Culture shock in Thailand

white zebra-crossing style lines that are painted on the road.

This is actually pretty easy to adjust to. Just wait. And wait. And wait more until a suitable time to cross. Or use one of the footbridges. Or use traffic lights.

Or antiques? These are just two of the grossly overpriced

types of products to be found in Thailand. I’m guessing Thai antiques sellers and market stall dealers think they can flog a vintage telephone that would cost about £20 in the UK, to an unsuspecting Thai (see ripping off their own people below) or a tourist for eight times the value.

normal in the west. Not so in Thailand. Everything is

kept quite formal and polite in public, and the naughtiness is reserved for the bedroom. It’s a bizarre paradox – walk down Soi Cowboy and there are Thai girls in suspenders dragging men into dens of vice. But try and give a girl a friendly peck on the cheek in public, and you’re branded a big-nosed barbarian farang.

bang on about great Thai street food like it’s a

mystical culinary Mecca. Maybe it’s OK if you’re a backpacker on budget, or you’ve never tasted a great Thai dish. Or it might taste awesome at 3am with a bellyful of beer. Yes, it’s convenient and great that food is everywhere. Other than that, it’s the cheapest gunge you’ll find.

not experienced by non-LGBTresidents.[1] Both male and female same-sex sexual activity

are legal in Thailand, but same-sex couples and households headed by same-sex couples are not eligible for the same legal protections available to opposite-sex couples.
In 2013, The Bangkok Post said that "while Thailand is viewed as a tourist haven for same-sex couples, the reality for locals is that the law, and often public sentiment, is not so liberal.