The other day I was joking around with @frankbacon about getting drinks here in Thailand literally in a plastic bag. To many in the western world the idea of this is more of a joke than anything but here in Thailand it's part of everyday life.
In fact it's one of the cultural things that some just don't understand. For example, I was at a restaurant the other day, and a group of fresh off the boat young tourist with a British accent came into the restaurant on a hot sunny afternoon. All four girls each ordered a bottle of coke to go.
All the restaurant had were glass bottles, which to locals is well known restaurants all over the country keep the bottles for refill and exchange, not to be handed out and sold in a "to go" style. So not understanding this, the tourist were not only shocked but totally upset when the restaurant owner dumped their coke into a plastic bag with ice and a straw and handed it to them.
I sat there and tried not to laugh as I watched the scene unfold. One of the girls then turned and asked me what was going on. I explained, and they couldn't believe it, and were upset why the restaurant owner who spoke no English didn't explain this to them beforehand. The four girls all got up and walked out and didn't pay for their plastic bag cokes. Both the girls and the restaurant owner were upset.
The thing the girls didn't understand, is that the glass was worth more than the coke anyway! Here in Thailand, which is basically a cheap and poor country compared to the UK, things are done differently to cut back on expenses and to keep things affordable for everyday people. That is why the girls coke was about 50 cents each not 2 dollars.
This is why this massive Thai Tea Bag I got with @junglegirl the other day was only 75 cents and not four dollars. In this part of the world the people and the culture have adapted and adjusted to get by and even live very well with less, and part of that is drinking your coke or your Thai Tea out of a plastic bag from time to time. Plus, they seem to hang really well off your motor bike,...again not BMW cup holder.
This Thai Tea Bag was extra special though...it came inside of a more rigid paper bag! High class baby! You know it! lol
What about where you are from, any one drinking from plastic bags in your neck of the woods? Or have you been on the receiving end of some plastic bag culture shock like the girls mentioned? Either way, it's all good and wishing you all the very best from Thailand! -Dan "World Travel Pro!"
NICE!
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Hahaha...
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