Living In Thailand Blog
Sunday 18th May 2008
Today's subject is one I've been wanting to write about for some time but it's tough and I have kept putting it off. Not only is it difficult to write about, but it's controversial and not very pleasant. It's also a huge subject that can't really be covered in a short blog entry.
However, I believe that for anyone planning to make a permanent move to Thailand (not tourists), it is crucial to have some awareness of how Thai society is structured, even if it is just a brief overview.
The following is based on books I have read, personal experience, and observation. Further, it is something I never noticed as a tourist and I doubt that any of this will mean much to those visitors who have only spent short periods of time in Thailand staying in tourist resorts, no matter how many times they have been to Thailand.
Once you begin reading about Thailand and Thai culture, you will come across references to the country's hierarchically structured society and terms such as patronage, or patron-client relationships.
You may wonder what these terms mean; whether they are still relevant in today's society (Thailand, as we all know, is a modern democracy these days); and what they mean in the real world?
Perhaps the easiest way to understand how Thai society is structured is to take some famous words upon which another great country was founded - "All men are created equal" - and then reverse those words 180°.
In Thailand, no one is created equal. To get an idea of how unequal people are, I was browsing a book a few years ago (which I should have bought) and, when discussing this subject, the author mentioned that a numerical system used to exist in Thailand whereby everyone was giving a number to denote their position in society. The scale went up to 10,000.
It harks back to the days when Thai society was feudal; and even though Thailand now tries to give the appearance of being a modern democracy, a lot of the old notions still exist. As I have said many times, culture doesn't change overnight.
So, this is a bad thing, then?
Well, not necessarily, but there are good and bad aspects. In a strictly governed social hierarchy, people genuinely respect people who occupy a higher position than they do. This is cultural but perhaps a lot of it has to do with Buddhism whereby it is believed that people who are high up in society must have led good lives in the past and therefore deserve to be where they are now.
People at the bottom certainly seem to bear no resentment against others who are obviously richer and more comfortable than themselves. In other countries around the world where rich and poor live in close proximity (South Africa and Brazil, for example) it leads to much violence but not in Thailand.
When I think of UK society, many social problems are caused by resentment and lack of respect. Hoodies terrorising the streets and shopping malls are resentful of others and have no respect for anyone else, including their parents and authority figures. That is not the case in Thailand where respect creates a harmonious society most of the time.
With the rule of law as it is in Thailand, the country should be anarchic but it isn't, such is the power of the culture.
The most extreme example I can think of is the case of violent political rioting breaking out in the UK. If the Queen tried to intervene, no one would pay any attention. If the same thing were to happen in Thailand, the reigning monarch could intervene and stop everything. It has happened in the past; and not all that long ago.
There is respect for people higher up in the social hierarchy and - rightly so - there is ultimate respect for the person right at the top.
Having respect for politicians and authority figures can be a good thing but there are negative aspects and such a system can create problems.
If the people who are paid respect are morally good, the system works; but if the people at the top are rich people who are morally bankrupt, it is not a good model for society. Thailand has a culture now that worships wealth and it doesn't seem to matter how people make their wealth. Wealthy people are respected regardless of how morally bankrupt they are.
This is the main problem with Thai politics. In terms of social hierarchy, the grassroots rural villagers are so far below the rich politicians that the politicians will always be supremely arrogant. Some politicians are good with their rhetoric concerning poor people when it comes to getting votes but their true feelings are very different.
How can you have a system of government (supposedly) that has been borrowed from the West - "where all men are created equal" - in a country where the way of thinking of the people in that country is diametrically opposed to those in the country the system of government was borrowed from?
Another problem is that Thais won't dare upset the people above them in society. More than that, they are actually afraid to go against 'big' people for fear of retribution, and that fear is justified.
John Laird, in his book 'Money Politics, Globalisation, and Crisis', covers this subject quite extensively. He makes the point that you cannot educate Thailand's elite; you cannot tell them what to do; and they will not be punished for any wrongdoings.
