What it means to be a traveler by Madison Schwartz

Our experience as travelers imbues itself in everything that we do. But what do we learn, really, when we take to the road and come home once again? Travelers will often say that traveling “changed them”, and certainly it has, but how? Here are a few of the lessons that I’ve learned while on the road these last five years. I’ve changed, and I don’t mean that I now dress in homespun and wear my hair a little longer, I mean that I’ve learned some lessons along the way that I hope all travelers have a chance to learn. Many of these lessons fade when we get home; this is inevitable. But pieces of them remain, and embed themselves into our character making us slightly different AND hopefully, slightly better members of both our own society, and the societies we visit. “Being” a traveler tends to mean certain things, let’s explore what some of these are.

Travelers tend to compare experiences and journeys which tend to be less quantifiable than the accumulation of material goods. Part of this comparison comes from necessity; most travelers only have a backpack of possessions, which tends to put us on a much more level playing field in the “who owns what” arena (MacBook envy still exists en masse). While this experience-centric style of valuation is often quickly eroded once one gets home, living in this way, even for a short period of time helps us realize that it is possible to live a less materialistic way of life. An important realization for many of us on our first trip is just how happy many people around the world are with less. I don’t mean to sound naive, and I’m not, but there’s a lot of truth behind this observation. I’m not going to renounce material good, I like nice things, but it’s also refreshing to realize that it’s possible to be happy with less. A traveler covets certain possessions: a good book, a bottle of clamato from home, an iPod full of music, and doesn’t have the ability to buy new iPods every five months when one gets released.  The trade and barter scene is alive and well on the traveler circuit too, and once in a while it just feels good to give a t shirt or a bracelet to a new friend. Living this way is good for the soul, and might just prevent an impulse shop or two once home.

Anyone who has traveled by themselves for any length of time knows that it can get very lonely, very fast. For the traveler, making new friends becomes a necessity, one that can lead to interesting and new relationships that we might never have a chance to experience at home. As clichéd as it might sound, traveling teaches us to treat everyone as equals, because the people around you are, regardless of where they’re from, the people you will share your journey with. Traveling gives us the chance to make friends from other cultures, and, what a wonderful realization it is when you finally conclude that people are people no matter where you go. We have hopes, dreams, fears, jokes and journeys to share. One of the things I cherish most about the opportunity I’ve had to travel is the local friendships I’ve made. My Thai, Filippino, and Nicaraguan friends are as near and dear to me as anyone. What changes about the traveler is the way they begin to appreciate all people from all walks of life, and to carry that attitude back home with them. Increased tolerance is a gift that most travelers gain, and as frustrated we might get at trying to operate in another country, it gives us a little bit of insight as to how frustrating it must be to newcomers to our own country.

Along this same line, most travelers become a little bit more “worldly”. In the good sense, not in the “Ya man, the government should do something about those people man” sense, but simply in the sense that we are able to view and regard a bit more of the big picture. While viewing poverty, political oppression and civil strife are not akin to living under these things, a traveler gains important insight into what it must be like to live in that way. While I don’t consider coming home and trumpeting off to your friends about first world guilt any sort of learning, I do believe that the traveler who understands that there are many different hands dealt in this world is able to use that knowledge to shape his or her own world a little bit differently.

Of course other things change too, we get stupid tattoos and wear gaudy jewelry and learn to go days without showering, and this too defines us as travelers. But what really matters is that, as travellers we’re given a unique opportunity to be certain things: to be a little more tolerant, to be a little more open and kind, and to be a little less materialistic and naïve. Be these things. Be them where you are and where you’re going and when you get back from wherever “going” is.  Be a traveler long after the backpack is hung up and you take off that silly necklace; be a traveler in your day to day existence: it’ll carry you through till the next time that necklace goes back on.

Traveler - Madison Schwartz wearing his traveler pants, traveler necklace and traveler hat...traveling on a camel.

