Thai People - What are they like, how they think
Okay, let me start by making some generalisations about Thai's.
I will accept that not all Thai people can be pigeon holed in to all of those but I would think most fall in to at least one, maybe two or three of them!
Eating tends to be a social thing, more than a necessity. Find a group of Thai's in someone's garden or house, nine times out of ten, they will have food scattered around with all them sitting round, tucking in. My step-daughter never seems to stop eating some days, always snacking and so on. It's something I have never done with my up-bringing but it seems to come 2nd nature in this region.
You will see people sleeping at just about any given time of the day and if you look around in open front shops you are likely to see a mattress on the floor in a back room or maybe a hammock somewhere. They use these during business hours when it is quiet. I cannot imagine any business in England that would make the same provision.
While you are busy looking for the mattress and/or hammock, casually observe the TV that sits in a prominent place so it can be easily watched. Go to a restaurant and there is a very good chance there are TV's littered around the premises. While I find the presence of television sets in business premises somewhat sad, I find what they are watching even sadder! There are likely to be one of two types of programme being watched (unless they have connected a DVD player to watch a movie) and they are some comedy show, where it appears to be necessary to include "kids cartoon noises" (Scooby-Doo style) to be an integral part of the show or a soap opera show where the typical theme is a Thai guy or girl has cheated on their partner and their whole world falls apart for 30 minutes, followed more of the same but with a different set of people! It is hard to know for certain if the dumbing down of TV shows is intentional or not on the part of the government. I would not have thought so as this kind of mind manipulation is normally reserved for a few communist countries - either way, the Thai's just love it. Restaurants in the evenings typically show sport from around the world, including Premier League football from England and European Champions League.
As with most of Thailand the people in Issan are devote Buddhists, there are a few Muslims that have ventured this far north but they are very much in the minority. Buddhism is not so much a religion as a way of life with karma playing a key role in many peoples thoughts. Do good and get good in return is how my wife explains her way of thinking and life. It is not a bad philosophy in all fairness and many Thai's think the same, which makes for a very pleasant society. Of course there are the others that just want to be different or simply do not care but in general these people are tolerant.
Where I do see the "bad" side is when I go shopping with Ong, perhaps bad is not the right word (although a Thai would despute it I am sure). There are many shop vendors that will "bump up" the price of an item if the clamp eyes on a ferang. This makes me mad, it also makes Ong mad too and she will either just give them what she thinks they should be charging or will simply walk away and give them nothing. In either case that shop simply does not get a visit from us again. This is where some Thai business people are particularly stupid and some others are quite canny. If you know you have paid over the odds for something, how likely are you to want to go back, given the choice? If you are treated the same as everyone else you are more likely to return but the short-sighted nature of some Thais does not let them see this. They live for today and tomorrow is not important (until it arrives). There are quite a few occasions now where I will not go shopping with Ong, as she will normally get a reduced price on most things if I am not around.
On the whole, Thai's are very welcoming people and if for no other reason than curiosity quite a number of the older generation want to try and communicate with ferang, especially if you are with a Thai girl. While I do appreciate the gesture it does seem a little odd as most of these people can talk little or none of my language and I can not talk in theirs but we do our best and it somehow gets easier after several beers and the "sing song" starts. Oh yes - Thai's love Karaoke as well. Many are tone deaf but where they lack in quality they will more than make up for it in both volume and enthusiasm. Luckily Ong and her brothers can sing, one of them has a recording contract in Bangkok to his name, but her daughter (7 years old) Kimmi seems to be tone deaf but hopefully she will learn to sing in the coming years.
While most Thai's are devout Buddhists, as with the UK, you do not find an overwhelming mass of them at any place of worship unless there is a festival but what you will see from time to time is Buddha "shrines" outside houses, bars & shops etc however most houses will have a shrine inside where they perform their rituals.
- They sleep a lot (if they get the chance).
- They cannot live without television.
- They eat all the time (given the chance)
- Give them an inch, they will take a mile!
