Thai Hotel

With several sights to see and surprises to offer, Thailand could be one of the best locations you should not miss to visit. Culture, beaches, people, and heritage sites are some of the things you can expect when you travel to Thailand.

Bangkok - Traveling Thailand wound not be complete without visiting Bangkok. As the nation’s capital with an estimated population of over 10 million (including the neighboring provinces), this city is by far the largest in the country. The city is divided into 50 districts or khet but for tourists and those who are new in the place, 6 divisions would be more useful. These are Ratchadaphisek in the northeast section of the city, Sukhamvit in the southeast, Silom in the south, Thonburi in the west, Rattanakosin in the central north, and Phahanyothin in the north. The whole Bangkok district would give you a diverse taste of culture, history, religion, modernity, and fast-phase life. You can actually witness how all these blend together to comprise the whole Bangkok package. Buddhist temples, historical museums, towering buildings, contemporary restaurants and hotels, shopping centers, canals and rivers, and food make Bangkok a one of a kind city in Southeast Asia.

Phuket - Down south, Phuket features magnificent beaches, tropical sunsets, white sands, blue seas, and breathtaking sceneries. No wonder it is the most popular vacation destination in Asia beating every beaches of the neighboring countries. It has several beaches like Kata Beach, Karon Beach, Patong Beach, Kamala Beach, and Surin Beach. The island showcases several water sports and activities including parasailing, jet-skiing, and scuba diving. By day, Phuket is alive with beachgoers and shoppers and by night, lights, sounds, and party people dominate the whole island.

Chiang Mai - The second largest city in Thailand with an estimated population of more than 200,000. This city located in the northern part of the country offers greener and quieter city. Chiang Mai’s tourism is becoming more and more popular and permanently settling at this city is very common. When you travel Thailand and visit Chiang Mai, you surely would want to see museums such as Hilltribe Research Institute Museum and the Chiang Mai City Arts & Cultural Center. With religion and history enriching the city, you can see several Buddhist temples such as Wat Chiang Mun, Wat Chiang Mun, Wat Phra Singh, Wat Oo-Mong, Wat Phra Jao Mengrai, Wat Phrathat Doi Suthep, and Wat Chedi Luang. The oldest temple dates back in the 11th century. Chiang Mai features attractions such as Chiang Mai Flower Festival in February, Bo Sang Umbrella & Sankampang Handicrafts Festival in January, The 2nd Orchid Fair also in January, and the Loi Krathong Festival usually falls in November.

Pattaya - Located 150 km. north of Bangkok, Pattaya is one of the most popular tourist destinations, which offers great beaches, beer and go-go bars, and a wide array of sport activities. Visit Pattaya when you travel Thailand is a must. Although it is the most overdeveloped part of the country in terms of tourism, prices in Pattaya still remains with reach. In fact, prices of foods, accommodation, and transportations are very affordable.

Krabi - In a small province of Krabi lies a small town with the same name. Paying a visit Krabi town when you travel Thailand is worth the time. Located south of Bangkok near Phuket and Phi Phi island, the town features great beaches along with high end hotels and not so expensive hotel that cater tourists of different classes.

Robert Thatcher is a freelance publisher based in Cupertino, California. He publishes articles and reports in various ezines and provides Thailand travel resources on http://www.your-thailand-travel.info.

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Useful Thai Phrase: Learning how to express Can and Cannot in Thai

Dai means can and Mai dai means cannot.

To express that you can do something in Thai, you can use the word “Dai” which means, can. If you would like to express that you can’t do something, simply negate the verb dai with “Mai”.

Dai krap/ka.
Yes, I can.

Mai dai krap/ka.
No, I can’t

In Thailand, you would use the polite particle krap at the end of your sentence if you’re male and ka if you’re female. The purpose of using krap or ka is to make the sentence polite, much like Japanese’s version of -masu.

Let’s say you want to ask someone if he can speak Thai. How would you ask him in Thai?

Koon poot passa Thai dai mai?
Can you speak Thai?

Koon is you, Poot means speak, and passa is langauge. Literally, the above sentence would mean “You speak language Thai can?”

Mai, before a verb = no / do not
After a verb = question marker

As you have noticed, mai, when used before a verb, means no or do not. If it is used after a verb, it acts like the Japanese version of ka - a question marker.

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Posted on August 10, 2006

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RippaSama is a passionate Thai language lover who just can’t stop learning Thai when he is on fire. If you want to read and learn more about his Thai language lessons and tips, you can visit (http://MyThaiSensei.com)

Copyright 2006 - RippaSama. You are free to reproduce this article as long as no changes are made, the author’s name is retained and the link to our site URL remains active.
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Introduction

“Teerak, my mom is sick and I need money”. For those who don’t know, “teerak” is the Thai equivalent of “darling”, used by “faan”, a gender neutral equivalent of boyfriend and girlfriend. It’s no big secret that there is a lot of prostitution in Thailand, though the numbers are vastly exaggerated by sensationalist media. There are many tales of cunning bar girls managing five or six boyfriends at a time and inventing increasingly innovative ways to extract money. “Teerak, my mom is sick and I need money” is a classic line used by farang residents in Thailand to describe such girls.

