555

We foreigners in Thailand are frequently reminded that most things here are dealt with by smiling. When stressed out, embarrassed, angry, happy, confused, and practically a thesaurus of other emotions, the preferred reaction (both for the person who is feeling that emotion, as well as the person who is witnessing it) is to smile. In orientation, we were warned not to be unnerved by this—it may seem like Thai people are making fun of us when they laugh in situations where we would not… but it is just their way of dealing with things, of saving face, being respectful , and maintaining Buddhist traditions of optimism.

But I would like to add one more theory to the list.

Today, in my third Thai lesson (during which I spoke a full paragraph in Thai), I learned a useful phrase: Kaw-toht, or “excuse me.” But this being a tonal language, there are incredibly important idiosyncrasies in pronunciation. So, I learned, if you happen to say “kaw-tote” (just a quicker version of “toht”), you have apparently just said “May I fart?”

So maybe, just maybe, this is why Thai people are smiling and laughing so much. In this deeply respectful country, maybe all the people are just kicking back with fart jokes.

As for the title of this blog, it is one of my favorite things I learned from my Thai teacher. The number five in Thai is pronounced “haa.” So when Thais are texting each other or chatting online and want to express laughter, rather than writing out LOL as Westerners would, they just write 555. Or… haa…haa…haa…

Have I mentioned that I love this country?