I hopped into a taxi at the BTS station at Thong Lo in Bangkok.
The driver’s name was Sid, a friendly chap in his early 60’s. Sid started the conversation by asking the usual question - “Where are you from?” For most Thai people, this is like saying hello!

I gave Sid my standard ‘where you from answer’ – “I am from many different places”, which of course threw him a bit off balance – as it does to most Thai people - as they don’t know what to make of it.

But being a nice guy, I decided to give Sid a break by adding that I’m originally from San Francisco. Breaking out into a beatific smile, Sid replied - “Oh you’re an American. America good!” Thai people like Americans in the post Bush era!

The conversation drifted into various aspects of American pop culture and history. The conversation went like this:

Sid - I like John F Kennedy.
Me - Oh yeah, Kennedy was a real playboy, had lots of girlfriends.
Sid - I like that

I mentioned that Teddy, the last Kennedy brother, passed on earlier in the year to which Sid replied, “I know”.

Sid - Do you like Edwin Pechuri?
(I really couldn’t figure out what Sid was saying, but it sounded like Edwin Pechuri)
Me – Edwin Pechuri? Who is he?

Sid asked me repeatedly, whether I liked Edwin Pechuri (or something like that), but for the life of me, I really didn’t understand him!

Me - What does this Edwin Pechuri do?
Sid – He’s famous singer.

I thought for a couple for a couple of moments, trying to figure out what Sid was saying and who was this Edwin Pechuri character that he kept referring to. All of a sudden I had a light bulb moment in my brain, and I asked him “ Oh, do you mean Elvis Presley (sounds like Edwin Pechuri)?” Sid smiled and said, “Yeah that’s who I am talking about.”

We both laughed as Sid finally reached my destination and let me out. As I enjoyed the ride and the conversation with Sid, I gave him a tip of 10 baht over the meter fare.

Morale of the story – For most Thai people, speaking English with correct pronunciation is very tricky. On the flip side, I can only imagine, how difficult it is for Thai people to understand me, when I try to speak Thai.
Same, same but different!

At last, my long awaited first post from my 42 day Odyssey to Southeast Asia. Many more to follow….

I have a friend by the name of Khun Moongmink from Bangkok whose profession involves translating documents from English to Thai and vice versa. Of all the people in Thailand, Moongmink’s facility with English probably ranks in the top 3%. She has a rather extensive vocabulary and relatively good grammar but like most Thai people she has difficulty with pronunciation.

We were having a conversation the other day in our way back from Khao Yai National Park. I asked her when she was going to visit me in the San Francisco Bay Area. She hesitated a bit before replying to my question by saying:

“What is the cost of etiquette?”

I was a bit startled by her reply, as it had nothing to do with my inquiry about her visiting me. Now, I know my etiquette and good manners are lacking sometimes, but I do not charge people - it always comes free, So I asked her what did she mean by the cost of etiquette to which she repeated again, “What was the cost of etiquette?”

Finally after 3-4 minute of this back and forth conversation, it finally dawned on me what she was trying to say. She was asking me WHAT WAS THE COST OF AIR TICKET? except that her pronunciation of air ticket sounded like etiquette. Laughing out loud, I informed of the subtle difference of pronunciation between the two phrases

In any case, an air ticket to San Francisco will cost a lot money, and etiquette is free!