Currently, there are long-standing corruption charges against the former PM for things that took place years ago but nothing has been done so far and nothing is likely to be done, despite massive amounts of evidence. Laird quotes one Thai commentator in his book (p 141) as saying, "It's not about having evidence or not, it's about having the guts to cross those people."
This is a country where people who speak out, such as Muslim lawyers, can simply disappear without trace and never be seen again.
It has been my experience in Thailand that people near the bottom of the food chain are generally fine, but the higher up you go, the more likely you are to run into problems.
There is only one person I have really had any problems with in Thailand and at one time he was both my landlord and employer. He has a huge ego and he looked down on me from a great height. On one occasion he didn't pay me for work I had done for him and kept making feeble excuses.
This came after I had moved out of his apartment because he kept ripping me off and it was my 'punishment' for taking business away from him. We also had a big falling out regarding the return of my deposit so there was lots of bad feeling.
Quite by chance one day, I got chatting with a guy who turned out to be his boss. I mentioned my issue and it was dealt with very quickly in the form of a handwritten memo. I got my money the next day but the guy was furious.
He's a university head of department and spends his life being bowed down to by students and other 'inferior' people. As a result, he has developed a vastly over-inflated opinion of his own self-worth and expects everyone to bow down to him and not question him about anything - including me. I didn't take that view, however.
A word of warning though, that if you do decide to go up against a Thai who regards him or her self as a 'big' person, do not expect it to be a pleasant experience.
Last year, there was the case of Kanpitak Pachimsawas, the son of a former beauty queen and nephew of a powerful policeman, who was involved in an altercation with a bus in Bangkok while driving his Mercedes.
Furious about the damage to his car, he accelerated into a crowd of pedestrians, killing one and injuring several others. As I remember, I think some reports at the time mentioned he referred to the people he drove into and the bus driver as scum.
This incident was unusual inasmuch that attitudes that normally lie dormant under the surface were demonstrated so openly by a rich, arrogant Thai but - make no mistake - they are there all the time.
The report I have linked to is worth reading because the BBC journalist expands on this whole issue. The point is made in the article by the daughter of the woman who was killed that justice will probably not be done by Thailand's courts who still favour the rich and privileged.
This is absolutely nothing new and leading Thai social activist Sulak Sivaraksa wrote about these enormous inequalities in Thai society over 40 years ago. The privileged elite versus the common man.
It is also not unknown for rich Thais driving expensive cars to pull out a gun and shoot dead a poor motorcyclist for accidentally damaging their vehicle. I heard about this for the first time from an expat and was shocked.
Later, I mentioned it to some of my students expecting a similar shocked reaction. Instead, I just got that, "So what?" look as if to say, "Yeah, this happens all the time, why are you surprised?"
Thais won't start to communicate with each other until they have established who is higher socially. They can normally tell just by looking but if they can't, a series of specially formulated questions will be asked to establish who is superior and who is inferior.
If they still can't work it out because even after questioning each other they seem to be about equal, they will actually ask the other person's age and the older person will then be treated with more respect. Age is also an important factor.
Brothers and sisters are always referred to as being either older or younger, and students talk about other students being their seniors or juniors. There are specific terms of address in Thai to denote a person who is superior or inferior.
This is also why image is so important in Thailand. Visible status symbols are very important to Thais - such as cars, motorbikes, mobile phones, clothes - because other Thais look at these things when deciding how to treat them.
Organisation charts also play a big part in Thai offices - both in the public and private sectors. Big, prominent organisation charts hang on the walls (with unsmiling individuals dressed in their official white uniforms) not to show what people do but to show who is more important in the organisation.
In my old company, a huge American international IT firm, there was a feeling that no one in the organisation was necessarily better than anyone else. People did different jobs but no one was superior or inferior. Some people did technical work while others managed people. Some professionals were actually paid more than the managers they worked for.
Organisation charts existed to show what areas people were responsible for but they were purely functional. That is definitely not the case in Thailand where the only purpose of an organisation chart is to illustrate the hierarchy of that organisation. That is why they are so big and displayed so prominently.
