The recent proliferation of discount airfares has seen the rise of the wise, well-travelled bogan. Five years ago, Bali was the best place to observe herds of shirtless, migratory bogans in the wild, but the rise of terrorism in Indonesia, Schapelle Corby’s well-publicised failure as an importer/exporter, and the entry of Jetstar into the Australia-Thailand route has seen a new habitat emerge. Motivated by the lure of cheap alcohol, spicy foods (ordered ‘mild’), and sexploitation, the bogan has embraced Bangkok, Phuket, and that full moon place as its modern spiritual retreat.
Thailand is close enough for the bogan to leave its nest at dawn, read the latest movie readapted to novel or watch Anchorman, and land in time to be slurping from a bucket by evening. Much like the Contiki tour, Thailand allows the bogan to believe it is having an exotic cultural experience, while speaking English, interacting only with other bogans (hopefully including British and Scandinavian bogans) and engaging in activities they engage in at home abroad.
Safely ensconced in a Phuket tourist resort or an Australian themed bar, the bogan can drink near toxic amounts of cheap beer, “get bronzed,” eat spring rolls, adorn itself with braids, tramp stamp or tribal tattoos, and watch Anchorman again. The more adventurous bogan can have its photo taken sitting on an elephant, have its photo taken in front of a temple, or have its photo taken posing shirtless and sunburnt on a generic beach.
At the end of the week, the Bogan can round out its travel experience with its fourth visit to the Khao San Road tourist pit, where they can interact with impoverished locals for the purpose of methodically screwing them out of $1.30 of the $1.40 profit margin in their fake sunglasses’ starting price. Invariably, one of the items purchased is a beer singlet for itself or a loved one to wear at the gym back home. Other items regularly witnessed by Jetstar cabin crew include Buddhist iconography, stolen bar mat(s), painfully idealistic (and often misspelled or erroneously translated) tattoos in the local language, bogus high fashion brands, and a new found capacity for credible racism.
Once home, the bogan will get mild Thai food delivered to their next house party, enthusiastically regaling attendees with its bucket guzzling exploits through a mouthful of Pad Thai. The worldly bogan will employ its one word Thai vocabulary to attempt to say thank you to the food delivery guy, even though he’s an engineering student from Delhi.
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Gold! I heart this site.
It’s like you’re psychic. Brother and sister in law just returned from their Thai honeymoon, gifted me with a Singha T-shirt and proceeded to regale us with all of the above whilst reclining in their G-Stars out the back in the bali hut newly adorned with a blown up photo of themselves riding an elephant. “Nah mate! ya have to barter with the little monkeys or they’ll rob ya blind!”
Gifted?
Oh for the love of Petras. The word you are looking for is “gave”.
I thought it contextually idiomatic, but I’m prepared to stand corrected. For the love of curiosity, who or what is a Petras?
Is it? If so I guess that leaves me corrected. I’d better go look that up. Gifted gets my knickers in a twist though for some reason.
Anyway, Petras (rock) is the original source of the name Peter – Greek IIRC.
I stand edified.
I bet the guys in the photo are Brits
methodically screwing them out of $1.30 of the $1.40 profit margin…
Fear not folks. This has never, ever happened. Those canny folk will never be left short by the Travelling Bogan (Sheelberitis Exotica). If their margin is ever under threat, they simply turn their heads and carry on with what they were doing or simply start speaking to their friends. They may seem crestfallen that they have been “talked down” 80% but they still did ok – they dont play the game to lose.
On my trip to Phuket I was worried my expanding beer gut might make me the fattest guy on the beach. My worries were relieved when the beach was packed by morbidly obese Eurotrash wearing gear that would make Tony Abbott look good. Big, fat, sunburnt beachballs lying on the beach. My girlfriend told me I actually looked good in Phuket compared to the slew of cellulite.
The ‘They Respect You For It’ school of haggling. I have watched millionaires from the States talk down a taxi fare from four dollars to three dollars in Tiajuana on this justification. ” Why do they hate us?” they ask.
I love this post, it enscapulates the noveau-bogan perfectly. They think they are sophisticated and well-travelled, on the same level as the Hollywood celebrities they so wish to emulate, while remaining blissfully unaware that they are just as crass, tacky and lacking in originality as thousands (millions?) of other bogans Australia-wide.
Hollywood celebrities sophistcated and adventurous? Woody Harrelson reportedly lived on packaged rice cakes the whle in Thailand because he was unsure of the local standards of hygeine. Maybe something to do with the amount of weed he smokes.
