Meet Papaya!

Thais love nicknames!  And among nicknames, they have a certain fondness for ones in English.  Why?  Why nicknames and why in English?  My comments here are not based on extensive research.  Most of what I know, or think I know, comes from my own observations and speculations.  Here's what I find fascinating about Thais and their nicknames:

• Their nicknames are not so much names as they are things.  Just a few of Thais I know personally:
• Lemon  a young man
• Apple, the woman next door
• Mango, the guy who waits on me at the supermarket
• Earn, the woman next door's little daughter
• Small, the owner of a cafe

• And here are some of the nicknames I have come across in my travels:
• Coke
• Pepsi
• Game
• Dollar
• Nut
• Chevolet
• Honey

So it shouldn't be surprising that often after meeting me and trying to say my name (George is very difficult for the Thai person to say with any kind of confidence), they will ask me, "What's your nickname?"  Thais just assume that everyone has one.  They all do!

After tiring of saying I don't have a nickname, dealing with the expression of complete befuddlement, trying to explain that only a few Americans have nicknames into their adulthood, I have chosen a nickname for myself:  Papaya.  Yeah, the tropical fruit papaya.  Why?  Well, Thais commonly have names of fruits for nicknames and also many already call me Papa, the Thai word for grandfather.  Thais will always try to figure out who you would be to them if you were a member of their family.  Actually, for a Thai to give a foreigner a title reserved for family members is a great honor.  It doesn't take long before I become Papa.  The name brings to mind Papa Hemingway and Papa Doc.

Now why do Thais have nicknames in the first place?  Two reasons:  First, the name they are given at birth is a traditional one often from the Sanskrit, difficult to say and difficult to write; Second, there's an old and sometimes present belief in the presence of evil spirits, ghosts, walking the earth looking for you by name. If you don't use your birth name, the ghosts never find you.  There's another reason based  on speculation:  It's fun to have nicknames!  For the Thai people, if something isn't fun, it's just not worth doing.

It's Official: Thailland Gave Me the Retirement Visa!

My good friend Tdaw at the Temple of Dogs.  What a smile!

Now I have a visa that is good for one year, renewable at the end of every year I live here.  Thailand wants and likes having foreigners come and live among them.  Basically, a foreigner living here contributes much to the Thai economy.  There are whole areas where if suddenly there were no foreign residents, houses would become empty, new construction would stop, and the local economy would become pretty much non-existent.

But Thailand in no way caters to foreigners as some countries do.  Foreigners who live here on the Retirement Visa are not allowed to work or to own property.  And every 90 days we have to report our present address, as well as our intention  to Immigration to continue living her for another 90 days.  Actually, only Thais can own property in Thailand.  A foreigner can own a house, but not the land on which it sits.  There's a reason why in all of Southeast Asia, Thailand is the only country never occupied by any Western power.  Never!  Japan was in that category until it lost World War II and became Occupied Japan.  I remember as a child looking at a toy and seeing the words Made in Occupied Japan.  The year was, I believe, 1950.  I asked by father what that meant.  His reply?  The Japs lost the god damn war for Christ sake!  That's what happens when you lose a war!  We won so we get to occupy Japan!  Dad was the master of the short but emotionally charged answer.  I got the message:  Don't lose the war!

Thailand was never occupied because of two characteristics, I believe.  First of all they would rather all die than have their country controlled by anyone other than Thais.  And secondly, they are master negotiators.  I think their strongest negotiating tool is their charm.  You have never really seen a smile until you have seen the Thai smile.  The Thai smile involves the whole body, mind, and spirit.  And they are not at all selfish with their smile, their charm.  Passing a Thai person on the street, a perfect stranger to you, without saying a single word, that Thai can make you want to do anything to please him!  And I don't think you have to be a people pleaser for the Thai to have that effect on you.  It happens to me every day, dozens of times.  Hundreds of times if I am out long enough!  I want to return the smile, but although I am genuine, I am not sure that my smile, like that of all the foreigners I know here, is not just my version of the have a good day smile!  It's not phoney.  It's just not as full bodied as the Thai smile.  Land of Smiles!  Thailand certainly deserves that title!

Owner and daughter at a cafe in Chiang Mai.  Thais cannot not smile!

And I live here! A full-blooded resident!

How happy I am that Thailand is so generous to the outsider. Who wouldn't be happy to live in paradise on earth!  Is Thailand perfect?  No, of course not, but it's damn close, at least for me.

Thank you Thailand!