On New Year’s Day, I went to Thailand alone and took off in the middle of the night.
On the plane, she chatted with the Chinese Thai white woman next door. When she learned that no one came to pick me up at the airport and that I could not speak Thai and only knew a few words in English, she anxiously told me not to go out for a taxi. She must take a taxi at the airport, but it was probably more expensive and needed 800 to 900 Thai dollars. Before I left, I once consulted that from the airport to Bangkok’s Chinatown, Yaohuali Road, the taxi price was 400 Thai dollars. In order to be safe, no matter how expensive it is, you have to take a taxi I said to her.
Arrive at Bangkok Suwannabe International Airport at 1: 30 p.m. Bangkok time.
Perhaps this time is the most sleepy, perhaps it is the customs officials who went slow. A team of more than a dozen people actually took an hour to cross the border and finally completed the entry formalities at nearly 3 o’clock. Dragging my luggage, I walked with a smile to the policeman whose face was almost as black as the uniform color: Excuse me, Taxi, Taxi. A smile is the best polite expression. The policeman also smiled and pointed forward, muttering about what. I don’t understand what, I understand gestures, Thanks you walked back and forward, and an old man with a smiling face greeted me, probably asking me if I have what to help me, I am still Excuse me, Taxi, Taxi. Okay! The old man pointed to the counter beside him. The smiling faces of the ladies behind the counter were very different from the cold faces of the customs officials. It seems that I have found the right place.
Money. The old man said. I understand this, How much? I asked. The old man held out his four fingers and murmured about what.
I pulled out a Thai coin with a face value of 1,000 yuan, OK? Because I don’t know if he wants 400 or 4000. Okay! The old man handed the money to the counter and exchanged it for a Thai coin with a face value of 500 and five Thai coins with a face value of 100. He left four Thai coins with a face value of 100 and handed me the rest.
Huh? It’s still 400. The woman in white doesn’t seem to know the market, but I still don’t know whether the counter is a currency exchange point or a taxi introduction office.
The old man took me out with four tickets and said as he walked, “Tomorrow, Tomorrow.” I remember this is the word “tomorrow”, but does he mean tomorrow after daybreak or tomorrow 24 hours later? I had to shrug: I d’not know.
Out of the arrival hall, I saw a long line of brightly colored taxis and came to the first one. The old man handed four tickets to a man sitting on a bench. It seemed that he was the driver.
I thought there was no car in the middle of the night and it should be smooth all the way, because one evening before the Spring Festival in 2007, when Zhu Jie picked me up from the airport to Chinatown, the car was really jammed to make people dizzy. However, there was another traffic jam on the side of Bangkok today. When the taxi snailed past a brightly lit place, I really doubted that I had mistaken the time. I saw a greenhouse full of tables and chairs. Diners and chefs were all very busy. I think it should not be the early risers who were eating breakfast, because it was early morning on Sunday, December 30, and it was a day when they did not go to work, that is, these people had not slept. It is not only these diners who do not sleep. At every intersection, there will be a motorcycle and all kinds of cars and taxis parked under the red light. Are they all travelers like me in the middle of the night? Bangkok is really a city that never sleeps.
Along the way, the driver always wanted to talk to me, but I didn’t understand a word and could only respond with a smile, a spread of hands and a shrug of shoulders. After more than 40 minutes, he arrived at the hotel safely. Zhu Jie was as anxious as an ant on a hot pan. She thought something was wrong with me in Lu Yu and regretted not driving to pick me up. Don’t you know that the time delay is in handling the entry formalities, and it is smooth and safe to take a taxi.
Three days later, I took a long-distance minibus back to Bangkok alone and took a taxi to another friend who forgot his age. This time it took even more trouble.
At 6 o’clock in the morning, in a small town called “Sha Wu Sha Kong”, Zhu Jie took me to a long-distance minibus to Bangkok. As she had to go back to work in a factory in the other direction, she really had no time to take me back to Bangkok. I knew the place where I was going to get off was called “Mosey” and the cell phone number of my friend who forgot the year. All the others were covered.
