|
| ||||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Photo: The most successful foreigners in Thailand (and the ones who have most fun) are those that understand the culture and speak the language fluently. To do this though requires an enormous amount of effort and many years of hard study. Todd Lavelle, pictured here singing with Chiang Mai songstress Lanna Cummins, is a great example and a personal role model. What's On This Page?
|
Thailand - Culture Page 5
I actually feel quite sorry for the Thais. Thailand must be such an easy market for so many manufacturers who prey on psychological weaknesses. Thais are bombarded with advertising enough as it is and in 2005 the advertising industry was set to grow by another 19%. People borrow from companies such as Aeon but the existing credit card market is quite small with the potential for huge growth. The major credit card companies must be rubbing their hands together and already, pre-approved credit card accounts are arriving in the mail boxes of many Thais. The message to borrow is also coming from their own government who believe that increasing domestic spending will fuel the economy. It is hardly surprising then that many Thais are doing what everyone wants them to do and are borrowing money. That's where the problems start though. Already there have been suicides reported because people have got themselves trapped in debt. It causes stress to thousands of people and many of the things they buy aren't really necessary. Some Thais have a bit of a problem with the concept of borrowing, as I have found out to my own detriment. They don't quite understand that the money isn't a gift, it has to be paid back. What's more, they will pay back quite a bit more than they borrowed if they borrow from credit companies. The Thai way is to think only of the present, as Buddhism recommends. This is a very good idea most of the time. We only ever experience existence in the present so spoiling the current moment by dwelling about things that happened in the past or things in the future that have yet to come (or may not come at all) is pointless. However, there are certain situations where it is necessary to consider the future ... just a little. When borrowing money it is necessary to think about how you are going to make the future repayments. I worry about Thais and it also angers me that they are being exploited so much. The misery, suffering, stress and suicides aren't part of the equation though. All that matters these days is making money and when other markets are saturated new ones need to be opened up, such as Thailand and the rest of the developing world.
I thought at first that a lot of Thais must have been through tertiary education and I was quite impressed. Wow, this country is investing a lot in education and is turning out a lot of high-calibre graduates each year. It wasn't until later that the reality started to dawn on me. Both my girlfriend and another girl I know have attended hairdressing school. The girlfriend isn't stupid but she is hardly a Nobel laureate and the other girl isn't the sharpest knife in the box. My girlfriend attended school when she felt like it and what she had to learn didn't exactly stretch her academically. In the UK such girls would normally be called Tracy or Sharon and would be very good at asking people, "Is the water OK?" or "Where are you going for your holiday this year?"
I am no longer taken in with all the fancy photos I see in Thailand of people in robes and important looking uniforms. It actually means nothing. Remember, this is the land of image and appearance, not substance. What you see never reflects the truth. University students hardly push themselves either but apparently it doesn't take an awful lot of effort to graduate from a Thai university. That way the government figures look good for the amount of graduates being churned out each year. It's hardly surprising that many Thai students who win scholarships abroad find it incredibly tough studying in another country.
One of the major problems in the West these days is 'rage' incidents. The phenomena has always been around but a few years ago the term 'road rage' was coined for people driving cars who have a rage attack and act against someone else. People have actually been murdered because of 'road rage'. After 'road rage' there started to be incidents of 'air rage', 'shopping trolley rage', etc. This doesn't happen in Thailand because of the culture. I have seen some horrible driving incidents but nobody gets upset. (To be honest I'm not sure if this is just because Thais don't know what is right and what is wrong when they are driving). If someone pushes into a queue nobody complains. Try not to get agitated. If you do the Thais might describe you as 'jai rawn' (hot heart) and you may hear 'jai yen yen' which means calm down.
