Terribly unpleasant and even deadly features of a Thai holiday! We honestly talk about all the shortcomings of Thailand: food dangerous for stomachs, jellyfish, rip currents, an abundance of tourists and other disadvantages that the travel agency will not tell you about.
My opinion about Thailand... There are a lot of rave reviews about the resorts of Thailand on the Internet - everyone is head over heels in love and promises to return. And it’s not that I didn’t like it - well, nothing special. It is good to rest, it is pleasant to live, but does not cause strong emotions. Not dreaming at night, not hooked. It's even hard for me to say exactly what I liked and what I didn't. Only a vague elusive feeling, which can be expressed like this: in Thailand everything is prefixed with "under", "over" or "too". Undercolored, underestimated, over-Europeanized. Therefore, fans from Thailand cause slight bewilderment. In general, it turned out as with Prague, which I dreamed of and which greatly disappointed.
In this review, I will talk about the disadvantages of Thailand that can be encountered in popular beach resorts (Phuket, Pattaya, Krabi, etc.). We have come to relax and live on Thai beaches three times already and we know well how everything works there. On the next trip, we plan to go not to the beaches, but to the authentic north of the country - it promises to be more interesting.
Read: 6 Reasons To Travel To Thailand
1. Spicy, fatty and monotonous food
In Thailand, I suffer the most from the national cuisine. At some point, I have nothing to eat: all these extremely spicy Tom-yams, fatty noodles and boiled rice (even I cook it better), barbecues fried in oil that has not been renewed for a long time, terrible semi-finished products ... Even seafood and sweets are tasteless, but about normal coffee generally keep quiet - even useless Starbucks wins against the background of Thai coffee. Stomach problems quickly begin from such food. And hello diarrhea!
2. Oversupply of tourists
There are not just a lot of tourists in popular resorts, there are a lot of them. If you want to relax in seclusion, choose the little-known beaches with good hotels on the islands. For example, if you live in Pattaya, visit Ko Lan (avoid beaches with Chinese people!). Phuket has quite a few quiet and detached beaches. The downside is the lack of a developed infrastructure.
3. Features of Thai character
A country of unnatural smiles - that's what I would call Thailand. This is just a form of politeness, as in the United States, and they do not carry values, and therefore are unpleasant. Have you noticed how a smile disappears from the face of a merchant when refusing to impose services or when trying to bargain? Spain, Vietnam, UAE, Turkey, Morocco, Dagestan - these are the real countries of smiles, and not Thailand at all! Somewhere the smiles are timid, and somewhere they are open, but all are real.
Well, everyone knows about the optional, slowness and laziness of Thais. Scarlett O'Hara's words "I'll think about it tomorrow" are 100% about them.
Thailand is also the only country where, in our absence, the hotel staff rummaged in their bags. There was nothing to steal, but the residue remained.
4. Bailiffs and traders
Oh, this mournful "Massaaaazh", similar to bleating! In the evening, the neck gets tired of wobbling from side to side, and the tongue gets tired of "No, thanks". At first, your conscience does not allow you not to answer and not smile, but then you get used to ignoring it, even though it is uncivilized. Russians are accused of gloom and unsmiling. You will become gloomy here: while you are going to the beach, you need to reject 200 times offers of massage, souvenirs and excursions, give up taxis and tuk-tuk, lady boom-boom and other Thai joys of life. And God forbid the seller will recognize you as a Russian - for a long time in the trail will be rushing "Ruski, come on, come on!". I am ashamed when I hear this.
A separate song - elderly Europeans and Americans (and sometimes young Thais) trying to pick up someone on the beach. I try not to be alone: if it is easy to smile and fade away from a Thai who speaks poorly of English, referring to the language barrier, then it is more difficult with Europeans and Americans. Well, it becomes completely embarrassing when trances stick. Complete finish.
5. Heat and humidity
It's one thing to dream of warmth and the sea, it's another to be in this dream. Then you understand that not everything is so smooth: the sun is too scorching, and the sea is salty. The climate is not suitable for everyone because of the humidity. If you have problems with your cardiovascular system or do not tolerate heat, it is better to look for a country with a more temperate climate.
Heat and humidity are especially difficult during the rainy season and in large cities such as Bangkok. Melting asphalt, sewage miasma, lack of fresh wind, evaporation after rain - a real greenhouse.
6. Jellyfish
This is the first reason why I stopped swimming in tropical seas, and only walk along the coast in shoes. The jellyfish burn is very unpleasant - we have experienced this several times in Thailand. Thank God, we did not come across deadly jellyfish, but we had to suffer from fever for several days. The most active jellyfish are from summer to November, and some beaches in Thailand are closed due to the invasion of jellyfish.
Do not swim in strong waves and in the rainy season - there is a high probability of running into a jellyfish or its severed tentacle. Some types of box jellyfish are deadly poisonous - for example, the sea wasp. When hunting, its tentacles can stretch up to 3 meters, and they contain poison that can kill in 2-5 minutes. There is now an antidote for the poison of the sea wasp, but how can you get it in 5 minutes?
7. RIP currents
And this is the second reason why I refused to swim in tropical seas and in particular in Thailand. The rip currents are common on Thai beaches and we have seen many warning signs. RIP is available on all ocean beaches. The worst thing is that they are spontaneous.
Blogger Oleg Lazhochnikov popularly and in detail described what a reverse flow is, how to recognize and act. Be sure to read!
All about the bump flow in 10 minutes
8. Noise and dirt
Thailand is Asia with all the ensuing consequences. Everything is like in Vietnam: cobwebs of wires, traffic, noise, lots of advertisements, garbage, rats, cockroaches ...
Noise pollution is high. I do not recommend settling near clubs and on busy streets - even closed windows will not save you. Once in Pattaya we managed to live on the second floor of a karaoke club. Needless to say, we didn’t sleep until 4am, until the last visitor calmed down? And in Patong they lived side by side with a strange family: at night there were drunks, and sobbing, and showdowns with the participation of elderly Europeans shouting "I kill you! Where is my car?"
The beaches are very clean compared to neighboring Vietnam. This is good news - rarely will a bag wrap itself around a leg in water or a coconut will be thrown ashore. The coast is cleaned, but the waves are constantly bringing trash, especially during the rainy season, so the beaches do not always look perfect.