Teachers are accorded a lot of respect in Thailand (which isn't a bad thing) but, as a result, some can start to get very arrogant. What can make their arrogance worse is if they have lived abroad; and if they have some money.
I have encountered some very arrogant Thais in the teaching profession who can't be told anything. Some teach English and I have heard them teaching English incorrectly. But, of course, no one can tell them they are wrong and even if their students spot a mistake, they won't say anything. This is one of the problems with the Thai education system.
On more than one occasion, I have corrected a mistake in English only to be told, "That's how my Thai teacher taught me."
Instead of teaching students, good native-speaking English teachers in Thailand could be used far more effectively teaching the teachers, but it is unlikely to happen. There is far too much 'face' to be lost if students were to find out their teachers were actually being taught.
Another question foreigners might ask is where they fit in when they are in Thailand?
As far as tourists are concerned, the fact that foreigners can afford to travel to other countries means they must have money so Thais normally have quite a lot of respect for them. Thais will also pay attention to appearance, spending habits, and where foreigners stay.
Their view of a smart gentleman staying at the Oriental hotel who goes everywhere by taxi will be a little different to scruffy farang kee ngok backpackers staying in guest houses in the Khaosan Road area.
With resident foreigners they will look at where the foreigners live and work; and superficial things such as whether they have a car and how they dress. For foreigners working in Thailand, employers will have access to information about qualifications and will form opinions based on these.
On the subject of appearance, you will experience enormous differences with regard to how you are treated in Thailand depending on how you are dressed. Social status is of the utmost importance in Thailand and because so many Thais judge other people's social status based on their appearance, image is also very important.
As I said above, there are good and bad aspects about this type of social structure. Whatever your opinion is, you won't change anything, but it is advantageous to have some idea about what is going on if living in Thailand.
If you want something done and the person you ask is unresponsive it is probably because he or she doesn't want to go over the boss's head (kao-rop - to respect) and, at the same time, doesn't want to disturb the boss by asking him or her to do something (greng jai - to have consideration for and to not wish to impose upon).
Single aspects of Thai culture can cause problems but when multiple aspects of Thai culture are combined, the situation can then become very difficult.
After a while, you start to learn who can do things and who can't. It is then possible to go straight to the engine driver, thus bypassing the oily rag, but - as previously mentioned - this can also be problematic because some Thais will regard this as an affront.
This is a difficult subject and I still don't feel as if I have covered it very well. It's important though because many guides about Thai culture talk about culture as if it is superficial. Use a fork and spoon instead of a knife and fork; wai instead of shaking hands; don't point your feet or touch anyone's head, etc., etc.
The truth of the matter is that it is anything but superficial. When you take your own value system and reverse it 180°, that is not superficial. On the surface, modern Bangkok might now look like any other large city and tourists will see familiar sights at all the tourist resorts (and maybe a few not so familiar sights), but underneath, the way of thinking of the Thai people could not be any more different to your own.
Saturday 17th May 2008
One of those déjà vu moments this morning scanning through the football news. The story begins with lots of promises and completely unrealistic expectations, followed by one very unpopular decision, and now there are further allegations that more unpopular decisions are on the way. The allegations have been vehemently denied, of course, and - naturally - threats of legal action have been made.
Where have I seen all this before and how long before Man City gets sold to Singapore with the profits going to a mysterious offshore holding company whose tax-evading owner cannot be traced?
It was always my habit after looking through the Thai news at The Nation web site (which is mostly about grubby Thai politics), to then look at the UK football news for some light relief. I never imagined that the two things would eventually merge.
I am thankful at least that Upton Park is in the hands of Icelanders, and not this particular Thai, because that would have given me a major dilemma.
There is lots of truth in the old saying about leopards not being able to change their spots or, as the Thais would say, "Tigers can't get rid of their stripes."
