Wednesday 1st July 2009

The cult of Harry Potter completely passed me by but I came across the commencement speech that JK Rowling delivered to Harvard graduates last year: The Fringe Benefits of Failure, and the Importance of Imagination.

She comes across as someone who has really lived - and understands - life. It's a good read.

Top 10 (and bottom 10) lists are popular blog items so I have been giving some thought to my own lists regarding Thailand. These things will probably change over time and the lists below are in no particular order.

My Top 10 first:

1. Doctors and dentists. I've had dental work done in Thailand and my teeth have never been in better shape. Healthcare is something the country can be really proud of. Not only are there 5* facilities for international health tourists, but even the poorest Thais seem to have access to pretty good healthcare.

   At my local public hospital where all the poor people go there are even lodgings at a temple nearby where relatives of those people in hospital can stay overnight for Bt5 a night.

   The UK's NHS has been going down the drain for a long time, and care in the US is ridiculously expensive if you don't have insurance. Thai doctors have saved the lives of Americans who needed urgent surgery but who couldn't afford to have it done in the US.

   Thai healthcare workers really do seem to be in the profession because they want to help people; and not just to earn money. An important factor regarding quality of life is the healthcare that we have available to us and Thailand's healthcare system is hard to beat.

2. Food. Not fancy Bangkok restaurants; and not the kind of fancy, Westernised Thai food you get in Thai restaurants abroad. I'm talking about freshly made chicken with holy basil served on rice with a fried egg plonked on the top and sold for Bt30.

   I used to crave Western food in Thailand but now I crave putt guh-prao-gai kai-daaw. If I were to leave Thailand I would get serious withdrawal symptoms without having this kind of food available. Not only is it delicious; it's healthy, it's available absolutely everywhere, and it is sold so cheaply that they might as well give it away.

3. Thai girls. Any foreign man who says he didn't know what Thailand was like before he arrived - and that he only decided to stay because of the food and culture - is a liar, and someone who is not to be trusted.

   I'm not referring to the bar girls at the beach resorts who are for those pitiful men who can't get women any other way. The women of Thailand are not only beautiful, but combined with all the gentleness of Thai culture they are unbeatable.

   They can also be deadly but the process of finding out about them makes living in Thailand very enjoyable for a foreign male.

4. Non-confrontation. In England everyone wants to fight. If you look at someone the wrong way, or do anything that someone doesn't like, they either want a slanging match or a physical altercation. I once had a guy start shouting at me on the London Underground because I glanced at the newspaper he was reading.

   This simply doesn't exist in Thailand (unless you live somewhere that has loads of farangs where there are still undesirable elements of Western culture). It makes for a very peaceful and harmonious atmosphere.

5. Diversity. What I mean by this is that Thailand can be as Third World as you wish, but you can also get the best of the First World. You can experience authentic Thailand in a way that probably hasn't changed for years but the country also offers all the infrastructure and facilities of a developed country.
6. Cheap prices. By Western standards I do not have a big income but my income goes a long way in Thailand. With the money I have available to me I couldn't live in most Western countries (and even such places as big cities in India).

   In my old life, one of the biggest problems was work/life balance. Everything was so expensive that I had no life because I had to work all the time. In Thailand life is a lot more balanced.

7. Buddhism. Never talk about politics or religion as you are bound to offend someone - so the old saying goes. Suffice to say, I have found many answers in Buddhism. I regard it is a philosophy and a way of understanding the human condition rather than a religion.

   I plan to talk a little more about Buddhist thinking in future blog entries. I am currently re-reading a book about the subject written by the late Buddhadasa Bhikkhu and there is just so much good advice.

8. Kindness. There are a few bad eggs but most Thais are very kind. Moral goodness is a very important aspect of Thai culture and this is reinforced with the Buddhist law of karma. tum dee, dai dee; tum chua, dai chua (a very well-known Thai proverb) means 'Do good, get good; do evil, get evil'.

   Even those who are genuinely forced to beg will find that they will be given enough to eat;, and I myself have been on the receiving end of many acts of kindness.

9. Tolerance. This, again, stems from Buddhism. Of the world's great religions/philosophies, Buddhism is the most tolerant of other religions and philosophies. Thailand has always attracted missionaries who come here to convert Thais to their religion but it doesn't happen the other way round.

   Buddhists have complete respect for followers of other religions and have always been very accommodating with regard to people of other religions living in Thailand, and also to foreign missionaries who come to Thailand to try to convert people.

