Thailand was the first destination I’ve ever travel to that I did not know or understand the language. China and Korea, I know the languages. I only took Japanese for one year back in high school, but there’s a ton of Chinese characters in the Japanese text. In contrast, the Thai written script is completely foreign to me. Without romanization (like written Vietnamese), I can’t even begin to memorize anything.
Obviously, it’s not detrimental to not understand Thai. The country sees plenty of tourist every year, so English - the lingua franca of the world - suffices just fine. However, not knowing any Thai means I couldn’t get too deep into the super local stuff. Imagine going to a restaurant and the menu is only in Thai script - no pictures, no translations. In China and Korea, I can easily go where foreigners don’t.
Speaking of foreigners: there are indeed quite a few older white guys with much younger Thai female “companions” in Bangkok. I encountered at least a couple every single day I was there. This is not a judgement, simply a statement of what I saw. So long as both parties are consenting adults, it’s cool. Are the power dynamics skewed - white guy with money and a poor Thai girl that needs it for survival? Probably. But perhaps it’s hugely assumptive of me to automatically look at the situation that way.
On that other hand, Thailand is indeed notorious for being a destination for pocket-heavy foreign men seeking sex thrills. I was in Soi Cowboy - a street full of bars, clubs, and other things, and it was the largest concentration of white guys in Bangkok I’ve seen. An older white guy was literally shoving his hands down the string bikini of a hostess at the table next to ours. Pretty wild stuff.
Again, no judgement. Consenting adults. Hopefully.
It’s probably good that pictures can’t transmit smell.