Thai Generosity

January 17th, 2009

While I lived in Japan, I did a homestay. During this time, one of the students who had previously done a homestay with the same family came to visit us in Japan. His name is Cha and he is from Bangkok. I only met him one day for a brief time, but we exchanged e-mail addresses and have sporadically kept in touch over the past 6 months.

So when I knew that I would be in Bangkok, I told Cha and asked him for some recommendations of places to go. He surpirsed me by saying that he would meet me if I had time. So we made plans to meet for dinner in Bangkok.

We went to a nice Thai restaurant for dinner. The food was great and we talked for a long time. During our conversation I had told him that I wanted to get a massage that night. He arranged for me to have a massage and even got one himself. Much to my surprise he paid not only for dinner but also for the massage. Then he took me back to my hotel and gave me a beautiful pashmina as a parting gift. I couldn't believe how generous he was. We were not well acquainted before we met that day, but his kindness and generosity made a strong impression on me.