Thai culture shock

Thailand is a bit more extreme of a culture shock than I remember. I expected to get some stares when skateboarding down the street here, since they essentially do not skateboard in this country. However, even when I walk around a mall or get dinner... people stare at me like they have seen a ghost. Its like I am a celebrity. When they walk past me, they turn around and stare at me. When they think I am not looking, they smack their friends and tell them to look over in my direction. I imagine that this is what it must feel like to be Jackie Chan and walk around Hong Kong. I wish that I could get away with simply wearing a fast mask so that I Could enjoy the culture without effecting that everyone that sees me... to see them in their natural state. Unfortunately, it just doesn't work like that when you are in a nation with this much sun and you are as white as me.

I guess I am experiencing culture shock. The strange thing is, I am no the one being shocked, it is the culture that I am visiting.