Thailand Culture

FULBRIGHTERS INTRODUCTION TO THAILAND ? ADVICE AND definition Text Scott McNabb, College of Education, The University of Iowa ? Commentary Porntip Kanjananiyot, Executive Director,? Tailand-U. S. Educational rump (Fulbright) The following essay has been written to pass on orientation thoughts for Ameri post scholars who argon embarking on a Fulbright subsidization in Siameseland. I hope that it impart bear insights that exit help Fulbrighters to sympathize, jimmy, and plunge fully with their academic colleagues and new(prenominal) siamese connections they pass on take.It is non fuddledt precisely as a survival guide our hopes ar remote majusculeer than that. It is written to help individuals maximize the cross- pagan gift that they save been fadento live and subject among the Thai peck for a signifi lavatoryt boundary of time. This essay is based on my 19 trips to Thailand which bridge circuit the period 1968 to 2011, from Peace Corps teaching at Tha mmasat University through twain Fulbrights and multiple other teaching, paygrade and re take c atomic number 18 trips.I amaze taught International Education and soft research classes at The University of Iowa since 1979. In this essay, I exclusivelyow indulge in the kind of generalizations I neer all in allow my students to addle. In my classes, I encourage my students to dep block tentatively and c befully ab egress cross- ethnical issues, and sacrifice few if any broad conclusions. Here, in the arouses of further discussion and giving usable advice, I exit risk making general comments ab surface Thai husbandry. This essay, then, is written less as an academic plot than as a kind of users manual. I puddle asked my colleague and friend Porntip Kanjananiyot to add commentary from her perspective of being deeply run in Thai-Ameri ignore educational exchange exercise for a number of years. Porntip is currently the Executive Director of the Fulbright policy-maki ng program in Thailand. We hope that our discussion back and ahead allow for provide additional insights. ?This article includes advice on speech curbing, behavior to help you engage in Thai culture, and near responses to issues that you whitethorn well encounter with your Thai colleagues and other Thais whom you get to know. ?Opening Advice and Questions?In general, the much than out thither you batch be squ ar offing the speech, challenging all kinds of food for thought, engaging with all kinds of people (monks, market people, academics, and so on), learning to magic Thai-style (including making jokes closely yourself), taking unwarranted esteem without resisting them in addition much, and so onthe more you leave learn about and appreciate various aspects of the Thai view of the world. The authentic Thailand is surprisingly close physically to the tourist Thailandits only under a bridge or just about a niche or quite a petty(a) an alley where tourists typic ally founder venture. . . r its on full show before most(prenominal) tourists typically wake up, c atomic number 18 watching the monks make their early morning rounds. inside a relatively pitiful walk from Khaosan Road, the packer mecca in Bangkok, there are amulet markets adept Thammasat University that are rarely visited by foreigners, where single can venture deeply into the spiritual beliefs of the Thai people. male parentt be afraid to wander (within reason) wheresoever your curiosity takes you. If you are dissembleively searching for mostthing, cultivating the treat hunt mind, you may well find what you are searching for, or something equally interesting.Or your quest may bring additional questions about the initial treasure you were trainking. For example, if you go to the amulet market in search of a small statue of the Hindu deity Hanuman, you forget certainly find many other thought-provoking deities a enormous the wayall of whom demonstrate internalizati on of the Hindu religious figures, and Mahayana Buddhism, in Thai Buddhism. wherefore is Ganesh so popular in Thailand? Or Kwan Yin (Yao Mae Kuan Im)? With whom are the various deities popular? In many ways, Fulbrighters can benefit from the outlook and skills that qualitative researchers develop that of the participant ob replyr. You are taking part in the culture that you are trying to take in. PORNTIP COMMENTS Go out to hit people and you volition find that Thai people generally welcome foreigners. Smile with them and show your interest in what they are doing, they get out be hitherto friendlier exposeing Thai ?Learn certain elementary Thai phrases. Now Your colleagues may well let loose excellent English, except at one time you are out in the markets, you will need to say some Thai.Plus, its fun. Develop a particularised working(a) verbiage in Thai. Figure out what phrases you will need on a daily backside and ask a Thai friend to tire you on the pronunciation and t unitys until they are second nature. This vocabulary should include greetings, directions, numbers, and foods, among other things. ?Yes, clear pronunciation and tones are important. yet they can be e trulyplaceemphasized. Speak with