I don't mind standing, or sitting on a plastic stool with no back support, for an hour or two but not for a 12 hour overnight trip to the northeast border of Thailand. However, I have seen just that and not a word is said. In the West, if someone paid for a seat on a bus they would expect a seat and if they were given a plastic stool to sit on they would be furious. On minivans too the drivers will keep stopping to pick up extra passengers even though the van is completely full. They just bark at the passengers already on board to budge up so that three people sit in two seats and four in three seats, etc. Once again, the Thais don't say a word but just comply. In some ways it's nice that they consider other people before themselves. Sacrificing their own comfort allows others to get to where they want to go to. However, they just leave themselves open to abuse. Minivan drivers and bus companies increase profits by overloading their vehicles at the expense of their passengers' comfort and safety. For as long as no one complains, nothing will ever change.
Giving Strangers The Benefit Of The Doubt And Forgiveness
They are also very forgiving and don't seem to harbour grudges for very long. A male colleague of my Thai girlfriend saw me alone in a bar one evening listening to a live band. I was on my own, although I chatted briefly to a group of girls at the bar, and I left alone. The following day my girlfriend called sounding most upset and asking me questions about the night before. This guy had told her that I left the bar with a girl and drove away on the back of the girl's motorbike. My girlfriend didn't talk to her lying colleague for a few days but she forgave him quite quickly. It was different for me though. Whenever I visited her at work and saw him I just could not bring myself to talk to him ever again. It was a spiteful lie and I couldn't work out what his motivation was for telling it. I cannot understand why people lie like this but the point I wanted to make was about forgiveness. It is difficult for me to forgive and even more difficult to forgive quickly. The Thais aren't quite as meek and mild-mannered as they might appear at first. The girls especially are capable of big temper tantrums. When my girlfriend gets in a rage she can be pretty harsh with her tongue and say some very nasty things. However, a couple of hours later she will want to forget everything that was said and go back to how things were before. Maybe I am too sensitive but nasty words affect me for quite a long time. My view is that once bad things are said they can't just be retracted but in the Thai world they can be apparently. It's another one of those little cultural differences that can take a bit of getting used to.
They also tend to concentrate on the present - another Buddhist teaching. We can only experience the present so when you think about it, getting hung up on the past or worrying about the future is counter productive and leads to anxiety but many people in the Western world fall into this trap. Thais maybe take not worrying about the future a little too far. If we borrow money we should at least give some thought as to how we will repay the first instalment.
The King is respected for good reason. I didn't fully begin to understand the significance of the role he plays until I started to learn about how dirty, corrupt and self-serving Thai politicians are. With parts of the press and media muzzled so they cannot criticise government policy it is of vital importance to have an institution that can speak out and who do so with wisdom and total unselfishness. That institution is the Thai royal family. There are two qualities needed to lead people, wisdom and compassion. I can't think of another person on the planet who has more wisdom and compassion for his people than HM the King of Thailand. He is a very talented man who speaks several languages, writes music, has published books and is a skilled photographer as well as being skilled in many other subjects. He is also the world's longest serving monarch.
Barely a day passes when the TV news does not show one of the princesses on royal duty somewhere. I doubt there are any harder working royals anywhere and doing royal engagements outside in the full heat of the Thai hot season can't be very comfortable. The antics of certain members of the British royal family have been embarrassing at times. The Thai royal family are a role model for the institution of monarchy. Images of the present King and the royal family are everywhere in Thailand. There are also many images of one of his predecessors, King Rama V, on display. According to Lonely Planet the 'Rama V Cult' began in 1991 and LP give reasons as to why in their guide book. Be sensitive and respectful towards the royal family while in Thailand.
She related some of the heartbreaking stories she had heard. One little girl found her father's body after he had been murdered and beheaded in a revenge killing. Too young to realise what had happened the poor child tried to put her father's head back on his body. The Queen spent several months in Narathiwat and donated Bt300,000 of her own money to shore up the price of longan, an important fruit product for the local economy. She has also donated Bt20 million to support women who have been widowed by the violence.
What is wisdom? It is being able to see a situation for what it is, that is, being able to see the truth and to be able to offer real solutions. Understanding the truth about life is basically what Buddhism is about and I think this is part of the reason why the King of Thailand is able to provide so much wise direction. Coupled with his intellect and education, his deep understanding of Buddhism is very important. I want more world leaders like HM the King. I am fed up with political rhetoric, hot air and false promises. I want leaders to be wise and to analyse problems before they start jumping in with 'get tough' solutions. Thai people will be able to give you many instances where their King has shown wisdom. I will offer just two. The potential solutions to these two issues may seem obvious and simple yet I don't hear the obvious from politicians.
