The Mexico of Asia

I was talking with a college friend yesterday and he said something that was very true:

"The reason you like Thailand so much is because it's the Mexico of Asia"

...and he was totally right. Thailand is the Mexico of Asia, and that's why I feel a certain affinity with the place. My guess is that anybody from the American southwest who visits Thailand will probably feel immediately comfortable there as well. The attitude and lifestyle are similar, it's cheap and delicious, and you the street culture and market culture are the same. Makes me feel like I'm down in Mexico again in a psychadelic version of the markets of Morales or Oaxaca. But mostly it's just the disposition of its people, with a laid back style that contrasts with the rigid atmosphere in Japan.

So what's Japan? The Canada of Asia? I think so...