conviction. If you speak tentatively, your phrases will tend to go up at the end, like the inflection we use in English, which will confuse your Thai listener.Speak with your limited vocabulary with an airmanship of confidence and the receiver will keep up a distant let on chance of earning you. They will imagine that you know more than you actually do, but thats O. K. You can learn to accept their iniquitous compliments gracefully. Also, your Thai need non be perfect to be unders besidesd. We have much to learn from the Thais as reviewers of our mispronunciations and tonal goof-ups, perseverance we could use in similar actions at home. The Thais go way ultimo half-way to try to figure out what you are trying to communicate.The fact t hat you are trying to speak their language is also a clear indication of your cross-cultural sincerity. Thais will frequently be impressed with your show up because they evanesce years studying English in school without a great deal of success. acting things out helps, too. This also works on the cultural level of sanukyou are having fun (and the joke is mixed bag of on you) trying to communicate a specific idea. And when you succeed, it is a cause for joint celebration Learn these phrases right now? Kaw bia song kuat (Please bring me two beers) Kaw cowpot moo jon nung (Please bring me a plate of heat up rice with pork)? Kaw c cau verifyo maamuang song jon (Please bring me two plates of mango tree with sticky rice) more or less basic food to fix guy young (friend chicken) cowpat moo (fried rice with pork) tom turkey ka guy (coconut soup with chicken) pat thai guy (fried noodles with bean sprouts and chicken) kwitdeo sen yai nua sot (beef noodle soup) kow naa bed (duck with do all over rice) ky jiow (Thai-style omelet) kao moo dang (pork with red sauce over rice) dom young gung (spicy shrimp soup). PORNTIP COMMENTS One way to learn the Thai language could be through food as Thai people make out to cleft food. When observing that their foreign guests have it off it, the Thais could feel purge more comfortable to talk with them and naturally, urge the foreigners to have more food ?Thais also enjoy perceive to foreigners speaking Thai. even just a few words because they think the Thai language is very difficult so they feel truly impressed. Dont feel embarrassed if you make mistakes and your Thai friends kickoff laughing. They know the challenges you have to face with the tones.Their laughs simply mean your pronunciation is narak (cute). Thai people have patience to listen and try to understand Americans when speaking Thai. American Fulbrighters being in Thailand will be more aware how difficult it is for Thais when they are in the US as quite a number of Americans may not have similar patience. Engaging Thais ?If you involve to get below the surface with your Thai friends, engage them on their give legal injury choose topics where they can teach you about aspects of Thai culture. Pursue whatever aspects of Thai culture, religion, history (spirit houses?The Sukhothai period? Some aspects of Buddhism like meditation? ). The point is that you will be in their cultural ballpark. They will appreciate your genuine interest, and this will give you an entree into the Thais enormous cultural generosity. They will help you meet interesting people, plan fluctuations stadium trips, and so on. Just give them the chance. On one of my Fulbright assignments, I was teaching in Nakorn Prathom. I mentioned to a teacher that I would like to visit Praviharnthe disputed Cambodian wat located on the Thai-Cambodian borderon my last weekend with them.My Thai friend had neer been there before, either. Despite the initial negative reaction s from some of the other faculty (Its too uttermostthe trip will take too long its too hot. . . ), she organized what was a unforgettable venture to the famous temple. It was a wonderful culminating fount for my time with my Thai colleaguesmany of whom wound up going and enjoying the trip despite their initial protestations. PORNTIP COMMENTS ?Thai people are really hospitable so they could go out of their way to please you. crave to chat their reaction first and wait to see their next move.If they are quiet, it could mean they cant accommodate your request. Inconsistencies in Thai Culture ?When you are operating in someone elses culture, inconsistencies see to abound. This is partly referable to the fact that in our own culture, we are too close to things to see what wear thint make sense, and our initial observations are relatively superficial in Thailand (you know the most during your first two weeks here then it starts getting much more complicated), and that, at least in my view, there ARE things that applyt seem consistent here. scarce of course, that is rightful(a) in all cultures. Take Thai corrade ?Thai culture in general steers around confrontations in their view the key in forgiving relations is harmony. The focus is on working things out without anger and keeping a cool stock ticker (Jai Yen) in all tender situations. Thais are raised to make others feel welcome, relaxed, and sanuk (happy). In the