I’m not sure why, but it seems that I’ve been involved in quite a number of conversations about brands in the last few weeks. Marketing is a big part of what I do, including writing a web site, and there’s almost nothing more important to a marketing professional than branding. Many marketing people spend a lot of time thinking about branding and brand loyalty. It’s one thing to get people to buy a product once, the big challenge is making sure that when it comes to buying something to drink, a watch, clothes or whatever, your brand is the one the consumer wants.

The same is true all over the world, but I’ve long noticed that Thais can be real slaves to brands. Creating brand loyalty usually takes more than just a lot of advertising, but for Thais it often seems that “as seen on TV” is good enough. Quality, taste, reliability, cost, fit-for-purpose, none of that seems to matter very much to Thais.

In some cases, it’s just about what the advertising says the brand is supposed to represent. Nothing says you’re rich - and clueless - quite like a Rolex on the wrist. It doesn’t matter that there are lots of other watch brands that are just as good, if not better. There are brands that are even more expensive, but Thais wear a Rolex because everybody knows that you must be rich if you own one.

Thais’ brand loyalty is less understandable when it comes to commodity products where brand has very little to do with quality. Take personal computers for example. Thais will choose a name brand like IBM, even though it’s more expensive than a no-name PC, because it must be “better”. It makes me wonder what Lenovo is going to do once they have to stop using the IBM name. I bet if you had the exact same computer with two different brand names, Lenovo and IBM, most Thais would choose the IBM computer, even it it was more expensive, because “it must be better” if it has the IBM badge on it.

I’m on a quick - very quick in fact - visit to the Cambodian capital. But even in just a short time I can see that Penom Penh is a city with two faces. There’s the part along the river that most westerners see, with the Grand Palace, hotels and restaurants. Then there’s the crowsded, dusty streets away from the river.

In the “other” Penom Penh, the narrow streets are choked with motor-bikes. In many places, they’re desperately trying to widen the streets and add sidewalks - although as in much of Southeast Asia, the motorcylce riders seem to the sidewalks are made for them. In this area, especially around the brooding Byzintine presence of the French market, there are a lot of seedy two star hotels, most of which seem to have tiny casinos in them. It’s not sold as such to western tourists, but Cambodia is one of the few places in Southeast Asia where gambling is not only legal, but encouraged as a source of revenue. The casinos are supposed to off limits to locals, but nobody seems to care. They cater mostly to Chinese tourists, from Taiwan, Hong Kong or the mainland.

Just before Bangkok became the capital of Thailand (or Siam as it was back then), the capital was briefly established at Thonburi, on the other side of the river from the current capital. The capital was moved to Thonburi by King Taksin (no relation to the recent Prime Minister) once he had regained control over the country after the Burmese attacked and destroyed the old capital at Ayuthaya.

In his new capital, Taksin built a palace next to Wat Arun. The palace is now part of the headquarters of the Royal Thai Navy, but many of the old buildings have been retained and restored. The palace continued to be used by the royal family throughout the nineteenth century, so there are residences and other buildings built throughout this period.

Getting in to see the original royal palace is possible, but not easy. Visit our online travel guide for more photos and information about Thonburi Palace.

Something most guidebooks to Southeast Asian destinations don’t mention is rudeness. While many countries in Southeast Asia rely heavily on tourism, sometimes their ideas of what’s polite and what’s not is at odds with many Western ideas. Some are even at odds with common sense

This occurred to me as I was having a stroll through Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon). I couldn’t help noticing that cyclo and motorcycle drivers were much less obnoxious that they were the first time I visited the city some three years ago. Back then, you couldn’t walk the tree-lined boulevards without the constant accompaniment of a motorcycle or cyclo trying to sell you their tour. They could be quite aggressive, to the point that one guy even got off his ride and stood right in front of me as I tried to take a picture of some sight. Did the man really think blocking my shot would make me more likely to utilize his services?

