People vs. Process

In US there is a process, a best practice, a standard for everything. A Big Mac at a McDonald in Augusta, Georgia tastes the same as in Boise, Idaho - regardless of who makes it. The reason being that the process through which a burger has to go before it comes to your tray is standardized. You know what to expect when you walk in. Same is the case when it comes to opening a bank account, paying a phone bill etc.

Not so in Thailand. Here you step out of the door and you enter a world full of haphazard activities. Pad Thai, the national dish of Thailand, tastes different at the same restaurant on a different day - depending on who cooked it and whether he remembered to add the right amount of spices. How you buy an airticket depends on where you are buying it from, and who you are buying it from.

In the case of US, the standardization in society perhaps adds predictability and efficiencies. But then when I ask the expats living in Thailand about why they prefer living in Thailand instead of their own countries, they all say it is because of the colorful and the full of surprises a society that it is.

I wonder if the lack of standardization in thai society adds to its color.