ชาติเสือไม่ทิ้งลาย
Friday 16th May 2008
Fellow Brits in Thailand, did you know that the British Embassy in Bangkok encourages British Nationals travelling or living in Thailand to register their details with LOCATE, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office global online registration database?
I registered a few years ago and, as a result, received a reminder e-mail from the Consular Section of the Bangkok British Embassy today.
With two major natural disasters occurring in Burma and China recently - and with so many people travelling around the world - being registered on such a database could be very useful in the event that you suddenly go missing.
The e-mail address to use for queries regarding online registration is locatebangkok@fco.gov.uk
Apologies for the lack of updates this week but I have hit another busy patch and need to take care of some other matters.
Saturday 10th May 2008
I mentioned recently that exotic white-throated kingfishers (Halcyon smyrnensis) can often be seen perched outside the local branch of Tesco Lotus. As I passed by yesterday, I had my camera with me so took a few snaps.
There is no water nearby. This species of kingfisher does not dive for fish but feeds on insects and small frogs, etc. Unfortunately, large snakes do not form part of its diet.
I'm not a fanatical birder but enjoy seeing birds I am not accustomed to seeing and I like to know what they are so I have a couple of Thailand bird guides.
Iss knows that I like seeing unusual birds so if she spots one while we are together, she will let me know. On one occasion, she drew my attention to a rock pigeon (Columba livia) - the feral pigeons that plague cities across the world and the very birds that Ken Livingstone has been trying to rid London of; often referred to as 'air rats'.
To Thais, apparently, fantastic looking kingfishers are two-a-baht but disgusting pigeons are interesting and unusual. Weird, huh?
I realise that I must have looked a strange sight yesterday standing by the side of the road with a camera looking up at the sky, but was it really necessary for every passing motorcyclist to shout, "farang farang," at me?
"Yes, I know," I felt like telling them, "You never let me forget, do you?"
These shots were taken with a Canon 10D and a Canon 70-200mm F4 L IS lens used with a Canon 1.4x II extender.
My Canon 300mm F4 L IS lens would have provided more reach but the 70-200 has better colours and contrast, a better Image Stabilisation system, and it focuses better than the 300mm lens with the 1.4x extender.
It's an amazing lens - the best I have ever owned - and outclasses the 300mm lens in every department (except focal length).
I still couldn't get as close as I would have liked and these photos (like the coppersmith barbet I photographed recently) are tiny crops from the original image, which is why there isn't a great deal of detail.
Just after packing up my camera gear and starting to walk home, I saw the biggest snake I have ever seen outside of a zoo. It was making its way from one wooded area to another across a paved road that is closed to traffic. Local Thais exercise and play football there in the evenings.
I felt a strange sensation go through every part of my body and my stomach felt as if it had dropped as far as my knees. The thing was quick and I only had time to pull out my camera and take one photo before it disappeared into the undergrowth. I had no time to change lenses or adjust camera settings. I guess it was about six feet long and fairly thick. It was as big - maybe bigger - than the one I saw swimming in a small stream at the university last year.
The area is fairly busy with a big supermarket just opposite. In London they say you are never more than a few feet away from a rat. That is probably also the case in Thailand but, in addition to rats, you are probably never too far away from a snake either.
Fortunately, they are shy and retiring creatures and try to avoid humans whenever they can but there will always be occasional and unexpected encounters like the one I had yesterday. I don't suppose the snake enjoyed meeting me any more than I enjoyed meeting it.
If any snake experts out there happen to read this and can identify the species, please let me know. I have bird guides but nothing for reptiles.
Is Thailand a good place to buy technology equipment such as cameras and computers? It can be but buyers need to be careful if they aren't very savvy and don't keep up with industry trends.
In my experience, I have found Thais to be quite crafty when trying to get rid of old stock. They won't lie but, at the same time, they may not necessarily tell you everything they know.
My primary laptop is so important to me, that I don't like taking it outside. When I'm not using it, it stays in a safe in my room (theft is a big problem in Thailand).
