Bangkok’s culture dates back to many centuries that it is said that archeological excavations in the area north of Nakorn Ratchasima indicate that there were people living here over 4000 years ago

The Bangkokians are a bunch of warm and friendly people, usually too polite to show offense. Yet, as with any nation, there are borders of behavior that should and should not be crossed. They take great pride in their monarchy. Visitors are well-advised to respect the reverence in which devoted Bangkokians hold their royal family. The Buddhist religion is considered sacred by Bangkokians. Monks, temples, and Buddha images are everywhere and most of the people treat them with great respect. It is expected that appropriate clothing be worn in temples, and shoes removed when entering certain areas in the temples.

For Bangkokians, the maintenance of surface calm and harmony is crucial. Loss of temper, arguing, or direct criticism are best avoided among them, because they feel it serves little purpose in any case. The famous wai is a used as a gesture for both greeting and respect. Wai requires the person to use both of his hands as if praying in front of his face. In general, it is considered to be a mark of respect to try to keep the head at a lower level than that of a senior or older person when talking to or passing them. On entering a private chamber or house, it is customary to remove your shoes. The polite form of address when talking to or about people of similar or older age are to use the title “Khun” and the person’s first name.

Many Bangkokians will be too polite to comment on behaviour that is disrespectful of a fellow Bangkokian, but you should be aware that it is still offensive. Looks and appearances are important to Bangkokians. When meeting them, dressing smartly, or at least appropriately, reflects the degree of respect you hold for them.

As Thailand once again brought images of conflict to TV screens all over the world, those of us who know and love, and do business in the Kingdom have been assessing a different kind of conflict: the one between the media headlines and what we actually experience there every single day. This in no way underestimates the political challenges the country faces as it comes to terms with the meanings and realities of democracy, but simply takes a personal look at the constant underlying factors that make what the Sunday Times once called ‘Teflon Thailand’ so resilient.

Friends who have visited Thailand sometimes struggle to define what makes it special. Nature blessed it with a fabulous year-round climate and a beautiful, diverse geography, but it is undoubtedly the people who make it special. Nobody does hospitality like the Thais. It is the Thai people who conjured wonderful cuisine from their natural surroundings, and who are genuinely driven to ensure that, as a visitor, you have the best possible time while you are in their country. And, in truth, it was the anger and outrage of the residents and small business people of Sukhumvit

Road and Nang Lerng Market, not the army that sent the red shirts packing after two days of sporadic rioting in Bangkok. They broke their spirit by publicly confronting the protesters and making it clear that the normal, enterprising people of Thailand would not tolerate the disruption and damage to their country’s international reputation. As the trouble fizzled out the army and police advised the demonstrators not to wear red and provided them with security as they boarded some 50 buses laid on by the government to take them home. Now THAT is people power.

During the two weeks before the trouble, I stopped off in Thailand on the way home to Hong Kong after a visit to the UK. The first week was spent catching up with friends and in business meetings in Bangkok, before heading to the rural north-east for the annual Rocket Festival in Yasothon province. What I experienced throughout is informative, not because it was exceptional, but because it was typical.

I arrived in Bangkok late on the Thursday night, immediately succumbing to an addiction by going to a street café for a fiery papaya salad. As I strolled back to my hotel along one of Sukhumvit Road’s busy side streets, my attention was grabbed by a simple two-wheeled cart that had been set up as a bar on the pavement – complete with lights, music, barstools, a couple of plastic tables with chairs and a pretty waitress. I needed to cool my palate, so sat down for cold Chang beer. The young owner spotted a few mosquitoes heading in my direction, so placed a scented burner under my table and handed me a repellent spray. His English was good, so we chatted for a while and shared a second beer and a plate of freshly dry-fried peanuts, which he did not charge me for. There it was: a brief but memorable interlude and the spirit of Thailand on a street corner.

On Sunday I went with some Thai friends to the International Motor Show at Bitec, one of Bangkok’s two main exhibition centres. Having recently heard that its counterpart event in the UK had been cancelled, I was amazed at just how packed it was, and took a few photos as evidence. When the show stats appeared on one of the Thai marketing websites a week later, they confirmed my impression. Here are the main points:

- Attendance was down 10% on 2008 but impressive at 1.35m over the ten days.
- 16,901 cars were sold during the show, valued at just short of THB30 billion (£600m), that is 107 cars per day more than at the same show in 2008.
- 70% of the cars sold were priced at THB2m (£40,000) or higher, compared with just 30% of the cars sold at the 2008 show.
- Unsurprisingly, the majority of buyers were business owners and senior executives, but what an interesting gauge of business confidence.

A few days of meetings with business contacts for Fareps Property Investment followed, all pointing towards cautious optimism. Among them,

DTZ, the world’s biggest seller of residential property and an Overseas Property Investment specialist, confirmed that the domestic market was
moving ahead once again, after a dismal few months at the end of 2008.

The business part of the trip complete, four more Thai friends and I drove
some 400 miles north-east (along wide, well surfaced roads that put anything we’ve got in the UK to shame) to Yasothon, for the province’s annual

Rocket Festival. This is a little trodden route for foreign tourists, to the extent that I did not see another non-Thai until we got back to Bangkok five
days later. Everywhere I was welcomed warmly – and no doubt with some curiosity – but what is interesting is that I was treated with exactly the same kind of courtesy and hospitality that we enjoy in Koh Samui, Phuket and the other tourist spots. And they weren’t doing it to charm money from the ‘farang’s’ (foreigner’s) wallet, as we were entertained and ate fabulous food at a different person’s house each night we were there.

Everywhere the same questions: at the festival, “Sanook, mai?” (are you having a good time?) while eating, “Aroi, mai” (does it taste good?). And best of all, the children, some as young as three and mostly from poor, small farming families – were polite, happy and welcoming, showing first hand how deeply engrained these family and communal values are throughout Thai society. The festival itself was great fun, with high quality, professional entertainment and free food provided for visitors by the locals on day one, followed by two days of noisy, spectacular action as massive home-made missiles were launched seemingly into outer space. I recommend a look at some youtube footage for more information!

A few days later on 13th April, as the protests turned ugly and the Thai media were referring to the Kingdom’s biggest annual festival as “Black Songkran”, I got a Facebook invitation to attend ‘Asia’s biggest party’ on Property in Koh Samui, headlined by DJ Judge Jules, no less! The inalienable truth is that Thai people love to party, love their country and want you to share it with them.

While the political drama continues to run, it is the enterprise, the pride in their country and the legendary hospitality of the Thai people that will shine through every time as Thailand once again asserts itself as one of Asia’s leading economies and as the region’s premier holiday destination.

If you would like to know more about Thailand or to buy an Investment Property in Thailand please go to our website www.fareps.com Fareps
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