Before last night, I would've said that Thais are some of the loudest people in the world in terms of ambient noisemaking. Then I would make the excuse that they have to be with so much background noise, whether in city or country. But then I witnessed an excuse to set off fireworks. Every temple, big hotel, Masonic Lodge, and sexy house had its own display. And most of the adolescents and pre-adolescents on motorbikes had their own drive-by shows, principally of rockets.
It was reminiscent of a shooter video game. And it wasn't even a Thai holiday.
Now I will unabashedly say Thais are the loudest people in the world just for the hell of it, and I will have no qualms about qualifying such a stereotype. It's just a noisy, noisy culture, and whether fireworks explosions or the inability to sit still without drumming on something, a Thai person will always, almost without exception, be actively engaged in making noise.
You would assume that the pictures on bathroom doors would leave zero doubt, especially if there is no writing on the doors. But this is Thailand. Pink is androgynous, and both kneeling cartoon kidlets were wearing pink. Both had their hair pulled back into a knot. Both had on traditional Buddhist getups. It was a matter of some pressing urgency, and I was not inclined to study the pictures in further detail.
You would assume that walking in on someone in the bathroom would leave zero doubt. But this is Thailand. I walked in on a ladyboy primping in the mirror. Which bathroom does a ladyboy use? Does it depend on being a pitcher or catcher? Is there a pitching role for a ladyboy?
These are questions I will have to ask, but that was not the time to be taking time to ask them.
Of course, meeting what appears to be a pretty lady with a baritone voice and saying, "which bathroom do you use?" sounds a lot like one of those times when a Thai suddenly forgets how to understand English.
