What Visitors Think of Seattle – Thailand (34 F)

T(Female-34) was from Thailand. T is a rarity. She’s a person from Thailand who is traveling abroad to the US. We rarely see travelers from Thailand, so we jumped at the chance to host her. She only spent one night with us after spending the previous two nights in a hostel in Belltown. Prior to being in Seattle she was in Florida for work(medicine) and a little play. She was in South Beach for 2 days and Key Largo for 5 days. She decided to stop in Seattle on her way back to Thailand.  She met me in downtown after work and we caught the bus back to our place.  

T’s Questions/Observations about the US: 

• She asked a lot of questions about Pampers after seeing a TV commercial. She mentioned disposable diapers are for the rich in Thailand, so she was surprised that it was the norm in the US.  

• She also saw a riding lawn mower on TV and thought it was the funniest thing she’d ever seen. It was the first time she’d seen a huge machine used for cutting grass. 
• She was also really interested in all the smart phone commercials and how astronomical the prices in the US are.  
• Said they don’t show many American shows but she likes Law and Order, Criminal Mind, Once Upon a Time. 

T’s Questions/Observations about Seattle: 

• She arrived at Seatac at night and took the Link Light Rail to Westlake then walked to her hostel in Belltown. She advised that she wasn’t used to seeing so many homeless people, which scared her and she refused to go out of the hostel after 8:00pm for the two nights she stayed there. Perhaps, too much Criminal Mind and Law and Order?
• She bought a city pass and went to Woodland Zoo, Space Needle and visited Pike Place Market. She was also able to walk around Green Lake. 
• She was shocked how many Asians there were in Seattle.  She mentioned this many times. 
• She had been to Germany for six weeks and asked if there were any German pubs in the area, so we ended up at Die Beir Stube. I don’t know what made her think there would be a German pub in Seattle, but she was pleasantly surprised when there was one. I told her there are quite a few in Seattle.  
• While walking around Green Lake, she went to Greg’s Bicycle to try and find a shirt “that shows off muscles” for her friend’s brother. She didn’t find any at a bike shop of course, but told her to go to a sporting goods store and look for Under Armour. 

 My observations of T/Learnings from T: 

• She’d been to Cambodia, China, England, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Laos, Latvia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Netherlands, New Zealand, Philippines, Russian Federation, South Africa, South Korea, Taiwan, United Kingdom, United States, Vietnam. She said India is her favorite and has been twice(solo), but she always gets scammed when she’s there. Once a tuktuk driver to over 4 hours to get her to her hostel. 
• She said that the Thailand king(recently passed away) is revered and popular because of the good he’s done for the country not just because he is king, but people do equate the Royal Family with gods.  It’s taboo to talk bad about the Royal Family, but people see the Royal Family indulging in fancy things with tax money like going to Koh Samui via airplane and taking tons of navy people to protect them 

• She said she’s an introvert, so she loves listening, but doesn’t do a lot of talking. She requested, “Please don’t think I’m boring. I’m just quiet”. 

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