In the words of Jim, an American ex-professional athlete, who has written lately on a well-known Thai travel website, “I have traveled around 3/4 of the world, and the Thai people are some of the nicest, most polite people I have ever met. I was never treated better in Europe, South America, Central America, or North America. No other country in Asia is even close, and I have been to most of them”.
In the west, smiling at total strangers is not a common habit and might even get your motives questioned if you are a man smiling at an unknown woman. In Thailand, however, a man can smile at a totally strange woman and will generally get a beautiful smile in return without any hesitation. Granted, it does not mean she will marry you, but it still makes your heart sing. And people here will just as freely talk to you.