Why do we feel so comfortable in Thailand? Thailand is the land of smiles. Some say that this smile is a put-on mask and therefore not sincere. This may be true for some Thai people as well as for any other people in the world. With the Thai people we know, we perceive their smiles as sincere and warm.
There's Aom, her real name is Ruttana. We've known Aom for a few years now. During our first stay in a villa on Samui, Aom was our contact person. One day we had a Lizard, a smaller monitor lizard, in the toilet and in our perplexity called Aom for help. When she confronted the lizard, armed with friends for support and a small beetle - it was not entirely clear who was actually more afraid - the lizard decided to retreat. Everyone was equally relieved.
Aom studied art and has devoted herself to interior design of properties for years. She grew at her tasks, started her own business, combined villa management and interior design, and today, in her mid-30s, leads a team of 10 employees.
Aom is a very lovely young woman who lives with her cats and a dog in her recently purchased home and spends her free time taking care of her family on the mainland, especially her recently deceased brother's sons. She is helpful and full of kindness. We really like her smile.
There is Yo, our favorite driver and Aom's neighbor. Yo has a wife, an accountant in a hotel, and a son and is in charge of getting his family through these difficult times. He is a very nice thirty-something who has bailed us out several times when we needed to move off the bat and needed a new place to stay.
He is fighting through these pandemic times with the utmost flexibility. Mainly, Yo provides an airport shuttle service. He is also available as a driver for day trips. However, when there are so few tourists on the island, he builds furniture, out of wood and also steel. In addition, he installs and maintains video surveillance systems. In all this he is always in a good mood and smiles a lot. (If you ever need a driver on Samui you can easily reach Yo via WhatsApp +66 6 2849 2658)
There is Pong, who earns his living among other things with the rental of scooters. There are many farang who are involved in the rental market here. Wherever possible, we do business with the Thai, because we want to support these people, not the already comparatively wealthy farang. Pong knew exactly which scooters we were interested in and made us an offer accordingly. (You can contact Pong via +66 94 583 0952)
For this he made a massive investment in advance and bought two new scooters, which he brought directly from the store to our door. As a special service he brought four brand new unworn helmets. All of this was done in high spirits and with great cordiality. Pong is absolutely customer oriented. In return, we committed to three and a half months and paid for it in full up front.
There's Nah. Nah is in her mid-50s and we have known her for years. Even during our first stay on Samui, we had Nah massage us almost every day on the beach. Nah is excellent at massaging and with the patience of an angel, she works her way through the tensions and contractions of my somewhat aged former astral body. She then massages Alexandra to recover, so to speak. Thanks to regular yoga and stretching, this goes by itself. Nah emits endurance and great warm-heartedness with her smile and provides us with absolute deep relaxation.
These are Theera and Amp, who with their friendliness and attentiveness make every day a feel-good day at the beach and give us the feeling of being welcome with their bright smiles.
And there is of course the previously mentioned Sopa, to whom we dedicate a separate blog post.
Besides that, we meet many friendly and kind people whose names we don't know or don't know yet. All these lovely people are dependent on the collapsed tourism and need support. They somehow try to earn a living with several jobs. Nevertheless, they give us their smiles, which we can see despite the masks, because it meets their eyes. Honest smiles.
Among other things, this is why we feel so good in Thailand, the land of smiles.