   This tolerance extends throughout society and I think it is the reason why you see so many ladyboys in Thailand. Many foreigners who have some kind of gender identity problem are attracted to Thailand because of the tolerance that is shown towards them.

   But it goes beyond religion and gender confusion. Thais are tolerant of almost everything and, along with their other cultural beliefs, it makes for a very harmonious society.

   The political demonstrations we saw in Thailand earlier this year were quite disturbing because it was unusual behaviour for Thais. Unfortunately, because of the hierarchical nature of Thai society, Thais can also be easily led by people who have power and/or money.

10. Sense of humour. There is nothing more Thais like to do than joke, laugh and smile. Unsmiling, humourless people are quite scary. At first it can appear that there is quite a wide sense of humour gap between Thais and foreigners but it is quite similar in many respects.

    A good sign that you have been accepted is when Thais let down their barrier and start to joke with you. I joke all the time with them and often it's best when they don't realise I am joking. My juvenile sense of humour gives me endless hours of fun in Thailand.

1. General lawlessness and lack of responsibility for other people's safety.

   Buddhism teaches that we are all responsible for our own actions. This is good in many ways but we all need to be responsible for our actions with regard to other people's safety.

   All too often, I see examples of people creating hazards for others, and no one ever does anything about this. Many Thais do as they wish with little regard for laws, or for other people.

   Driving is the obvious example but there are others, such as food hygiene and the way people will just take over pavement space to set up a food stall or something. A classic example was the New Year nightclub fire in Bangkok that killed over 60 people.

   The club was located in an area where night clubs are banned so the owners blatantly flouted the law and regulations by running it. In their greed for money they completely ignored any regulations relating to safety. And look what happened.

2. Mai bpen rai goes a little too far. The Thai attitude of 'never mind' to absolutely everything has created a culture of laziness, apathy and complacency.

   In my old job in the UK, one of the things that got me down was the ever-increasing pressure on employees to do more and more and more. Thailand provides a nice antidote to that crazy work ethic but it also leads to a lot of people under-achieving in life.

3. Sabaay and sanook goes a little too far. Life is to be enjoyed - and the Thais are very good at that - but there are times when we just need to work hard or study. However, try explaining that to a classroom full of Thai high school students.
4. Stray cats and dogs. It breaks my heart every time I am walking along and hear an abandoned, newborn kitten crying for someone to take care of it. My first instinct is to take it home and care for it but I can't do this for every animal in Thailand.

   On the occasions I have attempted to rescue abandoned kittens and give them sanctuary at a local temple but it hasn't worked.

   Buddhist Thais (with their belief that taking any form of life is a sin) don't believe in any form of sterilisation programme but the way in which animals are allowed to breed freely causes a lot of them to suffer. Thailand can be a difficult place for animal lovers.

5. Face. This is the aspect of cultural behaviour that I've talked about recently.
6. Image and presentation over substance. Thais will spend an inordinate amount of time and effort giving the appearance something is good instead of simply putting that time and effort into fixing the original problem.

   Many things are very superficial. Things may look great on the outside but when you start digging, you find that the reality of the situation is very different.

7. Scammers and con-artists. In much the same way, some people will put enormous effort into scamming others instead of putting that effort into honest work. Thais themselves don't tend to get caught but a lot of foreign tourists do.

   For that reason, Thai con-artists mainly operate in areas where there are lots of foreign tourists. It's bad for tourists and it's bad for Thailand's tourist industry. Those most vulnerable are tourists who don't speak any Thai, but if you only visit for a short vacation then you can't be expected to learn much Thai.

   Scammers, in my book, are one of the lowest forms of life. I encounter them if I visit tourist areas, as does every other farang, but those encounters are a little different these days. They don't expect (or like) farangs questioning them in Thai and giving them a hard time.

8. Elitism. Thailand's strictly hierarchical social system is both good and bad. Society tends to police itself because of the respect people have for those higher up the ladder, but some people higher up the chain can be really arrogant.

   Thai society places far too much emphasis on paper qualifications and other worthless symbols of status. The Thai language is peppered with terms of address that reinforce this strict hierarchy. Address someone using the wrong pronoun or title and they can get quite offended.

   Most foreigners are an unknown quantity and Thais don't know how to place them in their hierarchy. However, once you start getting integrated into Thai society and Thais start to find out more about you, this can happen.

   Once you have been labelled, you will start getting respect from people 'below' you, but you will be expected to kowtow to people 'above' you. This kind of thing dates back to the feudal system that supposedly disappeared some years ago.

