People
are always surprised when they see a McDonalds for
the first time in Thailand. I don't know why, but
maybe they think it is strange to see something
"modern" in an Asian country. I think
most tourists who come to Thailand want to taste
the famous Thai cusine. But, I understand that if
they are here for a week or more it is nice to have
something familiar. Many of my Thai friends take
suitcases full of mama noodles whenever they go
abroad on holiday!
Bilingual
Menu:
Page
1 | Page 2 |
Page 3
McDonalds
Brochure:
Eat Healthy,
Feel Healthy, Stay Healthy
Conversations:
Pages 1-5 | Pages
6-10
Pages 11-15 | Pages
16-22
Really,
you don't need to worry about speaking Thai in the
McDonalds restaurants as in most tourist locations
the employees will be able to speak English. Also,
you will see that the menus above the counter are
in English and Thai. However, away from the tourist
centres you will find that not much English is spoken
and the menus are only in Thai.
In
Bangkok, have a go at ordering your food in Thai
and if you get stuck don't worry. They will help
you out in English! Then, when you go up-country
you can practise your new language skills.
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McDonald's
in Thailand
The history of McDonald's
in Thailand goes back to the late sixties when Mcthai
President, Dej Bulsuk went to study in America on
an AFS Scholarship. His first encounter with McDonald's
planted the seeds of a great idea.
Over a decade later, Mr.Bulsuk had
become a successful business in Bangkok and was
looking for new ventures more stimulating outlets
for his creativity. In 1981, during one of his visits
to the USA, he happened to pass by an impressive-looking
building in Oak Brook, Illinois. The building was
the McDonald's Worldwide Headquarters, and sight
of the building stirred up memories of his initial
experience at McDonald's in the late 1960s.
Mr.Bulsuk and his friend decided that
Thailand was ready for such an international experience
as McDonald's. They wrote to McDonald's Headquarters
to see if they would be interested in expanding
into Thailand.
After Mr. Bulsuk was selected among
other applicants to represent McDonald's Thailand,
he attended Hamburger University to study McDonald's
operations and got hands-on experience at McDonald's
in Hong Kong. Finally, McThai was registered between
Mr. Bulsuk and McDonald's Corporation, and the site
at Amarin Plaza was chosen for the first McDonald's
restaurant in Thailand. It was opened on March 16,
1985.
Currentiy, there are 104 ( As of Jan
2003 ) McDonald's restaurants around the country.
Information from mcthai.co.th
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