Are there any other non-bogans out there who would love to travel to Thailand, to experience the culture, eat the food, meet the people and learn the history of the country but are put off by a) having to put up with the ‘Sheelberitis Exotica’ (brilliant name, DentShop!) and b) being tagged as a ‘bogan’ or ‘sex offender’ just by admitting that you’re travelling there?
Another beautiful thing ruined by bogans…sigh…!!
I would love to see Thailand. Unfortunately both the proliferation of bogues and the fear of being associated with them because I’m Australian puts me off somewhat…
And (go ahead and be offended, I won’t mind) why was the Bali bombing more tragic than the daily deaths of Iraqis, Israelis, Palestinians and so on…..?
Because it involves aussies. You should already know how people think. If its an aussie that dies oh no bloody terrorists but if some one else dies we just flick the channel over to x factor and move on.
I completely, totally agree! On the way back from Japan I wanted to stop in Thailand because I’ve always wanted to go there, but I didn’t/ couldn’t due to this exact reason. It’s so annoying. I want to go there one day, but the older I get, the more I’ll look like your average white sex-offender. Brilliant.
It’s a beautiful place and I would have no hesitation as a group tour that is to go to Thailand to do all those things you mention of but it’s the menaces to society that otherwise spoil it.
I was talking to a bogan about her holiday to Thailand and she declared that she didn’t enjoy her trip because of ‘the parsley they put in the food’. Coriander?
‘Is that what it’s called? Yeah, I hate the stuff!’
Wait ’til someone explains balacan and fish sauce to the poor darling.
That, M E Nelson Esq, is a priceless polemic on bogan culinary ignorance. Beautiful.
I made the horrific mistake of stopping in Bangkok for 3 days enroute to Japan last year. What a god forsaken, polluted, sweaty, skanky hell hole. I have sworn off S.E Asia for the rest of my life. Fat bogans bickering over 30cent Nike knock off socks and knickers. Then they loll about in shop front massage parlours having their cankles rubbed by poor women a third of their size. We went to the gay bar owned by the Gay Bogan Queen himself, Molly Meldrum (proud owner of Egyptian themed home and bedazzled jackets) – where the old bogan rice queens flocked to pick up barely legal teen chicken…. Then the flight home was a nightmare, filthy bogans who had worn sandals all holiday and hadn’t bothered to wash, grime up to their knees, stinking like a fish market and bickering with customs over taking their kahlua, midori and malibu on board the flight…I’d rather lose a leg then ever go near Thailand again.
Ahhh, Grasshopper… Forming your opinion about Thailand based on Bangkok, Pattaya or Phuket is like forming your opinion on Australia based on Schoolies week.
In my experience, try heading out into the countryside- Chaing Mai, Chaing Rai, places like that. Or south where there is a Malay influence- Hat Yai, for example. Koh Samui was fantastic. Even back then (gees, is it already 10 years ago?) the backpacker element were present, but seemed to stick to the bar districts (meaning the first mentioned three cities). Many stories, but I won’t bore you all with them.
As for Bangkok- well, I flew back into Bangkok from Samui on a Dash-8 (so I don’t know if it was pressurised) but you could small Bangkok’s heady aroma of a mix of fish sauce and two stroke oil from about 100k out, and 3000 metres up. That is part of its… Charm.
The Countryside and Cultural Part of it is what many of us Overlook in Thailand.A Group Tour that focuses on Chiang Mai,Chiang Rai and the place where the Film Bridge on the River Kwai was made is what I would be most confident doing.Other than that what was shown on the What Really Happens in Thailand show has almost put me off.
What a shame you had this experience. I just recently returned from my first trip to Thailand with my partner and I found Bangkok amazing. By far the best part of it was the Thai people. Never have I met such a warm and welcoming crowd. I spent 2 months before I arrived learning Thai and you would be amazed at how it breaks down barriers. I had fascinating conversations with the locals about their lifestyles, familes and interests, and they too were just as curious about me. I didn’t need to buy anything to be treated this way, all I needed was a genuine interest in others. I can’t wait to return.
Oh dear Shandarleeer, but your ability to summarise an entire country based upon a few days of milling about tourist traps is, dare I say, very bogan of you. Not mention you managed to lump in the rest of SE Asia. It all looks the same though right?
