Orn's Travel Blog

When we first came to Thailand – The Land of the Thousand Smiles – we were surprised how grumpy or at least not very happy a lot of the local people seemed.  Waiters in restaurants would not smile at all during service and the people on the street didn’t smile either, even if we would smile at them.  We started to think that The Land of the Thousand Smiles was just an advertisement slogan.

When we came to Ko Tao we noticed quite a different attitude, most of the people smiled all the time and if you would look at someone they would always burst out in a big smile from ear to ear.

Now after we have been to a few places we have noticed a clear pattern.  In the more crowded places people seem to give less positive energy to others, they smile less, are less open to chat and just seem less enthusiastic about life.  On the other hand when we go the the less crowded places that have a better connection to nature the people smile a lot more, try to chat with us given the opportunity and are more interested in the people and things around them.

I haven’t really noticed how this is in Iceland, most of the people I know back home are from the country side.  Elínborg says that they are chattier than the concrete kids but I haven’t really given it much thought.

How is this in your country? Please comment!