This time around, the motorcycle taxis are still around, but they’re much less aggressive. I think that it’s down to the fact that metered car taxis are now so common. A tourist would have to be a little nuts to use a motorcycle, so the drivers are just going through the motions on the off chance that you might be a crazy Westerner that could easily be relieved of a lot of cash

It’s not like Vietnam has any corner on the rude route, either. From Bali to Bangkok, I often hear the same refrain should I be careless enough to walk by a t-shirt stall: “Hey mister, we have big size for fat guy like you.” Such comments are common throughout Southeast Asia, and they really make you wonder if people think before they open their mouths

Big Budget Rudeness

In the case of Thailand, the answer to the question, “What were they thinking?” Is often “They didn’t think.” It’s taken me many years to understand this, but it just isn’t part of Thai culture to consider someone’s feelings or reaction before opening your mouth. This results in a lot of behavior that at best can be described as politically incorrect, at worst it would be outright sexual harassment anywhere in the West. In Thailand, it’s quite common for the boss to poke fun at his staff, to their face, even if it often involves demeaning comments about where they came from.

Such comments are made without any thought about how it might make the other person feel. This cavalier attitude extends right through society. In my work with Thai companies, I’ve had to help clean up some major faux pas by my Thai masters.  But rather than air any dirty laundry in public, there are a couple of other major boo-boos in the news lately. Both involve movies made in Thailand by Thai companies.

The first film to hit the headlines was a horror flick with a plot line involving a reality show where contestants had to stay in a ‘haunted’ prison where some atrocities had taken place. The trouble was, the prison and the atrocities bore a strong resemblance to a particularly well known place in Phenom Penh during the Pol Pot genocide era. The makers of the filmed were shocked to learn that many Cambodians objected to a particularly painful episode in their past being used as the theme for popular entertainment.

The second movie was a comedy featuring an unlikely Laotian football (’soccer’ to Americans) team that beats the odds to get to the World Cup. I’ve seen trailers for this film, which in themselves were quite funny, but I can just imagine the jokes that the full picture may have made. For most Thais, Laos is synonymous with poor and backward. If someone doesn’t speak Thai properly, they’re accused of speaking Laotian. If they’re unfamiliar with the trappings of the big city, they must be from Laos. Such jokes generally aren’t at all mean-spirited, but there’s never any thought given to how they may make the person on the receiving end feel, and the makers of this movie apparently never thought about how the Laotians may react to their jokes.

Both movies have had their release dates postponed indefinitely, while the producers no doubt try to figure out how to salvage their investment. I’m sure that there are those who are arguing that Laos and Cambodia “just don’t understand” the movie, or perhaps they’re just thinking that these countries don’t have a sense of humor. That’s often the accusation made at individuals who take offense at Thai attempts to be funny, and why, at the end of the day, I don’t think anything will change. It’s much easier to blame the other guy than it is to take responsibility for your actions.

Just arrived in Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) from Hanoi yesterday. Saigon is hot and muggy compared to Hanoi, but it’s still a nice city to walk around in. While there are a few daunting big wide boulevards to cross, there are many more small tree-lined streets and big parks, which makes walking a real pleasure.

As I look around, I’m surprised at how little the city seems to have changed since my first visit about three years ago. Yes, there are signs of construction all over the place, including the old Rex, and the Park Hyatt is finally finished, but most of the city seems the same. While restaurants and shops in most major tourist destinations around Southeast Asia seem to come and go, a lot of the old places I knew along Dong Khoi street from three years ago are still there.

Not that nothing is changing. The city is getting a face lift as it prepares to host several preparatory meetings for the upcoming APEC summit, which Vietnam hosts for the first time this year. The old Presidential Palace, now the Reunification Museum, is closed for renovation. It should re-open in June, according to the sign posted in front.

While a lot of the old restaurants I knew from my first visit are still there, they’ve been joined by a few new places. Among these are several cafes serving western styled coffees and food. There’s the Terrace Cafe, Paris Deli and several branches of Ciao Cafe. These have joined the now ubiquitous Highlands Coffee (a Starbucks clone) in serving cappuccinos and lattes in addition to the more traditional Vietnamese coffee.

Not that I have anything against the traditional Vietnamese coffee. On the contrary, I’m developing quite a taste for the thick, strong coffee that smells like chocolate. It will definitely be going on my “don’t miss” list of Vietnam experiences.