Madison Schwartz has been leading trips for F&E in Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and The Philippines for who knows how long.  Besides being really tall he’s whip smart and deadly funny.  This posting was taken from his own personal blog.

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A World Class Education – by Jeff Emmett

Bangkok - a booming metropolis.

Travelling can and will teach you a lot of things…more than even you know. From the moment you step off a plane in a foreign country, your senses are bombarded by stimuli that are different from what you are accustomed to. A mere glance at the landscape with all its accompanying sounds and smells will give you an inherent feeling of the place that you would not gain from reading an encyclopedia on your destination. Often, the feeling I get from people entering Bangkok is an “…Oh.” Not many people expect a sprawling metropolis, massive skyscrapers in every direction, giant billboards and honking, state of the art Toyota (oh, aren’t they all) cabs. No, Thais do not live in mud huts. Yes, they have running water. Computers do exist in Thailand. These are the kinds of things that you take in nearly instantaneously without even realizing it, and they are invaluable in assessing the cultural norms and how they compare to your own back home.

Then there are the kinds of things you can actively learn from travelling – cultural displays like dance, eating habits or various historical monuments and museums – all of which offer you insight into what makes a different culture tick. I enjoyed this quote from a book I was just reading about the Vietnam War – a perfect example of how a cultural difference meant all the world. “To Asians steeped in Confucian concepts, time is an endless river flowing from an infinitely regenerative source. Time to Westerners is always precious; to the Oriental it can be spent with generosity.” It even goes so far as to compare calendars in the West with calendars in the East: ours are linear, with pages that begin and end…a year is a long time.In Eastern calendars, time is a wheel with no beginning or end. It goes on to say, “Quick victory is a Western concept. All the Vietnamese had to do was not lose.” They were patient, and it worked. But I digress.

For those out there who have travelled far and wide, it is all too easy to follow the rote tourist route, see what you came to see, and climb up on that high horse and say you’ve done it all. And maybe you’re right.  But what is even more important about travelling is what you learn. Even if you go off the beaten path and do it your own way – if you aren’t applying the things you learn to improve yourself or the world around you, there is another opportunity missed.

Travelling for the sake of travelling is just like any other hobby. What makes it unique is there are often more opportunities to take what you see around you and use it to better yourself. Look around you, at the things other people do through their unique personalities or through their different cultural perspective. Take those things you like and make them a part of yourself. Remove those habits that you hold on to that you dislike. Create your own culture and cultivate your personality to be how you want it to be. No one else has as much power to do that as you!

Blogger and F&E guide, Jeff Emmett, wandering around Vietnam expanding his horizons.

Whether it be exercising your body or your mind, testing your ideas against someone else’s, helping someone in need, or contemplating your purpose in the world to better clarify your goals, make every day count. We only gots so many of em. And travelling is one of my favourite ways to find new ways of improvement!

The name of the game is self-improvement, and if a day goes by where you haven’t learned something new or gained a new perspective or changed your life or another’s in any way, was that day well spent?

 

Jeff Emmett’s travels have led him into a job as a guide, marketer and blogger for Free & Easy.  His specialties are Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam and Thailand where he takes lucky group members around to amazing places helping them to “educate themselves”.  There’s a test at the end of each trip ;)

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F&E’s Instagram account – from the archives of Chad Smith.

This gallery contains 45 photos.

Chad Smith studied photography before he joined his brother and cousin running Free & Easy Traveler.  How fortunate that this photographer has been bouncing around designing new trips and running old ones.  It’s a never ending source of great subjects. … Continue reading

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A very “altered perspective” at the “Future Light Children’s Home” in Thailand

Kevin playing with a couple of kids from Future Light

“I’m heading up to my Orphanage in Mae Sot for a few days,” said my friend Jenn, “you should come and check it out with me!”

