Hedin Johan asked:
Interpreting for the Kingdom of Siam
It took a good full week for me to complete my interpreting job in Patong, Phuket, Thailand. Everything was laid on for me, hotel accommodation, food; precisely everything I needed. I was actually on a clandestine mission with a Thai/American magazine to inspect some of the hotels in the resort areas of Patong and Phuket. My job-to gain invaluable information from farang (western foreign) tourists and farang workers at these establishments to help make up hotel inspection reports for magazine publishing. Easy? You might say? Not at all. Tourist life in Patong, Phuket was simple enough but actually pretending to be tourists with nine other male Thai inspectors of various ages was proving to be not only difficult but downright comical. The staff of everywhere we visited viewed us with some form of humorous curiosity. The thing is, we were all so different people and since it was impossible to discuss business while on the job, it became a tedious task to pretend that we were on a package tour together. The original suggestion was that we go as businessmen, but that was rejected since it would invite too much attention to ourselves from local businesses and may even attract a criminal element. So unlikely tourists we remained, awkward silence for most of the time except for the occasional reference to the Patong weather, the staff and the food, but nothing in detail. We based ourselves at the Horizon Patong Beach Resort Spa and hotel which as a matter of fact needed no real assessment because this was one place we could truly rely on. First class service with wonderful food and luxury hotel rooms and accommodation. No, our job was to reveal the truth about some of the shadier practices in the area.
Patong Beach – Those Squeaky Sands!
So there we were one night dining at one of the other hotels to test for service, speed, food and my job-to get chatting to a few foreigners to find out their experiences and opinions. The meal in that particular hotel was good, the location was good too; nearby the Patong Beach quiet and not pretentious. The speed and service was excellent and friendly too. I decided I would surreptitiously move into the bar attached to the restaurant and start talking to some of the tourists to get there matter of fact views and opinions of the hotel, restaurants and bars. I made my way over to one family who were having an aperitif before dinner and made my polite references about the hotel. The husband and wife complained about just about everything from the noisy seas to the squeaky sands of Patong beach! The next couple I spoke to were also forthcoming in their opinions about the hotel, but I swear I’ll remember this one for as long as I live. They said “we think the food is great, the hotel is wonderful and we’d definitely come back to Patong but..” they said pointing at my party “..we didn’t realize they allowed ********** groups in the hotel”!
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Tags: Businessmen, Foreigners, Horizon Patong Beach Resort, Hotel Inspectors, Kingdom Of Siam, Luxury Hotel Rooms, Occasional Reference, Patong Phuket, Resort Spa, Tourist Life
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