"Leechel gang"

That's my name when spoken by a Thai, or some variation of that. Leechel. Raycheel. Meechel. Leechen.... I answer to it all. And the 'gang' isn't refering to my evening activities, but rather it's a thai word meaning "great." So "Rachel gang" means something like "Rachel does that really well," depending on the situation.

Now I'm not just telling you this to teach you how to compliment me in Thai (feel free to anyway), but to introduce you to the Thai culture of compliments.

Thais love to compliment, even if it means exagurating the truth, or when everyone knows you are just saying what is expected to be said. But even when someone say's "Isn't Rachel beautiful." and I know the person HAS to say, "Yes, Rachel's beatiful." I love hearing it.

And I know in reality they are complimenting me for the forsight to be born with white skin- which is regarded as such a beautiful thing here that 90% of beauty products (including deotorant) have 'skin whitening' properties.

But it's really interesting what I get complimented for. I hear a lot that I ride a bike well- or they are terribly impressed that I can ride w a skirt. Even more popular than that is that I drink water well. REALLY. I often get told I drink water well! I am told I have really white skin. Interestingly I get more compliments that I write thai letters beautifully, than people noticing that I'm ACTUALLY writing in thai.