Indonesian - Yoan Bertha Claudya VSA Teaching project

3 Effortless Answers to “Why Thai?”

 The smell of the rain lingering at the tip of my nose, for it also keeps falling through the day and drenching everything underneath. It is reaching the end of September, means I’ve been in Thailand for a teaching program for almost two months. It’s almost time to bid the farewell goodbye, and go home.

In these two months, there’s one question that I often received and had been repeated on my mind like a broken cassette. “Why Thai?” I honestly, myself, didn’t know. Until now.

A few days before the departure and I just managed to figure out the pinpoint answers for the said question.

Flexible People

Applying for a volunteering program in different country will definitely require you to communicate with foreigners. Which is, a very good thing. You have the utmost opportunity to see the world from different perspectives, to meet people with different programs and journeys, to peek through their glasses. Which will gradually lead you to deeply understand the meaning of unity in diversity.

Thai people are kind to foreigners, especially to European. You will be treated with extra care and hospitality simply because you’re not a Thai based person. Their personalities are laid back, and considerably relax. This is shown in their daily life, like how flexible the time is. It can suddenly change to extremely earlier, but often times it gets postponed. Even though this one also has its cons, this actually has more pros. You can chill down and live peacefully through the program without being nervous because the people will be so calm and understanding.

My teaching program in Luangprathanratnikorn Industrial and Community College wasn’t always sailing smoothly. There are times where it would be hard and harsh, especially for the language barrier. All of the departments that I visited require complicated activity that should be described precisely, such as Clothing Department, Home  Economic Department, Cooking Department, and Music Department. Sometimes I couldn’t quite place the materials for the teaching, because I’m certainly not the qualified professional in the field. But the teacher and also the students were very comforting and kept telling me “It’s okay,” like a chant.

 Beautiful Scenery and Tenacious Cultures

The strongly applied culture is very obvious in daily life. First, the simpliest gretting exists which is called as wai, where you slightly bow while meeting both palms of your hands and put it in front of your chest in a praying-like fashion. It can be used in anytime, anywhere. Second, you can see people put bright red fanta in front of a statue in varies places. Those are representation of the people showing respect to the spirits. Third, how most of the people wearing accessories with religious pendant. Those are only the tip of the iceberg. You will encounter even more intricate behaviour of the people.

Traveling is a bonus when you’re in a foreign country, that’s a fact. Applying to a program that takes place in this White Elephant country will offer you the luxury of the possibility to visit the fascinating attractions here. Moreover being able to see the beautiful scenery which is rich with tenacious cultures.

Hat Yai Municipal Park is one of many good depiction of this combination. It is located at the top of the hill, and has a temple and giant Buddha statue looking down on Hat Yai city. This place also bestows the magnificence view of the whole Hat Yai. It takes almost an hour to walk all the way up by your own feet, but don’t worry. There’s a functional cable cars there. You can enjoy the ride with your loved ones.

Affordable

Money isn’t everything. But it is inevitable that everything needs money. Going to another country in that amount of time will cut your income and oblige you to set up all the financial expense beforehand and prepare all the cash before your arrival. In odd moments, some unexpected innsuances might occur. But you don’t have to worry so much because everything in Thailand are mostly affordable. From the primary needs like food and transportation, all the way to the tertiary needs like clothings and accessories or in a short foreigners dictionary; shopping.

Aside from the fact that this is my first time stepping out of my country which indicates why this opportunity is a top notch for me, Thailand is definitely a beautiful country. So if another time I receive another “Why Thai?” question I will answer it with those 3 answers above with one more addition. “Because Thailand is Thailand.”