“I’m really sorry,” I replied, “I have a lot of work to do, I don’t think I can spare the time.” I hated myself for saying it before I was even finished, after all, I have the luxury of working remotely from a laptop where ever I may be. So, the alternative of holing up in a small apartment in Bangkok for a week obviously seemed ludacris in comparison to the opportunity to explore a new part of Thailand I had never been to. And also get a first hand view of an orphanage Jenn had started form scratch 3 and half years ago after finding 8 children abandoned in a shamble of a shack on the Thai/Burmese border. “I’m in!” I said, “I’ll figure out a way to make it work around my schedule.” I wasn’t fully aware at this point, but my perspective on what was truly important, had just begun to shift.

I wasn’t entirely sure what to expect arriving in Mae Sot, but I was pleasantly surprised to find a very comfortable guesthouse, with air-con, and WiFi, as well as plenty of good restaurants and a city, I later learned, that had a population of more the 100,000 people! This was a far cry from the rural village I had envisioned, how bad could the situation at the orphanage be? I’d soon find out as we hopped on some scooters and drove out towards the Burmese border.

Jennifer Lo (founder of Future Light) with some of the children.

Fifteen minutes later we pulled through a small gate and into a little dirt patch of land with 3 buildings situated on it. Technically it falls in no man’s land between the Thai and Burma border, and it’s next door neighbor to an illegal sweatshop. Burma is basically  on the other side of a field at the end of the short block they’re on. I was told it’s not uncommon for them to hear outbreaks of gun fire and the occasional grenade blast as well. Very surreal surroundings to find yourself in, let alone to find yourself suddenly confronted by swarms of smiling children rushing from the buildings shouting “HALLO JENNY! HALLO JENNY!!” It was an instant shock to see so many children, all smiling and jumping around, 39 of them to be exact. In just over 3 years the “Future Light Home School” had grown rapidly from 8 children to 39! How is it possible that there are so many orphaned children in one small area?!

Myself and Vickie, another of Jenn’s friends who had come up with us from Bangkok, were quickly introduced to the kids as “Jenny’s new friends” and we were greeted with shouts of “HALLO, HALLO!!” But we had arrived in the middle of the day, meaning it was still class time for the kids, and they had some arts projects that needed attending to before they were done for the day. So Jenn gave us the grand tour of the orphanage. There was the new school building in the front, big enough for all the children, with a short pathway that led to the main house. Newly added to, and a huge improvement from the original bamboo shack the first 8 kids were found in, the main house is raised on stilts a few feet off the ground now, as is necessary for the annual flooding that happens every rainy season in parts of Thailand. Behind the main house is the new kitchen and eating area, it was hard to believe they didn’t have one before… how do you feed 39 kids without a proper kitchen!? In behind the kitchen was the back lot, still a dusty, dirt patch like the rest of the property, but big enough to one day have a proper football field for the kids as well as an undeveloped garden area further back as well. We were then introduced to Goan and Eeta, the house Dad and Mom. A young Burmese couple that live full time at the Orphanage with 2 of their own children, and care for everyone as though they were their own. I expressed to Goan how amazing it was, what he and his wife were doing, and he simply replied, “Everyone is family, everyone is the same.” They were his own, simple as that.

The new kitchen!

That was an incredibly selfless thing to hear from someone who had so little for himself to begin with. I remember later that night talking with Jenn about the immense burden that Goan and Eeta had taken upon themselves. Then Jenn told me, “Goan is only 28 years old, and Eeta younger still.” Unbelievable. Seeing first hand the situation they were in and clearly understanding the need that those children were in, I still couldn’t fathom putting myself in that position, I don’t know that I’d survive a month, let alone years!

If you can envision a small compound over-filled with children from 1 or 2 years old all the way up to mid teens, you would naturally expect there to be a fair amount of arguing and fighting… but not here at Future Light. The entire time I was there  all I saw was happiness in those children. They helped each other, they studied together, they slept together, ate together, did everything together, always together… and yet they never fought. An impossible feat for a group of selfish western kids to perform for a couple hours even. Maybe it was their one common bond, something you wouldn’t think to be very strong, but abandonment was something they all had in common, even if some of them were still too young to understand it.

There’s Monday, a small boy of 5 years, with such charisma and charm that he had me pushing him on the swing set barely 5 minutes after arriving the second day. He was named for the day of the week that he was found on, abandoned in a field at 2 years old. He’ll never know if he was ever even given a real name. Then there’s Hannah, who has been there for 3 years and is very ticklish and loves to laugh… especially so, when she learned I’m even more ticklish than she is. I had to run away from her because I was laughing so hard and I thought I might accidentally throw her across the room in an uncontrollable fit of tickle spasms, hahaha! I later found out she cried for the first 5 months straight that she was at the orphanage. How much heart break does it take to cause a child to cry for that long?  Another brother and sister still, were found abandoned under a bridge. I would have thought that “Finding” one abandoned child would be pretty much the most unbelievable thing to happen, but apparently in some parts of the world it’s unfortunately quite common place.

Some seriously stoked kids with their new dvd collection.

Although I was only there for 3 days, the entire experience was incredibly intense and inspiring. To see how much Jenn and her group of volunteers had accomplished so far, but also how much more was needed. To meet Goan and Eeta, who had given so much of themselves already and had created a home of happiness for so many abandoned children. And to witness firsthand, the resilience of those children in such an unimaginable and unfortunate situation, thriving, learning, living and loving, as a family. I had to do more, so I ended up donating 7000 Baht on behalf of myself and Free & Easy Traveler. With this small amount of money, Jenn later told me they would be able to hire a full time employee for 3 months to help with maintenance, cleaning, and gardening, as well as 5 more, much needed garbage bins and garbage disposal services for 4 months! The act of donating to a cause in need makes a person feel pretty good in itself, but it was doubly amazing to know firsthand exactly the impact that was made due to my efforts and the donation. This was easily one of the best travel experiences I’ve ever had and I hope to be able to revisit the orphanage multiple times in years to come.

Kevin Bernardin has done more than a few stints of leading trips for F&E in Thailand, Laos and Cambodia.  When he’s not doing that he’s overseeing group leaders and taking care of group members prior to departure.  

* for more information on the Future Light Homeschool and how to get involved, contact Jennifer Lo on facebook www.facebook.com/Futurelightkids
or send her an email at: futurelightkids@gmail.com.
You can also donate directly through Paypal, sending to the same email address.
The website is under construction but coming soon! www.futurelightkids.org

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A Month in Chiang Mai – by Tadd MacKenna

The entire summer when I was working hard back in Canada, I couldn’t help but day dream of the day I would be so lucky to come back to Thailand. Images of white sandy beaches, and stunning sunsets danced in my head all day long. But before I was to start this stint of back to back trips, I decided to spend a month in Chiang Mai studying the Thai language. So the islands would have to wait, and I would head straight to Thailand’s “Rose of the North” to learn a new language. But, I didn’t expect to learn so much more than just Thai.

Chiang Mai is a city unlike any other I’ve visited in Southeast Asia. I like to describe it as big city with a small town vibe. Life slows down in Thailand, and I found that to be even more so in the North. My one month in the city felt like it very easily could have been six. The guesthouse staff became my family, my classmates became close friends, and the street bar; my local pub. My time between classes was spent at muay thai fights, long boarding around the old city moat, in street markets, visiting temples, and even expanding my knowledge of Thailand, it’s language and it’s people.

Within the first couple weeks, I was welcomed to help my guesthouse’s family celebrate Keun Baan Mai(literally “build new house”) , which is a traditional Buddhist celebration that blesses a new home and it’s inhabitants. After months of hard work building, renovating and re-constructing their home, no one in the family was able to sleep in the house until this ceremony was performed. So they invited nine monks from the local temple over and decorated their new place. The home was filled with colourful ribbons, about 200 candles, banana leafs, coconuts, food offerings, a Buddha statue and three long painted sticks standing up in the middle of the room. The three sticks are to symbolize the three characteristics of the Buddist religion, impermanence, suffering and non-self.

