TOURIST WANTED A BEER, LEFT WITH THE ELEPHANT IN THE ROOM
Mo Gaynor, 137 YinD
PATTAYA, Thailand — When Josh Smith, a 22-year-old American tourist, ordered one of Thailand’s most popular adult beverages, he expected to be sipping a cold Chang beer. Imagine his shock when he was introduced to his very own 3,000-pound elephant.
“All I asked for was Chang,” said Smith. “Sure I was a little confused why they charged me 1.5 million baht, but Pattaya prices sometimes be like that.”
Chang beer, which typically costs between 60 and 120 baht and shares its name with the titular character from Dumbo, is commonplace across Thailand. Created in 1995, this pale lager represents roughly 32% of the national market share.
Somchai Saetang, owner of Somchai Beer Bar, assured us he was just “giving the customer what he ordered.”
According to Saetang, the patron ordered “chang nʉ̀ng dtua.” In Thai, nouns are counted using a number and a classifier, with the classifier indicating the category of thing being counted. For example, dtua is used for animals, while gâew is used for glasses.
“I don’t know any Thai,” said Smith. “All I asked for was a Chang and ‘none dude’ for any ice.”
Unfortunately for Smith, while Chang nʉ̀ng GÂEW would have gotten him one GLASS of Chang, chang nʉ̀ng DTUA (or “Chang none dude”) is what landed him one PET ELEPHANT.
When asked if he had any final thoughts, Smith simply said, “I’m just happy I didn’t order a Leo.”
