It is with thanks to Graham, who commented on the previous article, for mentioning what he did, as this leads me in to having a bit if a rant about how I perceive Thai people, and I dare say I am not alone in my way of thinking.
Ever since I moved to Udon Thani to live, I have been served up with frequent proof, mostly from my good lady Jeerawan, that Thai's do not think beyond the present day, and even then quite often not much beyond the next hour or so!
Coming from a developed country, being a former project manager and business owner, I am conditioned to plan ahead, as far as 18 months or more in advance at times, as part of a business strategy, and I would live my social life and my single life outside of the workplace in the same fashion, leaving little or nothing to chance.
To try an adjust the somewhat haphazard approach to a daily lifestyle has been a considerable change of mindset, and to be frank, I still cannot live like that, which is both frustrating to me and Jeerawan. I have to plan what I am doing next week, month, or whatever, while I still cannot get her to think beyond today.
Should you live here, I am guessing you can probably expect something very similar, assuming your lady is from this part of the country, and for all I know, any part of the country.
I fear for my step-daughters future because of Jeerawan, as I don't really want her to grow up with the same, cannot be bothered to think attitude that seems quite inherent within the family. I would much rather to try and get our little girl thinking a little more like a ferang, but that too is hard work as the laziness seems to have set in before I arrived on the scene 3.5 years ago.
The philosophy, as far as I can make out is that if tomorrow never comes, then it's not been a waste of time thinking about it. I guess it makes a certain amount of sense, up to a point, but the Thai's I know stretch it just a little too far.
Ever since I moved to Udon Thani to live, I have been served up with frequent proof, mostly from my good lady Jeerawan, that Thai's do not think beyond the present day, and even then quite often not much beyond the next hour or so!
Coming from a developed country, being a former project manager and business owner, I am conditioned to plan ahead, as far as 18 months or more in advance at times, as part of a business strategy, and I would live my social life and my single life outside of the workplace in the same fashion, leaving little or nothing to chance.
To try an adjust the somewhat haphazard approach to a daily lifestyle has been a considerable change of mindset, and to be frank, I still cannot live like that, which is both frustrating to me and Jeerawan. I have to plan what I am doing next week, month, or whatever, while I still cannot get her to think beyond today.
Should you live here, I am guessing you can probably expect something very similar, assuming your lady is from this part of the country, and for all I know, any part of the country.
I fear for my step-daughters future because of Jeerawan, as I don't really want her to grow up with the same, cannot be bothered to think attitude that seems quite inherent within the family. I would much rather to try and get our little girl thinking a little more like a ferang, but that too is hard work as the laziness seems to have set in before I arrived on the scene 3.5 years ago.
The philosophy, as far as I can make out is that if tomorrow never comes, then it's not been a waste of time thinking about it. I guess it makes a certain amount of sense, up to a point, but the Thai's I know stretch it just a little too far.