Unexpected & Amazing Thailand October School Holiday Experience!
Guest Writer-James Hudson a KET Teacher in Phetchabun Province, Thailand
As an English teacher new to Thailand, you will make some of the most fulfilling and valuable connections with local people. There is often a concern – (or at least there was for me) – that as a stranger in a strange land, you will be treated as such: unknown, kept at arm’s length, laughed at, or tolerated. I worried about this a lot in the weeks following my departure.
Expectations vs. Reality
But my experience has been wholly different. While Thai culture can be somewhat mysterious to me, the local people I know have been lovely and hospitable and quick to offer help when help was needed. I could name countless examples, and still more from other foreign teachers.
I have been taken to the hospital, taken shopping for supplies, given food and potted plants, and invited to dinner. When we moved into our house, our neighbors made themselves known to us, and our friendships deepened.
Chiang Khan, Loei Province, Thailand
Recently, my partner and I were invited to go on a short holiday with our neighbor and co-worker, Nat, to visit her family in Chiang Khan, a small town on the Mekong River in Loei Province.
It is beautiful, situated on the border with Laos, with fantastic street food and wooden slat board houses. Nat introduced us to her family (who let us stay in their hotel for free). We spent the evening on the famous Chiang Khan walking street, rode bicycles along the riverside promenade, and the following day woke early to give food to the monks, a daily practice in Chiang Khan, a kind of almsgiving.
Thai Hospitality
That we’d be invited to spend so much time and experience these things with people we didn’t know until recently is not something I would have imagined coming here.
Being, I should add, a kind of shy, retiring person in general. But honestly - at least in Phetchabun (a small city in the rural north without a large ex-pat community) - this has been the rule, not the exception. Nat, especially, has been our main ally since we arrived, and even though she doesn’t speak much English and we are even less Thai, her hospitality has made us feel like we are home among friends.
Chiang Khan Skywalk
On the way home from Chiang Khan, Nat and her husband took us to the Chiang Khan skywalk. This 30-story glass walkway juts out over a cliff face, offering a panoramic view of the Mekong Valley and Laos and a stimulating experience if you’re afraid of heights.
As we stood on the glass above a canopy of trees, among many other people looking sheepish and taking photographs, I realized I didn’t feel so much like a tourist. Or rather – because I was a tourist, I didn’t feel like an outsider. We saw the sights and rode the songthaew down from the clifftop among other tourists from Thailand and abroad, and I realized it was because Nat had brought us there and wanted us to see it that I felt this way.
Personal Takeaway
So, if there is any takeaway from my experience – aside from my undying gratitude to Nat and her family – it is to accept hospitality where you find it and to offer it in return, especially as a foreign person in a foreign land. Places are more than points on a map; they are made up of connections and memories, and I promise if you make an effort and make those connections, your time as a teacher will be ten times more fun. It might make you feel a little less strange.
Relevant
Go to kidsenglishthailand.org/blog/october-semester-break to learn about the beautiful places in the north of Thailand to visit during the October school holiday,
Go to kidsenglishthailand.org/blog/thai-food to read about delicious Thai culinary delights.
Go to kidsenglishthailand.org/teacher-training-program-thailand to read about Meaningful Work and Travel Teaching Positions starting in May 2023 with teacher training in April 2023.
Go to kidsenglishthailand.org/blog/loi-krathong-festival-2020 to read about Thailand’s Loy Krathong Festival in 2020.
Go to kidsenglishthailand.org/blog/the-thai-school-calendar to read about Thailand's school year and how it differs from most other countries.
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