Thai hospitality

Our buddy from the bus, Boonjan, had left us his contact information, having suggested we go for dinner. Boonjan works in Quality Control with Chevron in the south of Thailand, and after working 14 straight days he heads up north to his wife and two sons for four days, before making the trek down to Bangkok to take classes at the university there for ten days. Then it's back on the job for another two weeks.

Boonjan had spent time with the Thai army, training in Texas. As a result, he spoke English and was keen on helping out confused tourists. While signs are supposed to be in English and Thai, it's pretty inconsistent. Good for linguistic/cultural sovereignty, but bad for independent travellers.

Boonjan suggested dinner on what was going to be our last night there. To our surprise, he brought his wife and two young boys in their new SUV and took us out for seafood dinner along the river. His poor wife and kids spoke no English and suffered through our yammering, but as Boonjan explained, he wanted his children to see their father interact with farang, speak English, take interest in our conversations, and learn (this was the first time his family had had dinner with foreigners). The dinner spread was fantastic, but most importantly we got to chat with a real Thai. Some of his insights about the future of Thailand were interesting, as was his take on the drunken youth. Apparently Thai boys drink too much, "not like in America". He has this idea that farang don't get plastered. Poor innocent Boonjan.

So far our time in the north has been nothing but smiles and hospitality. We're having a hard time leaving.