So, why is there a big stray dog problem if Thais love dogs so much? The reason is that they tend to go for poodles and the like. They like cute little designer dogs which look more like fluffy toys than animals or exotic foreign breeds. HM the King is fully aware of the issue and is also a dog lover. What he did was to take in some strays and turn them into pets. Leading by example is what all good leaders should do. Secondly, he wrote a book about his pet dogs and one in particular called Tongdaeng (Thai for copper). He described how he came to own Tongdaeng, what a good dog she was and how other people should consider following his example. This is what might be known as killing two birds with one stone. If people followed his lead they would acquire good pets and ease the stray dog problem. Simple but brilliant. What is the government's approach to the stray dog problem? During the Apec summit in Bangkok where a gathering of world leaders, including George Dubbya, took place the government saw the strays as being a bit of an embarrassment. The unfortunate canines were rounded up and sent on a doggie holiday which probably didn't have a very happy ending. Apart from that, nothing is being done, because it won't make anyone richer. (Much better to get involved with buying explosives detection machines for the new airport where you can get a nice little kickback from the supplier for choosing their company rather than try to do anything about the dogs.) An organisation set up by foreign residents called Soi Dog Rescue (SDR) in collaboration with Bangkok University International College organises sterilisation and adoption for Bangkok street dogs while raising awareness of the problem. In Thailand don't look to the government to fix real issues, leave it to HM the King or to foreigners. Crime. With the global rise of capitalism the wealth gap between the rich and the poor is getting bigger. When there are big divisions between rich and poor it normally leads to increased crime rates. It is no coincidence that those places with the highest crime rates are also places where rich and poor people live side by side. Rio de Janeiro and Johannesburg are two cities that spring to mind. Crime rates are getting higher everywhere and of course politicians have to be seen to be doing something even though many lead privileged lives where crime doesn't really affect them. They talk about hiring more police, cracking down on offenders and dealing out tougher sentences. These measures don't look at the source of the problem though. In Buddhism every effect has a cause. If you eliminate the cause you eliminate the effect. When Thailand hosted the UN Congress on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice the Thai delegation put forward HM the King's theories. What the King realised is that behind most crime is greed (capitalism encourages greed). He wants to make Thailand a self-sufficient economy which would help to reduce greed and thus reduce crime. Again, it's a simple idea but I never seem to hear this type of common sense approach from policy makers. Take a look at The Golden Jubilee Network for more information. To find out more about royal initiatives in Thailand, check out the Office of the Royal Development Projects Board (ORDPB) web site.
On the negative side I feel that Thailand may not be doing itself any favours by excluding foreigners as it does, but the problem, like so many problems in Thailand, stems from greedy politicians. Not excluding them exactly, but being very selective about the foreigners it wants. Big spending tourists are quite welcome to stay in the luxury resorts of Phuket in order to inject their money into the economy. And perhaps they might even wish to purchase a Thailand Privilege Card for 25,000 US dollars? However, in many businesses the view is that Thais can do a better job than foreigners - even the business of teaching English. National pride has at times blinkered Thailand's eyes to realism. Refusing foreign aid after the December 2004 tsunami disaster to show that 'Thailand doesn't need help from other countries' was a rather arrogant and short-sighted decision. I'm sure there were many Thai people affected by the disaster who would have appreciated that aid. Singapore had to swallow its pride, embracing foreign business and foreigners to advance to the developed world but look at Singapore now. In this current 'Thai loves Thai' era, Thailand is potentially creating unnecessary problems for itself.
Spirits are not wanted inside the main building so the spirit house provides them with a place of their own in which to live. To make the spirit houses attractive to the spirits, incense is burned and food is left out (the food generally ends up as a meal for the local birds and rats). At the end of its life the spirit house is not discarded along with regular garbage. It has to be disposed of appropriately. I have noticed many spirit house 'burial grounds', normally close to a Wat, where old spirit houses have been left. Among the leaves and foliage can be seen the remnants of old spirit domiciles that once provided an insurance policy for the house owner against mischievous spirits but are now no longer required.
