A Thai heartthrob

While my dad and I were having dinner our first night in Bariloche, a funny thing happened. We were the only people in the restaurant to start (our 8:30 arrival time was a good hour before even the first Argentines would ever trickle in). While we were noshing on some bread a trio came in and were seated at the table directly beside us. It was clear they were speaking neither Spanish or English and I was almost sure I had heard some Thai. I focused my ears on them, trying my best to hear their soft tones and after another minute I was positive, there were 3 Thai people sitting next to me in a random restaurant in Bariloche, Argentina!

To put this into perspective, I have met one person from Asia during this trip, Alex from Taiwan. I could see running into some Japanese, Koreans, or maybe even an adventurous Singaporean, but 3 Thai people forget about it! Interestingly, as I listened intently to them, picking up a lot of what they were saying I could feel my heart racing. It was that feeling where you put your hand on your heart and it feels like it is about to bust through to the other side.

My dad and I quietly speculated on why there may be 3 Thai people in Bariloche. Surely they wouldn´t be tourists, I really think the small number of Thai people who do travel internationally don´t often find themselves in South America. We then thought maybe they ran a restaurant in Buenos Aires or that they were diplomats. Turned out the later was the correct guess. We chatted with them for a few moments and they all work at the Thai embassy in Buenos Aires (one of 5 Thai embassies in latin America along with Mexico City, Brasilia, Lima, and Santiago). They were visiting the lakes district and patagonia for a week or so. I told them I would be studying Thailand in graduate school and asked if I could stop by and say hello when I was back in Buenos Aires. One of they guys said sure and gave me his business card, saying: ¨You can have a tour of the Thai embassy¨!