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!