- They do not think about tomorrow, or anytime beyond today (in most cases)
- Most young girls, and many older ladies are very happy to have their picture taken if you ask them - they love the attention of a ferang!
I will accept that not all Thai people can be pigeon holed in to all of those but I would think most fall in to at least one, maybe two or three of them!
Eating tends to be a social thing, more than a necessity. Find a group of Thai's in someone's garden or house, nine times out of ten, they will have food scattered around with all them sitting round, tucking in. My step-daughter never seems to stop eating some days, always snacking and so on. It's something I have never done with my up-bringing but it seems to come 2nd nature in this region.
You will see people sleeping at just about any given time of the day and if you look around in open front shops you are likely to see a mattress on the floor in a back room or maybe a hammock somewhere. They use these during business hours when it is quiet. I cannot imagine any business in England that would make the same provision.
While you are busy looking for the mattress and/or hammock, casually observe the TV that sits in a prominent place so it can be easily watched. Go to a restaurant and there is a very good chance there are TV's littered around the premises. While I find the presence of television sets in business premises somewhat sad, I find what they are watching even sadder! There are likely to be one of two types of programme being watched (unless they have connected a DVD player to watch a movie) and they are some comedy show, where it appears to be necessary to include "kids cartoon noises" (Scooby-Doo style) to be an integral part of the show or a soap opera show where the typical theme is a Thai guy or girl has cheated on their partner and their whole world falls apart for 30 minutes, followed more of the same but with a different set of people! It is hard to know for certain if the dumbing down of TV shows is intentional or not on the part of the government. I would not have thought so as this kind of mind manipulation is normally reserved for a few communist countries - either way, the Thai's just love it. Restaurants in the evenings typically show sport from around the world, including Premier League football from England and European Champions League.
As with most of Thailand the people in Issan are devote Buddhists, there are a few Muslims that have ventured this far north but they are very much in the minority. Buddhism is not so much a religion as a way of life with karma playing a key role in many peoples thoughts. Do good and get good in return is how my wife explains her way of thinking and life. It is not a bad philosophy in all fairness and many Thai's think the same, which makes for a very pleasant society. Of course there are the others that just want to be different or simply do not care but in general these people are tolerant.
Where I do see the "bad" side is when I go shopping with Ong, perhaps bad is not the right word (although a Thai would despute it I am sure). There are many shop vendors that will "bump up" the price of an item if the clamp eyes on a ferang. This makes me mad, it also makes Ong mad too and she will either just give them what she thinks they should be charging or will simply walk away and give them nothing. In either case that shop simply does not get a visit from us again. This is where some Thai business people are particularly stupid and some others are quite canny. If you know you have paid over the odds for something, how likely are you to want to go back, given the choice? If you are treated the same as everyone else you are more likely to return but the short-sighted nature of some Thais does not let them see this. They live for today and tomorrow is not important (until it arrives). There are quite a few occasions now where I will not go shopping with Ong, as she will normally get a reduced price on most things if I am not around.
On the whole, Thai's are very welcoming people and if for no other reason than curiosity quite a number of the older generation want to try and communicate with ferang, especially if you are with a Thai girl. While I do appreciate the gesture it does seem a little odd as most of these people can talk little or none of my language and I can not talk in theirs but we do our best and it somehow gets easier after several beers and the "sing song" starts. Oh yes - Thai's love Karaoke as well. Many are tone deaf but where they lack in quality they will more than make up for it in both volume and enthusiasm. Luckily Ong and her brothers can sing, one of them has a recording contract in Bangkok to his name, but her daughter (7 years old) Kimmi seems to be tone deaf but hopefully she will learn to sing in the coming years.
While most Thai's are devout Buddhists, as with the UK, you do not find an overwhelming mass of them at any place of worship unless there is a festival but what you will see from time to time is Buddha "shrines" outside houses, bars & shops etc however most houses will have a shrine inside where they perform their rituals.