Bangkok I

Sitting at a table and drinking Chang beer on Soi Rambutree, a small road in the tourist ghetto that's full of choice meat for street hustlers, we struck up a friendship with the man from the beer cart. He was clearly trying to hustle us -- something about a guesthouse and a TV -- but if we counted out everyone in Bangkok who was trying to hustle us, it would be a lonesome trip.

We spoke in mixed Thai and English, and there was a phrase the man used in moments of excitement -- "Same same!" I thought he was speaking English, so I said, "Yen yen," because I think "yen" means "same." He said no, we didn't understand. We asked him what he meant. He pointed back and forth between beers in the ice and said, "Same same!" "I walk around (marching, beer-guzzling pantomime), I meet Thai girl (subtle humping motion), I walk more (wild-and-crazy-guys impression). Same same!" Yes. Okay. Roosters cried in the tree overhead, a mangy dog yapped at us, and we had an epiphany.

If we ever felt confused or maladjusted in Bangkok, it was because we didn't understand the concept of same same. Why should I eat a whole fish on a stick? Same same! You're a bargirl, aren't you? You are. Same same! Three-legged cat? Drinking from a bag? Same same!

We said it to all the Thais we met that night. They really responded. We knew.


Thai words of the day, at the massage shop

qua nak nak--stronger
jek--painful
lak--long body