I would like to go back to Thailand and perhaps see Chang Mai and go to the islands more down south. I have heard that they are a bit more touristy though and this brings me to Lorna’s insight that when something is more “touristy” it means that it is less about the home country’s culture. So a touristy place for Americans is one that makes them feel at home by playing American music and writing signs that say “Let’s get Wasted!!” This just seems counter-intuitive to me because you would think that it would be infusing more of the foreigner’s conception of the culture into the actual culture instead of homogenizing more with the foreigner’s culture. Understand? It is most likely a mix. Some things make are considered touristy like indoor malls with Hagan Daaz and Burger King but then others can be things like petting tigers or riding elephants (which the actual Thai people might not do but the foreigner’s think that it is only something you can do in Thailand). We didn’t pet tigers or ride elephants or eat Hagan Daaz or whoppers so I think we did our best to try to stay within the confines of actual Thai culture. It is hard to clearly distinguish these things these days though.