Rai may refer to:

• Rai, Orne, a commune of the Orne département, in France
• Rai (area), a traditional Thai unit of area, equalling 1,600 m²
• Rai stones, a kind of stone money used in Yap (Caroline Islands)
• Rai (ethnic group), an ethnolinguistic group of Nepal
• Rai language - see Dhanwar language
• Rai (Indian), a title in India, with various related meanings and compound forms
• Rai University, a university in India.
• Aishwarya Rai, an Indian Bollywood actress
• Kayyara Kinyanna Rai, a Kannada writer and activist in India
• Rai (comics), a fictional character from Valiant Comics.
• Rai (book), a book by Kensaku Shimaki
• Rai (Punjabi surname), a surname found in Punjab.
• Rai Bakuoh, one of the characters from the fighting game Waku Waku 7
• Rai, the word for paradise in Slavic languages
• Rai, a transcription of the word for thunder in Japanese.
• Rai, a surname of Tulu speaking Shetty or Bunt community of Mangalore.
• Rai, a common surname of Brahmins and Bhumihar Brahmins in the Purvanchal region of Eastern Uttar Pradesh and western Bihar.
• Rai is also a popular name for Western Christians.
• Bob Rai is also a Politican Candidate in Quebec Canada.
• Rai is also common with Mexicans

The acronym RAI refers to:

• RAI, Radioactive Iodine treatment, used to treat thyroid problems
• RAI, Radiotelevisione Italiana, Italian public broadasting
• RAI, Riches Apples, Inc. , a US based technology consulting firm

Similar terms:

• Raï, a form of folk music, originated in Oran, Algeria, from Bedouin shepherds
• Raí, Brazilian football (soccer) player
• Ray, Iran
• Raidiese F. Branstein, a fictional character from Super Robot Taisen

Rai Bhim

A BUS company in West Wales has signed up a platoon of former British Army Gurkhas after finding it impossible to recruit enough drivers at home.

Executives from the company, 2Travel, flew to Kathmandu in the shadow of the Himalayas and have now taken on 21 of the highly regarded Nepalese soldiers.

The former Gurkhas — who have seen active service in Kosovo, Iraq and Afghanistan — are now operating single-deck buses on country lanes in rural West Wales.

2Travel was struggling to find enough British drivers for its 108 buses until staff came up with the idea of recruiting ex-servicemen. An army contact in Aldershot put them in touch with Bhim Rai, a Gurkha who was coming to the end of his 20 years’ service.

Bev Fowles, the managing director of 2Travel, said: “Bhim was perfect for us — he could drive a bus, he spoke perfect English and he wanted to stay in Britain after leaving the Army.” Mr Rai was taken on and then helped his new bosses to recruit another 20 ex-Gurkhas, who jumped at the chance of driving buses in deepest Wales.

Two company executives flew to Nepal to help to cut through red tape so that the drivers could come to Britain on five-year work permits. Within weeks they were billeted in rented accommodation in Llanelli, Carmarthenshire.

Mr Fowles said: “Some of them already had public service vehicle licences and we are training those who haven’t. It’s also very handy that they drive on the left in Nepal so they didn’t have to make that adjustment.

“But the biggest bonus for us is that they are ex-British Army and therefore hard-working and loyal and have excellent driving skills.”

The Gurkhas, whose motto is “Better to die than be a coward”, are used to dodging elephants and even tigers in their homeland. The biggest hazard facing the drivers on their new bus routes are sheep and rabbits.

Mr Fowles said: “Local people have really taken to the Gurkha drivers — they are highly respected because of their service to the British Army. They all speak good English and they are very pleasant people.”

Mr Rai, 39, has been appointed traffic manager at the company’s Llanelli depot. His family have moved over and his two children, Jason, 14, and Rebecca, 10, are settling in well at local schools.

Mr Rai won UN medals for his service in Cyprus and Kosovo, a Gulf War medal and a long-service good conduct medal for 20 years’ service with the Gurkhas.

He said: “I am really happy in Wales. Everyone has been very friendly and it’s not really that different to Nepal. I’d just come to the end of my time in the Army and had spent some of my service in Wales. I heard about the chance of bus driving and it suited me perfectly. I knew a lot of my countrymen back in Nepal would love the job too.

“Most of them have HGV licences so getting a licence to drive buses was no problem. They have settled in quite well and some of them can even speak a bit of Welsh.”

Mr Rai is responsible for training his Gurkha comrades and for their welfare in the former steel town. He said: “I am going back to Nepal next month to recruit some more drivers for the firm.”

Krishna Rai, 37, has left his wife and children in Nepal to become a bus driver in Britain.

He said: “Hopefully they will be able to come to live here in Wales. The work is not as demanding as being in the Army. Wales is not nearly as tough as being in Bosnia.”

The company is helping to integrate its new recruits by taking them to rugby matches.

Kathmandu

Tourism has been hit by an ongoing Maoist rebellion that has left thousands of people dead in the past eight years Llanelli

Formerly prominent in heavy industry: steel, coal, tinplate works and a power station; current heavy industry: