So… we kind of got ourselves into a little situation.
When someone we knew offered to have a friend drive us up north for Songkran, we were stoked! (Free ride– hells to the yes).
And then things started slowly changing.
The plan went from us having a ride to Lampang where we could take a bus to Chiang Mai, to us having a ride to Lampang, spending all week with a Thai family and then going down the river on a float with them.
Sounds awesome right?
Unfortunately, we don’t have enough time in Thailand to spend an entire week anywhere, let alone in the boonies outside of Lampang.
We were caught in a trap. Actually, it was more like the back of a truck.
How could we politely say, “Sorry, we really need to get up north to work,” to a family who couldn’t really speak English?
How do we say “you all are so wonderful but we can’t stay” when they are shoving home-cooked plates of omelettes and rice and mango down our throat?
For a couple of days there, we were trapped. As the only “falang” or foreigners this family has really interacted with, we went along like puppets while they stared, played with our hair and sang songs to us. We knew we were curious to them and we knew that our presence was an excitement to them.
But WE HAD TO GO NORTH!
We’re on a tight deadline as it is trying to see as much of Thailand as quickly as possible for the Go! Girl Guide to Thailand and we had our little heart set on getting some awesome Songkran photos.
So, we did the only thing we could think to do. We called our friend who set the whole thing up in the first place.
Within minutes they were knocking on our door, heartbroken and confused faces asking us if we really wanted to go.
We explained (through a computer translator) that while we were so thankful for the hospitality, that we have appointments in the north and have to be on our way.
At first they were sad and maybe a bit angry that we couldn’t stay all week. But slowly, and with the help of a few funny photos that we took of them, we managed to get out in the knick of time and catch a bus to Chiang Mai.
PHEW!
Have you ever been in a situation where it was difficult to say no? What did you do?
{ 10 comments… read them below or add one }
That does sound like a tricky situation. Glad it all worked out in the end.
Oh wow… what a tale. Thai people are famous for their hospitality (land of smiles after all!)
It’s hard enough sometime to have to turn down people’s hospitality, but the language barrier is even harder. Btw I love this article’s image. The light make the photo just pop. Good choice.
Absolutely. It was about food in the Lebanon. I made the mistake of eating every morsel of the first serving thinking it was only polite. What it meant was..I’m still hungry. I eat very little as it is, so the second helping was too much and I in serious danger of embarassing myself. The way out: eating valiantly a few spoonfulls of the second helping.
Yeah I find it’s really tough to “rush” in cultures that are more chilled. They perceive it as you are unhappy and want to get away.
A tight corner!
That would be a little scary! Glad it worked it ok. Although, a week with a local Thai family actually sounds like a potentially amazing life experience… too bad you couldn’t stay longer!
Does kinda sound like you were in jail but almost by choice. People were being kind and curious but you simply needed to be some place else. Though situation.
My partner and I have a really difficult time extracting ourselves from awkward situations. I don’t know why, but the kind of people who love to talk talk talk are always drawn to us, and we can never figure out a nice way to disengage! It’s even worse in other cultures, as we want so badly to be polite and courteous… so we find ourselves not always advocating for our best interests.
Tough spot to be in… but sounds like you ultimately handled it well. 🙂
I know! They were so amazing, I really wish I could’ve stayed longer! In the end we made it to where we needed to be… just a bit later than planned!