Thailand Take Two / Thailand Take Two (ePub)

Thailand Take Two looks at Thais and Thailand in a unique way. It is not a politically correct travel guide written to promote tourism and showing only the rosy side of Thailand.

Real characters are introduced in the book to show how Thailand's culture is so different from Western concepts. Readers will meet bankers and bar-girls, the young and the old, the rich and the less well off. And get right into their lives. It describes a Thailand that is not always that transparent to the casual observer. It takes the reader away from the regular tourist spots and explores the real Thailand.

Enjoy the usual tourist attractions, but don't miss the opportunities to socialise with the Thais and understand their real culture at first hand. This book will help you do that.

We start by looking at the strong unbending class system in the country. Through the words of the Thais themselves, you will see how strict hierarchy rules influence their everyday lives. You will get to grips with why their apparent laid-back life style and their constant smiling is such an essential characteristic in everything they do. We come across situations involving the Eastern concept of face and how foreigners can best deal with it. Family feuds, weddings, funerals, community activities, all are seen from a more intimate angle. The reader will feel as if he or she is personally present.

The bar scene and the Thai mafia are seen in a different light when the social and political reasons of corruption and cheating are explained. Readers will be able to compare their own observations with the scenarios and characters appearing in its pages as we discuss how Thais see most foreigners who visit or stay here.

To link with the main themes of the book and to give perspective, a short 6000 word appendix is attached on Thailand's political journey over the last 775 years.

Thailand Take 2 includes some extracts from A Thailand Diary which will surprise the reader and show a side of Thailand not normally seen.