Thailand: Exit Interview

Thailand; meaning Land of the Free. That seems to be the pervading theme here. You are free to do whatever you want, but at your own risk.

After a month and a half here, I am still as excited about this country as I was after arriving. The people are full of smiles, and it is just easy to be a farang, or foreigner, in Thailand.

Project Terminator was a huge success in many ways. I dropped a lot of excess weight I had been packing on. I feel more confident with my fighting skills, and I am more aware of where I need to work harder. I met brilliant folks from all over, and really got to know some Thai people in the month I stayed in Phuket.

I still love Thai food! It’s funny, years ago I decided I didn’t like Thai food even though I had barely ever had it. Now with more exposure to it, I still want to eat it every day.

With so many new sights, sounds, and bruises that I found in Thailand, I was often overwhelmed and almost always tired… but I’m going to try and wrap some of them up with a brief, yet familiar, exit interview.

New Shorts! After a year, I finally retired the shorts I started out with, as they had both been repaired numerous times and were quickly passing the point of no return. I certainly did not spend a lot on food. Food was cheap and delicious. Transportation was relatively cheap as well. We caught a bus across the country for 1/2 of what my new shorts cost.

The constant laughter and smiles of the staff at Mama’s! It was a constant bolster after so much abuse at Tiger.

Koh Lipe. Such a calm and peaceful place. Aside from the dog eating the frisbee, it was perfect. Snorkeling off the coast of Koh Lipe for Christmas is probably my best memory. So much fun, sun, and adventure in such a quiet setting!

I need to perfect my defense mechanisms. Both in the ring and out of it. Something to keep working on.

The constant endorphin high of training. Bruises, sweat, blood; all of that made me feel fantastic for the rest of the day.

The Visa! When I entered, I came in through a small outpost on an island, so I was only given a 2 week visa as opposed to 2 months if I had flown in. Luckily, Zsofi thought about it and I caught it without needing to pay for overstaying, but I had to pay for visa extensions and make a Border Run to Burma to extend for another two weeks. It was an unnecessary hassle.

Being punched in the face. Seriously. Simon, Tiger’s resident Yogi, taught us that when great Thai boxers get hit particularly hard, they smile. So I took that into the ring. Every time I got my bell rung or knocked down (which happened more often than I would like to admit) I would smile as big as I could and get right back to it.

Chilis, garlic, sweat, and blood. There was this extremely weird smell on one walkway at the Tiger Muay Thai camp. Behind the kitchen, and between two of the fighting areas in the morning. Once the kitchen started preparing for the day, the seasonings would start to filter out and mix in with the smell of violence, old and new.

Thailand is really “at your own risk.” Cliff diving, boxing rings in bars, a distinct lack of handrails; you need to keep your head on straight. It’s brilliant, but you have to have a clear internal sense of when to ‘Stop’ because no one is going to impose a limit on you. Excess in almost encouraged here, so if you are not careful you will find yourself somewhere you may not want to be; i.e. in a ditch or in bad company. I have truly enjoyed Thailand; in speaking of the country as a whole, not necessarily about the certain areas of Bangkok we all have heard about, it has been one of the easiest countries I have seen in terms of getting anything you could want, getting around safely, quickly, and not getting ripped off.

This is coming from a guy who never thought he would go to Thailand. I thought it was all about prostitution and insane parties, but that is only the most talked about aspects. There was peace and quiet when I wanted it, social life to be had, exercise, great food, and friendship on every corner. Thailand is definitely on my Top 5. Do like I did and go see for yourself.