Fellow travellers, Thai ways

I've finally moved to Big Budha on Koh Samui, as I was feeling that I would never leave Koh Tao if I didn't do it now! First day was tiring - the ear canal infection still going on, and I walked to the wrong direction from my hostel in the search for restaurants etc and found nothing, thinking that this is one lousy place! Today I've found lovely little places and visited the Big Buddha itself, and it's much better now. Last night I was thinking about the people I've met whilst on the road, and I was feeling a little lonely, so I decided that I will find a hostel instead of bungalow next.

Fellow travellers

Meeting locals is tricky, especially in touristy places like Thailand. Their interest in you is purely their work; they ask questions to make you feel comfortable. In the Philippines it was different, I had good conversations with the hostel staff, and in China the conversations were rather short as I didn't have a common language with the locals. Also, local tourists (Chinese in China, Thais in Thailand) are typically very friendly. In Koh Tao a lot of the waiting staff turned out to be Burmese, so when I asked how to say things in Thai they just shrugged!

Meeting travellers is not always easy either. Hostels are easy - people typically expect to meet people. In China I met surprisingly many solo travellers, and everyone at the hostels seemed keen to meet people. In Thailand it has been very different - people travel as a couple or in bigger groups. I've always made the first contact, no one here has come to ask me where I'm from or would I like to join their table. I've felt easiest meeting groups of male travellers - typically easygoing and relaxed dynamic which welcomes random people to join in. Girl groups somehow put me off, they seem critical of everything and everyone. Couples (as in a dating couple) vary, some of them are lovely and easy to hang out with, some of them signal strongly "stay away". It has been interesting to notice the dynamics of different groups and learning to read if someone would welcome company or not. It's not exactly something you'd do in normal life, asking people at a restaurant if you could join their table! One of the reasons why I enjoyed the festival so much was that people felt comfortable with each other, you would smile, nod, greet or chat to people you've never spoken to before without any social fences.

Most of people I've got along with seem to think that their own countrymates are the worst kind of tourist, be it Australians, Americans, Brits, French, Germans, Russians, Finns, Swedes, Israelis or Chinese. I've met lovely people from all over the world and only a few of the annoying kind. But I'm too tempted to draw conclusions, so here comes some awful generalisations: I've found Germans, Australians, Finns and Israelis the friendliest and easiest to talk to. Russians tend to flock with people from their own country and they appear somewhat rude. Americans often are ignorant of the history and politics of the country they are in. Finns get so drunk that they get their wallets stolen, burn their ankles in the fire jump ropes at Full Moon parties and have no qualms about dating underage Thai girls. Brits are politely chatty, but difficult to get any deeper than that. Chinese take a hell lot of photos with themselves in front of a sight or a beautiful view. Israelis are rude to the waiting staff. Everyone gets scammed in Thailand.

How things work in Thailand

The AC resort where I stayed in Koh Tao had a restaurant promotion of 25% off for all food starting from the New Year. Day before they brought in menus where everything was over 25% more expensive. Also, the discount applied only if you knew to ask about it, and even then it required some negotiation. Similar approach at one of the beach restaurants - happy hour in the evening gave 20% off food and drink, but the evening menu was 30% more expensive than the lunch menu.

There is also some questionable protocols with the big parties. The guide books describe undercover cops offering spliffs to travellers at Full Moon parties and then fining them 1000 euros for drug abuse. The word of mouth describes parties and isolated beaches where the authorities are paid turn a blind eye, and even profit more by being their providers.

Two English boys had taken a taxi from Khaosan Road in Bangkok to a town in the south of Bangkok, and had agreed on a price beforehand. The taxi had got lost, driven over an hour to north, adding a lot to their travel time and in the end asked for a double price what they had agreed. They refused to pay, so the issue was debated at the police station. I think it was resolved in the benefit of the travellers.

A lot of travel agencies take ridiculous amounts of provision for the tickets they sell. Some sell fake tickets. Whatever you're sold on the streets is typically hugely overpriced. The only scam I've fallen for was with my parents in Hua Hin; we wanted to go to the Elephant park and the tuk tuk took us to a more expensive Safari park, which also had elephants and which we enjoyed well enough in the end. At least it's not like in Delhi where taxi drivers refuse to take you to the hotel and take you to a fake tourist info that pretends to call your hotel to find out your booking doesn't exist, conning you into a more expensive room. And there are no extra stops in your taxi or tuk tuk journeys to silk shops. I guess people just are out for as much profit as they can.