9. Farangs who are attracted to Thailand for all the wrong reasons. I don't think I need to expand on this. The good thing is that they tend to be drawn to certain places in Thailand. These places are well-known and easy to avoid.
10. Language problems. If I had moved to France or Germany six years ago, I'm sure that natives would understand me talking their language by now. In Thailand I still get those blank looks at times as if I am talking Martian.

    What is frustrating is that quite a few people understand me perfectly well. The problems mainly arise with lesser-educated Thais. Their problem is that they convince themselves they won't be able to understand me even before I open my mouth.

    There are times when my frustration reaches boiling point because of this ignorant behaviour. My Thai isn't great - and I will be the first to admit that - but it isn't as incomprehensible as some Thais make it out to be.

In terms of purely numbers, there are more things I dislike in Thailand than I like (but that would be the case anywhere). Overall, the pros far outweigh the cons.

I considered 'weather' but didn't know if this was a good or bad thing. It is easier living in a hot climate rather than a cold one, but for most of the year the temperature is just a little too high.

Teaching in Thailand has been good to me so it's only fair that I try to give something back to the TEFL community.

Thai students aren't keen on studying in the traditional manner because they find it incredibly boring. Instead of simply teaching, foreign teachers in Thailand spend an enormous amount of time trying to turn learning topics into games.

One activity my students enjoy is listening to English songs. In order to inject an element of learning into this, I give them lyric sheets with missing words which they then have to complete.

I don't mind doing this but finding appropriate songs is very difficult. Songs that are popular often have meaningless lyrics, and those songs that have meaningful lyrics are often boring.

I had another request from one class to listen to some songs and wracked my brain trying to think of something suitable. In a flash of inspiration I suddenly remembered a song from my youth.

"Jilted John" by Jilted John was made for foreign students learning English. To start with, the title (and the artist) both use a useful adjective that my students probably don't know.

The first line gives an example of a contraction, use of the present perfect continuous tense, and a useful phrasal verb (going out) which has an idiomatic meaning:

"I've been going out with a girl, her name is Julie"

The next line gives examples of simple past, simple past continuous, and a piece of slang that is rarely heard in Thailand:

"But last night she said to me, when we were watching telly"

As we continue with this sad account of unrequited love and rejection, there are more examples of contemporary and idiomatic English that are very useful to foreign students:

"She said listen John, I love you
But there's this bloke, I fancy
I don't want to two time you, so it's the end for you and me."

"Who's this bloke I asked her
Goooooordon, she replied
Not that puff, I said dismayed
Yes but he's no puff she cried."

"(He's more of a man than you'll ever be)"

Here we go, two three four

Not only do we have examples of language, but we get a glimpse into the cultural complexities of life in the UK as John tries to console himself with saveloy and chips, and a pickled wally.

"I was so upset that I cried, all the way to the chip shop."

The song is rich grammatically. Past simple and past simple continuous are covered next:

"When I came out there was Gordon, standing at the bus stop"

"(And guess who was with him? Yeah, Julie, and they were both laughing at me)"

In the next verse the lyricist has obviously made an attempt to cover adjectives:

"Oh, she is cruel and heartless
to pack me for Gordon
Just cos he's better looking than me
Just cos he's cool and trendy"

And now the use of a noun to describe someone. The chorus could also be used as an introduction to current British politics.

"But I know he's a moron, Gordon is a moron
Gordon is a moron, Gordon is a moron"

"Here we go, two three four"

Some more useful adjectives, and a reprise that pretty much sums up life for many of us - "It's not fair."

"Oh she's a slag and he's a creep
She's a tart, he's very cheap
She is a slut, he thinks he's tough
She is a bitch, he is a puff
Yeah yeah, it's not fair
Yeah yeah, it's not fair"

"(I'm so upset)"

"I'm so upset, I'm so upset, yeah yeah"

The writer of the song obviously realised that his artistic work would be used later on to teach foreign students of English, and therefore he even covers modal verbs.

"(I ought to smash his face in.)"

... and comparatives:

"(Yeah, but he's bigger than me. In't he?)

Some more slang and the use of would (contracted) as a conditional auxiliary:

"(I know, I'll get my mate Barry to hit him. He'd flatten him)"

There are even question tags. John was probably an English teacher before Julie left him.

"(Yeah but Barry's a mate of Gordon's in'e?)"

"(Oh well, I don't care)"

"I don't care
I don't care
Cause she's a slag and he's a creep
She's a tart, he's very cheap
She is a slut, he thinks he's tough......

Who would have thought that a song about a sad love story released during the punk era would go on to be a TEFL masterpiece?

RSS Feeds

Blog Archives

Blog Links