Reflections on "Thainess"

We quite often read on this board "Thai people are..." or "All Thais are.....", usually associated with a sweeping generalization. Probably 75% are along the lines of we are so much better than they are - and another 15% are painted in rosy hues of domestic idyll - neither position of which I can fully agree on. In case you are wondering about the other 10%, I simply cannot work out what the poster is driving at in those.

Anyway, this morning I was struck somewhat forcefully about the nature of "Thainess", purely in conjunction with what I witness last night.

So, there I was walking home from work last night, through a small street food stall area. One of the wait boys, a youngish lad who was waking back from a table with some dirty plates swerved out of his path to launch an almighty kick at a dog who was placidly sleeping on the pavement. Kick the shit out of some poor dog, just cause you are having a shitty day/life. Pure Thai I though.

This morning I was walking to work and I have to cross over a bridge. A young schoolgirl went up the stairs ahead of me and turned to start crossing over the bridge when she just stopped dead. Now the bridge has become a recent abode of beggars/homeless, and most mornings there will be one sleeping on the bridge, a few times right across the width of the bridge so you have to essentially step over them. So I figured she was stopped, working out how to get past. When I reached the top of the stairs, there indeed was a beggar/homeless person stretched out, fast asleep, but not blocking the path. The young school girl was just standing up after having put 20 baht in the beggars cup. Now, this girl was alone, not with anybody and only gave because she wanted to. Pure Thai I thought.

I suppose thats one of the attractions, and frustrations in thailand. As a foreigner working here, and not part of the society - however much we try to think otherwise - its always interesting to find out which we will get - the kick or the 20 baht.

Its quite a ride.

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Originally Posted by nidhogg

Kick the shit out of some poor dog, just cause you are having a shitty day/life. Pure Thai I though

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My Thai friends would tell you that the boy was Chinese because a real Thai wouldn't do such a thing.

The young man and the dog may have had some history.

What is Thai? Is it a gentle slash of water from a silver cup as a blessing, or a blast of klong effluent in the face from a super-squirter? Stay tuned.

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Originally Posted by robuzo

The young man and the dog may have had some history.

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So might the Girl and the beggar.

Papa perhaps

Interesting thoughts Nid.
I was encouraged by a former thai gf to put something in the beggars bowl, "because it bring good luck".
Soi dogs are a peculiarity. Very territorial, with other dogs usually, but sort of passive agressive, laying across the 7/11 doorway.

When the dog attached to my local 7/11 was off scavenging, an old lady selling paper wind chimes or some such crap, took his place. Neither of them was offended.

Only in Thailand eh?

I recall walking down the steps from the On-nut train station, there was a large crowd all trying to walk down at the same time, at one stage I'm sure the mrs feet weren't touching the ground as the mob moved forward.

There was a begger at the bottom of the stairs, an older man who was obviously blind, he had the standard 7/11 coffee cup holding a few loose coins that had been deposited through the day.

I witnessed a young office worker force her way through the swarming crowd and take the old man's hand and put a 100 baht note in his palm, then she closed his hand around the note and squeezed it, almost to give him some reasurrance there was somebody who cared, and whispered something to him, then she simply walked away.

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Originally Posted by chassamui

Interesting thoughts Nid.
I was encouraged by a former thai gf to put something in the beggars bowl, "because it bring good luck".

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So it's probably a selfish gesture then....

A nation of people who boot the stray, mangey dog on the way to the temple.

A definite flaw in their plan to reach Nirvana..

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Originally Posted by slimboyfat

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Originally Posted by chassamui

Interesting thoughts Nid.
I was encouraged by a former thai gf to put something in the beggars bowl, "because it bring good luck".

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So it's probably a selfish gesture then....

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Nietzsche argued that pity is itself selfish, but then he was what the youngsters nowadays would call a "dickhead."

One common trait I find here is a surplus of sentimentality and a deficit of compassion (despite a lot of noise about Buddhism), but that is hardly a Thai-specific problem.

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Originally Posted by robuzo

a surplus of sentimentality and a deficit of compassion

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Nicely put. I think you're right though, I see nothing better on offer in the West.

C'est la vie.

Giving solely to make merit under the belief that it will bring good things your way.

I find it quite odd as I give to others for no other reason than to help them, if I should.

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Originally Posted by misskit

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Originally Posted by nidhogg

Kick the shit out of some poor dog, just cause you are having a shitty day/life. Pure Thai I though

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My Thai friends would tell you that the boy was Chinese because a real Thai wouldn't do such a thing.

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Ever seen a poor Chinese Thai boy washing dishes in the streets?

Saw some Thai trolley boys kick a sleeping beggar out of the way as hard as they could with venom and taunts, due to being homeless and sleeping on their path in Hualampong.

They definitely weren't Chinese.

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Originally Posted by slimboyfat

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Originally Posted by chassamui

Interesting thoughts Nid.
I was encouraged by a former thai gf to put something in the beggars bowl, "because it bring good luck".

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So it's probably a selfish gesture then....

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Indeed it was, as i was still trying to get in her knickers at the time.

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Originally Posted by nidhogg

We quite often read on this board "Thai people are..." or "All Thais are.....", usually associated with a sweeping generalization..

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Probably because we are outsiders looking in we tend to notice things here that might have slipped our attention if we were at home immersed in our own culture.
This is especially so as life here happens on the outside much more than it does in a cold climate, where more happens behind closed doors out of sight.

Just driving a car in England having been away for so long I noticed some typical English behavior. Firstly , road manners are generaly better than here. Queing at a t junction to enter traffic you don't have to wait too long before someone gives way and lets you out. A much rarer occurance here. On the flip side, if you que jump in England it is likely to cause more indignation than it does here , sometimes leading to road rage. I've seen pensioners get out of their cars and resort to fists over a minor traffic incident. Also, a much rarer occurance here. Thais tend to be more live and let live .........until they snap , then they can kill you.

This is just one example but in general your observations of two different human beings behaving in different ways are pretty typical of humans everywhere, some are better than others.

^ Perfick.

95% - Thai by force default.
No such beast as Thainess.