Over Christmas break, I took a short trip to Thailand and Cambodia, for a different perspective on Asian countries. So on Christmas day, I set off to meet seven friends in Thailand.
One thing that surprised me is Thailand is more like America than it is like Japan.
People speak English easily and well, and most things I saw were written in English rather than Thai.
The same went for Cambodia, but they took it one step further by using the American dollar, rather than the Cambodian riel.
Locals selling things on the street would always give me prices in American dollars and it seemed quite inconvenient for them when I informed them that I had only riels.
They would then take out their calculator and give me the price in riels, rarely having enough change for me.
Coming from Japan, where everyone is quiet and reserved and then going to a country like Thailand is quite a shock.
People are much more boisterous and outgoing — to the point where is almost seemed rude (probably because I’ve been in Japan for a while and those traits are considered rude).
When going to a restaurant in Japan, the waitress doesn’t speak to you unless you yell ‘sumimasen!’ (Excuse me/sorry) whereas in Southeast Asia, we were constantly being ushered into restaurants and being asked, ‘”What d’you want?”
In Japan you simply do not tip, and as the Sister City found out, if you do, they will chase you down and give you your money back, whether you like it or not.
In Thailand and Cambodia, at the end of each tour, or meal, the workers would straight out tell you how much you should tip.
When entering a temple in Angkor Watt, we were followed, from entrance to exit, by a couple of “tour guides” (locals walking around the ruins) only to find to our dismay, that they charge a mandatory minimum $20 tip. But because they are in fact tips, it isn’t required of us to pay.
Despite these adversities, I had an amazing time.
The locals in Cambodia were courageous enough to speak out about their government, even though they could be arrested even under suspicion.
The locals in Cambodia have a lot to be angry about, but instead they are welcoming and friendly to tourists. It just goes to prove, you cannot judge or compare countries when traveling.
They all have their ups and downs, and good areas and bad! All in all, it was a very interesting and fun trip.
Cambodian proverb: The tiger depends on the forest, the forest depends on the tiger.
Anna Marshall is in Summerland’s sister city of Toyokoro, Japan as the assistant English teacher.
