Stray Dogs

Thailand’s street dogs — soi dogs, after the lanes they live in — are part of the landscape. Most are semi-owned by a street: fed by neighbours, sleeping in the shade, entirely uninterested in you.

Reading them

A dog lying down and watching you is fine. A dog that stands, stiffens, and comes towards you with its tail high is telling you that you are near its patch. That patch is usually a hundred metres of one lane, and walking on through it solves the problem.

• Do not stare, and do not run. Both escalate.
• Keep walking steadily, at an angle away, without turning your back sharply.
• Do not reach out to a strange dog, however friendly it looks.
• Do not feed them. One meal makes you a fixture and creates a problem for the next person along.
• Be more careful at night and in packs — dogs are bolder in a group and after dark.
• On a scooter, slow down. Dogs chase bikes, and swerving is how people come off.

None of this should put you off. The dogs are one of the more characterful parts of daily life here, and problems are genuinely rare.