Postcard #6 – Thailand Sawasdee/Floating Market

Sawasdee – is Thailand’s counterpart of Austria’s Gruß Gott – said as a greeting even between people who met for the first time. This greeting fully summarizes the characteristic of the Thais that gained them the title the Land of Smiles. You can smile at any Thai you pass by while walking on the street and that person will most likely smile back at you. (I assume the script on the green box means Sawasdee. hihi)

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So I got two postcards from a blogger friend whose name is synonymous to the Thai’s jolly nature, sis Cheerful. The postcards were addressed to my daughter who loves to collect them. The first postcard reflects the happy disposition of locals – friendly vendors, giggly kids, welcoming neighbors and all-smiling faces there. My daughter and I smiled seeing this.

The second postcard is of the floating market, which Thailand is famous for. To this day, the floating market is a tourist attraction but it used to be an important part of the locals’ lives (well until now) selling vegetables and fruits that are homegrown by the rivers with rich soil.

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Now that Thailand is facing one of the biggest challenges of nature, I personally think that the country’s King Bhumibol Adulyadej was right all along. Through the years he tried ways to educate the people about logging and flood, regulating waters via reservoir and building dams, canals, water gates, dikes all to prevent what is happening now. The King knew but implementation of what he envisioned may not have been properly executed. Here’s hoping that the situation gets better soon.

–for:

Green Monday