Thailand Tidbit…

Dogs… yes… Dogs!!!

Dogs are everywhere in Thailand… you can’t walk down the street without seeing at least one skinny, mangy mutt searching for food, sunbathing, drinking from a puddle, playing with pack mates, sleeping, etc. ad nauseum.

Before anyone starts jokes about people eating dogs… I would like to note that dogs are considered one of the lowest animals in Thailand. People there do not eat dogs. However, they do tolerate them… and some are even kept as pets, but that is still quite rare in Thailand.

It seems odd coming from a country where dogs are revered (possibly a bit too much).

Anyway… back to the dogs. What’s really odd about the dogs is that they have no owners… and yet they aren’t wild dogs either. They lay in front of the doors of storefronts. They walk around the streets of Bangkok. They parade around as if they were solid members of the community.

And I suppose they are. I mean… would you rather have a few mangy dogs running around or some less friendly, disease-carrying vermin running around?

Lucky for Thai people… there are no Rotweilers or Pit Bulls. Thai dogs are just mutts… some appear to have Ridgeback blood, but I seriously doubt there are many pure breeds in Thailand.

The only pure breeds I noticed were usually pets. Thais seem to like poodles and other curly haired dogs as pets. I don’t think these dogs are native to Thailand, but these are the dogs one usually sees being pampered like a pet. I even saw one walking around with what appeared to be a diaper. I suppose that’s better than walking around with a pooper scooper.

–sam