Today I was sad in Thailand for the first time. And it was entirely my own doing.

We left the many kind hearts of Phitsanulok but not before a tour of TV station, a hospital owned by Rotarians, and a farewell lunch. But this is not what made me sad.

My camera battery died on a day when we toured Sukhothai, one of the most beautiful places I have ever been. It is the ruins of the first Thai capital complete with 700-year-old Buddhas, temples, and palaces. But my lack of ability to take pictures did not make me sad.

The local club then took us to our hotel. I am getting the impression that we might be staying in hotels the whole time. This is somewhat disappointing because I was looking forward to sharing with a Thai family. But this did not make me sad.

The hotel was not quite up to Western standards. Although it does have a Western toilet, hot water, and AC, it was a bit unsettling. But this did not make me sad.

At dinner (in the hotel) with the Rotarians, the one who speaks English said we will attend their club meeting there tomorrow. I realized that this might be the nicest hotel in town. I felt very ungrateful and snobbish. And this is what made me sad.

This entry was posted on Thursday, March 6th, 2008 at 9:22 am and is filed under Thai culture. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.