Most of the places you mentioned, the average Bangkok resident wouldn’t go to. It’s a great place, but of course like every city in the world has areas to be avoided.
Nagob is right – try exploring parts of Thailand which aren’t Bangkok, Phuket or Pattaya.
Great post. Hits just a wee bit close to home for this puppy *adjusts Singha baseball cap*. But I thought I’d share one of the more exotic sights from where else but Khao San Road (or the Khe Sanh Road, as I’ve heard it called more than once):
An incredibly fat, tanned leather beanbag of a beast angrily attempting to return a pile of counterfeit DVDs he bought from a street vendor “the last time he was here”. Apperently the picture and sound quality were substandard. Ron Burgandy’s moustache lacked the lustre it had at IMAX… and no bonus disc? What gives? According to the grainy, photocopied cover it’s the Collector’s Edition. Expected more for AU$3.50!
On a recent over night stopover in BKK I was amazed at the amount of young wasted aussie blokes seeking out prostitutes (both female & ladyboy) towards the end of the evening. I asked one young fella if him and his mates engaged in the same activities back home, to which he responded ‘ nah mate but fark it we’re in farken Thailand wooohooo!’. No doubt a trip to the clinic awaited them upon return to Oz.
I work in a medical centre and have seen numerous “Health Tourists” return with major infections resulting from the increasingly popular Plastic Surgery Package deal holidays in Thailand. Why not go to a third world country for medical and dental care, its so much cheaper and they aren’t constrained by national standards and the like. Dr’s over there can do everything…. Get your nose broken, eyelash’s transplanted with head hair, tits done and a bit of lipo and then recover by the resort pool, all for under 2 grand including flights- no doubt they try and haggle a better price.
Then they want to be bulk billed when they return home and need it all repaired.
Sounds like you’d happily add the sterilisation procedure to the list, while they’re under the general at Phuket Private Clinic.
They are a developing country, not third world, and they have a health system that rivals some OECD countries.
Has anyone else seen
“save a whale, harpoon a Jap” on the back of a “wicked camper.”
Driving to work I was disgusted to see a van with this scrawled accross the back. Apparently there are a few of them around. Why the government hasn’t banned them is beyond me.
Driving around in a van like this is the epitome of bogan.
Overseas bogan, generally.
I haven’t seen one of these stickers but I can easily believe it. Seems like an idiot excuse for racism riding on the back of ‘green’ politics. As if the people with the sticker could care less about whales anyway. Eco-terrorist organisations like Sea Shepherd don’t get a lot of sympathy from me.
dude, I heard the guy that owns that buisiness is a total meth/crackhead and they pull dead tourists out of those unroadworthy vans every month.
Vietnam seems to be starting the same way. I’ll go further afield and visit Cambodia or Laos to see something authentic. The sex side of Thailand always turned me off the place anyway, and the fact it’s full of Aussie poor white trash – ugh. Put it this way, when I’m in AU I stay in areas delightfully free of deadbeats. there’s no way I’m going on holiday somewhere I could be surrounded by them.
It’s very overlooked CAMBODIA.I know only a handful of operators go there but it’s on my to do list.
Oh so very on the money – Though I must confess to at one point posing with one of those delightful buckets – filled with ‘Genuine’ Smirnoff issued from a bottle with a broken seal, and with a taste that I wouldn’t wish upon my worst enemy – while barefoot on a beach still not quite recovered from being washed away a number of years ago
Fortunately this portion of the trip follwed the much more enjoyable portion that involved not staying in a resort and making a genuine effort to converse with locals in their local tongue (a task made all the more difficult by the fact they they are even more keen to converse with you in English, which is depressing enough in its own way) up in The North, and the discovery of a Thai dish so delicious that not a single Thai restaurant I have been to in Australia has it on the menu (much like trying to get a decent Parma in Sydney) and generally exploring the countryside at the controls of a questionably maintained motorbike…
Patong Beach would probably have to go down as my least favourite place in the world, though I was only there for less than 24 hours and I don’t think the torrential downpour we landed in abated until the ferry out of the place departed – at which point the sun emerged and my spirits lifted, until I found myself strolling down a lovely beach with white sand being gradually obscured by sundry thongs and discarded buckets
Yes, it is overseas bogans who would drive around in such a van but it’s embaressing that tourists come here and this is what is available for them to hire- tacky vans with huge racial slurs on the back.
it’s their choice to hire that tacky van as there are literally thousands of other vans to hire in Australia that dont have ‘harpoon a Jap’ written on them – its not like they don’t have a choice in the matter.
