Thais don’t call their country Thailand, but “Pratet Thai.”

Bangkok hasn’t been the name of their capital since 1782, but foreigners never caught up with the name change.  It’s current name is Krungthep (“city of angels”), which is short for it’s full paragraph-lengthed name, the longest place name in the Guinness Book of World Records: “Krung Thep Mahanakhon Amon Rattanakosin Mahinthara Ayuthaya Mahadilok Phop Noppharat Ratchathani Burirom Udomratchaniwet Mahasathan Amon Piman Awatan Sathit Sakkathattiya Witsanukam Prasit.” Roughly translated: “The city of angels, the great city, the residence of the Emerald Buddha, the impregnable city (of Ayutthaya) of God Indra, the grand capital of the world endowed with nine precious gems, the happy city, abounding in an enormous Royal Palace that resembles the heavenly abode where reigns the reincarnated god, a city given by Indra and built by Vishnukarn.”

The most common greeting here is not “how are you?” but “have you eaten rice yet?”  Which means, “have you had a meal lately?”, because without rice you haven’t really had a meal.

A lot of parents shave the heads of their babies (girls and boys), believing the hair will grow back fuller and shinier

There is no dialing 911 here, only ambulances for hire from private hospitals and volunteer corpse collectors

People are really, really concerned about being clean.  Even in the slums, people shower twice a day at minimum.

Thais only use chopsticks for noodle soup.  Otherwise, it’s spoon and fork (or hands, if they’re eating sticky rice).

Some of the northern provinces were called “cold spell disaster zones” during cold season this year.  Temperatures got down in the mid-40s.

White-skinned foreigners are called “farang,” a slight alteration of the word that means “French” (some of the first Westerners here).  Guavas are also called “farang,” because they are white inside.  Fruit vendors I visit sometimes get a chuckle about the farang who likes to eat farang.

Buddhists believe taking any kind of life is a sin, so the streets are filled with mangy dogs which no one will put out of their mercy at the cost of bad karma.

On public transportation, men will always give up their seats for children, pregnant women, and the elderly.  It’s also common for people sitting to offer to hold in their lap the bags of those standing near them.  I really like this part of the culture.

It is a sign of affection for people to comment on your weight.

Most people wear yellow on Mondays to honor the king, since he was born on a Monday and yellow is the day’s auspicious color.  More recently, it is also popular to wear pink on Tuesdays.  The last time the king was in the hospital he was discharged on a Tuesday, and was told by his doctor to wear pink to gain strength.  Now wearing pink on Tuesdays is a sign of wishing the elderly king long life and health.

The National Emblem of Thailand, which can be seen all over the country and on official documents and currency, is the Garuda– a mythical bird-like creature from Buddhist and Hindu mythology, seen as the god of the sun and sky.  It Garuda is the vehicle for Vishnu, one of the Hindu gods.  Thai kings are seen as reincarnations of this god, part of the reason why the monarchy is worshipped by so many.