In honor of our Savior’s birth’s holiday I decided to do 25
things that I’ve learned about Thailand thus far. (Most of them have some sort of story to go
with them, so ask if you’re curious.)
1. Thailand has the longest reigning king of any
country in the world. Sixty-two years I
believe.
2. The answer to any question about the king is, “He
is a great man,” and his face is plastered in more places than the US has
Starbucks.
3. 250 baht for an hour oil massage is money well
spent. (Exchange rate is about 30 baht =
$1)
4. One chainsaw would change Thailand’s landscape a
lot faster than three handleless machetes and an unsharpened bow saw.
5. Coconuts have an outer shell to the outer shell
that is pretty darn thick.
6. It seems as though climbing a palm tree has less
to do with physical ability and more to do if you’re American or Thai.
7. Driving on the left hand side of the road will
not be a habit of mine even after 21 days.
8. The bites of red ants hurt a lot more than any
other color.
9. Sitting on three mats for breakfast, lunch, and
dinner with fifteen other men cross legged hurts my back and causes me to eat
faster.
10. Do NOT set up your tent beneath a palm tree.
11. When jumping over a fire, jump forward not up.
12. Sometimes ropes break when trying to pull over a
tree. (Twice in our case..
13. Making the 9 hour drive from Bangkok to Chiang
Mai and 3 hour drive to our site four different times is better when sitting in
reclining bus seats.
14. It’s more fun to ride in the bed of a truck when
the missionary contact at the wheel also aspires to participate in rally
racing.
15. Bathing in a brown river is quite a cleansing
experience. (I went once at night…water
is so much scarier when it’s dark out.)
16. After presenting in front of a large group of children at school they ALL come up and shake your hand.
17. Rice is completely sufficient for breakfast,
lunch, and dinner. (To be fair, the
pastor who cooks for us, Pii Rupi, is an awesome cook and fills our bellies
every time.)
18. “Hello” sounds a lot like “So what the crap?”
19. Apparently the convenient store 7Eleven didn’t
disappear completely, they just all moved to Thailand.
20. The best cover band in Southeast Asia plays at
the Hard Rock in Bangkok every night except for Sundays.
21. Christmas dinner at Outback doesn’t have the
same appeal as a protein laden Belkot fiest. 
22. Wearing a purple airplane blanket throughout the
concourse as a cape is not a popular idea.
I’ll give it some time, everything takes time.
23. The YWAM (Youth With A Mission) base in Bangkok
is an incredible blessing to our team and hundreds of other teams each year.
24. Sleeping in a tent is actually a luxury on the
World Race because of the personal space it allows. (Air conditioning pretty easily trumps all
other living conditions, though.)
25. Lizards are slower than they were in Nicaragua,
but spiders are so much bigger.
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*Photos provided by Josh Woodmansee and DJ Kelley