I find a wicked camper with ‘harpoon a Jap’ far less embarrassing than utes with ‘fuck off we’re full’ written across the back windscreen.
If you think those tacky vans are of poor quality here, wait untill you see them in NZ, there are millions of them and I personally can’t see how two people could live out of them comfortably for a couple of weeks.
All adorned with Bob Marley motifs, dope leaves, bad graffiti, topless women amd even one with a “69” theme aswell as a few with NZ’s red southern cross.
They all seemed to be driven by what you could collectively call hippies.
Incitement to violence – that’s always funny! I confess I saw one yesterday but didn’t bother to look at what stale invitation to outrage or tittilation was on offer. I did also follow some chick in a ‘dore with a FOWF sticker, which was amusing only for her destination, and small whiter than white town in decline which has two doctors. One is 82, the other Nigerian. FUCK OFF I’M IN MEDICAL SCHOOL: a sticket I wait to see
When I was staying at a hostel in Japan in 2008, you could hear the ‘aussie backpackers’ a mile away, complaining about how expensive everything was compared to Thailand etc. They seemed to be unaware that while they were still in Asia, they were in a country of the same living standard as their own, not another poor tourist-trap… (and this was when the dollar was fantastic against the yen, so it WAS a bargain compared to Australian prices for everything)
when i’m overseas i generally ramp up the woggy accent to avoid being lumped with aussie bogans. people give Yanks grief for being bad tourists, but Aussies and Poms are scary. Rude, loud, drunk and invariably violent – sadly the norm here now, but in most Asian cities it’s unheard of and incredibly disrespectful. pity these countries rely on the tourist dollar, I’m sure they’d love to ban these freaks for life.
btw, great to see the all time classic annual christmas “outrage” story in herald-Sun, the ol’ “poor bogan family had all their xmas presents stolen by heartless thieves” tale, needless to say they’ll be in tomorrow’s paper riding new bikes, playing PS3 etc. Wonder why i bother paying home insurance.
On a Xmas theme, surely we must have a post about bogans lighting up the exterior of their house with all sorts of Xmas crap. You know those houses that burn so brightly in the night their neighbours probably can’t sleep. Santas, reindeers, elves, flashing lights, tinsel, stars, fake snow, angels.
We’ll try, but no promises. Tomorrow’s one is a Christmassy one, and it’s not finished yet. But it’s good. TBL
To say nothing of the additional heat making your AC work that extra little bit harder.
That’s right Indi, and all the while complaining about the rising price of electricity.
Here’s an even better one:
Survivors of the Black Saturday Bushfires have their rebuilt shop broken into and their cash stolen. Icing on the cake: also stolen was a $900 donation tin for the local CFA.
http://news.ninemsn.com.au/national/987119/black-saturday-couple-hit-by-burglary
(Although how they knew there was $900 in what I thought was a sealed tin raises my eyebrows.)
Compassion, dear Nagob the Anti-Bogan. BTW it doesn’t say anything about it being a sealed tin – it’s fairly evident these people would have been raising donations on their own, to channel directly back into their community’s volunteer fire brigade.
There was a multi-band gig held at a local city hotel to raise funds for the bushfire appeal. It was terrible. My friend called it ‘the Centrelink version of the Big Day Out’.
Another one of the Herald Scum’s brilliant annual ‘hard-luck’ stories. Looking forward to the annual Christmas morning front page photo of sick kids from the Children’s Hospital in Santa Hats. Not that this isn’t sad or heartfelt, just rather cliche.
Too bad, Thailand was nice. But it’s gone now so lets not pine for lost worlds. Malaysia is an underrated country for tourism so maybe go there to avoid bogans?
The bogan on the international trek knows no bounds…well almost. With Airasia practically giving away their tickets to fly directly to Kuala Lumpur then there should no shortage of bogans passing through Malaysia . Though, when I was there for a few days during the middle of this year, there was a noticeable lack of Australians and backpackers in general.
