Snooty city folk

Yesterday I arrived at the BKK airport to return to fly to Udorn and went to the check in counter (note: huge, modern new airport and nary a self-check in in site...poor planning). Because I already have some clothes in Bangkok, I was just traveling with my small backpack.

I went to the counter and handed my ticket and passport to the nice ticket lady, at which point she asked if I had any bags (language note: Thai and Lao are similar, but they are not the same. For example, the word for no in Lao sounds a little like 'boe' but not quite so 'o' sounding but in Thai it is 'mai', kind of like 'my'. The same for the question word, which is basically the word you put on the end of a sentence to make it a question. So, in order to say Are you eating?, you actually say something like You are eating, aren't you?)

So anyway, she asks if I have any bags, which in Thai is mii ka pow, mai?

Without thinking to change my answer to Thai, I said boe mii (instead of the Thai, which would be mai mii).

She smiled and said something to the effect of no bags, just the sticky rice, then? which, because sticky rice is eaten primarily in Northern Thailand and Laos (where people use 'boe' instead of 'mai'), and looked down on by sophisticated city-dwellers (eating sticky rice makes your nose flat, they say) was her way of calling me a country bumpkin or hick or something.

It was quite funny and we shared a laugh.

Then I punched her in the nose for insulting me and ran away shouting, 'NOW WHO'S GOT THE FLAT NOSE, HUH???!!'