Another day, another greeting.

Every village we came to had its own language. Each time we were coached in using the correct greeting. Sometimes you wondered if the guides were making it up. I mean, can you say “A-kee-boo-boo” to someone with a straight face? We did, and they seemed to like it. Another one ended in “-puddle”.

The cake for cross-language perils is the the official Thai phrase for ‘thank you’ : “kop koon krap”. There is a definite psychological barrier to saying this at first, as the words have their own meaning in English.

Oddly, while the men say “kop koon krap”, the women say “kop koon kar”.
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