Random Observations about Thailand

1) There are phone booths! Remember those? And they are everywhere. And they all work.
And there are cell phone stores everywhere. A couple of the malls I have been to have one entire floor devoted to cell phones mini stores that are privately owned. They all like cell phone markets and they are always empty.

2)When you but a movie ticket you actually get a seat number. I saw 2010 and I had seat f19.

3)There are doormen all over this city. They are dressed in uniforms much like if they were in their military dress and if you smile at them as they open the door - they salute you.

4)Wherever there are Buddhist shrines - which are all over the place - people stop and do a quick bow even if they are just passing by.

5)Thai people do not use chopsticks generally speaking. They eat with a fork and large spoon. You gather the food with the fork onto the spoon and eat with the spoon.The only time I have seen chopsticks in use was in a Japanese restaurant.

6)Hardly anyone watches any television.

7)People who commute back and forth from the city, as I often do, can be on the bus for up to two hours and no one reads. A few of the younger people listen to their IPods - but most just sit and patiently wait.

8) It is easy enough to get used to a country where they drive on the opposite side of the road - except when you are crossing the street. I still instinctively look to the left - but the cars are coming from the right. Could it be when my mother told me to look both ways before crossing the street, she was preparing me for global travel? I like to think so.