Tuesday

Cultural differences

On the bus from Ban Phe to Bangkok. Two hours into the journey, in the middle of nowhere, there is a loud bang. The tyre has just blown. After getting out to check that it is the tyre, the driver continues on his way accompanied by more banging noises. A few miles on, he stops at a garage. The bus stops again and the driver gets out.

Not a word has been spoken to his passengers. No estimated repair time or even what's wrong. If this were the UK, it would have gone something like this:

Coach driver: 'Ok folks, unfortunately it seems that we've got a burst tyre. We will be endeavouring to change it at the next service station so I'm going to drive you all on a damaged wheel for the next few miles. I'm not sure how long it's going to take to fix it but I will keep you updated'.

All the passengers: 'Oh no! I don't believe it! This is terrible!'

Cue lots of worried phone calls being made and disapproving Facebook statuses.

Here, everybody starts eating snacks.

No comments: