Traveling around Northern Thailand - in places like Uttaradit, Phrae, Nan and Phu Lang Ka - I encountered far more Thai than Western tourists. I found them to be very friendly and inquisitive, and I had a chance to talk with many of them. I guess many vacationing Thais wanted an opportunity to practice their English, and they were just curious about me as I was about them.

Usually the conversation would start with “Where are you from?” which is the Thai equivalent of saying Hello, and then like most travelers, we would talk about our travel itineraries and the different places that we would be visiting.

From my many conversations, I learned a lot about the Travel Habits of Thai People. It seems that Thais take very frequent and short vacations of 2-3 nights during the course of the year - many travel over the weekend leaving on a Friday and returning on a Sunday or Monday. Furthermore, I learned that in Thailand, unlike most Western countries, there is no such thing as a paid vacation for most Thai people.

Because most Thai people have such a limited amount of time to travel during the course of the year, they will often stay at one destination for only one night, before moving on to their next destination. As an example, on a long holiday weekend of 3 nights, a group of Thai people will often rent a van complete with driver and stay overnight at three different destinations in three nights - i.e. Bo Klua in Nan Province, Phu Lang Ka in Phayao Province and Sirikit Dam in Uttardit Province - before returning home.

While staying at Phu Lang Ka Lodge – one of my favorite places in Northern Thailand – I met a group of tourists (about 15 in all) – mostly professional people - from Phuket Island. They had rented two minivans along with driver, and their plan was to stay at 14 different places in 14 consecutive nights. Talk about a busy itinerary – made my 42 night Odyssey to Southeast Asia including 15 changes of hotel appear lightweight in comparison.

Another thing that I learned about Thai people – especially with the younger set (35 and under) - whenever possible, they would often pitch a tent and camp out. At Phu Lang Ka, the owner charges campers 100 baht per night per tent.

VERY INTERESTING!

NAN is a special place. After a years absence, I revisited Nan this past November. I have been to so many cities in Thailand but none can compare to Nan in terms of its natural beauty and charm. I guess you could say that I love NAN - it is by far my favorite city in Thailand.

Located in Northern Thailand in the area known as the Golden Triangle, Nan is a small city of no more than 40,000 inhabitants. Lying in a valley surrounded by mountains, not too many travelers are aware of Nan as it is still somewhat off the beaten track.

The personality of NAN is shaped by the long and winding Nan River which cuts through the valley as it flows from north to south. East of the river is Laos. Nan’s indigenous culture is very strong and deeply rooted. The city is as old as the Sukhothai Kingdom and surrounding countryside is home to various hilltribe peoples – Yao, Hmong, Khamu and the very primitive Mlabri.

As I remarked in an earlier post, Nan – with its tree lined streets, rural country roads and old wooden houses - brought back memories of Turlock, a small sleepy river town located in California’s San Joaquin Valley circa the 1950’s. Riding a bicycle around NAN, along the river or into the surrounding countryside – so lush and green - is such a pleasurable experience.

So far Nan has been spared the ravages of mass tourism, but I see signs of more tourism development. A new first class hotel – the Nan Boutique Hotel – opened up not too long ago, and from what I understand there are plans for more hotels like this in the near future. Of course, several new upscale guesthouses have also appeared on the scene in the last year.

In addition - since my visit in November 2008, at least 3-4 fairly upscale coffee shops have opened their doors for business. This is usually an indicator that tourism on the rise. Walking around town, I definitely encountered more Thai tourists (and only a handful of farangs) - most of them were from Bangkok.

While I stayed at Nan Boutique Hotel this past November, there was a tour group from Bangkok who checked in on the same day as me. They occupied most of the hotel rooms, however they stayed there for only one night, which is somewhat typical of Thai tourists.

Nan would definitely benefit from an increase in Tourism but only if the development is carefully planned and controlled so as not to disrupt the lifestyle and traditional culture of the area.

With the cessation of direct air service from Bangkok on PB Air, Nan is still difficult to get to; however there is now direct air service from Chiang Mai on SGA airlines, albeit the planes are prop-jets. Still….

