I devote the last section to the friendly, disciplined and patriotic Thai people.
The Thais are well known with their hospitality smiles. The smile is different from the rustic and simple-hearted smile given by the Khmers, the Thai smiles are more warm and gentle, even to strangers in the streets. Especially when you close your palms and greet a Thai with Sawasdee Krup, the other party will usually stop whatever they are doing, standup and greet you back with great sincerity. I did that a few times, and later even feel a bit embarrassed to do so as sometimes it takes them so much trouble to greet me back.
I was shocked when I was waiting for the skytrain in Siam Station, one of the busiest modern shopping districts in Bangkok. While there are huge crowd waiting for the train as one can expect in any of the large cities in the world, the Bangkokers automatically form many queues of single or double file on the platform, following the signs on the ground, leaving clear gaps in between queues for passengers to get off the trains. I’m used to see people scattering randomly near the train gates in Singapore MRT stations, but I’ve never seen such clearly formed queues in any other cities.
My respect also goes for the Thais with their patriotism. I went for a concert by an Australian rock band in Bangkok, and before the concert started, the whole thousands of audience suddenly all stood up solemnly with a piece of music started. I followed suit reflexively without knowing what was happening. Few seconds later I realized it was the national anthem. And I also remembered someone telling me that the Thais will also stop whatever they are doing in the public when the national anthem is played when the national flag is raised and lowered everyday. I was really surprised to see how respectful and serious the people were during the national anthem, and their immediate automatic action of standing up without any prior notice.
Another shocking phenomenon was given by a yellow polo T-shirt. I could easily see almost half of the population at any place wearing the “same same but different” T-shirt. At first I thought it was some organization or club shirt, but later I realized if an organization with such diversified members and such population, it could only be as large as a nation. Yes, the Thais, old or young, man or woman, many are wearing the same T-shirt with the national symbol on their chest pocket, at their heart. I’ve seen national T-shirts sold in many countries as souvenirs to foreign visitors, but I’ve never seen any with such popularity with the locals.
Maybe it could be just a cheap, comfortable and casual piece of clothing for the people, but the golden color everywhere, together with the Royal and Buddhism buildings, delicious food and pleasant shopping experience form up my first impression about this city of angel.
It is truly a city that one shouldn’t miss out and definitely a place to be missed after you leave there.
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