Crash Course in Thai-ness

Between the 1.5 days I had in Chiang Mai and the 2 days in the mountains, I've seen more than I thought possible. There is too much to write about so I've decided to talk about a few points that have been on my mind.

Thai culture is service oriented
In Thai, thank you is Kup Koon Kup. When you interact with a waiter/waitress/shopkeeper, they say Kup Koon Kup, as if saying "thank you for allowing me to serve you" and if you say it to them they will often be embarrassed.

Farangs have little use for Thai Language and Culture
A farang is a person of European descent, however it doesn't carry the negative connotation that gringo does in Spanish. I've observed many farangs that I work around that have lived in Thailand for more than 5 or 10 years that can get themselves around the marketplace, but that's where it ends. It's true, you can get most anywhere in Chiang Mai on just English and hand motions, but I feel like something is out of place. Why are they so eager to learn about us but we can care so little about them?

Things are cheap
Food especially. We can walk across the street for lunch and eat a whole meal for 20 baht (about $.60). We were walking around a market last night and I found things like silk shirts for ~200 baht (again, 1:35 exchange rate, so $6). The coffee here can be good, but I've found out that when remote villagers harvest coffee beans they are often underpaid. Minimum wage is 156 baht per day, but coffee companies will sometimes pay only 20 baht per day (enough for a single meal at our favorite restaurant). Fair trade companies will usually pay a more decent amount, but not necessarily enough to survive on. So if you buy coffee, at the minimum please try to buy coffee labeled as fair trade.

These are the things I've been learning about Thailand. There is actually so much more, but these are the things that have been plaguing my mind. I'll try to get some pictures up later.