I really enjoyed myself in NAN, a relatively small and obscure city in Northern Thailand that few travelers have heard of. All my touring was taken care of by Fhu Travel, the most experienced tour operator in the city. Because of the scarcity of tourists in the area, I was the only participant on my two all-day excursions. Fhu Travel assigned a dedicated tour guide and driver to handle all the touring arrangements for me. Over the course of the next two days, I spent most of my time with these two gentleman who were born and raised in the area and had an opportunity to learn more about their lives. Nong, the tour guide, was a rather husky young fellow of about 25 years old who had fairly good command of the English language. Before working as a tour guide, he labored in the rice fields. He was married but his wife (and his young daughter) lived in Chiang Mai - about 5 hours away by car - where she worked as a teacher. Chaat, the driver, was a fellow in his late 30’s; like Nong, he was also married but his wife lived with him in Nan. While I was with them, both Nong and Chaat were always smiling and laughing as we often chatted about TIGERS (Thai girls).

When they talked among themselves, they spoke in their native Lanna which is somewhat different than Thai, the predominant language in Thailand. Lanna is considerably more nasal than Thai and some of the words are completely different. During my two days of touring, I sort of developed a friendship with these two gentlemen and I really enjoyed their company during the short time that we were together. When Nong talked to me, he always addressed me as Sir – I guess out of habit and respect - and I always retorted that I didn’t like to be called Sir, and pleaded with him to call me by my first name or any one of the many pet names I go by.

When we talked about TIGERS (Thai girls), both guys would become very animated, especially Chaat. Smiling and laughing, Chaat would say, “THAIgers very dangerous, eat money.” I guess this was a pet expression of his as whenever we passed by a young and attractive Thai girl, he would repeat his mantra with a big silly grin on his face “Thaigers very dangerous, eat money.” We all laughed and chuckled. Agreeing with Chaat, “I added Thaigers are very dangerous, but Farang gals more dangerous (and more expensive) yet.”

At the end of the 2nd day of touring, I told Nong and Chaat, since it was my last night in Nan before moving onto Phu Lang Ka, that I would take them out for a drink at the Dhevaraj, the most prestigious hotel in the town. Chaat was especially excited about meeting Nancy, the young and attractive female singer who was performing at the hotel’s nightclub. Later that night both gentlemen showed up at my guesthouse on their motorbikes and we proceeded to the Dhevaraj. On the way, Nong confided to me that neither himself nor Chaat - both men had been born and raised in Nan - had ever been to the Dhevaraj nightclub before, let alone inside the hotel. When I asked why, Nong replied, “We have never been there before Hanu, because we are not of the higher class.” He was alluding to the primarily Chinese Thai patrons of the Dhevaraj who were from Chiang Mai and Bangkok. “Nonsense I said, you’re the equal to any of these people, don’t put yourself down.” I guess my words, made them feel less self-conscious about themselves as we went inside the lounge, shared two large Changs (Thai beers) as we proceeded to enjoy the Thai cabaret show that featured Nancy and a number of other singers.

From this experience, I guess you could say I learned something about class-consciousness among Thai people. Anyhow next time I go to NAN, I will look up Nong and Chaat again and take them out for another round of drinks at the Dhevaraj. Hopefully, Nancy (and some other ThAIgers) will be there to join us!

By all means, check out my initial report on Nan!

Tags: Northern Thailand, Thai culture, Thailand, Thailand travel, travel

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