Cambodia and Laos, you can easily come across equally or even WORSE behaviour than Thailand. Tubing down the river in Vang Vieng, it’s like the a playground for adults wanting to blast their senses into oblivion. Float down a river circuit on a tube, get pulled into river-side bars, drink yourself to death, and if your stupid enough: take up the offer to smoke opium or down a magic-mushroom shake, then rinse and repeat. Hopefully by the end you won’t have drowned in the river or cut yourself on an abandoned can of Beerlao as you slip on the muddy banks. Forget the full-moon party, TUBING has potential to become the new ultimate bogan paradise! Though, I don’t think Laos has quite fully entered into the collective bogan conscious yet, that is until word spreads of how much cheaper than it is than Thailand.
Getting back to the cheap Air Asia tickets, I would imagine that Abu Dhabi and London will suffer a similar fate to Asian tourist hotspots. Two friends of mine earlier this year were in London and had a romantic moment spoiled by nearby bogans having a domestic. Imagine “Fuck off!” chirped in the typical crass bogan manner to rudely interrupt a perfect moment during the few weeks of the year you get a chance to travel to the other side of the world to GET AWAY from such people.
That’s the caveat of going to places that are either popular and/or cheap visit. A “normal” person will always have to put up with cashed up bogans if they want to travel on a budget. It’s either that or go to a place like Bhutan which no bogan has ever successfully located on a map without guidance (not that they would want to pay the $250 per day tourist tax to go there anyways).
Why would someone go to London in an attempt to avoid Australians?
I went to Thailand in 1990 and it was a stunning paradise. I was poked and prodded due to my blonde hair and we were deemed exotic. People were so friendly and willing to do anything for you. I went again en route back to Edinburgh from Australia and all I got was false politeness and a lot of sighing if I requested something. They are so over tourists!
But whinging about costs is what bogans do best. Met so many Australians travelling through Europe complaining about the cost compared to Croatia, which is probably becoming the Thailand of Europe.
Yep Croatia has been ruined, my mother went there 15 years ago whilst travelling europe and said it was one of the most beautiful places she had been to and her favourite european place to visit.
Last year she and my stepfather stopped in on their way back from greece and described it as just that, Thailand of Europe.
NZ has been ruined by the bogan, and bogans of all nationalities.
I went to Ashburton for a friend engagement party which is unheard of to the bogan and a real nice regional area of the Sth Island. A friend and I then went to Queenstown for a couple of days as it is probably my favourite town over there but it is a bogans paradise regardless of the time of year. If ever you are over there take in a bit of bogan coulture and go to the “World bar”. It’s an eye opener.
An Australian Bogan with pounds in his pocket becomes even more obnoxious as he feels he is truly cashed up.
And one thing Malaysia has going for it is that as a generally well-developed and well organised country with a majority Islamic culture it’s unlikely to allow the kind of exploitation of it’s country and women that bogans are attracted to.
that’s so disappointing to hear Lee, i was born in Croatia but haven’t been back since 1984, it was beautiful then ….was thinking of going back in a year or so…..
I’m sure it still is nice Gordie, with some inside knowledge though I’d reckon you will have the upper hand of going to the better places that are out of reach of this scourge on society.
I don’t know where in KL you were, but the last few times I’ve been there Aussies were everywhere (all the more shocking to hear and see bogans after being sheltered due to living overseas, I tell you). Not as bad as the ones in Thailand (walked past two bogan mates batering with a prostitute, trying to get a discount for the two of them), but still the bogans love the cheap knockoff DVDs and the fact that Maccas and KFC is just around the corner on Bukit Bintang. Wonder if they realise it’s a Muslim country, though…
Let’s hope a few bogans do find their way to Malaysia and when they start their anti-social behaviour, end up learning about Malaysian laws and the justice system the hard way! Ha ha!!
Man, i fucking love your blog.
isn’t bartering the exchange of goods without cash? why do they always substitute bartering for bargaining or haggling?
croatia is NOT the thailand of europe. id give that title to greece, personally. you just need to know where to go. everyone just goes to dubrovnik, and while it is beautiful, it’s not exactly “real” croatia anymore.
Danny Katz could have taken his latest column straight from TBL…and swapped Thailand with Bali.
Worth a read for a quick laugh…though we’ve pretty much said it already here!
http://www.theage.com.au/opinion/society-and-culture/no-place-like-home-except-bali-20100414-se7a.html
To avoid Bogans Completely May I Suggest Singapore,Hong Kong and China or Japan.I did not all that long ago a week in Singapore and the place was really nice clean and safe
Bogans=other people. Self=superior to bogans. That’s how it works here, right?
For starters: if you don’t like the idea of some exotic paradise being ruined by bogans, don’t farking go there yourselves, right? And if you disobey this rejoinder, at least have the grace not to boast about the place you have found and are just about to contribute to the spoiling of.