When I first saw the Asus EEE, it looked perfect for my needs as a travel computer. Light, small and cheap, I figured I could use it to offload photos from my camera to a hard drive and view them, as well as doing lots of other basic tasks on the road. It even has a wireless connection to take advantage of all the free Wi-Fi sites that are around these days.
Also, if I used it while travelling around and it were to get stolen, it would be annoying but not disastrous.
What put me off originally was the Linux operating system (I'm sure it's good but I'm not familiar with it) and the limited 4GB solid state hard drive capacity.
A couple of days ago, I saw an 8GB version on offer in a local shop with Windows XP and Microsoft Office for just under Bt15,000. The special deal was that there was no VAT to pay within the promotion period. I almost bought it on impulse but decided to go home and do some research first.
I'm glad I did. The big drawback with this machine is the low 800x480 resolution screen. Apart from needing to do lots of horizontal scrolling, it means that many graphics programs won't run properly. What it really needs is a 1024px wide screen.
A few more searches revealed that Asus has just launched such a machine - the EEE PC 900. Not only does it have a wider screen, but also a bigger solid state hard drive (12GB for the Windows XP model) and it fits into the same size package as previous models. Perfect.
Now, call me cynical, but I wouldn't be surprised if the shop offering a promotion on the 8G models already have a room full of PC 900s which will appear as soon as they have cleared the old stock.
When I bought my first digital SLR in July 2004, I did so after procrastinating for about a year. I didn't watch industry trends back then, and anyway, no trend had really appeared - unlike now, where new models appear every 18 months or so.
The shop in Bangkok where I bought it had no Canon 10Ds in stock but told me they could get one for me; which they did. No doubt, the reason why they had cleared their stock was to make way for the forthcoming 20D which appeared a few weeks later, and which they must have known about at the time.
It wasn't a problem. The 10D has served me magnificently and even now I don't have a desperate need to upgrade although I probably will within the next year.
I have found Singapore, for example, to be quite different in this respect where vendors are a lot more open about what is coming down the line. Perhaps because turnover there is a lot higher, they don't have the same issues with old stock?
Talking of turnover, certainly in provincial Thailand but maybe not so much in Bangkok, high value technology products do not turn over quickly.
A couple of nearby camera shops have had the same cameras and lenses sitting on their shelves for months - maybe years. There are two potential problems with this.
The first is that if the environment is humid, it doesn't do camera bodies and lenses any good. The best thing you can do with camera equipment in humid conditions is to use it.
Secondly, some camera models undergo lots of changes after being released to correct problems. The Canon 1D Mark 3 is a model that comes to mind for the reported autofocus problems it has suffered from. It's not a cheap camera and if I were to spend that much money on a camera, I would want one hot off a Japanese production line with all the latest updates and not one that has been sitting on a shelf in Thailand for over a year.
On the plus side, computers bought in Thailand always seem to come with lots of 'free' but fully functional software. I can't believe it is legitimate but everything works. Computer prices in Thailand are normally just for the hardware.
However, they all seem to come with Windows XP Professional, Microsoft Office, Adobe Photoshop CS2, and a bunch of other applications (probably Vista and CS3 these days). The applications all work perfectly with no limited time restrictions and they all accept manufacturer's software updates. This seems to be the case for all computers I see for sale in Thailand.
When I bought my laptop in Singapore, a Windows XP license was included but that was all I got. That's how it should be but apparently not in Thailand.
As far as prices are concerned, there are no general trends and exchange rates make a big difference. Any high value item I buy in Thailand will probably be bought using a UK credit card and the current pound to baht exchange rate makes things expensive. With the pound to US dollar rate being so favourable, I would be a lot better off buying equipment in the US if that were possible.
From the research I have done, camera bodies seem to be cheaper in Thailand than Singapore but the reverse is true for lenses. This even applies to Nikon lenses manufactured in Ayuthaya. Again, this is taking into account exchange rates for the Thai baht and Singapore dollar against the UK pound. Depending on the exchange rate for your currency, it might be different so check first.