Perhaps less well known is the culture of family. The Thai family is the centerpiece of society in ways that many people in the West find difficult to understand. Put simply, the family looks after each other. If you marry into a Thai family you are expected to support that family. In practice, however, most Thai women will expect their Farang boyfriend to support the family as well. The “wealth” of a man is therefore a very important factor in choosing a partner. To some this seems very cynical, almost akin to prostitution. This is a vast over- simplification. Thai culture is not Western culture: neither necessarily better or worst, just different.

The Beginning: March 25 2006
My ex faan(very ex ex) calls me. As usual I don’t answer. If I answered every phone call I get I would be on the phone 30 hours a day. Then see I have an sms from her. “My mom dying.” Ok, that sounds serious. I call her and 2 hours later I am in Phatumtani hospital, about an hour out of central Bangkok.

It’s a government hospital and I heard bad things about these institutions. But it was clean, the patients were sick but not badly cared for, the staff seemed professional and the care was pretty good. In that classic Thai way that I genuinely love and admire all the families of the patients are in situ. It is all very chaotic but everything in Thailand is chaotic, and it’s nice.

Opposite us is very old and very tiny lady. She must be in her 80s and she is dying. It’s not a big deal. It’s just her time. Her whole family is there, working shifts. Her grandson, who I guess is 35+, is on his shift now. You can see immediately that caring is not his thing! Yet he is washing her, chasing around after her, resting her head on the pillow, holding her hand, sleeping on the floor underneath her bed. All in all he is showing his love and respect for his grandmother. It’s a sad occasion yet also invigorating.

I see this with almost every patient and family. A cancer sufferer, close to death, being cared for by her sister. A very, very old lady being cared for and fed by her equally old husband. Young kids wandering around. Human traffic in the best way. We farang have much to learn from the Thais.

Neung, my ex, has cried all the way in the taxi. We arrive and her mom is not good. Seems she has had an aneurism. She is unconscious and the nurses have said to get prepared. Her sister Ying has flown in from Chiang Mai and is there. So the girls do their Thai thing and I settle down for a long day. They wash their mom, talk to her, hold her hand, and cry a lot (of course!). I kid around a little, buy food, buy drink, and so on. And we wait for the doctor. He arrives on the floor and starts his rounds but soon disappears. Someone is dying on the floor below. He is back a couple of hours later. He gets very close to us this time before his phone rings and he’s off again. An hour more goes by and then he finally gets to us.

The nurses do some rather horrible things to Neung’s mom, but for the right reasons of course. The doctor takes his time. He is young but he is thorough. The prognosis is unclear. In essence he says we just have to wait a few days and see what happens.

Neung starts asking me how she can go to be with her mom while she is working, how she can pay for the taxi and so on. Gradually we are getting to the point of “teerak, my mom is sick and I need money”. Before I get the chance to make the expected “offer” her aunt arrives form Chiang Mai, stays a while, is obviously wondering who the hell this farang is, then leaves while giving Neung some cash to take care of expenses.

And gradually everyone cheers up. Neung even has the “balls” to call the insurance agent about the life policy….”teerak, I need to think about funeral expenses….”. Go figure!

Neighbors come and neighbors go. Telephones are “hot”. It’s good to see people caring. I wish that would be the case when it’s my turn to go.

Through the day I have wandered up and down the hospital. And it’s interesting. I am the only farang there. No one speaks a word of English. A little boy of perhaps 7 years looks at me and says, eyes in awe, “falang” (Thais cannot pronounce the consonant “r”, so “farang” comes out as “falang”). The girls in the 7/11 shop stare at me and giggle…then ask me if I like Pattaya and can they go with me! I am just an hour from Bangkok yet it seems as if I am in a different world.

I could have done without it all. I have had to delay a flight back to Switzerland, my home. I am tired. I have work to do. And I would obviously prefer Neung’s mother to be well. Yet I would not have missed the experience. It showed me some good things about this country. It reaffirmed the family ethic. It showed dignity. I am glad I was there. I don’t think Neung’s mom will recover but I think her daughter is beginning to adjust. We hadn’t talked for many months. Maybe this is not the best reason to talk again, but it was good to do so anyway.

Part 2 follows. Original story at http://www.blog.artthailand.net/?p=14

Originally from England, Adam Bryan-Brown has lived in Bangkok for one year having spent many years working in businesses in the United Sates and Switzerland. After graduating from Oxford University, Adam started his career working public relations.

By the end of 2004, Adam was Senior Vice President Corporate Affairs for JT International, one of the world’s largest multinationals, selling well-known brands including Mild 7, Camel, Winston and Salem.

At the beginning of 2005 Adam set up his first independent company, 2nd AB Associates, a virtual public relations agency. artThailand was created in January 2006 and is his second independent venture. The company is committed to promoting Thai contemporary art across the world.

He is also a published writer and is currently working on a book about his life in Thailand. His main interests are contemporary art and writing.

You can find selections of his recent writing at http://www.blog

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