The Amazing Race: Thailand

August 4, 2020

We are on the flight to Bangkok, Thailand, from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia and it is so long, but it’s okay because we are very tired and are sleeping pretty much the whole way through the 9 hours and 15 minutes. When we finally made it, which was around 1:25 pm, we wanted to go as fast as we could to get our bags and go on our one day adventure to Thailand. We straight away found a taxi and from Bangkok we drove to Nonthaburi. We had around a 22 minute drive where we had some chill time before the challenge began. Once we got to Nonthaburi we were told we had to go and do something nice for two different native Thai people, and this was pretty difficult. The people around us all seemed so friendly and nice we didn’t know who to choose from. We finally chose two very nice families that we had given toys and money too and as they tried to give us something in return we knew that Thai people had a rule and in order to immerse ourselves in their culture we didn’t accept it. The custom in Thailand is typically to be kind and not expect anything in return and that is what we did. We had passed the challenge and were on to the next one. We had gotten a ride back to Bangkok. In Bangkok we were dropped off in front of Wat Arun Temple, one of many in Thailand, but a beautiful sight to see. We saw it from the outside and wanted to go inside so badly, so we paid the entrance fee and entered. This kind of reminded us of sequent occupance, the reason for this it was a society that left its cultural imprint in this city. They had a giant Buddha that we all had taken pictures with and it was so big and beautiful that we couldn’t stop staring at it, it had mesmerized us. We spent two hours there looking around and trying to meditate and become like the Buddha. It was great and a wonderful experience we had all enjoyed and benefited from. We had also realized that we were in Thailand and had been in front of a Buddha. This wasn’t where the Buddha had been thought of or created and we realized that their culture and religion was based off and affected by the Buddhist culture. They weren’t an authentic culture, but they had many beliefs and customs that they had built on their own. We had so much fun when we saw that our next challenge was a game that none of us knew and that we had to learn and beat a native Thai person in. It was truly a challenge! It took us around 1 hour until we started to get the hang of it. We beat the native Thai’s and said our goodbye’s. It was so fun because it was a part of the culture that I thought I would never experience and would never have learned about if we hadn’t taken this amazing trip to Thailand. It started to get later and our next challenge hadn’t been so hard because we had joined a group and traveled around Bangkok for 4 hours and visited places and sites that were very interesting. We saw the culture in Bangkok, Thailand through delicious food, sites and experiences we had enjoyed throughout the day. I had gotten late and our flight left early in the morning the next day so we had gotten a hotel room called Buddy Oriental Riverside. This was a very nice hotel and a nice room where we spent the night and had a good night’s sleep. We woke up the next day at 5:30am, we got around 6 hours of sleep, and we were off to the airport in order to catch our flight that left at 6:45am. It had been a hectic morning waking up getting ready, and going, but we did it and made it to the airport. We had checked our luggages in again and had gotten to the plane on time even a little earlier by 15 minutes. We waited and waited and got on the flight to Japan!!! We were so excited and couldn’t wait to get on the plane, get some more sleep and get to one of the most interesting states, Japan!!!
Signs And Info: Thailand Map - Stock Illustration I4297314 at ...

Signs And Info: Thailand Map - Stock Illustration I4297314 at ...

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Wat Arun Temple

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Culture:

