Totally Thai Moment

Back when I lived in Ayutthaya, my life was filled with plenty of weird sightings and experiences. The ones where I just chuckled to myself and thought “Yep...I’m in Thailand.” I like to call these "Totally Thai Moments."

For example, I’ve seen a grown woman casually ride open air public transportation with a GIGANTIC teddy bear bigger than her own body, motorbikes trying to balance 3 tanks of gasoline on the back (safe, right?), monks with weedwackers taking care of the landscaping at the temple, elephants following me while I’m running, and 7-Eleven employees escorting me up 6 flights of stairs to use their private employee bathroom because I told them in Thai that I had to pee REAL bad. And that's just to name a few.

I have to admit that since I’ve moved to Bangkok life has been quite normal for me (well…relatively speaking). While it’s quite nice to have a pretty normal lifestyle, sometimes I do kind of miss those weird and wacky Thai moments that remind me why I love Thailand so much.

However, last week I had an unexpected Totally Thai Moment. I was walking along the Skywalk, which is like an elevated footpath above the street for easy access to public transportation and other places such as shopping malls. Often times, vendors will set up a large blanket on the ground, display and sell items on the busy walkway such as t-shirts, wallets, scarves, shoes, etc. Selling on the Skywalk is not legal in Bangkok and comes with a hefty fine if you're caught. But as with many illegal things in Thailand, this doesn't seem to stop people from doing them. 

So anyway, I was walking along the Skywalk which was lined on both sides with many vendors. I spotted a guy selling women's v-neck t-shirts. I recognized that he was selling the same shirt that I already owned. I really like that shirt so I decided I would buy another in a different color. I chose my color, we negotiated the price, I payed the money, he handed me a (plastic) bag with my new shirt, and at the exact moment that he's reaching into his pocket for my change...

I suddenly hear the female scarf vendor next to him cry out, "ADFSKJHJHFSHEUEFNJH@$*&!!" Actually, I have no idea what she shouted but I'm assuming it was something along the lines of, "POLICE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" 

My t-shirt guy quickly said to me, "pop nueng, pom ja glap" which means, "wait a moment, I will return." Then, right in front of my eyes, I witnessed every single vendor on the Skywalk scramble for their belongings and run for their lives. They all obviously had a system to this madness because I watched my t-shirt guy grab the four corners of his blanket, pick it up in one quick movement, stuff it and all the t-shirts which were neatly displayed on it into a big duffle bag, then he literally BOOKED it out of there. I swear, he did this in a flat 8 seconds. These vendors were scurrying away like a bunch of teenagers who just broke their neighbor's window. The Skywalk went from small market to normal walking path in the blink of an eye. 

I watched my t-shirt guy run quite far and hide his duffle bag behind a pillar so it was out of site. He only owed me 20 baht (about 70 cents) change so I wasn't going to be too upset if he never came back, considering the situation. However, I waited around for a few minutes watching the situation unfold. About 20 seconds later, a guy dressed in a police uniform came walking down the Skywalk with his eyes scanning like a hawk and tickets in hand. I waited around for another minute and sure enough my trusty t-shirt guy returned with my 20 baht change and a big smile. 

Only in Thailand.