Bangkok/Thailand vs. Tokyo/Japan

Todai-ji in Nara. It’s hard to describe just how friggin’ massive this place was. Stunning.

But anyway, the first thing one should keep in mind about Japan is that it’s not as crazy, ludicrously expensive as you think it is. Sure, it’s an expensive country, but if you’re careful and spend a bit of time, you can get through the day spending not much more than you would in any big city. M’Lady and I managed to find plenty of nice meals which cost about $20 for two of us; using the subway and bus systems is pretty easy and only costs a few bucks per trip; and hotels are totally manageable if you’re okay in a basic 3-star inn. However, this is great when you’re only eating three times a day and taking one or two subway trips, but it adds up fast if you eat a lot (which we did), take multiple trips (which we also did), or want to spoil yourselves with luxury accommodation (which we didn’t).

Tokyo street food. Meat and hot sake, oh yeahhh.

One thing I’ve always thought about Thailand is that they’re extremely lucky to have the “Land of Smiles” moniker stuck to them. Not that I don’t think Thai people are friendly, just that, personally, I don’t think they’re any more or less friendly that most people you’d meet. The same goes for Japan – everyone I met was unfailingly polite, but not slobberingly so. One thing I did notice was that Japanese people in the role of service clerks – at least the ones I talked to – had pretty poor English skills when compared to Thailand. Simple questions were met with stone-frozen faces, somewhere between abject terror and total confusion. In Thailand, the English is generally much better, seemingly in contrast to the annual ranking on the Education First English Proficiency Index. Of course this is a broad generalization, but at least in Thailand you’ll get a few words and plenty of sign language to help you out.

All that said, here’s a quick list:

Things that Thailand does better than Japan

Cheap food. Japan has cheapER food, but not CHEAP food. In Thailand there are a vast range of prices you can pay for a meal, but that same range in Japan is quite a bit narrower.

A variety of food. Okay, this may be unfair because I was only a tourist and didn’t know ‘the right’ places to go, but I think we ate at a pretty wide variety of places. It was all good, but after a while it got kind of boring. No spice, not a lot of variety. In Thailand it’s easy to jump right into the culinary street food culture as soon as you step outside your hotel, no experience necessary.

Transport. In Japan you basically have bus, train, and taxi. Buses are okay but geographically limited; taxis are great but way too expensive (flagfall in Bangkok: 35 baht. flagflall in Tokyo: 240 baht); and trains…. Well, the train system is a marvel of engineering, but unless your destination is pretty close to the train station, you’re looking at a lot of walking. The place we were staying at in Tokyo was a good 12 minute walk from the train station, and when it’s 2°C and the wind is blowing, it’s not a pleasant walk. In Thailand, there would be motorcycle taxis and tuk-tuks waiting to whisk you home for less than a buck.

English: Again, not a blanket statement, only my observation, but it seemed that the average man-on-the-street in Tokyo spoke poorer English than in Bangkok.

Non-smoking. Some may not notice or care, but restaurants/bars that allow smoking just reek, and I’ll go far out of my way to avoid them. Bangkok’s no-smoking law is one of the few laws that people (mostly) follow, but in Tokyo, it’s rare to find a place that doesn’t have smoking. If they do, it’s a ‘non smoking’ table – often right next to a smoking one.

Things that Japan does better than Thailand

Stored value cards. The Pasmo card is kind of like the BTS Rabbit card in Bangkok, but you can use it on the trains, buses, and in a huge variety of stores.

Infrastructure. Maybe not fair to compare two very different countries on the same scale, but the sidewalks were wide, even, and free from potholes, every light signal worked, construction zones were well-marked and guarded, and the trains were on time, to the second.

Public art. Bangkok hasn’t even tried to install any art or beautification projects. A few ragged statues here and there don’t count. In Tokyo there was the Maman in Roppongi Hills, murals on walls and buildings, and not an insignificant number of art, sculpture, and statuary in most office lobbies.

Tourist scams. Or rather, lack of them. I never once got approached by a tout; never had a taxi driver try to rip me off; never got charged to use a public bathroom; and never had to pay more than a local to enter a tourist attraction.

So, just a few insights now that I’m back. I really do like Japan and hope to go back one day, but despite my fascination with swords and Japanese history, I’m not sure I could live there unless I had a really good reason. It was very clean and organized…almost to the point of being clinical, and I found one thing I missed the most was Bangkok’s general sense of organized chaos. It’s just a bit more exciting.

in Kinosaki-onsen in my full yukata bathrobe getup trying to look tough and failing. Those wooden geta sandals are hard to walk in.

Walking in the bamboo grove just outside of Kyoto.