At the same mid-range Sukhumvit eatery a friend orders a salad,
requesting just 4 ingredients - lettuce, tomato, onions and green pepper. The
server who has a decent command of English takes a good few minutes to
understand what he wants. She is pleased with herself when she repeats the
order, confirms that it is right and even shows us that she has correctly
understood it by writing it down. She wrote it down right, but what comes in
no way resembles what he had ordered.