Things I learned while living in Thailand- Part Fifteen

I love me some sniffers.

When I first moved to Thailand I noticed that people would have bizarre white plastic sticks in their noses while traveling.  Busses, song teaws, tuk tuks, or just hanging out, there were white sticks hanging out of their noses.  Occasionally, a person would simply pull the stick out of his or her pocket, take a whiff, and put it away, but they were everywhere.  Koreana and I couldn’t figure it out for the life of us.


After lots of questions and some 7- 11 research, we figured out the mystery.  Sort of.  The plastic sticks are called “aromatic inhalers.”  They are usually peppermint, and Thai people believe they will cure just about everything.  Vertigo, stomachaches, headaches, motion sickness, and boredom, these aromatic inhalers are the cure-all.  And, when Koreana and I realized that every single Thai person suffers from motion sickness, the inhalers made a lot more sense.  But did Koreana and I ever purchase inhalers?  No way.  We were content enough knowing what was dangling from the locals nostrils, we didn’t need our own.

Jokingly, I bought a few inhalers for Garvey for his birthday last year.  And, the rest is history.  He immediately became obsessed with the sniffers, as I have learned to affectionately call them.  Soon, I was shipping the sniffers to my other siblings, and a second shipment went to Garvey.  I realized I needed to see what all the hype was about.

They are great.  You know that smelly neighbor on a bus?  Take out a sniffer!  Someone nearby farted?  Sniffer time!  A stinky local fish market?  Open up that sniffer and take a whiff!  

Heather forgot her sniffer at the market!

Garvey came to visit last Christmas, and while he won’t admit it, I am convinced that he brought a second (and mostly empty) suitcase just to fill it with sniffers to bring back to the States.  Heather also became a huge sniffer fan when she came to visit, and she bought a large variety of colors before her flight home.  And when I experienced some stomach trouble in New Zealand, it was the sniffer to the rescue!  


When I arrived home Erin immediately asked if I had brought her any new sniffers.  Shoot.  I meant to spend the last of my Baht on sniffers at the airport, and I completely forgot!  It looks like Paul will be bringing an extra suitcase back in April!