 Also, there was a long white string tied all the way around the entire house and ran into each room and then between my fingers and through the fingers of everyone else who was at the ceremony. Than it ran to the top of the stick tripod and down into 5 strands and rested on top on the heads of the five people who would live in the house. This string connects everyone, and everything in the home. Early in the morning, the monks arrived and it was underway. We all sat together while the monks chanted together, read scriptures, and blessed the house to free it of any bad spirits, bad luck, and to apologize to the spirits of the building for modifying it. While I couldn’t understand the lot of what they were saying, I just did what everyone else did and tried to be as respectful as I could. The synchronized chants of the nine saffron clad men was wonderful, melodic and soothing. We all sat on our knees, closed our eyes, bowed and prayed for about 1 hour, all the while holding the same long piece of string.

The monks sprinkled us with holy water, continued chanting, and at the end they pulled off a small piece of the string and tied it around each of our wrists for good luck. When it was complete, as per Thai tradition, we served the monks a meal of rice, soup, fish and vegetables to thank them, and the house was now ready for occupation.

Intrigued and wanting to learn some more about the religion, I decided I would go straight to the source. Wat Suan Dok, a temple and Buddhist University in Chiang Mai, has a wonderful program called “Monk Chat” which allows for an open discussion between tourists and young novice monks. A short tuk-tuk ride away, at the temple I met five or six novice monks eager to practice their English and answer some of my questions. We talked about where we were from, sports, girls, and they even helped explain Keun Baan Mai to me. All about the same age as I am, it was like meeting new people at a bar, not monks in a temple.

Aside from hanging out with monks, I was sure to try and experience as many new things within the city as I could. I wanted to branch out from where I had been in the past while leading LTC trips, and try to find new places to take my future groups. My days were filled cruisin’ the streets on my longboard and I got a tonne of attention from the Thai people who had never seen a skateboard quite like mine. I often stopped and let tuk-tuk drivers give it a try, only to watch them bail on the concrete surrounded by the laughter of their friends. In exchange I would often get a free tow behind a tuk-tuk and arrive at my next destination a lot quicker than I would have with the old kick-push.

I kept myself entertained in the night-time, by cruising over to “Backpackers Alley”, which is a small lane of pubs and bars, where reggae and ska are the genre of choice. As a little bit of a live music junkie, I was right at home listening to lively saxophones, trombones, and electric guitars blare out covers of Sublime, Bob Marley, and ska versions of classic rock hits. If I wasn’t down in the alley, I often found myself practicing my colours in Thai, shouting “Si Dang!” (red) or “Si Fah!” (blue) at a local Muay Thai stadium.

Muay Thai, is Thailand’s national sport, and if you think us Canadians go wild for ice hockey, just wait until you check out a muay thai fight in Thailand. The atmosphere is fantastic! The stadium is hot and sticky, loud shouts in both Thai and English tickle your ear drums, and the aroma of years worth of blood, sweat and tears oozes from the stained ring. A place where gambling is not uncommon, the audience is passionate about the results of each fight. Children as young 10 years of age open the event with the first fight. Never straying far from tradition, each fighter performs a quick prayer in each corner of the ring in hopes of a victorious and safe fight. Traditional music composed of horns, drums and cymbals is performed live as the fighters exchange flurries of elbows, kicks, knees, and fists. Known as the martial art of eight limbs, fighters from around South East Asia and the world flock to Chiang Mai to train and perfect their skills in the city that is the muay thai centre of the world. Every stadium in Chiang Mai offers an array of fights, from lady fights, to international fighters, even the occasional bare-knuckle fight! Each fight honorable and traditional, yet vicious.