The next seat is a Thai woman in black. I don’t understand anything but smile when I want to talk to me. After arriving at an overpass more than an hour later, the driver said to me, “Mosey, Mosey”. Oh, that’s it?
“Mosey? “I asked the woman in black, she nodded.
When she got off the bus, she motioned me to follow her. Do you have to change buses? I want to ask, but I can’t understand the language and have to worry. After crossing a footbridge and a shopping mall, she pointed to a station-style building ahead: “Moshe”. Does she think I’m looking for the “Mosey” station? I said “No, No,” and then found out the phone number of my friend who forgot his age. I pointed to the phone number while making a phone gesture and said, “My friend.” The woman in black understood what I meant and took out her own cell phone * * the phone of her friend who forgot her year.
I watched her dial the number and prayed in my heart: Don’t turn it off. Because if my friend’s cell phone number cannot be reached, I will have to take a taxi to the airport and wait for boarding in the evening. It will definitely be more expensive and I can’t save money, because I can’t find out which bus to take to the airport. Thankfully, the phone went through, my friend forgot to tell her the address in detail, and the woman in black happily took me on to the station. I didn’t understand and couldn’t ask, so I had to continue to follow her.
At the station information desk, she chattered with a expressionless young lady at the counter. It is estimated that she may be asking if there is a bus to that place. The indifference of * * is quite different from the enthusiasm of the woman in black.
I basically understood, and said to the woman in black: Taxi, Taxi, drag her outside to take a taxi. I need her to tell the driver where I am going.
Strangely, after stopping several taxis in a row, the driver refused to take the taxi. I used my quick wits and dragged her to find the police. I was still a police officer with almost the same black face as the uniform color.
Hello! Help me! I greeted the policeman. The woman in black told the police what I needed, and the police reached out and stopped a pink taxi. Perhaps it was afraid of the police, perhaps it was possible to go to that place. The driver agreed happily. The woman in black and I were relieved. I quickly took out 100 yuan Thai coins to thank her, but she resolutely refused. I had to wave to her with gratitude and thank her in only one Thai sentence: Kokumaka, Kokumaka (thank you)!
When the car started, the driver kept asking me what, I can only I d’not know. Later, at a highway toll station, he asked me for Money. First, I took out a 1,000 baht denomination. He shook his head and gave him a 100 baht denomination. He took it to the toll gate and returned it to me with 60 baht. Only then did I understand that he had been asking me whether to take the highway or the ordinary road.
More than 40 minutes later, I arrived at my friend’s residence. The fly in the odometer showed more than 130 baht. The driver stretched out two fingers to me. I knew it was 200 baht and didn’t want to argue. After all, people sent a “deaf and dumb” foreigner to his destination safely. So he took out a 1,000 baht par value. He shook his head and could see that he could not find it. I had to take out all the change of 180 baht. The driver had to shrug his shoulders: OK!
When he entered his friend’s room, he condemned the friend who did not take me to the airport. At the same time, he admired my courage. Then he took out a piece of paper and said, “The woman who helped you call called again and told me the number and color of the taxi you took. She was afraid that you were not safe.” A surge of gratitude poured out of my heart: there are really good people everywhere. It’s a pity that my friend who forgot the year could not operate his newly bought mobile phone because he was over 70 years old. He could not dial the woman’s incoming number and could not call back to express his thanks. It was not until the afternoon that people called again to ask, expressing our thanks.
The experience of renting twice made me truly feel the thoughtful, meticulous, safe and reliable service industry in Thailand, as well as the friendly enthusiasm of the Thai people. For a country with tourism as the mainstay of national income, the quality of service industry is very important. However, the quality of the service industry is realized through individual individuals, and every little thing can reflect the overall quality of the citizens and the rigour of the service organization. Of course, I also feel that Thailand’s bureaucracy is quite serious.
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