Experience from: Amanda L., USA

I have never cried harder leaving a country, not even the U.S. But Thailand left me absolutely wrecked. I have never had so much fun, learned so much, grown so much; the list of how Thailand impacted me is endless.

For starters, if you want to go to a country with the nicest people, Thailand is your best bet. I have never met a more hospitable people. Everyone bends over backwards to help you. I experienced no hostility towards foreigners, only curiosity, smiles and a helping hand. During my internship in Sing Buri, my translator, Deary and I became very good friends. Since she was the only one that spoke English and we were both of similar ages, the two of us navigated the Thai local government together as a team. Not only did she help with the language, she listened to me vent, exchanged stories and answered all of the questions I had. We soon had inside jokes, our routine, and became very close. We both bawled when I had to leave. Further than being my translator and friend, she helped me when I got sick. She brought me medicine and took me to the hospital and checked up on me every day that I was sick. Such a genuinely nice person, as were the majority of Thai people. These character traits showed in almost all of the Thai people I met and Deary is the perfect example of how kind and generous they are.

If you want to go to a country with good food, Thailand is incredible. Thai food in the U.S. is already delicious and to have it from its country of origin is amazing. I learned how to make stir fried rice noodles and papaya salad which was so fun and delicious. Throughout the country, wherever you go, you can get massive portions of delicious food for cheap. Thailand is the only place that I gained weight during my travel there. The range of food is also incredible. I tried dragon fruit, rambutan, scorpion, passion fruit, among the more recognized, bananas, mangoes, chicken, pork and seafood. All of the fruit was so sweet and delicious! I was amazed by the flavors and am going to miss Thai food so much, there is nothing like freshly fried bananas in the morning.

If you want to have a lot of stuff to do; go to Thailand. Every weekend my new friends and I would travel to different parts of the country and do and see amazing things. One weekend, we flew to Phuket (round trip 80 USD!!!) and went to the beach, went to a waterfall, saw a temple, went shopping, went to a nice dinner and then went out clubbing that night. That was just one weekend, there is so much to do in Thailand; you leave wanting to go back. Massive Buddhist temples and statues are sprinkled throughout the country and I had the opportunity to see many of them up close which is very cool and a way to understand Thai Buddhism and how religion impacts daily life. I tried so many new foods, saw so many new things and learned so much about a culture that is so different from my own. There is absolutely something for every type of person and anything you could want to do.

Every morning, I would wake up in Sing Buri to the sounds of different birds, different smells and full of excitement. I really feel like I saw the authentic Thailand that many tourists miss. I saw daily Thai life and local governments as well as the tourist attractions. Staying in Sing Buri, I felt immersed in Thai culture in a way that the average teenager doesn’t always get to do when visiting a country. I will miss Thailand forever, I have so many amazing memories and I left a piece of my heart in Thailand. I could go on and on about how ecstatic I am about my time in Thailand. I am immensely grateful that I had this opportunity and the friends I have made while in Thailand I still keep up with and will probably for many years after.  

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