Occasionally, I see prosumer camera equipment in the local markets where you would normally only expect to see unbranded Bt50 radios made in China. I don't know where the cameras and lenses come from and how much cheaper they are compared to regular camera shops but personally I would never consider buying any serious piece of equipment from such a place.
I have bought memory cards from the local market (and they have been fine) but I would only consider buying a camera body or lens from a reputable supplier.
There must be times when people think I am really kee niaow (stingy). The truth is that I'm not. I don't mind paying out for anything I think is worth the money but one thing I hate with a passion is being ripped off.
My lifestyle in Thailand can probably be best described as semi-native. I need my living accommodation to be up to Western standards but I eat local food about 90% of the time. I have occasional cravings for Western food but don't feel a need to stuff myself with burgers and pies every day.
The local food is tasty, healthy, cheap and not very fattening. In fact, if I eat aharn farang (Western food) twice in one day nowadays, it makes me feel quite bloated and uncomfortable.
When I say cheap, I mean really cheap. Kaaw gairng restaurants and stalls are the ones that have several trays of pre-prepared food laid out. What is available varies from place to place and from day to day.
The kaaw gairng at the university is the best I've ever had and it is so cheap that they might as well give it away. People normally select from one to three different dishes (rice is provided, naturally). The photo above shows the prices for one, two or three selections (1, 2 or 3 yaang).
You can have a tasty, nutritious, filling meal for around Bt20. This is why on some days, when I am working, I can eat very well but still spend less than Bt100 a day.
This is also the reason why I get upset when I go to places like Phuket where some restaurants want Bt100 or more for fried rice. Fried rice is a Bt20 meal at the university and a Bt30 meal outside. Thais running businesses in tourist resorts know that foreigners don't have a clue about prices so push up their prices to stupid levels.
Something else that is strange about pricing in Thailand is that Thais never expect certain things to increase in price. The kaaw gairng prices at the university have just gone up by a few baht and rightly so.
Food prices around the world are soaring; the price of rice is at record levels, and so is that of oil. Food needs to be transported and so the price of oil makes a difference.
Unbelievably though, I've heard a few people complaining that the cost of their lunch has increased by three baht. It's still a great bargain and they should be thankful they don't live in rip-off Britain.
Friday 9th May 2008
Legislation has just been introduced in Thailand to make it illegal to drive while holding a cell phone. Cameras have been set up in Bangkok, apparently, and police can also check phone records to confirm phone usage.
The new law just affects mobile phone usage. Using one hand to hold chickens and other livestock is still perfectly OK.
A cyclist in the UK was killed last year as a result of being hit by a speeding car while the driver was sending a text message and I read somewhere that UK police routinely seize cell phones after road accidents to see if the driver was talking or sending messages.
This is good news but will it actually make any difference? The report in The Nation gives the impression this is being taken quite seriously in Bangkok but I haven't seen any information sheets being given out where I am and I don't believe for one minute that anything will change.
I was ranting to a Thai friend who lives and works in Bangkok about all the lawlessness I see - and how the traffic cops never do anything - but she told me it was very different in the capital (having received a ticket herself recently).
Bangkok is so different to the rest of Thailand that it can almost be considered a different country. That's something to bear in mind while reading anything I write on this site. Located out in the provinces, what I write about life in Thailand will not necessarily apply to Bangkok. Neither will anything I write apply very much to any of the tourist areas that have lots of farangs.
Every evening when I go out for my evening meal - without fail - I see the following: Young males racing cars and motorbikes around at breakneck speed; a significant number of motorcyclists not wearing crash helmets; motorcyclists who stop at red lights momentarily but then take off through the light without waiting for it to change; lots of mobile phone activity from people driving cars and motorbikes.
According to the report, police are even encouraging members of the public to snitch on offenders by taking photos of them. If there's a reward involved, I could make a lot of money.
The other thing of course, is that many cars and pickup trucks have heavily tinted windows so that you can't see the occupants. I'm not sure yet how the police are going to stop those people from using their mobile phones.