curiosity regarding the king and his country . Then , after the custom checkpoint , a vast pool of black and red occupied the airport ' s entrances . All information was shown in Chinese , Thai , and English . Half of the billboards were about mourning , with the others saying " Happy New Near !" in red . The contrast was everywhere and anywhere one could possibly see :
Black-Red-Black-Red .
It was the first day of the Lunar New Year when we took a flight to Bangkok . There were so many first impressions in one night . For instance , one thing that particularly struck me was how there were Hongkongers in every corner of our hotel , and perhaps more generally speaking , there were foreigners from everywhere alongside the queue in Asok station . I found my eyes eagerly searching for a real Thai among all of the languages I heard and people that we saw ; all I heard was Mandarin . And in all honesty , it was slightly disappointing , as I had to imagine the sound of Thai and urged the escape from my own country .
Yet , just when I began to believe that Thailand was occupied by all foreigners , some prayers were answered the next day ! The receptions , chefs , and staff in and outside of the hotel were Thai , in addition , the young boys and girls playing lion dances in the streets were locals .
Those in the buses and lighting the red lanterns everywhere in the city were all locals ! I was amazed . It was then that I realized that all of the commercial areas , like shopping malls , are what is foreign there , and everything that is local is what is on the streets and shops surrounding the pedestrians . From what I noticed , local culture is all about how the people complete everyday duties and interests .
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