I love Chiang Mai, and I can’t wait to go back there with my next LTC group. There is so much to do in Chiang Mai, that everyday can be as busy, or as relaxing as you want. If you want to go bungee jumping, cuddle with baby tigers, watch a muay thai fight, or just kick back with a cold beer Chang and listen to live ska music, you can do it all in Chiang Mai, and at your own pace. While strolling through the Sunday Night Market, I found a t-shirt with a quote that embodied the city as a whole; “Chiang Mai: It does not mean a place where noise, hard work and trouble don’t exist, but to be in the midst of all of those things, and still be able to find peace in your heart.”

Tadd MacKenna divides his year by spending half of it guiding trips throughout Thailand, Laos and Cambodia for Free & Easy.  And the other half in the Canadian wilderness planting trees.  He has an abundance of good karma if anyone needs to borrow some.

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We have voted on our top 12 videos for the showdown round!

THE 2 MINUTE VIDEO SHOWDOWN! 
12 VIDEOS.
9 SHOWDOWNS.
1 FREE 20-DAY TRIP (INCLUDING FLIGHT) TO ANY F&E DESTINATION!
Starting THUR. NOV. 3….with head-to-head match ups! 6 battles over 12 days.

Our judges have selected their favorite 12 video submissions, and starting Thurs. Nov. 3rd we will match 2 videos up against each other, and ask our fans to vote on their favourite!

Round 1: Nov 3rd – Nov. 15th

Voting will go on for 28 hours (9am to 1 pm MST the next day) in each battle, and the winner will advance to the next round.

Round 2: Nov. 16th – Nov. 21st
6 finalists will go head-to-head again, in 3 battles over 6 days.

Finals: Nov. 22nd – Nov. 23rd
The final 3 will be put up to 20 FNEZ judges to submit their 1st, 2nd and 3rd choices. (1st = 3 pts, 2nd = 2 pt, 3rd = 1 pt. Most points wins.)

Winner Announced: 9 am November 23rd

Shortlist

Alaina Nordin
Christa Sakalauskas
Darren Watt
Dusty Anderson – Home
Dusty Anderson – LTC
Iliana Quintanilla
Laura Ward
Lyndon Kusler #1
Matt Heatcoat – Escameca Shaka
Moorea Ottenbreit
Sarah Galloway
Teri Northey

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Flood Update

In the news we are seeing a Bangkok under water.  We are seeing the communities next to the river getting evacuated.  But many reports from our friends in Bangkok are saying that where they are (the tourist area) is completely business as usual.  The dry streets don’t make for good news photos.
We have a group that was supposed to be on the train tonight on their way to Bangkok.  We have decided that, even though the area we were to take them is not seen as a danger spot, to delay their trip to Bangkok to wait another couple of days and see what’s what.  Instead they get a couple more days on the beach…so that group is not suffering in the least ;)  In fact the south has been sunny and dry throughout all of this terrible weather north of Bangkok.

We are confident that if Bangkok is deemed unsafe that we can make a last minute game plan change to ensure that the group just goes direct to the airport and doesn’t have to experience any of the flooding.

The same goes for our groups arriving this weekend.  We are capable of adapting to any situation so that the groups can avoid getting their feet wet.  If central Bangkok is flooded we will be avoiding Bangkok.  Simple as that.

If you’d like to speak to a Free & Easy representative about this situation please don’t hesitate to call us at 1-800-403-5208

 

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Flood Update pt 2

We asked for reports from our people in Thailand all over the south (both coasts and the mainland) –  they have seen nothing but sunshine for the last few weeks.  Apparently, north of Bangkok is where the trouble is.  According to our Thai contacts, they have already released the floodgates and are beginning to allow the water to run off into the sea.  There are a few cities that will have some cleaning up to do for sure.  But we are assured that things will go back to normal within a week.  Our groups will likely not even notice anything is wrong.

