The wai – the gesture in which hands are placed prayer-like at chest level – is one of the most visible signs of Thais’ characteristic politeness.  It is used as a greeting, as a departure, as a thank you, as a sign of respect from a person in a lower social status to a person in a higher one, and in most circumstances it is also used as a response from the person in the higher social status.

From my first visit to Thailand in 1999, I’ve been tickled by the sight of foreign firms’ corporate icons – especially the Michellin Man – wai’ing outside their respective businesses.  It is an interesting way to adapt to local customs although the thought of a large stack of automobile tires being respectful is a tad bizarre. 

Is there a Thai equivalent?  I can’t think of any particular Thai corporate icons that wai, but I’m sure they exist.  At Kasikorn bank, after you’ve completed the ATM transaction there is a stylized animation of a woman wai’ing deeply at you, her forehead touching her fingertips in the deepest and most respectful of wais. 

Outside Thai restaurants everywhere there are often a pair of wooden statues showing two traditionally dressed woman – you may have even seen these at Thai restaurants elsewhere in the world – wai’ing you at the front door or near the entrance to the restaurant.

Friday afternoon the Australian, Canadian and British embassies released warnings to their citizens regarding reports of an increased threats of bombs by Islamic separatists from the south of Thailand, in Bangkok.  There had been reports in the Thai media that the government thinks that there may be several hundred separatists in universities in Khrungthep and perhaps as many as 10,000 “front-line” supporters.  The embassies’ warnings identified shopping centers and public transportation as likely targets.

Saturday  morning the English-language newspapers reported these threats in above-the-fold headlines.  In the Thai-language papers, the story was reported differently: “Farangs blow bomb threats out of proportion,” read one, using that play on words.

Ken called his mother in Florida as soon as he heard about the warnings, to assuage her fears.  Unfortunately, she hadn’t heard about the reports, so his telling her not to worry only caused her to worry more than she had before.  The best of intentions.

Saturday evening, Tawn and I tried to reignite our efforts to eat more modesty.  While we haven’t been going overboard, over the past month we’ve noticed that we’ve been eating out more often and usually at places that are getting a bit more expensive. 

Let me put this in perspective: by “more expensive” I’m talking about a meal that totals 600 baht for two people – US$17.15.  Not outrageous but considering this: Saturday night we went to Sukhumvit Soi 36, a strip located next to the Thong Lor Skytrain station that has a row of food vendors on either side of the street. 

We had noodles and jok – rice porridge – and even with sticky rice and mango for dessert we only spent 200 baht.  Who says you can’t eat well while eating frugally?  Above: the scene on Sukhumvit 36 at 10:00 pm.

We made up for our Saturday frugality with a nice lunch on Sunday, meeting Paul and Nicha for dim sum at Jasmine Restaurant in Times Square.  Paul is Tawn’s cousin – his mother is Tawn’s father’s sister – but was born and grew up in Los Angeles.  He has lived in Thailand with his wife, Nicha, who is also Thai, for the past several years.  Despite being close in age and getting along well, we don’t see them very often.  In fact, it has been nearly a year since our last meal together.

Hopefully this changes and we will see more of them, because lord knows we can use all the familial support from Tawn’s family that we can get.

We concluded the weekend with a show of The Queen starring Oscar-nominated actress Helen Mirren.  Right now it is playing at only one cinema with one show each day, although I think it goes wider in two weeks.  We wanted to see her performance before the Academy Awards, which are on at this very moment but I told Tawn I would wait to watch the rebroadcast with him this evening.  He almost called in sick this morning when he remembered that the awards were on today.

So who wins?  Well, I have my money (figuratively speaking) on Forest Whittaker, Helen Mirren, and Adriana Barraza, and I have no thoughts about Best Supporting Actor.  As for Best Picture, I haven’t seen “Little Miss Sunshine” or “Letters From Iwo Jima” because they have yet to open in Thailand and I refuse to buy bootlegs on the street.

Don’t spoil the surprise for me… the awards are rebroadcast starting a 8:45 pm local time, Monday evening – that’s 8:45 am EST Monday.