I wish I had ten baht for every time I heard that phrase,  or something similar,  uttered by everyone from expats to first time travelers to the Kingdom, I’d have enough money to ride the baht bus 50 times a day for a year. Apparently certain areas are designated “Not the Real Thailand”, areas I have heard mentioned include, Pattaya, Bangkok, Koh Samui and Phuket just to name a few.

I’ll use Pattaya as a reference since that is where I am at the moment enjoying a beer and writing in a quiet corner of the Pattaya Beer Garden. Last night I overheard a conversation between two men with one telling the other “you haven’t seen the real Thailand”, because the other gentleman had only been to Bangkok and Pattaya. I thought about that for a moment and smiled. What exactly constitutes “The Real Thailand” anyway? Here I am surrounded by Thai’s who seemingly outnumber the falang by a good number, I hear the Thai language everywhere I go, I can only smell Thai food and oddly enough the stamp in my passport says I am in Thailand…Have I been scammed?

Now, I have been to a fair few places in Thailand from Bangkok to Mukdahan and in between and damned if I haven’t noticed Thai people, Thai food and Thai hospitality in all of them. I have been to Buddhist Wats in at least 11 provinces and have broken bread with Thai’s in just as many and I never felt like I wasn’t in “The Real Thailand”.

Obviously there are differences from a tourist town such as Pattaya to the farm in Issan but to say Pattaya or Bangkok aren’t really experiencing Thailand is like  saying you really haven’t experienced America if you have only been to New York. I don’t know if this is a  game of one upmanship people like to play or if they genuinely believe it.

Now I am really starting to question just what does constitute “The Real Thailand”, I’ve spent a considerable amount of time In Mukdahan and Nakhon Phanom where there is more Lao and Cambodian heritage with a little Vietnamese thrown in for good measure. The food is more Lao and the look of the people is more Lao so this can’t be “The Real Thailand”, can it? Of course now I am befuddled because many of the Thai’s That work in Pattaya come from Issan and since We can rule out Issan as being “The Real Thailand” then I guess they are right that Pattaya isn’t either.

From what I have heard, in the “The Real Thailand”,  all the Thai people are simple folk without a care in the world and always have a smile for a passing stranger. It should also be noted that in “The Real Thailand the falang is God like and is treated in a God Like manner. Sounds like a nice place, doesn’t it?

We’ll I am just about finished my beer and I think I am going to head out in search of “The Real Thailand”, if any of you find out where it is send me a note and aim me in the right direction otherwise I’ll be running around the country for years aimlessly in search of the promised land. I better hit the hongnam first…

What are your thoughts? Are certain provinces or towns more Thailand than others?