deemed a humorous discovery.

The school library is the best thing that’s ever happened in the campus. Because we didn’t have a TV or a radio or a CD player or anything we could use for entertainment, life was so boring when we finished teaching every day. But thanks heaven, the library which was just a few steps away from our apartment came with internet-enabled computers. But there were so many students who wanted to use them too. So what we’d do was we got there before the library opened at 7 pm and made sure we got a computer that’s connected properly. Then Karoline, Jane and I would monopolize those computers until the libray closed at half past ten in the evening.

It was 2001 and the only thing I knew about internet was emails, news, and chatting. But we’re not allowed to chat in the library so we would just goof until we got bored.

Sometimes when the internet was not working then it would really be a very bad time and then I would resort to reading books. That was how life was with Karoline, Jane and me in the summer of 2001.

Thai people must be very, very resourceful. Because of the traffic condition in Bangkok, motorcycle taxis could be a real blessing when you’re in a hurry. Motorcycles get in front of the line when the traffic light goes red. Unlike cars, they can just easily squeeze in and make their way through even if the roads were too congested. Oh, I love those motorcycle taxis. They were mostly ubuquitous at the entrance of smaller streets. They were near a train station, a school gate, a bus station anywhere you need them ready to transport you right right at the door.

At first I was overwhelmed at the sight of them but later on I came to appreciate their presence although they could be reckless at times and many a road accident were caused by them. Nevertheless, Thais prefer to use them because they are quite cheap.

Tuktuk is a three-wheeler Thai taxi that is rather more ubiquitous than any other vehicles all across the country.

In Bangkok they are stationed at the tourists destinations like temples and night markets.

My first time to ride in a tuktuk was when my Ilocandia friends took me out to the heart of the city. We went to Patpong, the red district. And since there were too many of us to get in one taxi, we took the tuktuk instead. It looks small but it can carry more people than a taxi can.

My, oh my, how the driver fly! He sped up as if to impress us and even had the front wheel go up and I thought we were going to tip over. It was so dangerous and I almost had a heart attack. But in the end, I enjoyed it.

What a relief for regular travellers this BTS sky train is regardless of the fare. But if you are running out of time, you won’t mind paying that much.

I find Bangkok’s BTS trains very efficient, fast, and reliable. The only thing is that there’s too much steps to climb because most stations have only one scalator going up. Well, it’s still worth using the train after all rather than getting stuck in the traffic jam.

The train started operating in 1999 on the king’s birthday, December 5. It’s really rapid transit that runs along two of the busiest roads in Bangkok, Sukhumvit and Silom. It’s good because our apartment was in one of the sub streets of Sukhumvit Road which is closed to one of the train stations.

Okay, so what does this Vietnamese dress or Ao dai have to do with my memories of Thailand? Oh, they are an important part of it. I love national costumes especially Chinese and Vietnamese.

Anyway, the first time Karoline and I decided to stay for the Sabbath in the campus we were very much impressed by the beautiful dresses worn by the Vietnamese students. They all looked gorgeous and instantly we fell in love.

The following week, we met one the Vietnamese students and she took our measurement and our choice of color for the material. She then sent it to her mother in Vietnam. We couldn’t wait to wear the dress.

But since it was our last week in that school, we didn’t get to receive the dress until a month later. I was getting impatient. Finally, it arrived. It cost us 700 baht. But it was worth it. Karoline and I were very excited to wear our Ao dai. We felt like Vietnamese too.

By the way, seven years had passed and I still have that dress with me. I have worn it only occasionaly and it’s one of my favorites.