Differences between Thailand and Australia

There are many differences between Thailand and Australia, people, culture, climate, greetings, language and families, etc.

In Thailand people greet each other by saying "Sawasdee" and putting their palms together - this gesture is called Wai. However in Australia peiople shake hands and say good morning, good afternoon, good evening orgoodnight, and sometimes they kiss and hug each other.

Thai people are very friendly and like to smile and Thailand is known as the land of smiles. People show respect for the King, for their religion (Buddhism) and for the monks. Thai people do not touch anyone on the head but you can touch kids or little babies to show kindness. People like to go temple to make an offering. People do not step over anyone - instead they walk around them. It's very important not to point your feet at anyone or anything because it is considered extremely insulting and maybe you could get in trouble.

Australian customs are very different. I've seen people use their feet to point to things or to other people. They touch friends' heads and they step over people to take a shortcut. In Australia people like to eat bread, BBQ, steak, pie, sausage and sausage rolls for lunch or dinner, but in Thailand people like to eat rich and they eat bread, pie sausage etc as snacks.

When people in Thailand are ill or need to see the doctor they don’t need to make an appointment. They just go to the hospital anytime. In public hospitals they only pay 30 baht because the government gives local people a gold card. However, if they go to a private hospital it's very expensive. Thai people prefer to go to a private hospital because they think private hospitals have faster service and are better maintained with good quality equipment.

When people need to go to see a doctor in Australia, they have to make an appointment. One good thing in Australia is that people do not have to pay to see a doctor.