Welcome to my Thailand Blog!

visitors interested in Thailand: please feel free to review the information I have posted here about living, teaching, and traveling throughout Thailand, from the northern hills of Chiang Mai, to the city life in Bangkok, to the beaches of Phuket, et al. If you have questions, just leave a comment. If I can't give the answer myself, I'll help direct you to the information!


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Saying Goodbyes

The goodbyes were filled with mixed emotions: excitement for a new beginning but sadness in leaving my friends, co-workers, and students.

Friday was the retirement party for our school director. This was held at our school with a delicious catered meal of different sea food items, including fish stomach soup (not my favorite!) After a week of practice, the foreign teachers went on stage to perform a traditional Thai dance, in traditional Thai costume. The gents- myself and Michael- had to dance while beating a traditional Thai drum. We actually did pretty well. After the dance, the director gave us a “thank you” envelope with about $7 USD (Thai Baht). Then we went and paid respect to some of the ‘big money’ benefactors of the school. One of them pulled out a wad of Baht and gave each of us about $30 USD. From my ‘show biz’ experience in Thailand, watching performances at Holland Beer, I knew it was customary for the audience to tip if they enjoyed the show. This was a pretty good tip by Thai standards so he must have enjoyed our show!

After we changed back into our normal clothes, we made our rounds to say goodbye. We thanked the director again and gave him our retirement present: a pricey bottle of alcohol. Next was our department head, who wished us all good luck. Then we said goodbye to my Thai ‘aunties’ who have been so great to us with their willingness to help and their insistence on buying us lunch throughout the school semester. There were tears in everyone’s eyes L and I promised to stop by again if ever I return to Thailand.

Saying goodbyes at the muay thai gym was the most difficult for me. The trainer, and his three teenage daughters and I had become very close. They speak about as much English as I speak Thai, so our bond was formed through exercise and acting out phrases. Proof that communication can form bonds without spoken words! One of the daughters sent me a message on Facebook, with the help of Google translate, saying: “we think you do not want to go to China. Don’t leave.” They made me pinky promise that I would come back and visit if I return to Thailand. Then the trainer presented me with my new Thai shorts that I had ordered the week before. I asked him to have my name, Thailand, and the name of the gym written in Thai characters sewn into the shorts. I also asked that he choose a good Thai fight nickname for me and he did not disappoint: หมัดพายุไซโคลน  or  H̄mạd phāyu (sounds like: maht-pai-yute), which means “punching cyclone!” How awesome! I put on the shorts and tried them out. Somehow, they made me kick faster and made me look better while I was kicking. These were no ordinary shorts! The trainer gathered all the boxers together and we took one final group picture inside the boxing ring. Then I gave out some hugs, handed out pictures of some boxing memories that I had printed, and waved goodbye. <sigh>

Back in the Benjasub neighborhood, my good friend Num came over to help us move out our store of borrowed furniture. We said goodbye and hugged; his parting well wishes were for me to have “good luck” in China. Luck is a huge part of the Thai culture. I wished him good luck as well.

My last meal with my cooking roommate: a cheesy omelet covered in black bean hummus, with homemade potatoes and gravy, on flatbread, served with coconut-mango smoothies. Scrumptious! In the evening, I headed up to Bangkok for a last meal at my favorite pancake restaurant and hangout: Ethos. Mango and banana pancake, how I love thee. This was with Nick and Kate, two Americans I became friends with at the teacher training in Phuket. Also joining us was my Thai friend Aom, who would be my taxi to the airport the next day. After dinner, we relaxed with an hour Thai massage—I am going to miss those massages!

The next day came quickly, and it was off to the airport again. Bangkok’s airport is quite nice, mostly because they have lots of free sweet treat samples! My plane left in the morning, and touched down in China later that afternoon.

Smile Please

On my second to last day in Thailand, my friends at the private hospital, Ekachai Hospital, scheduled me for a teeth cleaning at the hospital’s dentist office. I’d already experienced Thai health care, so I was curious about Thai dental care. The price was right: only about $23. I arrived early and watched some replays of the recent tennis match between Federer and Djokovic. I think my dad could beat them both!

I sat down in the dentist chair and they covered my face with a thick paper towel that had a square section cut out for my mouth. No sunglasses to protect against the bright light shining down, they just give you a towel. The dentist lady spoke great English, but she didn’t use it very often. There is no small talk in a Thai dentist office, at least for the foreigners. That was nice. I’m used to struggling to maintain a conversation with my mouth open when the American dentists ask a bunch of questions!

All the dentist really said to me was: “do you have any problems with your teeth?...Raise your left hand if you feel pain…ok this part will hurt a bit more…” and “you need to floss more.”

She did a great job and I left with a more beautiful smile than before. My teeth felt and looked clean. The entire procedure was no different than what I could have in America, except that they did not waste my time or my money on the mouth xrays. American dentists want me to do xrays every time I even look at a dentist office, but I really don’t enjoy biting the weird tooth pillow and smiling for the camera, and it can’t be necessary every time, two or three times a year, right? Plus, it adds expense to the visit. Sometimes in America, I request not to have xrays done. Well in Thailand, I didn’t have to ask!

I would recommend any travelers / expats / medical tourists in Thailand to feel comfortable and to trust in visiting the Thai dentists, especially those at private hospitals!