Thailand has a very rich tradition and they are very influenced by places like India, Cambodia, China, And Southeast Asia.
In Thailand their Theravada Buddhism is the national religion, where they worship ancestors and are animistic.
They have many cultural norms that tourists don’t completely understand, for example pointing with your feet which is disrespectful because it’s the dirtiest part of the body, and touching the head is disrespectful because it is the most sacred part. Another thing is when entering a temple your shoes must be removed.
They also have very interesting food that many enjoy because they blend many flavors together to make it perfect and delicious.
Take your shoes off when entering a temple, someone's house or a store where you can see shoes lined up outside.
Dress modestly because it is disrespectful to the Thai’s. They wear clothes that cover and when swimming for example where shirt and shorts not a bathing suit.
Keep calm because Thai’s are generally very calm and don’t make a very big scene with situations because they channel the philosophies of the mai pen rai which translates to no worries or no problem.
Don’t ride an elephant because they are a big part of the history in Thailand and many are mistreated and are mentally and physically abused.
They have many holidays but one special one is of the king's wife's birthday which they call mother’s day because they see her as the mother of all Thai’s.
Another holiday they celebrate is called Loy Kratong which is not celebrated everywhere, but is the celebration of the water goddess and for providing water all year long.
The youth in Thailand are social in school, enjoy movies and television as a main source of entertainment. Favorite sports are soccer, table tennis, badminton, and volleyball. They also play Mahruk, a game almost like chess and watch Muy Thai which is Thai boxing.
Many children are not allowed to have friends of the opposite sex because of the parents not allowing it. Females and males are mostly not around each other and holding hands until later in life when they get married.
Oftentimes many Thai families live together amongst generations of the family, they enjoy family time and play games.
They greet each other with wai which is when they press their palms together and bow.
They try to live with jai yen which is a cool heart which means they typically don’t express extreme emotions.
Namjai is when families go together and express generosity without expecting anything back.
They also respect elderly people way more because they are higher in status which means they deserve more respect.
Thai people will tend to think of others before themselves because it is an important part of their belief.
Ma bhen rai means never mind which is what they say to cool situations down in order not to get into an argument in public. They care about the argument but don't want to fight in public which means they are very respectful.
They have a belief called the “middle way” which means that they shouldn’t express too much negative and too much positive. Sometimes it may seem like Thai people don’t care and aren’t passionate about what they are doing at the moment, but this is a part of their culture and the “middle way”.
When they eat they typically sit around the table with their families, have a bowl of rice and more in the middle.
Status is very important to the culture in Thailand because it sets their status in society. This can change depending on if someone's life changes. Wai is a greeting and is modified based on the status of the person you are greeting.
Many Thai people wear amulets or carry talismans. This is because they have a strong belief in spirits and ghosts, they also have shrines for spirits everywhere.
The Thai’s are technically prohibited to attach themselves to material objects because it is against Buddhism, but they make exceptions for the amulets and talismans.
Monks are highly respected in Thailand and in Thai culture.

Fact Sheet:

Race Destination #: 3

Country Visited: Thailand

Country Shape Classification: fragmented shape and elongated.

Country Development Classification: Thailand is classified as a developing country.

Specific Places Within Country Visited: Bangkok, Nonthaburi and Wat Arun Temple,

Country Capital City: Bangkok Capital City Population: 8.281 Million

Country Government Type: Unitary State, Parliamentary system, constitutional monarchy, military dictatorship, and military junta.

Current Leader(s) / Party(s): General Prayut Chan-o-cha is the current prime minister of Thailand.

Ethnicities (% breakdown): Thai - 91.5%, Khmer - 2.3%, Malay - 2.1%, Bamar - 1.5%, Karen - 0.6%, Chinese - 0.4%, Hmong - 0.3%, Other - 1.3%.

National Language(s): Thai is the official language in Thailand.

Religion(s) practiced (% practiced): Buddhism - 93.58%, Islam - 4.94%, Christianity - 1.20%, Other - 0.11, Irreligious - 0.07%, Hinduism - 0.06%, Sikhism - 0.02%, Confuscism - 0.02%.

Traditional Cuisine Descriptions: Pad Thai - fried noodle dish with tofu eggs and more, Som Tam - Papaya salad, Khao Pod Tod - Corn cake, Gka Prow Gai - Basil Chicken

Traditional Dress Descriptions: Chut Thai - bright and delicate dresses the literal translation is Thai Outfit, Suea Phraratchathan - button up shirt with collar long sleeves and sash for formal meetings, Chakkri - dress.

Famous sites of country: Railay Beach, Koh Phi Phi, The Grand Palace in Bangkok, Sunday Walking Street, Chiang Mai, Pai, Wild Elephants in Khao Yai National Park, Sukhothai Old City, City of Ayutthaya, Doi Suthep, Climbing at Tonsai Beach, Khao Sok National park, Maruekhathaiyawan Palace, etc.

Country Population (most current available): 69.43 Million as of 2018

Country Population (in 1900): 10 Million people as of 1900

Average Life Males: 71.8 Females: 79.3

National Unemployment Rate: 0.67% as of 2018 a 3% rise from 2017

Country Literacy Rate: 92.87%

Country Murder Rate: 3.24% as of 2016

Crude Birth Rate: 10.153 out of 1,000 pop. Crude Death Rate: 7.559 per 1,000 pop. as of 2017

National Infant Mortality Rate: 9.1 per 1,000 live births

FLIGHT INFO

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia to Bangkok, Thailand: 9 hours 15 minutes (nonstop): $2107.80 ($702.60 x 3)

Bangkok, Thailand to Tokyo, Japan: 6 hours 15 minutes (nonstop): $2068.20 ($689.40 x 3)

TRANSPORTATION INFO