West, of course, our fundamental coating is to make OURSELVES satisfied. Simply put, we are more independently oriented, the Thais more communally oriented. So you might think that when it came to manipulate, the Thais would offer massage that is soothing, relaxing, comforting. HaThai massage aggressively confronts the muscles that are stiff or bunched up with elbows and knuckles and kneesboring in on them until they give up their tightness and relax. sometimes it hurts. O. K. , often it hurts. Where is all this Thai non-confrontation, av oidance of pain and making the other guy feel heavy? It goes out the window, as far as I can tell. This feels more like American no pain-no gain to me. Of course, it works. But along the way, the attacks on muscle bundles and the stretches are not all that sanuk (fun, in this context). Of course, the pain is meted out with typical Thai humor and grace. Jep Mai? (they ask with a chortle). Jep Maack (It hurts a lot) I respond, to more chortles. Yes, no pain no gain. ?The Case of Luang Paw Koon? In general, Thai Buddhistic monks live a highly disciplined sustenance. They must(prenominal) live by a total of 224 precepts, which provide strict behavioral rules. Like religious groups in all cultures, a few stray in terms of relationships with women and other sins and are tossed out of their temples. But for the most part scandals are rare and monks are respected for their discipline, dignity and wisdom.? Luang Paw Koon is one of the most popular monks in the rural area.You often see his run into in the northeast part of Thailand, and frequently in the taxis in Bangkok, many of whose drivers are from the northeast. ?What the pictures show is a smiling monk deliberately flaunting Buddhist conventions, huffing on a cheroot or overtly discourse money. He is seated in a diddly-squat position like a northeastern farmer, not cross-legged like a monk. He speaks in the common language of farmers, not in prim Thai.? Why is he so popular? Some Thais respect his rebellion, mend still demonstrating the key Buddhist tenets of poverty, integrity, honesty and generosity.Funds given to him are known to go directly to the projects they are given for, most often schools and hospitals. No middlemen. No corruption. I think that is the gist of the picture with Luang Paw Koon handling moneyYour applyations are safe with me. I will get your donations to their suitable destinations. Consistency with the principals of a monks life? Yes and no. Unconventional? Absolutely. Effect ive in terms of charity work? This certainly seems to be the case. And a great case for bending the social rules to serve a higher cause. Maybe we all wonder rebels.PORNTIP COMMENTS? Treat the inconsistencies as surprises and enjoy the learning experiences abruptly Takes ? Watch Thai TV Watch the muck operas, the variety shows, the shows on the monarchy. Ask lots of questions. originally you criticize, think about The Bachelor and Fox intelligence information and Two and a Half Men and other stellar re make upations of our own culture. Thai cleanse operas present cultural melodramas where actors confront each other and act in ways one would never see in polite Thai society with its vehemence on decorum and harmony. Is it just entertainment?ethnical respect fulfillment? Ask your friends. ?In general, when things dont seem to make sense, ask. Find effectual friends who are absolutely culturally-insult proof, who know that your questions may be clumsy and politically incorrect but that your intentionsto understand things a bit betterare pure. These are the people to ask potentially sensitive questions about the Red Shirts and the Yellow Shirts, and about the monarchy. PORNTIP COMMENTS ?Soap operas could better your Thai while helping you understand that many times, they dont reflect the real Thai culture.It could be misleading if viewers take it literally to think that Thai women eternally go after guys, love screaming and squall plus slapping others faces. The way they dress to work is far from being professional either.. as if they went to an even party even. It may be good to understand that the Thais value riab roi and being very proper (far too formal at times). Perhaps Thai soap is something Thais quietly think the society could loosen up a bit. Be discreet when discussing or enquire questions about Monarchy as there are lese majeste charges which could be complicated for you to understand fully.The conflicts that seem to separate discolor shir ts and red shirts are not easy to understand either. The suggestion to find a culturally-insult proof friend sounds great to get to know more about the monarchy and political conflicts. Small Bits of Advice? Take a zillion showers and imbibe water by the gallon. bind your body temperature down and your internal system happy. When you feel culture knock down coming on, retreat. Take some down time. comprehend to your iPod. Watch a favorite movie (it is undoubtedly pirated here). No one should try to tackle a foreign culture 24/7.You will burn out. Its hot here. And humid. Incredibly humid. And you are perpetually on stage. I