On my most recent trip to Thailand, Khun Moongmink - my friend from Bangkok - joined me on November 30, 2009 in the Northern city of Nan. For the next 10 days or so, she accompanied me as I showed her parts of Northern Thailand – Nan Province and Phu Lang Ka - that she was totally unfamiliar with. Having traveled to these “neck of the woods” the year before, I guess you could say that I – an outsider and a farang - was her tour guide.

In her story of meeting me in NAN, she affectionately refers to me as Papa Mono (the Big Monkey), my nickname in South America. Read on…

In late November, I went on a 10-day tour in the north of Thailand. The tour started in NAN, where I joined Papa Mono (aka Hanumann), my slightly crazed American friend who had arrived there several days before me. He enjoys visiting Thailand every year; I can say that he definitely knows my country better than me (and most other Thai people), especially when it come to the regional areas of the North.

I arrived at the Nan Bus Terminal late in the afternoon whereupon Papa Mono greeted me on his rented bicycle along with an old Thai guy standing beside his Samlor (tricycle taxi), ready to transfer me to my hotel. It ‘s nice to meet ”an old buddy” again – a tricycle which had long disappeared from Bangkok street for over twenty years.

Hopping into the Samlor, the driver followed Papa Mono as he rode joyfully on his bicycle. Acting as if he was a local tour guide, Papa Mono navigated through downtown Nan, greeting every street dog (maah) along the way, waving ’hi’ and causally chatting to many passersbys. Apart from his western look, one would probably think that my farang friend was a local Thai living there for many years.

I wish you could imagine this scene - a cheerful western guide, biking ahead of an old Samlor with a middle aged Thai lady as passenger. A native old man wearing khakis and a battered straw hat drives the Samlor loaded with heavy baggage. Using all his strength, the old man follows Papa Mono through the streets of Nan, as he diligently carries me to my hotel. Such memories are priceless!

I met Som, a middle aged lady from the village of Baan Na Tong in Northern Thailand, who labors many hours a day to make some very exquisite and colorful quilts. It takes her up to 60 hours to make just one piece.

Located about 32 kilometers from the city of Phrae, Baan Na Tong is a very beautiful village surrounded by greenery. The village offers homestay accommodations and is one of the areas where the endangered Siamese Big Headed Turtles can be found.

In Phrae (or in the village), the quilts sell for 4000 baht ($121USD) and in USA, Europe or overseas, they sell for as much as 10,000 baht ($300USD). When the quilt sold through a retailer -whether it be in Thailand or overseas - her cut of the pie is only 800 baht ($24USD). That averages out to only 13 baht an hour, based on 60 hours for production. It doesn’t seem fair, but she isn’t complaining because she enjoys her work.

It’s a shame that artisans - especially in 3rd world countries - make so little monies from their handiwork, while others profit immensely. I probably should have suggested to her that she market her goods through an artisan or artist cooperative in order to her increase her remuneration.

I have seen the same phenomenon happen in other countries – Mexico, Peru, Ghana to name a few - where locally made handmade goods are very cheap to buy locally, but on the expensive side if you buy them in the USA. Someone is making a lot of monies; it surely is not the local artisan or craftsman. Such is the way of the world!

While walking in the downtown area of Nan in Northern Thailand, I happened to stumble upon some sort of local parade/celebration. Not knowing exactly what was happening, I decided to follow the people as they danced - conga line style - into the nearby Wat Apha accompanied by some lively Lanna music.

Inside the complex, the focal point seemed to be a large money tree, and the participants invited me to join the festivities. Offering me food and drinks - the local whiskey, a choice of Thai beers - in addition to encouraging me to dance with them, I could not refuse their hospitality.

I inquired as to the nature of the party with some of the participants, but no one could really speak sufficient English to offer me an explanation. I kept on hearing the word Papa repeated over and over again, but of course I didn’t know what they were talking about. Walking back to my hotel, it seemed that the rest of the town was relatively quiet, so it was safe to say that the celebration was relatively limited to Wat Apha.

It was only after talking to the owner of Nan Boutique Hotel that I found out about the true nature of this celebration. What I witnessed at the local Wat is known in Thailand as the Paa Paah Festival. Celebrated during the months of October and November throughout Thailand, the Paa Paah festival is a special fund raising party for each local temple/Wat – and it is strictly a localized festival, as each temple celebrates this festival independently on different dates.

