Comparing Thailand to Vietnam - while the wound is still fresh

I did these before when I had first moved to Vietnam after living in Thailand for many years. The countries have some similarities but for the most part are very unique just like you would expect any country to be from another one.

While I was in Thailand on this trip a lot of things that I took for granted occurred to me, and some of this made me feel bad about my current situation. I am now back in Da Nang after a grueling trip that took over 8 hours despite the fact that the two places are only 1.5 hours apart as the crow flies, and I am back in my office tippy tapping away at my job with my doggo friend sitting very close to me. Home is where the Nadi is, that much is for sure.

_{she has at least 5 beds, wants to sleep in the corner}

I was doing a lot of complaining while I was in Thailand in regards to my life in Vietnam and this was for a couple of very major reasons. But I think that I wasn't truly putting things into total perspective and was basing it on one particular thing that really just irritates the crap out of me: Noise.

In this regard, Thailand wins without any question at all. Vietnam is just noisy no matter where you go. They Vietnamese just seem to grow up with everything being noisy and that is the way that they feel as though things must continue forevermore.

In Thailand, especially on the motorways, you will almost NEVER hear a horn honked by anyone other than the small busses that are simply letting the public know that they are arriving soon. In Vietnam everyone toots their horn at every sentient creature and any other vehicle that they see. Seeing as how there are millions of other vehicles on the road at all times this is a lot of honking. There is so much honking that I can honestly say that a horn honking doesn't even mean anything to anyone anymore: The beeping is just all the time and after a while you just tune it out.

When I was in Chiang Mai it occurred to me that nobody was honking. I sat at several streetside restaurants and hundreds, perhaps thousands of cars were going by and you NEVER heard a horn honk. I was absolutely glorious. Outside of the tourist bar areas where tons of bars are side-by-side, music is kept at a lower volume in businesses as well. This has something to do with being polite and the polite nature of Thais generally speaking. It is considered quite rude to honk your horn or annoy your neighbors with loud sounds and therefore they don't do it. In Vietnam everyone just seems to make as much noise as possible. I have been in some restaurants and pubs where the music was so loud that I have told the staff that if this is how loud it is going to be, I am going to leave. And leave I did.

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In Thailand that only place I went to that was obnoxiously loud was when one of the guys that was visiting the same friend with the 50 year birthday party wanted to go to the "hooker road" so we went. This place is a noise nightmare in Vietnam because each bar has their own soundsystem. Therefore each bar is competing with the one next door to drown out their music. Talking in these places is almost impossible and you have to lean in really close to whoever you are talking to in order to even get a word across. Our "crew" that went out there ended up splitting up really quickly because some of the boys were really interested in talking to the rental girls while the rest of us have "been there, done that" and couldn't stand the volume.

To make matters worse, situated between all the girly bars is a Muay Thai boxing venue, who has to turn up their volume for announcements because of the volume of the girly bar music.

We met up later (except for one guy, and I think you can guess what happened to him) at a place with a more reasonable sound system in place.

This is not normal for Thailand though and most of the bars and restaurants you go to will have barely audible music playing unless it is a nightclub. Since I don't go to nightclubs anymore because I am not 20 years old or a VIP section sort of person, I can't comment on that... but I am sure they are extremely loud in both countries as well as the rest of the world.

The streets is where Thailand truly shines though, as well as just any outdoor space. Unless there is a sponsored event, Thailand is dead quiet, even in big cities like Chiang Mai. I was just marveling in the fact that I was walking around all over the place in the dead of downtown while visiting and I could hear conversations that people were having in certain places near me, or even hear birds chirping. You will NEVER experience this in Vietnam. The horns and the music of establishments see to it that you cannot accomplish this.

Because of this noise pollution, I normally choose to stay in my 9th floor apartment with my double-glazed windows shut most of the day. It is quiet in here, but if I so much as open one of my windows that unnervingly noisy outside world quickly gets in even though I am 40-50 meters off the ground.

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_{Although I didn't take this picture I can guarantee you that almost everyone is honking their horns}

In Thailand I would routinely walk around my hotel or the area around my hotel and the only sound I would hear would be of car engines and that is perfectly ok with me. In the gardens of my hotel I heard absolute silence and man, you simply aren't going to get that in Vietnam. I have been on my bicycle in the middle of nowhere and some old guy will be on a corner cutting pieces of sheet metal with a hand grinder even though he doesn't appear to be building anything. They just LOVE noise and the louder the better.

As I get older I appreciate peace and quiet more and more and considering the type of expat that I am where I need to be around other expats to socially survive, I have little choice but to stay indoors at my place most of the time.

So Thailand wins in this regard and while I was in Chiang Mai I was seriously considering moving back or at least taking the idea of moving back to the next level and contacting an agent about what needs to be done for me to do that.

After some reflection though, Thailand doesn't "win" in every regard and I am going to be writing about this extensively while the experience is still fresh as it is a sort of therapy for me as I make a difficult choice in the coming year.