When eating in Thailand, don't ever think you can do as the Thais do. They have asbestos mouths. When you order food from a Thai menu, the English translations will typically say things like 'Papaya salad (little spicy)'. I interpreted this as 'not very spicy'. Ten minutes later I had tears running down my cheeks and thought I'd never be able to feel my tongue again.
When this happens - and it happened to me every other day - the Thai waiters stand around and laugh. Asking for three chillis in your spicy shrimp soup will gain you respect -but only if you manage to feed it to the dog before anyone notices.
Jesse Ingham
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