I think you’ll that is a photo of chavs, from whom the modern-day bogan descends. They’re UK-based and while their natural habitat is the Canary islands, some have been known to migrate south as far as Thailand and Bondi. They share nearly everything in common with the bogan, but the clear points of difference, as evidenced above, are a pink complexion and a brush-forward haircut.
I love this!!! Finally found someone that agrees with my views on the bogans (I am sure there are other ‘bogans’ and ‘rednecks’ from other countries and other continents, but seriously, the Australian Bogans are the worst, simply because they do think they are superior than any other race that are not deemed ‘white’ (ie. Spanish, Portugese, Italians, Southern French). Being ignorant is fine, but being ignorant while looking down others, are not.
I absolutely cannot stand Aussie bogans who think that they are the best and well-travelled just because they’ve been to Bali or Thailand.
Maybe Sarah Palin should migrate to Australia…
Oh my goodness…my family owns a restaurant in Boronia (Melbourne’s bogan hotspot) selling Singaporean food and bogans come in asking for pad thai and thai green curry chicken, and all their travel stories/experiences never venture beyond Thailand and Bali. The young Bogues go there to get pissed drunk and hopefully fuck a ladyboy for bragging rights while the old washed up bogan goes there to be treated like the fat disgusting white trash king that he is…with cheap hookers lining up to sleep with the bastard for some good old Aussie moolah.
Some even let their ‘love affair’ with the country go too far and bring back a Thai maiden young enough to be their grand daughter, proceed to knock her up straight away and end up with a bunch of screaming half Thai, half bogan sprogs which technically, should be considered his ‘great-grand children’ judging by the age disparity
reminds me of a benny hill sketch featuring an Indian ordering Curry,Chapati and Poppadams in a Chinese Restaurant
i travelled in my youth through se asia and the imagery of boganism in the region put me off it to be honest. i ended up later living in bangkok for a year and realied you can be part of the culture and the amazing city without being put off by bogans. just embrace it all rather than block it and it becomes a beautiful place.
Another very typical bogan holiday is of course the P&O cruise, kind of like a contiki tour on the ocean. P&O cruise ships are like floating RSL clubs where bogans, young and old, can drink, gamble, vomit over the side, vomit in the pool and wake up (or not wake up in some cases: http://www.cruisebruise.com/Dianne_Brimble.html ) half naked in someone else’s cabin.
Of course stumbling ashore on one of our neighbouring Pacific island countries and haggling over the price of useless shit, drinking more alcohol, and giving the locals the impression that all Australians are boorish morons is also part of the experience.
agreed and that is why I have chosen a Do It Yourself Week in Singapore this year.I am going in two weeks from now.Granted I won’t be getting any parties or theme nights or women by the bucket load but with all the extras including some sightseeing,return airport/hotel transfers,insurance and a weeks accommodation It actually as a Single works out cheaper
Southern Bali is more Bogan than Thailand. How many Bogans go to Java? None! Java has some of the wonders of the world.That is why I love Java, no Bogans and plenty of real culture.Bali is next door to Java.
By that measure Thailand’s many rich antiquities are not shabby but rarely are they visited by the Bogan who goes to Phuket and never moves from the beach.
Where is Bali in the list that’s what I would like to know?
The best way to do Thailand is some form of a group tour starting and ending in Bangkok but stick to the northern parts not visited by the bogans and for the18 to 35’s out there try and do it as one of those open aged tours such as Peregrine or Geckos.Never on a Contiki I out of curiosity have checked out their Thai Tours but none suit me and I am practically at cut off age point almost.
What sickens me is that why do people go to these Dumps when nice Bogan free safe places like Vanuatu,Fiji and New Caledonia Exist for not that much more.Very much overlooked and highly recommended.Having a Family Friend whose Son lost their kidneys and died on the way back to Australia is not pleasant.
Bogans/Chavs are the reason I’m glad that my grandparents forced me to learn and speak Spanish until I was 17. During a couple of years living in continental Europe it came back to me and I’ve kept it up since. It’s similar enough to French and Italian that the basics come very easily too. Whenever I’m overseas and end up around abnoxious Aussies/Americans/Brits I just switch languages and all is well.
It’s also handy being able to pretend you can’t speak English around the hawkers in South East Asia and Northern Africa :D
*obnoxious