HARMONY, DISORDER AND SMILES
alienating and head-scratching experience
that will also provide the most wonderful and
welcoming of culture shocks.
Thailand assaults the senses with an overload of activity—
an explosion of colors, sounds, sights, smells and tastes. It
possesses a seductive spirituality born not only from Buddhist
values but from an ancient animist approach that has its
origins in the country’s folklores and forests.
This book is an attempt to understand one
of the world’s most visited countries—but
goes beyond the usual tourist brochures and
guidebooks. A Geek in Thailand is an exploration
of why Thailand at once appears so
foreign and chaotic yet familiar and ordered.
Through a journey that includes understanding
the complex cacophony of components
that make up Thailand’s food, noise levels,
politics, traffi c and contradictory character
traits, we will begin to discover how seeking
a balance, a harmony and a level of calm in
all these integral elements is at the heart of the
soul and culture of the country and essence of being Thai.
LOOKS CAN BE DECEPTIVE
Although young Thai men may wear T-shirts bearing the
names of Western bands and cheer for English football teams
on Saturday nights, and although Thai women may wear the
latest fashions and cultivate
looks championed by their
Japanese and Korean counterparts,
Thais are inexplicably
unique in their outlook. There
is pride in the nation’s individualistic
Thai perspective that
stems not only from it being
the only Southeast Asian country
to ever resist colonization by Western powers but also
from the deep reverence and respect for the intrinsic national
Thai values of Nation, Religion and Monarchy.
The longer you stay in Thailand, the more questions you
are likely to ask. To understand Thailand, you must have a
knowledge of its geographical position and the infl uence of
The story of how I came to live in Thailand is quite a common
one for those who choose the ‘Land of Smiles’ as their
adopted homeland. I came for a holiday, well no, actually,
that’s not entirely true.... I came seeking relaxation, to
de-stress at the end of a joyless English-teaching contract
in Korea. Rather than return to the gray and dreary streets
of my hometown of Manchester in the UK, where I would be
twiddling my thumbs until my Masters course in journalism
began, I went to Thailand at the suggestion of my girlfriend
at the time.
I headed straight for the holiday island of Phuket. I think
it was on day three, while I was sitting on the sand at Kata
beach looking out at the water and the cliffs and peaks and
distant green hills, that the hustle and bustle and toil and
trouble of my recent time in Korea began to feel like years,
not mere days, away.
I stayed in Phuket
for a month, writing
the odd travel
article for a local
news magazine to
help subsidize my
English breakfasts,
bowls of chicken
fried rice and bottles of Singha beer. Being a sun-starved
Mancunian, I then decided to do some more beach-hopping
and ended up on the more remote and less-developed (at the
time) island of Samui. I stayed in the Fishmerman’s Village,
a lovely little beachside town with cheap accommodation and
a lively selection of bars and foreign and Thai restaurants. I
spent my days jogging on the beach and learning shorthand
and writing. In the evenings I worked my way through a
seemingly never-ending menu of delicious spicy, sour and
sweet Thai dishes to the sounds of live music.
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