Here’s hoping for a quick recovery for the Thai people affected by these floods.

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Thailand flooding update.

Thailand has been receiving a lot of attention in the media regarding the flooding happening there. Our thoughts go out to all those who are affected by this terrible weather.

We’d just like to give an update as to how our present groups are doing over there.  Since the rains have been affecting the north mostly we are assured that our groups have not been affected in the least.  At this moment they are likely kickin’ back in their hammocks or frolicking in the water.  So no need to worry about them! They’re doing better than us!

One of our group leaders is in Bangkok at this moment and here’s an update he wrote for this blog.

Hey all, just an update on the weather situation and the potential flooding in Bangkok. I’m in the city now, having just picked up my parents from the airport for their first Thailand vacation, and while the water level in the Chao Praya River is higher than normal, the streets are dry, and everything is business as usual throughout the city. Having been keeping up on the news, it seems that the worst of the flooding possibility has passed; the tides should begin receding in the next few days which should ease the flooding in other areas as well. Kudos to the Thai army for their tireless work building the many retaining walls and diversion canals which have helped Bangkok avoid this crisis. Now let’s all have a Chang and hope for some sun.

Bigcat

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Get Busy Talkin’

In the eight years that I’ve been traveling to Thailand I’ve been fortunate enough to take two Thai language courses. The first taking place at the University of Chiang Mai with FnE leaders Jeff Emmett and Chris Sherry and the second at The AUA Language Centre also in Chiang Mai with FnE Leader Ashleen. Ashleen and I spent the month of April studying thai, practicing yoga and celebrating Songkran (Thai New Years). We spent so much time together that we even started dressing the same.

F&E guides, Ashleen & Jemma, off to school.

After many years and my second Thai language course it’s finally starting to make some sense. Thai is a tonal language, and I’ve discovered that I’m somewhat tone deaf. It’s proving to be quite a challenge for me to figure out the difference between a falling and rising tone. When I took my first language course I thought that I would be able to get by if I just learned the words, and figured that the Thai people would be able to understand what I’m saying even although my tone was off. I soon discovered I was wrong to assume this. I’ll put it into perspective for you—take the word “mai” for example. Depending on your tone it can have 5 different meanings: mái mài mâi mai măi … which, if pronounced properly translates to: does new wood burn silk. So you can understand where there might be some confusion. In the Thai language, tones are used to determine the meaning of a word, whereas in the English language we use tones to express emotion.

F&E guides at the university of Chiang Mai.

For Western travelers English is widely spoken in Thailand and you’re able to get by with knowing very little Thai. It’s easy enough to sit in a restaurant and hold up two fingers and say “Beer Chang please.” But it’s so much more fun to learn a few Thai words and say “koor bia Chang sawng kuwat kaa.” If you are planning on learning a little bit of Thai I think some important words to start with are “Hello” “Thank You” and “Cheers!”

Hello= sawat dee kaa/kaap

Thank you= khawp kun kaa/kaap

Cheers= chok dee kaa/kaap

If you are a guy you would end your sentences with the word “kaap” to be polite, and as a girl you finish them with “kaa”.
But like I said, make sure you get those tones right; if you’re trying to say the word “banana” in Thai and you’re getting some odd looks and laughs, you’ve probably unintentionally said a bad word instead. But, don’t be discouraged, Thai people appreciate your efforts and are always willing to help you along.
So when you come to Thailand take a few minutes to learn some basic Thai and don’t be afraid to give it a shot… you may not always end up with what you ordered from the menu, but you’ll definitely get to try some new and interesting dishes.
Good luck my friends!
Chok dee kaa puan koong chan!

Jemma Faint has been traveling in Thailand for 8 years and has been guiding for F&E for 4 years.  She’s a Thailand junkie and can’t seem to stay at home very long without needing her fix!

Posted in by Jemma Faint, culture, language, Thailand | 3 Comments