For the first few weeks of being in Thailand, every attempt at communication led to a lost in translation moment. English isn’t very prevalent once you’re outside of Bangkok, and you learn that very, very quickly. The area that we live in is pretty much a suburb, and there is not much English spoken here at all. At the beginning, all meals were fried rice with chicken (I learned how to say this on Day 2 to be able to survive) or ordered by pointing at pictures. You got in a taxi and prayed that they understood where you wanted to go and they knew how to get there. Arguing with taxi drivers and trying to haggle down prices is difficult when you don’t speak the language nor know how to say numbers. No specific case comes to mind, because they are so commonplace. Thai people often nod their head and say yes when you ask if they understand, to save face rather than have you and them go through more explanations, and this, not surprisingly, leads to a lot of lost in translation moments. There are lots of vegetarian exchange students, and they’ve had lots of meals sent back for having meat in them, after repeatedly asking the waiter if they understood what the student was asking for. Fortunately, in the more rural areas that get less tourists, the Thais are incredibly patient and accommodating and open to helping foreigners, and this makes surmounting the language barrier a bit easier.
One example of this that comes to mind is a time in Kanchanaburi, a town to the west of Bangkok where the Erawan waterfalls are (pictures will be included!) We rented scooters, and it started to rain to the point where it was dangerous to ride them, so we pulled over into a restaurant to gain shelter and grab a meal (restaurant is a generous word in this case, there were tables, chairs, a white board as a menu, and a few woks.) We walked in, and the family immediately jumped up to help us, tried to communicate with us, get us water, and figure out what we wanted. We were ushered to a table, brought water and ice, and they showed us what they were cooking to ensure that we knew what was going in and it was what we wanted. They were incredibly nice and hospitable, and this is not an isolated incident. Thai people are very, very friendly (Thailand is known as the land of smiles) and really try hard to help past the language barrier.
My favorite phrase that I’ve learned so far, outside of how to order spicy fried chicken and rice, is Mai Pen Rai. It is a phrase that pretty much sums up the Thai way of life. It’s used for you’re welcome, don’t worry, no worries, never mind, don’t think about it, and a few other phrases in the same vein. It’s a symbol of the relaxed way of life here, some Buddhist sentiments, and a general phrase that understands that everything works out in the end.
