Thailand is in America, right?

I went to buy sugar and flour at the market the other day, and had an interesting conversation with the shop owner.  He asked me where Thailand was, and I told him Asia.  No, I thought it was in America. Well, take a look at their script on the bag... But Viet Nam, that's in America, right? Um... I wasn't sure how much geography to get into, but I thought it was an interesting mistake.  He made another observation before I was able to get away:  But they are both much more developed than Congo, right? Hmm... not sure about that, but I didn't think so.  The thing is, these countries export there rice and sugar to Congo, and everyone here buys it over the local stuff. I think it is even cheaper than the local stuff (when you can get it), though its been shipped and trucked across an entire hemisphere to get here.  So they must be developed nations.  When I told him I wasn't sure, he asked when they could export all that food then, when people here can't/don't produce as much.  I'm sure that someone from the World Bank would have something to say, right or wrong, about this.  I just said that it was a good question, and that it was one for the Congolese, not me, to answer.  Anyway, maybe it's a question of relative poverty; I seem to recall DRC on a "bottom 10" list somewhere recently, in terms of GDP, or some such.  Then again, the guy we bought our car from (who now has a newer, bigger one) has a bustling business in fuel, gold, diamonds, cigarettes, and now cell phone service.  Not quite the "sin tax" guy, but close.  I don't think he sells alcohol.  But he seems to be doing OK.  So maybe the "buy foreign" campaign was too successful.  Or maybe there is a self image issue, where Chinese goods are cheap and don't last (their words, and a common opinion of the goods sold here), but they're better than the ones we make.  Sounds like we've all got our work cut out.