Pet Peeves about bangkok

[liquidflux]

And when you finally get a chance to pass, one of them will inevitably bump into you, then give you a look of disgust as if YOU are the bumbling idiot who can't walk straight!

[flacko]

You know everything you say is true about Bangkok the noise,the crowds pollution,pushy touts but you know the really strange thing is that In the States all these really bother me.Yet somehow everytime I am in Thailand its like I go through this magical Transformation.I become really relaxed and mellow and nothing bothers me.Even my friends see this in me.I can't really explain it I just go with the flow when I am there

[liquidflux]

It's called holiday mode.

[YimSiam]

 

I find it infuriating a couple of times every single day.

 

It's an Asian thing. Indians are as bad. But Europeans and Americans have awareness of other people.

 

Thais, when walking with someone else, will always spread out so they're all walking in a line blocking the pavement.

 

They will not notice anything around them. Even if they're alone, they will not move to one side like a farang would, sensing the foot traffic is busy. In short, they're fucking useless! I've only ever had a Thai move over to one side when that Thai has been walking with a farang who, typically, has the consideration and awareness to realise that someone else is itching to pass.

 

Agree that you'll find this throughout Asia, but the worst case I've seen is Hong Kong - in a city with systems and rules for everything, this is one area where chaos reigns. Far worse than Thailand or India - in HK they turn out the old people in the morning, and these oldies just shuffle the pavements for hours, stopping and staring into space, turning 180 with no notice, drifting left to right... But they're just one aspect... Drives me fucking crazy...

 

[bibblies]

And when you finally get a chance to pass, one of them will inevitably bump into you, then give you a look of disgust as if YOU are the bumbling idiot who can't walk straight!

I forgot to mention another aspect of their lack of awareness - the "suddenly stop or move backwards into your path" move.

 

They're standing admiring something at a street stall, their backs to the busy flow of pedestrian traffic. Would you look or think before taking a sudden step backwards? They wouldn't.

 

And the way they look at you when you bump into them after they do this.

 

The worst thing is, being English, my automatic reaction is to say sorry! I then try to take this back, putting on this kind of face instead:

[clubsiam]

For the tailors, have a bit of fun. Carry a small folded piece of paper and press it in their hand.Can be blank or have ANYTHING written on it, doesn't matter. Confuses the shit out of them. Or,hold a roughly crumpled piece of paper towards the inside of your hand. When you shake hands with them, they feel the pointy little edges and jerk their hand away so fast you'd think their arm was going to fly off. A palm moistened with anything gets the same reaction

 

They will usually remember you after that and not bother you again.

 

I lived in Pattaya for a couple of years and would always get molested by the same friggin' tailors. One day, a button fell off my shirt and I walked into a shop and asked how much to repair it. "Cannot"! WTF- and yet you want to make a suit for me? PS: I understand that all of their work is outsourced.

 

When they grab your hand to shake it, I find it ammusing to get the fingers in my grip and squeeze till they yelp like a puppy dog.

Now that's cheap entertainment.

 

[torrenova]

I hate the fact that Thais have no sense of spacial awareness either walking or driving. They think they are the only people on the path when walking and certainly they think they are the fastest. I am usually the fastest and thus do not have to worry what is behind me.

 

I hate the fact that they cannot read pedestrians and spot gaps which are not there at the moment but which will or should appear by the time I get there. Like air traffic control really.

 

Cleanliness or lack of it. They don't seem to think that part of someone else's meal might need to be cleaned up before I sit down.

 

I hate when it rains in Bangkok. You get wet, dirty and pissed off doing even the simplest thing. Better to stay at home or in the bar.

 

I hate the fact that I don't know Bangkok well enough and can't explain sometimes to the taxi driver where I want to go or at least get him to understand.

 

The time it takes to get from A to B is a killer. far better now with the skytrain and metro I agree but above ground it is a nightmare.

 

Don't like the fact that tuk tuks cost more than aircon taxis !

 

If I stay in the marriott riverside I hate the fact that it takes forever and a day to get anywhere, even using their riverboat and the train from Saphan Taksin.

 

I hope one day to rediscover Bangkok with enthusiasm but for now, it just gets more annoying each time I visit. maybe when my daughter is old enough to go sightseeing.