Very Thai
March 28, 2008 by nopstar
I know a lot of you guys have spent time in Thailand training and getting up to no good. If you have or your planning on going, this book is a must read. It’s a culmination of all the things you wanted to ask or didn’t know you wanted to ask. For those of you who’ve wondered what was going on with those crappy little pink napkins that are on every table in Thai eateries this book is for you.
I’ve just recently busted this book back out and I can’t believe I haven’t recommended it. Honestly this book is brilliant; I wish I would have thought of it.
Most of my Thai friends own this book. The book is written by Philip Cornwel-Smith. Trust me the irony isn’t lost…it’ taken a non-Thai to explain the essence of Thai-ness to Thai’s.
To me the book is a better read after you’ve visited Thailand. There are just some things you have to run across yourself to appreciate. His descriptions and explanation aren’t tongue and cheek observations, but rather well researched and informative. Some of my favorite topics are : Drink in a Bag, Sniff Kisses, and Taxi Alters.
Here is a Brief Excerpt
” A perennial mystery to the farang visitor is the design of the tiny pink tissue. This wisp seems ill suited to their table manners. Lodged with toothpicks in a sponsored holder of Carlsberg green or Pepsi Blue, pink napkins are as much a fixture of street stalls and informal raan aharn (food shops) as the condiment holder for sugar, vinegar dried chili and fish sauce… Westerners use one double-ply serviette to manage several mealtime mishaps. Some even re-fold rumpled cloth napkins and put them back in the drawer. To spot-less Thais, such antics are like wearing an unwashed shirt, a crime for which repeat-offending backpackers are often dubbed farang kii nok (bird shit westerners). So why is the Thai tissue so tiny and so pink?”
I think you can buy the book cheaper in Thailand, if your headed over there pop into an Asia Books and they should have it.
Thanks for the heads up. Sounds an interesting read. Think I’ll have to wait for the paperback though at that price!
In the Philippines they have small ass single ply napkins too, but I think it has to do more with being poor than being a slob- may both.
Hell yes, the litlle pink napkins! They are everywhere there!
yes, saw this book while i was out in bangkok, actually – very accurate! the blind singers on the street! =)
was a bit pricey to me, though, but definitely a great book.
Yes, the blind singers with the speakers around their necks!
God I can’t wait to go back!!!
Ahh never been, Have you guys ever seen Greenland, If you want try to Use Google Earth and search Nanortalik and you will fly to my hometown, its a beautifull place. And the people look like Thais, My parents were in Thailand several times and All the Thais Kept speaking Thai to her. Cool.
My mom of course.
OMG! The tiny pink napkins are everywhere! What’s the answer to the question above nopstar! Tell us! Why are they so small and always pink?