What's with the name change?

The one thing that I've noticed while I've been travelling in Thailand is the sheer number of people I meet who've changed their names. It's quite strange and slightly bizarre. Why do people feel the need to change their names? Is it because they want to shed their old identify? Do they arrive in Thailand or get half way through their travels and decide their name no longer suits them?

Admittedly travelling can do strange things to people. I can see how some people can arrive in a place like Thailand, 'find themselves' and feel their old life in the UK, USA etc doesn't suit them anymore. They don't want to go back to it and therefore feel changing their name signifies a new beginning, chapter, whatever they'd like to call it, in their lives.

Whatever the reasons I have to say I do find it amusing. Mainly because of the names they decide to choose. For example, to date I've met a Pau (formally Carlos), Star (formally Carla), Chard (formally Richard), Fu (formally Andrew) and last but by no means least, Mhowi (he refused to tell me his 'real' name!).

It's even more interesting to see how people react when you ask them why they changed their name. Some for example freely admit they just didn't think their name suited them or their new image. In this case Pau and Star both said they began travelling, discovered new sides to themselves, started a new profession while travelling so didn't feel their birth names reflected who they really where anymore.

Chard was hilarious. A friend of mine met him in a bar in Pai. She noticed him propping up the bar with Fu mainly because both of them had painted the little finger nail on their left hand blue. Bright blue. Why? Apparently it signifies they are part of a 'special' group of 50 or so friends who meet regularly on Koh Phagnan. Those in the 'know' recognise the bright blue finger nail and they get special treatment. The nature of the 'special' treatment wasn't divulged.

It turns out Chard decided to call himself Chard because a Thai man couldn't quite get the hang of Richard. So Chard (a 60 year-old, white hair, mullet style, left ear pierced with his own boat, who's been travelling for 10 years) liked his new name so much he decided to stick with it.

Mhowi plays the didgery doo and comes from Wimbledon. He wouldn't tell me why he'd changed his name. Tried to make out it's his birth name (that was the subtext). I very much doubt his mother introduced him to the Wimbledon set as 'Mhowi' as she pushed his buggy around Wimbledon Common. I could be wrong of course but...I very much doubt it!