My Business Trip to Rayong, Thailand

In January 2025, I travelled to Rayong, Thailand, for a customer meeting regarding one of our products.

The meeting itself was successful. We discussed technical details, exchanged ideas, and by late afternoon I was ready to head back to my hotel.

Or so I thought.

A few minutes later, I found myself standing alone in a remote industrial area after the car I was travelling in broke down. Rayong is a major industrial hub, but unlike Bangkok, transportation options are not always readily available. Grab was unavailable, taxis were nowhere to be found, and I was suddenly stranded in a foreign country with no clear way back.

I walked nearly a kilometre under the afternoon heat, hoping to find some form of transportation.

Nothing.

As the minutes passed, I began to feel increasingly frustrated. Not because I was in danger, but because I genuinely had no idea how I was going to get back to my hotel.

Then something happened that I still remember vividly today.

A factory worker noticed me.

I must have looked completely lost: sweating, carrying my bag, staring at my phone, and clearly unsure of what to do next.

Although he spoke almost no English and I spoke almost no Thai, he came over and tried to understand the situation.

For the next fifteen minutes, he stopped what he was doing and focused entirely on helping a stranger.

He spoke to several passing drivers, explained my situation, and eventually convinced one of them to help me.

When I tried to thank him and offer him some money for his efforts, he politely refused.

All I could say was:

“Khob Khun.”

Thank you.

Then I got into the car.

The driver spoke no English.

I spoke no Thai.

For the next forty minutes, we communicated through smiles, hand gestures, and the occasional nod.

Somehow, despite not sharing a common language, we understood each other perfectly.

When we finally arrived at my hotel, the driver didn’t simply drop me off and leave.

Instead, he spoke with the hotel staff and explained that I had been lost and needed help.

Only later did I learn something remarkable.

The driver had been travelling in the opposite direction.

By taking me to my hotel, he had added roughly 130 kilometres to his own journey home.

And he refused to accept any payment.

At that moment, what could have been one of the worst travel experiences of my career became one of the most memorable.

People often ask me about my travels.

They expect stories about famous cities, luxury hotels, or impressive factories.

But years later, what I remember most clearly is a factory worker and a driver whose names I never learned.

One noticed that a stranger needed help.

The other sacrificed his own time to make sure that stranger got home safely.

That experience taught me something important.

The true measure of a country is not its skyline, infrastructure, or tourist attractions.

It is the kindness of ordinary people.

After travelling to more than fifty countries over the past fifteen years, I have reached a simple conclusion:

The world is not nearly as cruel as the news sometimes makes it seem.

The vast majority of people are good.

Most are willing to help.

Most care more than we realize.

Every journey eventually fades from memory. Hotel rooms blur together. Flights are forgotten. Business meetings become routine.

But acts of genuine kindness stay with us forever.

Even today, when I think back to Rayong, I don’t remember the customer meeting.

I remember two strangers who reminded me that kindness needs no translation.

The Above photograph was taken during a later visit to BlueScope Thailand. Unfortunately, I don’t have any pictures from the day itself. At the time, I was too busy trying to figure out how to get back to my hotel after being stranded in the industrial area.