So I was going to write about how great the honeymoon stage of my cultural adaptation was - how nice it was that I had air conditioning, that the climate here is only moderately warm because it's near the mountains (instead of the horribly sticky heat of Bangkok), that I can flush paper down the toilet, that I can buy nearly everything I want in Chiang Mai cheaply, that I rode a scooter with my new mattress on the back and looked very thai, that my house is great, I like asian food anyway and basically that I was having fun!
Then my freight problems began. Either Thai customs are trying to extort 7,800 baht ($260) out of me in 'import tax' just to hand over my own personal used possessions. Apparently this happens a lot to 'Farangs' because they know we're rich and will pay it so they can make a little extra. Now I've been trying to negotiate with them, but in thai culture everything has to be polite and if you seem like a pushy westerner they will simply dig their heels in worse. Instead, I am supposed to say things like 'I'm very sorry to bother you but I don't have the money, I am just here to make merit and if you help me that merit will be transferred to you' and then persistently bug them, or else I can do the thai thing and just say 'mai pen rai' which can mean 'don't worry about it' and just pay up!Now I am beginning to realise how much I have to adapt my behaviour to never seem displeased even if I am being scammed or make others lose face in public.
Then my freight problems began. Either Thai customs are trying to extort 7,800 baht ($260) out of me in 'import tax' just to hand over my own personal used possessions. Apparently this happens a lot to 'Farangs' because they know we're rich and will pay it so they can make a little extra. Now I've been trying to negotiate with them, but in thai culture everything has to be polite and if you seem like a pushy westerner they will simply dig their heels in worse. Instead, I am supposed to say things like 'I'm very sorry to bother you but I don't have the money, I am just here to make merit and if you help me that merit will be transferred to you' and then persistently bug them, or else I can do the thai thing and just say 'mai pen rai' which can mean 'don't worry about it' and just pay up!Now I am beginning to realise how much I have to adapt my behaviour to never seem displeased even if I am being scammed or make others lose face in public.
No comments:
Post a Comment