Life in Pattaya, Thailand

After living here for 3 weeks, I can safely say that life here is not quite the same as it is in Michigan.  First off, the weather - the average temperature here has been about 86 F, or  30 C.  Everything here is metric, so that has taken some getting adjusted to. Temperature, distance, measurements...all in metric.  At the grocery store, I ordered a 100g of bacon, and got 5 slices!  Most Thai people speak a little English, and I am learning to speak Thai, so I can usually communicate, with very broken and basic English!

Our Christmas tree in Thailand

Thai people have their own currency, which is Thai Baht, 30 Bahts are the equivalent to $1 US dollar.  My math is improving, having to quickly come up with the exchange rate of a purchase.  The local grocery store that caters to Westerners was selling real (not artificial) Christmas trees for $9,900 baht, which is approximately $315!  Fortunately, I brought an artificial Fraser fir tree from the States, not quite as lovely  as a real one from Michigan, but beautiful in it's own way because it is filled with all my ornaments from home, with a few new ones from Thailand.  There is a huge 3 story Christmas tree at the Central Festival Mall, which faces out to the ocean.  As Pattaya is a huge tourist town, located directly on the beach, there are many westerners who vacation here, so although Thailand is a Buddhist country, they recognize the Christmas spirit here.

Bike vendor selling brooms

Many people in Thailand ride motorbikes - the roads are filled with scooters, sharing the space with cars.  Scooter drivers snake their way through traffic and collect at the head of any line of traffic, waiting for a light to change.  When the light changes, there may be as many as 20-30 scooters taking off before any car can pull out.  Car drivers are generally courteous of the scooters, and they share the road with good humor.

Fruit vendor selling from his scooter side car

Scooters are also means for small business owners to transport their portable store, which is carried as a side car to the scooter.  They drive around, park their scooter and open up shop!  Many food vendors travel this way. 

7-11's are ubiquitous.  One can buy a soda, bottled water, snacks, pay utility bills, and add minutes to a phone (an all-important fact to know!)  Non-Thais generally have to have a pre-paid phone before changing to a phone plan so it is important to know how to add minutes.  On a mile stretch of road, one may pass five different 7-11 stores.  The 7-11 stores are amazingly pristine, so clean and well-organized with incredibly high standards.  If a Thai has worked at a 7-11 store, they are considered very employable, and will usually get hired anywhere!  Who could imagine that 7-11 would be such a good job reference!

Our frequent, un-invited house guests are geckos, not quite as funny as the ones on the commercials back home.  They live in and out of the house, feasting off small bugs and leaving droppings across the floor.  They are approximately 6-8 cm long and hang out on the walls, and scoot behind entertainment centers, cabinets or anywhere else that they can hide.  They are harmless, but still startle me when I hear or see one.