cant do one more impromptu speech, explaining who I am and wherefore I am here. It can be exhausting. O. K. , it will be exhausting. Every moment you spend working on your Thai is a move in the right direction culturally. Even the parade of learning Thai with your Thai friends has all kinds of cultural learning possibilities.? Take notes of your observat ionsnot for Facebook or to bosom about so much as for your own record of cultural discovery.Youll be able to see how far you have come by the end of your Thai adventure.? Remember that part of your job as a Fulbrighter is to play the role of cultural ambassador, representing your country with integrity here and portraying Thailand with fairness and the true to your friends back home. ?Learn to bargain. Again, its not so much about the result, which is pretty much predetermined, as it is about your participation in the process, and HOW you participate (with a smile and acting out thingsOh, man, youre killing me here ). Be a good sport Accept the Thais overwhelming generosity.They are happy to have you here. We are conditioned to be suspicious of others generosity, and its a tough assumption to get over.? Sometimes communions are just exercises in enjoyable social banter, without a punch line. You talk about the weather, family, where you are going. . . just for the sake of the p leasant conversation. In our culture, we are employ to seeking the point. ? Develop a short introduction in Thai that explains who you are and why you are here in Thailand. Saying that you are an achjan (a teacher/professor) explains a lot.This will be very helpful, so that people know who you are, how long you will be here, and so on. It puts everyone at ease. ?Never take off up the bill at the restaurant. The most fourth-year person will liang. Its the Thai cultural law. Hierarchies define the nature of power in relationships in Thailand royalty over commoners, men over women (women cannot be ordained as monks in Thailand), and age over youth. By the way, the best way to reciprocate in terms of food is to buy candy or fruit to share with your Thai colleagues on your trips together. This is dead acceptable, and appreciated.Never assume that your English is being understood by your students. Slow down. Ask them lots of questions. Be diligent Thai students are used to lecture- style classrooms. Tell stories. Keep them with you (on topic). Try to relate your topics to Thailand, Thai applications of things, even if it is a stretch. Joke around a bit. Show that you can take a joketell one on yourself. Lighten up and the Thais will appreciate it and your communication will be far better. Over-serious classrooms are over-rated. Always share what you are eating. (That cant be over-emphasized. Wherever you are living, establish your own fine village people you see and niggle over every day, like the noodle folks, the vizor lady, the 7-11 folks, and your favorite night market vendors. The substance of the conversation is not the issue, its the attention. Simply remarking on the perfume of the oranges (waan maach ) or commenting on the heat (always safe) is fine. With just a bit of friendly banter it becomes your neighborhood, a little like Norm walking into Cheers. I have found these simple, smiling conversations are a offset of friendly energy I can enjoy every day.Banter begets banter which makes you feel more at home. Get in shape Many Thai temples are located on the top of hills. And just maintaining your energy levels in this heat takes some oomph. You dont have to be a Buddhist to appreciate and learn from various aspects of this religion. Remember, the Buddha said that you should only apply the aspects of Buddhism to your life until after you have experimentationed with them and they seem to make sense to you personally. There is no drive to believe in an overarching philosophy just a big, broad display of spiritual and practical ideas to experiment with and learn from.Sort of like the experience of living in Thailand itself. PORNTIP COMMENTS? Even though the more senior Thais will buy you meals almost every time, you may wish to offer to do it in return once in a while. It might not work but that generous offer will be appreciated. Buying some kanoms or some little gifts to give to the more senior and friends would be a nice gesture to show your thoughtfulness. Thai students love learning by listening so storytelling is the good way to attract their attention and its fun while keeping them focused and remember what theyve heard.It could be difficult to have some deep discussions with quite a number of Thais but dont lose hope. Sometimes, its just because of the language. another(prenominal) times it could be because Thai people arent used to expressing their ideas extensively unless they feel very close to the persons. Having discussions with Thais regularly will also help Thais think and interact faster too. Enjoy learning about Buddhism in a practical way.. by cause the middle path, it helps you ponder upon ways to isotropy your life. Learning how to meditate would simply lead you to have some peaceful moments.