Several years back I went on an Overseas Community Involvement Programme (OCIP) mission to a village in Thailand. We lived in a children’s home for the duration of the trip. The home caters to children whose families are unable to support their children or children who cannot be controlled by their parents.
While I was there, I managed to interact with most of the children in the village. One of the main things that struck me was that the boys there always keep a stern face. They don’t smile much, neither do they tear. I was told they made sure no one sees them crying. I also realized that they like to portray the image of an adult and like to be seen and treated as one, for example, mimicking a grown up’s body language through their standing postures.
All the children including the village kids are very respectful to their elders and us. They never failed to greet us and acknowledge our presence. Even while in the mist of their running in games, they would stop and give the appropriate hand greeting gesture. They always maintain eye contact while communicating and maintain a polite tone. I find it surprising that even random children from the village would greet us on the streets as they know that we are foreigners.
In general, the people there are forgiving and do not show emotions such as frustrations or anger even when they have been offended. Once such instance was when my friend accidentally knocked into one of the villager’s motorcycle with his pickup, damaging it. The owner shockingly just said “mai pen rai” (it’s okay). However, we compensated him for the damage to his vehicle.
In my opinion, there is a stark contrast of cultures in the Thai village as compared to the culture in Singapore. Firstly, the children there behave really differently. Children from the village seemed to be more closely knitted, friendly and open towards others. I believe this is because of the harsh environment in which they live in. They are forced to be strong and hide their weaknesses, which I feel is why they maintain a stern look. This is the complete opposite in Singapore where children are free to express their emotions. I was also told that this forgiving and taking things easy attitude is a distinctive Thai culture. The people there often choose to adopt this attitude while dealing with difficult situations. I personally feel this positive attitude is good in general. However, it should not be applied in every situation.
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Dear Glenn,
ReplyDeletethat's an interesting observation! Generally Thais, like the other Southeast Asians place emphasis on passiveness. I agree with you that the children usually look stern - in Myanmar the children have to greet the teacher with arms folded as a form of respect! And all along I was brought up thinking the contrary.
Singapore is a small country within the Southeast Asia continent too, but our culture seems to be rather vastly different from that in other Southeast Asia nations. It probably stems from globalization and the homogenization of cultures in such a cospopolitan society like ours.
Dear Glenn,
ReplyDeleteI count myself privileged to hear of your experience as I had little experience interacting with Thai villagers. However, I had the opportunity of training with Thai soldiers and one thing that struck me was the respectfulness of the soldiers towards foreigners. They were extremely hospitable.
It is interesting to hear that they prefer maintaining a stoic expression because I have always regarded Thailand as the “Land of a thousand smiles”. Perhaps this is merely a tourism slogan, but I saw some semblance of truth in it during my stay in the various cities of Thailand. It appears that while anger is generally frowned upon in Thai society (because of the concept of face in many Asian societies), the display of positive emotions is a characteristic of Thai society. I read somewhere about the concept of sanuk in Thai culture which is the belief that life should be enjoyable and fun. Perhaps we in Singapore have much to learn about “this positive attitude” from the Thai people.
Dear Glenn,
ReplyDeleteThat's a great insight into Thai culture - thank you! I had a few comments on the tenses in the post -
1) 'neither do they tear' - This is not a tense observation. 'Cry' would work better here, I think.
2) 'All the children including the village kids are very respectful to their elders and us.' - It would probably work better if the entire post was written only in the past tense because of the nature of the incident(i.e. in the past). Present tense makes the situation tougher to relate to. This would be appropriate if you were in Thailand right now and writing a journal.
These would be it! Hope this helps!
Cheers
Rohan
Hello Glenn!
ReplyDeleteThis is an interesting insight to the Thai culture you have here. a somewhat different experiences from what I have.
I have also been involved in an OCIP to Chiang Mai, Thailand. My team spent three nights at an orphanage in Chiang Mai and a week staying in a refugee camp along the borders of Thailand and Myanmar. We were tasked with conducting lessons for the children and also interacting with the locals. However my experiences with the children were rather different from the one you had.
The children I met at the orphanage and at the refugee camp were really bubbly and cheerful, be it girls or boys. They were so interested in us (foreigners) and they did not hesitate to express their curiosity. They would so willingly participate in the activities we had arranged for them. I had so much fun interacting with them. Simply recalling those experiences is already making me smile.
I must agree that they really were really respectful to their elders and to others. The Thai culture, I feel, is more polite and passive. As you have shared above, I did enjoy having children stopping in their tracks and waving to us. It made me feel appreciated and I thoroughly enjoyed that friendly atmosphere.
Good Job! Made me relive those days I spent in Thailand and it made me reflect more on those wonderful experiences!
~nicole
Dear Glenn,
ReplyDeleteI can never imagine a Singaporean saying "It's okay" when you knock into their vehicle. NEVER. I guess that is the cultural difference that you wanted to highlight in your article.
This culture of theirs has been inculcated into their lives since young. This shows that if we want to develop a positive culture, we must start with youths. Of course adults ought to be role-models too.
Hello Glenn,
ReplyDeleteguessed your Overseas Community Involvement Programme (OCIP) mission was a meaningful and enriching experience!
Culture is a range of shared patterns of human behaviour learnt through a process of socialization. I feel that our environment plays a crucial role in shaping our behaviour and attitude. The slower pace of life in the village could have nurture their 'take it easy' attitude. Moreover, villagers tend to spend more times together, which could explain the closeness children in the village have towards one another. The stress level is also lower, which may be the reason why the villagers do not get frustrated easily.
It will be really interesting if I drive and bump into someone's car in Singapore, and he/she says "“mai pen rai”. I will certainly love that to happen!
There is much we can learn from the Thais, including their culture of respectfulness and friendliness. I did not expect Thai children to be like you described though. It might be due only to the harsh village environment they are living in. Do Thai children living in the larger cities as well? All in all, thanks for the insight.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Glenn, for this detailed description. It gives us good insight into life in the Thai village where you were. I wonder about some of the analysis regarding why kids might seem stern and are not, by implication, free to show their emotions. Couldn't their facial expressions be "masks" that don't betray their true feelings? What makes them less free than kids in Singapore?
ReplyDeleteIn any case, you've received lots of good feedback. I appreciate your effort!
Hi all, thanks for all the wonderful feedback. Thanks for sharing some of your personal encounters as well. It's great to be able to get different insights and also know of different but somewhat similar experiences. I too cannot imagaine a Singaporean saying 'it's okay' if they are offended in such a way.
ReplyDeleteHi Brad, with regards to your point that they don't betray their emotions, i realise you could be right. Maybe i was thinking too much on my side or i could have sterotyped them because my friend told me that they hide their emotions.