I consider myself very fortunate as an outsider to have been invited by members of the Apha Wat to join in their festivities. The people were very friendly and hospitable and they had no qualms about me taking photographs of their merriment. It also gave an opportunity to learn more about the fascinating and exotic culture of Thailand

After flying to Pitsanulok from Bangkok, I boarded a bus about 8:00AM to Uttaradit, a small, rather nondescript but pleasant city of about 75,000 people located in Northern Thailand. The bus ride, which would take approximately 2 hours started out very inauspiciously when the bus driver turned on the sound system full blast. The music was absolutely deafening and immediately this bus ride starting was turning into a real nightmare.

Rather than submitting to this early morning torture, I decided to take action. Since most of the passengers probably didn’t understand English, I pleaded with them (I was the only foreigner on the bus) to tell the bus driver to turn down the volume by using my hands – I made a circling motion with my right index finger in front my ear, then covered both ears with my hands, simultaneously uttering “Mai chorp, Mai chorp” (means I do not like).

I knew the other passengers understood me but all they did was make strange faces at me and smiled as if they were saying “You stupid Farang, you’re in our country now and we are not going take any action because it is not our custom, so you’re going to have to suffer.”

As the Thai passengers were not going to be cooperative, I decided to execute Plan B. Whipping out my cell phone, I called Khun Moongmink, my good friend in Bangkok, and I explained to her in English, my problem with the loud music.

Walking towards the front of the bus, I then handed my cell phone to the bus driver so Khun Moongmink could voice my displeasure to him. After talking with her for about 1 minute, lo and behold, the bus driver turned the music off. I smiled to myself, very content with my ability to be assertive.

About 5 minutes later, I looked behind me to find that some of the Thai passengers who were making faces and laughing at me before were now dozing off.

LESSON LEARNED - In Western Culture (or at least in America) we are very assertive and will protest or complain if something is not right and take action if need be while in Asian culture (at least in Thai culture), people have a tendency to be somewhat passive and considerably less assertive; I guess you could say, they just go with the flow! Viva la Difference!

Traveling in a foreign country, the traveler will most likely experience communication problems, especially when the language and culture is radically different than his own. This is definitely the case with Thailand - even though Thailand is westernized to a degree, it’s language and culture is still very exotic and foreign.

Sometimes it can be very frustrating, and in some cases very hilarious when trying to communicate to a Thai (especially when trying to ask directions), as most Thais speak and understand nitnoy English, and even the most accomplished English speakers are sometimes hard to understand because of their accent and difficulty with pronunciation of certain English words. *

To give you some idea, I will tell you about a hilarious incident of miscommunications that happened to me while I was visiting the city of Phrae in Northern Thailand. I call it the tale of “Monkeys Must Be Free”.

I was taking an all day tour of the city. The whole itinerary had been discussed in advance with a gentleman from the regional tourist office and the owner of Phoom Thai Garden Hotel, both of whom spoke fairly good English.

My driver (Let’s call him Lou), who drove a dilapidated songthaew, spoke absolutely no English. Out first stop was Ban Na Tong, a small village located in countryside about 32 KM away from the city. The village offered homestay accommodations and was a sanctuary for the Big Headed Siamese Turtle, an endangered species.

Fortunately, the resident teacher of the village spoke some English and showed me around. Afterwards he asked me if I was going to see the Pet Monkeys? I shook my head and said “No, I’m not interested in seeing any pet monkeys.” I asserted that all monkeys must be free and not be held in captivity. The teacher talked briefly to Lou, my driver, in Thai about the rest of my itinerary shortly before we continued with my touring.

After stopping at a couple of more places, we returned to the Hotel whereupon the owner greeted us. He talked to Lou in Thai for a couple of minutes and turned to me and said “The driver said that the farang (referring to me) was not interested in seeing Pet Monkeys, so he didn’t take me there.”

The owner, who had an excellent command of the English language, laughed out loud and explained to me that Phae Muang Phi referred to an area just 7KM outside the city where there were some unusual earth pillars. The pronunciation of Phae Muang Phi was almost identical to the English pronunciation of pet monkeys - therein lies the source of the misunderstanding. The owner asked me if I still want to go to Phae Muang Phi, to which replied Hell Yeah, so long as the Monkeys are free!