Thai Attitudes Towards Animals
The Thai attitude towards animals is the same as it is towards most things. There is a natural law of order which applies to all aspects of life so don't interfere with it. As mere humans we can do little to alter the powerful laws of nature. Animals are pretty much left to their own devices. The Thais do not sterilise animals and generally they don't cull animals unless there is an Apec summit being held in Bangkok and the government are afraid the stray dogs will be an embarrassment to visiting dignitaries and George Bush. The animals breed unchecked, many young animals die and those that survive continue to repeat the cycle. To Western minds it can be difficult to accept because there are a lot of abandoned kittens and puppies that are obviously suffering. The Western solution would be to find homes and sterilise animals to try to get the problem under control but who is to say that is the right thing to do? It's just one of those aspects of life that is different between the two cultures. Where societies have tried to control human population by limiting the number of children born into any one family it has caused massive problems. Chinese and Indian families all wanted their only child to be a son and used whatever method they could to make sure this would happen. It resulted in a huge demographic imbalance where one generation was desperately short of females. More often than not, when humans start interfering with nature it upsets the balance. The Thais respect this and interfere very little. It seems cruel at times to Western eyes but so is nature cruel.
I like to make friends with Thai cats as I do with Thai people but several of my feline friends have met premature deaths from dog attacks, eating rat poison or being hit by vehicles. The females are in a constant cycle of pregnancy and giving birth, and kittens normally have to fend for themselves from a very young age. Many don't last very long. Credit to the Thais, they do show compassion for animals and if an animal just turns up uninvited - as they often do - the Thais will normally let them stay. They will usually take care of pregnant females and give them a box to sleep in to look after their kittens. I have constant struggles with my conscience when I meet an abandoned kitten, which is quite often. Just before writing this I had a female kitten of about two months suckling my leg. There are no teats on my leg as far as I am aware but presumably my hairy thigh resembled her mother's belly a little. She sat there for about 40 minutes sucking, kneading with her front paws and purring. Unfortunately my leg isn't a very good source of milk so she didn't get much nourishment but she got some comfort. I have a desire to try to rescue every such cat but of course it is impossible so I have to leave them where I found them, alone and abandoned.
It's a strange one. I don't have any statistics so I don't know if there are actually more boys feeling this way about their sexuality in Thailand than in other countries. Maybe there are or maybe it is the tolerant nature of Thailand that allows them to be what they want to be and in other countries they would have to suppress it? I honestly don't know but if I find out more I'll add my comments here. What continues to surprise me is the amount of katoeys I see and where they turn up. I'm sure that I could go to the Bohemian area of a large city almost anywhere in the world and find a few transvestites but in Thailand that isn't necessary. Just near where I live in the provinces there is a small women's clothes boutique. It's nothing special or anything. My girlfriend spotted a dress in the window she liked one day so we went in. As soon as we were got through the door a katoey came mincing across in that way only katoeys do. Real girls never walk like that. S/he was helpful and friendly enough. When we left s/he gave us a combined curtsy/wai and a long "khawp khun khaa". I haven't got a problem with it at all but when they turn up out of the blue like that it still strikes me as a bit weird. I have a fledgling theory after spending a year-and-a-half in Thailand but it could be complete rubbish. Any comments are welcome. Thai society is horribly sexist and women are definitely second-class citizens. When it comes to raising children there is no sense of shared responsibility, that job quite plainly belongs to the mother and other female members of the extended family. I've noticed that all school teachers teaching young children seem to be female. My conclusion is that Thais therefore live in a very female dominated world in the early years of their life. They are very gently nurtured by loving mothers, sisters, aunts, grandmothers and female teachers. What people experience in their first few years of life has a big influence on the type of people they become later in life. With such a big female influence in their early lives, could this be the reason so many boys apparently feel more comfortable being girls?
| ||||||||||||
